Peartree Lake HLF 02 05 15 Marsh AC

Unfortunately this year I will be unable to fish all of the Marsh AC matches due to other commitments, so for this year I have asked if I can guest on the odd match that I am available for. The first of which was at Hartleylands Farm on Peartree Lake. I have never fished this lake on the complex before and had very little information to go on, but knew that Hartleylands responds to pellet, so armed myself with a mix of 4 and 6mm sinkers with a few 8mm hookers. I also prepared some 6mm expanders and took a couple of tins of my old favourite, corn.
Mick had volunteered to be my chauffeur for the day and due to the amount of time to get there it was an early start 0515 to be precise. Troy would follow us down. Stopping off at the Knoxbridge Café sorted us out with a couple of full English's and a brew.
With our belly's full it was only 10 minutes before we pulled into the car park on the venue. A few of the lads and I took on the duties of pegging it out with the idea of trying to give everyone a feature. The lake has two distinct islands and are reached quite easily with  waggler or feeder tactics, so they were in along with a few decent looking margin pegs.
Back at the draw I was hoping for a peg in the high numbers, I had noticed fish in the area moving around and would settle for pegs 14 to 18. However it was not to be and peg 7 stuck to my mitt. The completely opposite bank from where I fancied, but as it was my first attempt at the lake, I would not know a good peg from a bad one. I did have one problem though. Mick was sat on the next peg, again, this must be the fourth match on the trot we have drawn next to each other, with Troy drawing peg 14.










I decided to set up the method to fish across the gap between the islands, giving it an hour before having a look on the pole. My pole lines were at 12.5m and 5m with a margin line to the left hand side.


After 40 minutes I was still biteless, a few twitches but no pulls. I was trailing both Tony and Mick who were catching slowly but steadily and I needed to change things. Placing the rod up the bank and getting the pole out saw a couple of liners long but still no fish. A switch to 5m feeding pellet and fishing corn over the top saw me catch my first fish after an hour, a 2lb common. By feeding small amounts of pellets regularly and fishing corn I was no getting a few fish at 5m and slowly hauling the gap back. After 3 hours I reckoned on having 40lb before this swim started to drop off. I re-fed the line with a pole cup mix of a dozen grains of corn and half pot of pellet and gave the 12.5m line another go. By pinging 6 pellets every 30 seconds I was now getting a few more fish to compensate for the 5m line being rested. It was not fast and furious but was steady, however, I noticed that if the bait was on the deck for too long I would have to wait for a bite. So I was regularly lifting and dropping the bait.
The Watkins brothers were both catching well and Clive was sneaking a few out. Mick had slowed up, Tony was still catching and Dave Collier was getting a few in the corner on maggot.
Hour 4 and 5 flew by with still odd fish coming to the net. I would get 3 or 4 before they dropped off, but by rotating the pole lines I could get fish coming. A couple of bonus 4lb fish on the 5m line were welcome. The last hour though seemed to switch off everywhere though. Tony was struggling, Mick was struggling and the only angler I saw catching was Simon, who had reverted to fishing the margin line. My margin line would only account for two small commons all day.
Overall
1st Simon Watkins            89-12
2nd Keith Ashby               81-00
3rd Tony Roberts              72-08
4th Clive Pritchard            69-08
5th Jim Boase                    67-00
6th Tony Watkins             59-08


So second overall and a section win. Must admit I thought Tony had done me. Another MK Nugget in the bank to make it 5-0. It was also nice to have a pint afterwards with the chairman who recently celebrated his 65th birthday.

