Marsh AC Colemans Cottage Stepfield 22.09.2018

How a couple of weeks can make a difference in fishing, the weather was great at the start of the month, now we have Storm Ali closely followed by storm Bronagh,. Luckily I am not a fine weather angler. The strange thing is it always coincides with matches at Coleman's Cottage, looking back there are plenty of times I have driven with condensation on the windows where everything inside the car is soaking wet.
Pulling up to Mick's house, I could see he was ready with all the tackle on his driveway. We were soon off for the 80 minute drive along the M1, M25 and A12 to Witham. The weather was fine at this point and it was great putting the world to right with the Mick as we have been working different times recently.
Arriving in plenty of time for a Coleman's Breakfast is always good and plenty of changes have taken place to the cafe since my last visit,all for the better. A few of the other lads were already in attendance and discussing the forthcoming match and analysing their performances from the last one.
With the pools money leaving my pocket, Dave started off informing us of the rules of the fishery and which pegs we were to fish. We had plenty of room with the pegging from 2 to 20, that's until I pulled out 22, the match organiser's job is not a happy one, but with every other peg and 11 of us on it I suppose 2 to 22 was right. Still where Simon had contrived to get the "end peg" it was snatched away from him by me. Mick had also managed the other end peg in peg 2. At least we were not together, as often happens.
Setting up home on 22, I felt confident of a few fish, plenty of depth out, shallow margins but there were a few fish swimming past that could be seen.
I was going to try to nick a couple of early carp, down the edge before going out to 2+2 and sacking up before going back to the edges late on. That was the plan, however we only had around a foot of water two metres from the bank and only 8 inches closer in. The other side was a little deeper but was awkward fishing due to the trees.
At 2+2 I had around 3ft which was perfect for the pellet attack to follow. I had based all my efforts around pellets for this match. We had been told it was fishing well for F1s and the carp were not showing, this may have been due to the warmer weather, but today was different, it was cooler and the onset of autumn was starting to show. It was starting to rain and looking to the skies was going to be set for the day.
I started off the match feeding a mix of micros and 4mm pellets onto both the margin lines and 2+2 lines and within minutes I could see fish coming into the peg, heads down and then leaving the margins. I left it for a while trying to see if there was a pattern to the entering and leaving of the peg. I managed to take three carp from this line by fishing at the entry point which was by a set of reeds at 2 plus one to the left. The second hour I had a look at the 2+2 line and nothing, not a murmur, lifting dropping, fishing bigger,smaller pellets, shallow were all tried. Fish were still coming into both margins but I was only catching from the shallow one.
It was extremely frustrating, I could see fish coming in and feeding, then bypassing my bait and moving on. I swapped hooklengths down to .13 line diameters and changed hooks to a size 18 KKMB and still I would only get an odd bite.

Dave putting his new pole through its paces

I really felt that during the match I would have been better off fishing maggot, considering the depth of water, but although I know the water does respond to maggot, I had not brought any with me. P£$% Poor Preparation.

Simon explaining his paste approach. 1 fish succumbed to it.

Still I stuck it out for the five hours, nicking odd fish. I could not see anyone else, so did not have a clue how the match had gone. I had caught some fish, but I assumed the others had fared well as the better pegs were on the corner, pegs 8 and 10. The wind was blowing down to that end of the lake and always seem to hold a few resident fish. A quick chat with Simon before the weigh in and a 61lb admission, whereas I thought I had around 50lb.
It had rained all day getting progressively worse as the day wore on. Starting off on Mick's Peg two I was very surprised to see him lift 20lb to the scales, Rod had not had a bite, Terry on 6 had fared just as bad with 12lb before we got to peg 8 and Clive, two weighs and 83lb, just goes to show a good angler on a good peg will always do well. Gino on the other flyer 10 had another frustrating day and 40lb. The reverend Tony Roberts must have cursed his way to 36lb, John placed 29lb and by now I was thinking I had done well, I could not catch Clive but the others were in my grasp. Dave placed 42lb with a mix of carp and and 7lb of silvers to snatch second off Gino. Kyle, fresh from his last match successes, placed 36lb on the scales. Simon was next and his estimation of 61lb was not too far away with 64lb going onto the weigh sheet. I was last to weigh in and using two weighs placed 63lb on the scales to miss out on the section win by a pound.
Still at least I had the comfort of another MK Nugget off Mick to make the score now 10-5 in my favour.
Well done to Clive and Simon on winning the match and section prizes.
Next match will be at Hartleylands Reservoir on October 6th. Looking forward to this one, having not fished it under the new ownership.
Keith 10
Mick 5

Joseph James Law Alders Farm 14.09.2018

Every now and again you have dealings with a company or business and think to yourself, I enjoyed that, they have gone that extra mile. Joseph James Law have pushed the boundaries and are now setting the bench mark for team fishing in this country. Not content with being a main sponsor of the England Ladies Team, Andrew Settle and his team of volunteers and helpers from his law firm have for the last two years (today being the third) run a team event at Alders Farm Fishery.

