Joseph James Law Match Alders Farm 27.09.2019

Joseph James Law are a forward thinking team of solicitors and support staff who are changing the way our sport is portrayed. Putting their own money and time into supporting every aspect from grass roots to the England Ladies on a world level. The commitment they have shown over a period of time, shows the effort they put into your legal affairs. Already number one in the claims business for flight delays, they are moving into the realms of criminal law.

Four years on, and a match planned for Alders Farm Fishery, across the whole complex. A team event, with some of the best anglers in the country, anglers who have competed in some of the biggest matches in our sport. Oh and me. This was a team event and the maggotdrowning.com forum with assistance from BobCo Tackle had been invited to partake in the day. Along with teams from:

Preston Innovations

Joseph James Law

Guru

Garbolino

Maver

The Army

England U15s

England Ladies

The Pellet Guys

Four Lane Enders

Mallory Park

Our team consisted of Alex Akal, Nick Pringle, Dave Webster, Kevin Arathoon and myself. Pete Morton would act as captain for the day with Barry Testro, bank runner in case we needed to get information to others in the team. Alex and Nick would be on Ash Lake, Myself and Kevin on Pines, with Dave taking on the might of Oaks Lake and its resident specimen fish.

After a rather messy egg and bacon roll and a mug of tea, supplied by the team at Alders Farm, It was onto drawing for the all important pegs for the day. Captain Pete steps up and takes a ball from each of the five bins on show. Returning to the team, the enormity of his actions kick in and informing those around him of his peg selections. Alex 18 Ash, Nick 30 Ash, both good pegs. Dave peg 10 on Oaks, another good peg with an island chuck as an added bonus. Kevin peg 3, possibly just out of some of the better pegs, myself peg 15, unknown to me, as it is not normally included in the fishery matches. 

Peg 15 Pines

My plan was to fish three lines, top 3, top four and 12m both up and down. Bait 6mm hard pellet, corn, maggot and a few expander pellets.For feeding I had a bag of fishery 4mms and micro pellets both dampened down.

For company I had Lee Cox fishing for Maver and Will Reynolds from Guru, both very good anglers. I started off on the top 3 line fishing corn, this has quite often got me a few fish on this lake at the start of a match, and today was no different 2 quick fish before it went off, a switch to hard pellet over the same line again proved fruitless. Moving out to top 4 and a couple of pellet fish, but again it was very slow. Trying a soft expander also did nothing to improve things.

Lee next door on 14 had lost a couple of fish but was now catching silvers to put something in the net. Will had a few fishing the little island on the tip and was now going shallow. I could see odd fish being caught and from the look of it they were all shallow fishing. 

Will Reynolds Peg 16 Pines

Picking up me shallow rig and flicking it over around 20 times before I had my first fish on the shallow rig, out again and another, happy days two in two, but no, it was not meant to be. Another 20 times and another dip on the float indicated a liner, shallow up and out again and flick, flick, flick, bury. I was making some good decisions but the fish did not seem to be there in any numbers, Those either side of me and Lee were catching on the islands, the top end of the lake was catching with the wind blowing in. Even on the opposite bank I could see them struggling to put a run of fish together.

I persevered on the shallow rig until the last hour. I had started feeding maggot onto the top 3 line and with the wind and rain I decided to give it a go. More in hope the expectation. Lo and behold the float dipped and a carp, followed by another and another. Why did I not do this earlier? Five maggots on a size 16 KKMB seemed to doing the trick and although there was a few barren spells it was the most productive part of the session.

At the all out and packing up the heavens opened and the deluge completely drenched my already wet kit. My sett of waterproofs stood up to the test and proved a worthwhile investment. 

Such is the organisational skills of the JJL event team, the support staff were already on the scales on coming around. Both Lee and I knew we had not done well in the section, but we also felt the fish were not there in any numbers. Lee weighing in 30lb to my 54lb. This put me 9th in the section of 12. Not what I had hoped for, but from a poor peg, I could not compete with the islands. Will winning the section with 118lb and the England U15 angler, Josh Newman placing 83lb on the other island.

Kevin had fared even worse in his section 41lb and unfortunately last in section.

Over on Oaks Lake Dave ( Red Leader) had fished a blinder and despite a discussion with the scales people ended up with 46lb for 4th on the lake, an excellent performance.

Alex had secured 8 points from his peg 18 with a creditable 94lb, such were the weights in his section. Nick was left feeling frustrated from peg 30, 108lb for 5th in section and a tale of foul hookers and smashed rigs, similar to my match on the Tuesday prior to the event. Our performances left us feeling a little deflated at the end. We had a feeling of letting everyone down, the members at maggotdrowning,com and BobCo tackle who kindly supported us throughout the match. A couple of points gained would have seen a massive climb up the table. 