Alders Farm Ash Lake 21 04 15

I enjoy the Tuesday Opens at Alders, there is less fuss and a more go with the flow attitude, everyone gets on (well apart from Madd and Brainy) and pitches in.
Today saw 10 of us on Ash Lake and with good weather predicted I was hopeful of having a few fish. Although I still had to scrape my car windows before leaving. There was still a chill in the air as I pulled up at Alders and after dipping my nets, but getting your gear on a barrow and pushing it along the path to the café soon made me feel comfortable.
With monies all paid in the draw went Ernie on 1, Charlie 2, Mick K 4, Madd 6, Neil 8, Colin 10 before turning the corner and Brainy 14, myself 18 Mick W 19 and Trevor on 21. Some good anglers on good pegs, it was going to be hard to frame today. Still as Madd repeated on more than one occasion " a bad days fishing is still better than a day at work" . I thought he had retired.
I was basing my approach around corn again and thought I would be able to catch close as the breeze was pushing into the dam wall. With this in mind I set up 3 rigs. A margin rig to fish around 2ft from the reeds, a 2+2 line and a 2+3 line with .4g MW diamonds to a size 16 PR36.
I also had a few expanders as a change bait if required and would feed corn and fishery 4mm pellets.
At the all in I cupped a pot of corn and pellet down the edge and threw a dozen grains of corn followed by around 4 or 5 every minute. After 10 minutes I had my first bite a carp around a pound. My next bite came after another 10 minutes and this set the pattern for the first hour, 6 fish for around 8lb in weight, not the start I wanted or expected. Mick had a couple of fish and Trevor was getting a couple by the tree. Colin was get a couple of fish but no one was really pulling away.
Hour 2,3 ,and 4 flew by, I could nick a couple of fish at 5m before it died, go to 6m and the same, back to 5m and nothing, long waits between bites. A switch to 6mm expander again nicked a couple of fish but again it died. It seem as if you caught a couple then they spooked, I tried to the sides to no avail so decided to plug away on the corn in the last hour at 6m. By feeding heavier, I started to get a few fish but then had a couple of foul hookers, In that last hour I reckoned I doubled my weight, just goes to show that if you persevere the rewards can come.
Overall
1st Trevor Price                      162-08
2nd Ernie Waterfall                138-07
3rd Colin Spencer                   108-08
4th Keith Ashby                       95-14
5th Phil Young                         86-08
6th Charlie Lancaster               78-02


Overall not a bad match, It fished hard or is it that our expectations are too high. I managed another MK Nugget from Mick who has claimed he will perform his usual comeback towards the later part of the year. Still I make it 4-0 so far.

Alders Farm Affordable Pines Lake 14 04 15

Today saw me back at Alders Farm, this time on Pines Lake. I liked this lake before the changes at Alders and like it even more since. There are plenty of quality skimmers and decent Tench to back up the carp weights and if your not catching one your catching the other, the float never seems to stop.
There were nine of us booked on and with plenty of room, Richard Brain set about sorting the pegs out whilst I took the money.
Richard drew peg 4 with Mick Wright on 6, Terry Lancaster on 8 and Vic Nugent on 10. He must like that peg. I drew 15 and knew it was all wrong for what I wanted to do ( fish corn my style) Colin and Ernie were on 17 and 19 respectively with Mick Kelly on 21 and ever consistent Charlie Lancaster on 26.
As I stated earlier I did not think the corn method would work today due to lack of depth in this peg, however I would give it a go and see how it went. I spent a little bit longer than usual plumbing around my peg until I could find at least 2ft of water. This was around 2+3 sections and slightly to my left. It deepened off a touch there and this would be were I would concentrate the corn. I also set up a long line at 11m where I had 2ft 6" and would use this to give the main line a rest if needed. A margin line towards the corner completed my rigs.
At the all in I cupped in a pot of 4mm fishery pellets and around 20 grains of corn to 11m and threw a handful of corn down the edge. A couple of grains to 2+3 sections followed by the rig, a shot pause and the float goes and 3lb common was in the net, another couple of grains and a skimmer, more corn and a smaller carp. With an hour gone I had around 10 fish for 20lb and the peg was getting worse, I would have to wait for a bite and it did not matter how I fed it, tight via tosspot, spread by hand, little or a lot, it made no difference and was dying. I decided to try 11m and nicked a couple of fish from here, before having a quick 5 minutes down the edge for no bites. I tried fishing a little closer to no avail and then to the side and snatched another couple of fish. It was now 2 hours in and around 30lb in the net. Vic was catching odd fish at 11m from peg 10 and the word was it was fishing hard except for Colin and Ernie on 17 and 19.
I made a conscious decision to stick at it, I was still picking up odd fish but they seemed to spook easily in the shallow water and back off after a couple, but by persisting I managed to keep the coming. I did have a couple of looks down the edge for 4 fish in total, but again you could see fish in the peg but they were just coming in and not really feeding fish.
I thought I had around a ton at the end and would have to part with a MK Nugget to Vic or Mick who I could not see, and with both admitting to 70lb knew it would be close. However it was not to be.
Overall
1st Colin Spencer               229-04
2nd Keith Ashby                124-13
3rd Richard Brain              108-07
4th Ernie Waterfall              99-01
5th Mick Wright                  98-09
6th Terry Lancaster             97-12
7th Vic Nugent                    97-02
8th Charlie Lancaster          90-14
9th Mike Kelly                    45-06
To be fair it was a close match bar Colin, who really has got to grips with paste fishing, a couple of fish here and there made all the difference. Still I had a nugget off both Vic and Mick and take a 3-0 lead in our little head to head challenge.