The format consists of 5 anglers per team with a non fishing captain, who does the draw, can place his anglers and be on hand to assist with the weigh in and if needed do a bit of fetching and carrying.Each angler is then allocated a section on a particular lake with 2 sections on Pines, 2 sections on Ash and a section on Oaks. Points are awarded relating to the final placing in the section with the lowest points total winning the event and £1000. There is also a prize for runners-up and individual winner.
I had decided a while back that I would be happy to be on hand to assist the Maggotdrowning .com team in any capacity that they needed as I had fished the previous two years. I was going to be there anyway just to watch a few anglers, but did not expect to find out I was in the squad. It is a local water to me but I had not been able to put any real time into the water to sort out a few things,but I had done well in the Marsh AC and Maggotdrowning Pairs Matches to give me a sense for the place.
So the squad was Peter (Captain) Dave { Red Leader) Trevor Drakes, Clive Pritchard and Mark Skeggs and myself.
At the draw Pete decided to give his travelling partner, one of best pegs on the complex, let alone the lake. Peg 30 was Dave's home for the next five hours, I had peg 26, not one I had fished before but I knew it was shallow. Clive and Trevor were up on Pines 19 and 23 with Mark volunteering to bite the bullet and fish the Specimen Lake Oaks (not sure of the peg number).
After pointing out to Dave, how good the peg was, I took the stroll around to my peg. I must admit it did look good. I was next to 27, a good peg in its own right with a bit more depth than mine, but it was not in my section so I was not too concerned by what was happening to my left and opposite. For company I had one of the England under 15 anglers on peg 25, Billy Kirk. I set my stall out to catch on a 6mm hard pellet with a bit of corn and maggot as a back up for last couple of hours if I was struggling. Feeding would be 4mm fishery pellets.
The prestige in winning this event grows each year with some of the best anglers in the country fishing and many more not making the teams. There are teams from Guru, Preston Innovations, Garbolino, Drennan, Maver UKA, Colmic, Maryuku, England U15s, Joseph James Law, Mallory Park, Maver UKB and of course the mighty Maggotdrowners. The teams consisted of some of the best match angling names including Fisho champions, ex-England Internationals, and countless other big match winners. They were taking us seriously!!!!!!!!
I started my match fishing long, I had around 2ft at 12.5m fishing a 6mm pellet, After a couple of minutes I had my first bite, unfortunately it came off on the way back, out again and the same thing happened. Third time lucky and a fish around 4lb, I was off and running. It was fishing hard, I had 3 fish in the first hour for about 10lb.

A switch to the 2 plus two line and a single fish and no more bites. I kept rotating long and short, swapping and changing all tthe time, trying to make something work or at least put a run together, maggot brought a solitary skimmer. I was a little behind in the match and was struggling to keep fish on the hook. I only had around 12 inches of water to fish in and with that sort of depth there is only so much that can be done. In hindsight a smaller float would have worked more effectively. Easy when it is over. Lesson learnt.
After 3 hours I was going nowhere and started to feed the margins with maggot, feeding around 30 or 40 maggots every put in. It was like a switch had clicked on, Regular bites and although I was losing one for every one caught I was putting fish in the net. Young Billy was matching me fish for fish and it was great to see a young man, passionate about his chosen sport. Constantly wanting to learn and asking questions of his mother. Further along I could see Chris Barley catching.
At the all out I had suffered a frustrating day, I had lost more than I landed, a lot of them were foul hooked but I must admit I made a few mistakes along the way, these are the mistakes that seperate us from the gods of our sport, they never seem to blow out.
Our section was won by Chris Barley with 125-10, Ed Warren was second with 102lb and Andy Oldham third with 94lb. My weight of 61-12 was just behind Billy's 66-02 for 9th in my section of 12. Lost fish have cost me but I suppose everyone would be saying the same.
Overall the individual honours went to Guru star Pete Upperton with 186lb from peg 29 on Ash Lake, next to Red leader Dave.
Unfortunately, our woes continued throughout the team, Dave had 74lb for top weight for the maggotdrowners. Trevor had 50lb Clive 36lb and Mark 20+lb including a cracking 16lb carp taken on the pole from the Specimen lake.

Mark with his 16lb carp

On the team front Preston Black Horse won the £1000 prize pot and the prestigious JJL Winners trophy for 2018.narrowly beating Mallory Park.

Adam Rooney with 67lb of carp from Oaks Lake

 Darren Cox with 38lb of immaculate Perch from Oaks Lake

Founder of Joseph James Law , Andrew Settle with 53lb of Carp from Peg 14 Ash Lake

Overall, it has been an amazing day, full of good laughs, fished in the right manner by everyone involved. Special thanks must go to the owners of Alders Farm Fishery for use of the fishery and providing the catering both before and after the event. To all the volunteers and helpers who have given up a day's work to look after us. To Catch More Media and Tom Scholey who has captured the day for posterity. Thanks to Trevor Price, the fisheries go to guy, he knows every peg and gave up his preparation time to make sure every angler had a plan of what,where and how to catch from their peg. 