Overall the Team event saw Preston Innovations win for the second year running, 

Garbolino running the them close with the team from Joseph James Law coming home in third place. Our team coming  home in 10th place.

Individually, Grant Albutt rounding off a great performance to win with 180lb.

Grant Albutt Putting 180lb in the net

This is the fourth year of the event and the profile of this sort of corporate event is growing each year. Andrew Settle, the managing director and owner of JJL and his team have worked hard on this project. If you needed any legal assistance, the effort put into this event shows what they are capable of. From greeting us at the top of the hill, laying on breakfast rolls and hot cups of tea prior to the draw, arranging the team captains and taking team photos, arranging for a professional video company to record the days events, coming around with drinks and snacks mid match, organising the scalesmen and ladies, collating the results and laying on an after match buffet. Excellent service and there for you. 

A very nice gesture was to award Andrew Settle with a trophy from the England Ladies team that they had won in South Africa in recognition of the past and continuing support shown by JJL.

England Ladies Presenting an Award to Andrew Settle

Well done and many thanks must also go to the Monk family who not only provided the fishery, cooked the breakfast's worked in the shop and took time off work to support all of this. Trevor Price for being Trevor Price, nothing too much trouble. To all of the unsung heroes, the captains and bank runners, Thank You.

I must also send many thanks to all the supporters of maggotdrowning.com and to BobCo tackle, helping out with clothing, bait and pools money is really appreciated.For a website based to be considered for such an event is a credit to us all, the site is held in high regard by the angling community Many thanks and MDs will be back next year.

Please note some photos used in the report were taken by Tom Scholey at Catch More Media

Alders Farm Open Pines Lake 22.09.2019

As I have been asked to represent Maggotdrowning.com in the forthcoming Joseph James Law fishing event on the 27th September it was time for a practice session. I had been on the previous Friday and had caught well fishing corn and hard pellet on peg 18. My good friend Vic fished on peg 17 slightly differently to with expanders and hard pellets for a similar catch around 100lb each.
Today would see how the lake fishes with a lot more anglers on it, in the JJL match every peg bar one will be in and there will be good pegs and poorer ones. I was going with a similar plan to the Friday, fish corn on top four and hard 6mm pellet further out. The weather was planned to turn worse throughout the day with plenty of rain forecast.
Getting to the venue nice and early, ensuring the nets are dipped and collected ( I leave my keepnets on site). I ordered breakfast and loaded up the barrow ready for the walk up to the lake. Walking past both Ash and Oak lakes I noticed it was flat calm, whereas the wind was gently blowing left to right on Pines Lake, possibly as it was higher up. Breakfast done and a chat with fellow team mate Nick Pringle about the forthcoming match and the Friday JJL match. A few others were also using it as a practice match. With 17 anglers on the match it would be a good test of how it would fish on the day.
At the draw, I went in and peg 1, happy with that as it generally has a good edge to both left and right. Although the left more dominant edge is the wrong way round for me as it means holding the pole across my body.The right hand edge did look nice though. I set up a corn line at 5m, a long line at 11m to the right side for fishing 4mm and 6mm hard pellet., another 11m line to the left where I would feed micros and fish expanders. A shallow rig completed my set up.
At the all in I cupped in some feed onto my two long lines, a medium pot of micros to the left and 4mms to the right, both fishery pellets dampened down.On the near 5m line I simply threw a dozen grains of corn and around 20 4mm pellets.Going over it with a grain of corn and the float dips and fish on after approximately 30 seconds. Just the start I wanted. Back out and a few dips but nothing connecting, taking two inches off the rig and another carp.No more fish, which was slightly disappointing, but I would still feed it and come back to it later. Going to the 11m right hand line, again saw a couple of fish on the deck before it again went a bit iffy and proper bites harder to come by. A try on the 11m left line fed with micros, did not have a bite all match despite trying it a couple of times.
A move to the shallow rig feeding 4mm sinkers 3 or 4 at a time picked off 5 or 6 carp to around 4lb, before this line also died once the rain started. Going down the right hand edge to the reeds and feeding around a dozen 4mms and fishing a 6mm hard pellet saw my most productive spell. Around a dozen carp to 5lb, smashing and crashing through the reed beds and having to drag them out, even with tightened orange vespe.
I could see Nick struggling fish long and shallow on peg 24 but the angler on 25 was getting a few fish down the edge towards the corner and shallow, swapping between the two.Steve Johnson on 22 started off well fishing pellets short and moving along the edge later in the match. Over on peg 19 and 18 were having a peg to peg battle. Word was though that Mark Griffith was having a day to remember with plenty of fish coming to his long shallow and maggot top kit tactics. Richard Farrow and Lee's Cox and Wilsonwere all enjoying the rewards of  pegs 5 to 8.
At the all out I felt I had got it nearly right, 94lb for nowhere. I had caught on pellet and felt I had wasted too much time on the deck, a far better approach would have been shallow for the start of the match followed by a pellet edge and a maggot line in front of my keepnets. Lesson learnt and will be prepared for the JJL match where 90lb would get good points.
Well done to Mark Griffith on the win with 215lb, well ahead of Lee Wilson's 165 and Rich Farrow's 159.