Alders Farm Ash Lake 07 04 15

Well it has been a busy start to the year and the fishing has had to take a back seat for a while, but I had booked into the Tuesday open at Alders Farm and managed to coerce Mick into coming along as well. So if nothing else the MK Nugget will be contested.
Arriving early I had already developed a plan of attack and that involved corn, surprise there. I had with me 3 kilos of the stuff and dependant on how it was fishing would expect to use most of it. I also picked up a couple of bags of 4mm fishery pellets as they compliment the corn feed well.
The match itself was to be on the café bank and dam wall of Ash lake with 11 pegs put in for the 10 anglers. Dennis was on peg 2 with Shaun Weed on peg 3, Del Smith had somehow sneaked peg 4 and Colin Spencer making the long trip from Nottingham on 5, Brainy was on 6 with Paul Higgins on 7. Terry Lancaster was on 8 with Trevor Price on 9. Mick was on 10 and" happydays" I was pegged next door on 11. Never a good omen.
However, Trevor had been for a walk and my peg 11 ended up on old 23 by the fallen tree and end peg. What I did not expect though was three pleasure anglers arriving as we were setting up, despite being asked to fish the area opposite the café. "You can tell anglers".
Still undeterred I set about tackling up, a starter line at 2+2 for the corn, another line at 6m slightly past the 2+2 line and down the shelf, and a throw away line at 11m in case I needed a get out of jail line. All were MW Diamonds .3g to a size 16 B911s.
At the all in I potted a half pot of pellet and corn to 11m and threw around a dozen grains to 2+2. I started off on this line and in the first hour managed to net around 12 fish ranging from a pound to 4lb. Still feeding regularly I was slowly putting a weight together, I could see others catching and I was on a par. I was also catching 2 fish to Mick's one so knew I was on course for the Nugget. I suffered my first lull in proceedings with around 3 hours gone, I tried going shorter on a top three and nicked a couple but the fish did not stay, tried just past the line at 6m for another couple of fish before spending 15 minutes at 11m for a single carp, albeit around 6lb.
I heard a rather large crack at this point and looked around to see Mick trying to recoup his pole sections from the water to no avail. However a couple of chucks with his feeder rod managed to snag the line and retrieve the sections and the fish.
I was still feeding the 2+2 line and looked in again and profited from the rest as the fish seemed to respond again, this time to Pineapple Gel It corn, Hour 4 and 5 flew by and although I was catching I felt I was still behind Trevor and Colin. I was now fishing just past my feed in the slightly deeper water and still putting fish in the net but another lull followed with around 45 minutes to go. Luckily it only lasted about 15 minutes before I managed to find them again and catch a few towards the end.
I never touched the tree during the match as I felt the pressure of both myself and the pleasure anglers would push them out to the open water. It just goes to show.

Overall

1st Colin Spencer           219.14

2nd Keith Ashby            171.08

3rd Trevor Price             151.04

4th Richard Brain           140.13

5th Shaun Weed             131.00

6th Del Smith                 127. 07

As we packed up I thought I had fished a good tidy match, I had taken a Nugget off Mick, so that's 2-0 to me so far, but it's a long way to go. Well done to Colin for the first double ton of the year.

Alders Farm Ash Lake 06 03 15

Having to work most weekends and just getting odd days off is not comparable to trying to get to grips with a new water. Before you all say it, Yes, I have fished Ash lake many times before. However, like time, things change. Over the last couple of month's the new owner's have put a lot of time and effort into making the fishery one of the best in the country, for all. They could not do this without the help of a lot of anglers and friends, whose combined efforts are there to see. This was not a whim, but a clear vision of where they see the fishery going into the future. Experts have been consulted and advice taken on board and acted on. Not only have the surroundings changed somewhat but the fish have been given a new lease of life. Moving a lot of the silvers to Pines, removing a lot of the "pasty" sized fish to the Ash lake and placing some of the larger fish from both Pines and Ash to Oaks Lake. This was no mean feat in itself and has caused some more challenges to the family. But I am sure that this obstacle like the lakes themselves will be overcome.
Anyway onto the fishing. I was in need of a days fishing to break up a long week and the only day available to me was on Friday. I planned to meet Vic at the fishery and with day tickets purchased and nets dipped, we were carting our gear down to Ash Lake. We settled into old pegs 36 and 32(  new pegs 27 and 26 I think) with the latter being my home for the session.
I plumbed up a line at 14m to find 2ft and another line at 9m with around 18inches in it. The weather was nice and sunny with a little breeze which at the start caused a few problems fishing long due to the constantly changing shadow on the water. One minute you could see the float next nothing. I switched after around 10 minutes and fished the 9m line in clear water. Using standard expanders I was soon getting a run of fish but was already behind Vic who was catching from the off. I had fed some micros dusted with red atomic with a few grains of corn and was feeding every second fish via a tosspot. This was working well for around an hour when it went quiet. I starting pinging a few pellets and back came the fish.
The light conditions improved and I wanted to try out the corn at 14m. Again trying to gain some information for any matches I would be fishing in the near future and to put some confidence in my angling. I had been feeding it regularly throughout and first put in on the corn the float dipped and a fish was on, slightly larger than the 1+lb fish I was catching at 9m. This spell of activity continued for a couple of hours, I would have to wait a little longer than Vic who was still catching well. I even tried a line at 2+2 for a couple of fish using the 9m rig which was a little overdepth.
At the end of the session I reckoned on having around a conservative 70-80lb whilst Vic had clicked to 52 fish and a ton.
This was only the second time I have fished the "new" Ash lake after being blown off the lake and not adapting to the conditions on the day. Today I made a few changes throughout the session, some worked others didn't but until you try you will never know. I learnt probably more from this session than any of my recent matches.
Finally, Alders Farm have put the effort in for US the anglers, It is no longer the "bagging water" of old, it is a water where you will get what you put in. I reckon you will need 200lb in the summer to win and plenty of decent back up weights for those prepared to work at it. The fish are there, the conditions are ripe for them to grow and will provide good sport for us and future generations.