And finally, to Andrew Settle and his team, without them this event would never happen. They had the foresight to follow an idea, a passion that drives them forward and if such determination is put into your legal services, then your dealings with them can only be fruitful. Bear them in mind when you need legal advice. 

Puddledock Farm Road Lake Marsh AC 08.09.2018

Three weeks have passed since I managed to wet a line, seems like an eternity but family commitments took priority and softened the blow. The weather has changed a bit since my last outing where I was sat in shorts and today I needed to where a hoodie, just to take the edge off.
Mick was driving, so it was a good chance to catch up properly. In fact, it was around junction 28 of the M25 before we spoke about fishing.
We were second to arrive at the fishery, Kevin and Jean were calmly waiting for the cafe to open whilst I popped into the tackle shop on site and grabbed myself another towel, mine was found this morning with a lovely set of mouse holes. Slowly the gathered anglers arrived and full English's were delivered promptly.
Dave had arranged with the fishery that we would have one bank and this suited us, it is only a small club and with other anglers unable to make it, it still allowed us all a bit of room. So with breakfast's out of the way and monies paid, we were all stood around Dave's car awaiting the draw. Simon had brought along his future son in law, Kyle, who was just getting back into fishing. It was agreed that they could fish in adjacent pegs as they would be sharing tackle, Kev and Rod had short walks, Mick had his customary end peg leaving the rest of us to draw for pegs. Mine would be half way up the lake on permanent peg 23. At least I had the Chairman next to me.
I have had a lot of decent results recently fishing pellet and corn, it seems to work well and suits my style of fishing. Today would be no different, I would be feeding 4mm Alders Farm Pellets with a generous mix of corn fed regularly to start the session. I opted for a long line at 12.5m where I had the same depth as fishing at 5m. So a couple of MW floats .19 N Guage to a size 16 KKMB hook, something new to try. I set up one rig on black hydro, the other on orange vespe. A shallow rig for fishing the margin, and a couple of rigs set at 2ft for the right hand edge where it dropped off quite sharply.
I started off quite slowly feeding all my lines with a pole cup before going long and glancing around seeing Mick landing a fish. I could also hear Simon asking Kyle if he had caught one. Personally I did not have anything for around 10 minutes. I was getting small indications on the float and slight adjustments to the float eventually saw a small koi carp about a pound come to the net. A couple of small carp before a 2lb plus fish put in an appearance. After an hour I reckoned on 4 small carp and a couple of koi, another carp around 3lb for a total of 12lb. Apparently I was doing well.
A 30 minute spell slapping brought another couple of small carp but nothing to really stretch the elastic. I had been feeding the 5m line with corn regularly and a bit of pellet, it was time to have a look. First put in on corn and the float buries and a good skimmer around 2lb, next put in another, a better 4lb carp and I was beginning to think hey ho. Still it was short lived and the bigger fish were replaced with small skimmers and koi with odd roach and odd carp thrown in all on the pellet.
I could see Mick was nicking a few fish but they did seem small,still it gave his new pole a run out. Tony had popped down to try to put a curse on me, Simon and Kyle were having a private battle between themselves. Chairman Dave was getting a few fish, and I even mentioned to him that there were plenty of silvers to be had if he wanted them.
I kept on rotating my lines and not staying longer than 30 minutes on each one, something I have been guilty of in the past. I would grab a few fish, then move and start again.
Going into the last hour I reckoned on around 50lb in the net and decided to go down the edges for the last hour. 10 fish later and I was happy, I had fished a good match and felt confident of a frame place.
Mick was first to weigh in and although I had seen him catching a few, they were the only ones he caught. Another end peg wasted and 22-08, Tony was next from his corner peg, a solid performance from the Reverend and 9lb 8oz of silvers to go with 25 -08 for a 35-00 total. Terry slipped 26-12 onto the scales and this was fast becoming the quickest weigh in Marsh AC had ever encountered. Chairman Dave put 17-08 on the scales thanks to 4 late carp. Onto me, my first silvers net went 22-00. I only needed 9 ounces for another MK Nugget off Mick. With him watching on intently my second net went 60-08 for a clear cut section win and more importantly another of Mick's Nuggets.
Kyle was next up and placed a solid 42-00 onto the scales for second place. Simon cut short Kyle's joy though with 43-12 to push him down to third.
Rod chipped in with 5-08 before Kevin finished with 16-12.

Overall

1st Keith Ashby         82-08

2nd Simon Watkins   43-12

3rd Kyle                   42-00

4th Tony Roberts      35-00

5th Terry Goff           26-12

6th Mick Wright        22-08

Overall, the lake did not fish well and to be fair there was a lot of pressure on them, The opposite bank was full and although we had a bit of room the fish did not turn up til late. It was a case of nick  a few and move, nick a few more and move. Still I enjoyed the day, It is always good to fish venues where you need to think about what you are doing. Next stop for me is on Friday on the Joseph James Law match at Alders Farm, a truly great event and plenty of very good anglers to compete against. Again I do not expect any form of result on the day, but I will know I would have enjoyed it.

Keith 9

Mick 5