Next match is the Tuesday Costcutter at Alders Farm. Not sure which lake.

Marsh AC Puddledock Farm Road Lake 21.09.2019

Sorry its a bit late but have been practising for a match to come on Friday. Our latest adventure in the Marsh AC catalogue of disasters was a match on Road Lake at Puddledock Farm. I have good memories of this lake, having won a couple of matches on there with between 60 and 90lb, so although not expecting a bagging session, I was hopeful of a few fish.
No Mick for this match as he is still recuperating. However, it was good to see Kris again, who finally got a day off from rebuilding his house. Also in attendance was his son, venturing out in his first match.
A nice steady trip to the venue and I was surprised to see no one else in the car park when I arrived. I was early as the cafe did not open for another 20 minutes, so some time in the on site tackle shop was required. A few other members arrived and after all ordering breakfasts it was time to catch up. Dave finally arrived and armed with the pools list it seemed there would be 13 of us in total.
Kris and his son would be pegged next to each other, to help junior out as much as possible.The rest of us had an open draw. Clive had drawn the peg, I had won from previously, but I fancied any peg along the straight to do well.

Clive P 

The only stumbling block would be if the wind picked up. My draw was peg 19, not the place I wanted to be, top end of the lake, hardly any ripple. For company I had Foxy and Simon on 20 and 17 respectively. Josh was on 16 and second in the league up to now, so would be more than capable.

A rare shot of Josh on the bank

Simon, as always well prepared

I set up rigs to cover 12m, both up and down. A rig for 5m and a couple of margin rigs, one under the tree in 2ft of water and another to the left with 12inches.

Home for the day

Bait would be 4mm Alders feed pellets dampened down. Hook baits were either 6mm or 8mm hard pellets and a tin of corn, left over from the Friday.
At the all in I cupped in on my 5m and 12m lines a pot of 4mm pellets with a few grains of corn. Going out to 12m with a banded 8mm saw a static float. Lifting and dropping the float a couple of inches, did nothing to improve matters. Simon had started across to the island and was soon into fish on the method, only small fish but fish nevertheless. Josh had snared a carp on his short line, but neither Foxy or myself had had a bite.
A switch to 5m and nothing. A look down both edges, nothing. Pick up a shallow rig, ping a few 4mms over the top and after 90 minutes I get my first bite only to lose it on the way back. Foxy had switched to the pellet feeder and was getting a few fish tight to the island. So tight he was landing the feeder on the island and dragging it off, PLOP. and round it went. Simon was the only one catching on the pole line, Foxy on the tip, Clive and Chris furter down were catching odd fish.

Chris was hopeful of a few

I decided to concentrate on the deck long, re-plumbing up, adding a toss pot to the pole and feeding more regularly and in a tighter area. This seemed to work as I was getting a few indications, mainly from silvers picking away at the 8mm hard pellet but after 3 hours, a positive bite resulted in a stumpy 3lb common. Out again and the little indications continued, before it goes under again and another carp of around 6lb was in the net. I felt the elastics were a bit tight playing this fish so swapped it for a black hydro kit.
I had heard Josh and Simon talking and they reckoned on 5lb and 14lb each, Foxy had around 10 fish between 2 and 3lb each for 28lb but it was slowing down for him. I was getting signs of fish so a late run of fish could boost me up the section. I managed another 4 fish and a small orfe before the end of the match all on an 8mm pellet. Chris had fished well and despite a late surge from the Chairman managed to hold him off.

Chairman Dave with a rod!!!!!

In hindsight I think perhaps a switch to expander would have got more fish, but perhaps not the size. Definitely fishing a tip rod to the island, would have got a few extra fish as I had a nice cut out opposite, but I do not enjoy fishing the tip, even if it cost me in the end.I would much sooner struggle and try to make it work than fish a method I do not enjoy.

Overall

1st Chris Thomas          65-08

2nd Dave Collier          48-00

3rd Mark Fox              34-04

4th Keith Ashby           29-08

5th Jim Boase              26-12

6th Clive Pritchard       21-08

6th Chris Withall          21-08

Well done to all the framers and section winners, Jim Mark and Chris T. At the time of writing I have not seen the league tables but Josh not weighing in and leaving a trail of dust behind him will affect the top of the leaderboard.
My next match is on Tuesday at Alders Farm, again a practice for the JJL match on Friday 27th September. My next club match is one I am really looking forward to, Southend Farm on the 5th October.

