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.
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