Marsh AC Colemans Cottage Stepfield 31.08.2019

It's the end of an era, Marsh AC were attending their final match at Coleman's Cottage. It has had its highs and lows for yours truly but over the years I have grown to like it. Gerry and Jayne have been fully supportive of our club's endeavours. Hosting Kev's 50th a few years back, John has his annual fish in with his extended family and generally good times have been had by all. But it all must come to an end, turning the lakes into a members only complex and freeing up valuable time for the owners.
I travelled the 90 miles to Witham without Mick, who was still recuperating. Kris and Troy were still away and I was looking forward to fishing Stepfield Lake. We had fished it before and I have done alright without setting any records. I found that it was either shallow across or down the edges.
No headaches on the motorways, allowed me to make good time and pulling into the car park I was not the first to arrive. Gino, Chris, Josh  and Terry were already awaiting full English Breakfasts being busily prepared in the adjacent kitchen. With my order placed and a mug of tea in hand, we were soon reminiscing of times gone by.
A quick chat with Gerry said which lake we were on and how it had been fishing. The locals catching well in excess of 200lbs. This would not happen unless the right angler was on the right peg. Draw time saw peg 22 stick to me mitt. Very close to where I was last year. Walking back to the car and unloading the tackle I was surprised to see everyone driving past to a different Stepfield. A few words were passed and the confusion of the "Stepfields" was resolved with a lot of returning cars.
My peg looked no different to any of the other pegs on the lake,with the exception of 8 and 10 either side of the bush in the corner. A noted flyer. I would need to fish well and stay focused on what I was doing. I set up a couple of rigs for 11m due to the wind, 5m and 4m coupled with a shallow slapping rig. I also wanted to fish the margins but with only around 8 inches of depth I was sceptical. However, a carp coming in and searching for food prior to the kick off made my mind up to set up either side on top threes.
My plan was to fish 8mm pellets everywhere in the peg but hardly feed anything. My thought process was the fish were already in the margins looking for food and I did not want too many fish in the peg, instead just fishing and catching one at a time, feed then switch sides and repeat.
I had Terry,on end peg and Tony either side of me, with dangermen Josh and Tony a couple further down. At the all in, I cupped in on the longer lines and seeing a fish in the right margin, threw three 6mm pellets in and waited. A minute later the float dipped and fish number one was on and a 3lb common was soon gracing the fishery supplied nets. Three more pellets and out again, same thing happens, things were looking good. Terry was into his first fish. After three fish, I had fed around 15 pellets and could see fish milling around looking for food. A switch to the left hand side, this time feeding 8mm pellets to see if there was any difference to catch rate or size of fish.Still feeding 3 pellets at a time, After an hour I reckoned on having around 30lb and was going fish for fish with Terry from what I could see. Every time I was facing him he was catching steadily. Tony however was struggling to put a run together, he had lots of fish in his peg and was foul hooking fish regularly. I could see further down the straight and Tony was putting fish in the net but I could not see Josh.
With regular feeding and keeping it tight I was able to keep drawing odd fish into the swim and have a back up margin line should one go quiet. After three hours I reached for an additional net, thinking I was close to the net limits. At this point my landing net thread came away from the plastic shroud of the frame of the net. No amount of pushing it back it worked. I looked for some electrical tape but nothing. So I just took my time netting fish, using the net similarly to a trout angler would with his tennis racket net. It was funny to see.
It was only after the match Terry says I have some electrical tape!!!!!!
Still I was catching, fish between 1 and 3lb with the odd five pounder thrown in and felt a steady ton was on the cards despite all my frustrations.
At the all out I had fished a tidy match, considering. I was happy and felt the only thing I would have done differently is catch bigger fish, but we have no say over that. Packing up and walking back it was interesting to see all the Pinocchio's trying to get their stories together. Best one was a certain person claiming 45lb and doubling it.
A lot of the stories revolved around having too many fish in their pegs and they could not catch them, on interrogation it pans out they had all fed pots of bait at the start and this drew in lots of fish, churning up the shallow water and foul hookers as a result. My softly softly approach worked out fine.
Overall
1st Keith Ashby      138-08
2nd Josh Donovan   94-00
3rd Tony Roberts    87-00
4th Terry Goff         77-00
5th Gino Exell         76-08
6th Jim Boase         69-08
Well done to all the framers and section winners and looking forward to Puddledock Road Lake in a couple of weeks.