Alders Farm Pines 17 02 15

After last week's decent result on Pines Lake I was itching to get back and have another go. Pines has changed a fair bit since last year with a lot of skimmers going in to compliment a good head of carp. For company this week were Trevor, Charlie and my nemesis Mick. So the MK Nugget starts here. These really are friendly matches/knock ups call them what you like but it always amazes me why more anglers do not attend.
Still onto today. I drew the same peg as last week 8 and was confident that I would get a few having learnt from last weeks mistakes. Mick was on 4, Trevor on 6 and Charlie on 10.
At the all in I potted a large pot of micros with around 20 grains of the yellow stuff at 14m and did the same at 11m to my left  at 10 o'clock. After an hour I re-fed the lines as I had not had a bite. This seemed to do the trick as I had my first bite just after, a skimmer about a pound. I had no other bites for the next hour and a half. Charlie was struggling but was getting odd bites on maggot over GB whilst Trevor was on around 6 skimmers but was starting to get bites regularly. Mick was still biteless and was going onto the pellet cone.
I decided to try toss potting everything in over the 14m line and this made a difference. I was getting a few bites on the smallest corn I could find in the tub and although I was missing a few I was starting to get a few skimmers. They would then die off and a few carp put in an appearance, making a significant boost to my weight. It seemed like a switch had been turned on as everyone started catching. Mick on the cone, Trevor on his maggot over GB and Charlie was putting together a nice net of skimmers.
I just kept my head down and stayed focused on the 14m line, getting odd fish on both pellet and corn. After all, the real battle is for the nugget and the bragging rites at work.

Overall

1st Trevor Price          43-12

2nd Charlie Lancaster 36-05

3rd Keith Ashby          34-02

4th Mick Wright          30-09

It had fished hard all round until the afternoon when it seemed to come alive. Perhaps it was the cold night leading up to it, the influx of a lot of cold water during the previous day, I don't know but it was the same for everyone so at least it was fair.
I came away with a grin and a nice nugget from Mick, so all was not lost. Mission Accomplished.
Next week is on Ash Lake and with the changes made to the lake it will be interesting to see how it fishes.

Alders Farm Pines Lake 10 02 15

It has been an absolute age since I decided to go fishing. The freezing conditions did not help and I have spent an awful lot of time reading other people's blog's and not writing any of my own. In fact, my gear has been sat in a corner for two month's and has not been touched. I dreaded to think that the couple of pints of maggot and a bait box full of corn were still in the bag but at least I remembered to clear them before my sabbatical.
I had booked into the open at Alders Farm on Pines Lake, a favourite of mine during the summer, and with the skimmers now showing it should be okay for a few bites in winter.
There were not many of us as there was still a little bit of ice in one corner but it would ease me back in gently. Due to the low numbers it was decided to run it as a rover. Vic drew 1st and opted for 10, I drew 2nd and opted for 8, mainly for a chat with Vic if it was fishing poor. Hugh drew 3rd and placed himself on 6. Terry opted for 16 with brother Charlie deciding on 26. Trevor decided on peg 4 as he wanted to "have a play with a few things".
With the fog slowly lifting from the lake and fine, but cloudy conditions forecast I opted to fish 3 lines, my main line at 14m, another shorter line at 7m and a throwaway line down the edge( I would feed it but did not expect to catch as the water is shallow). Bait was corn, expander and some Almond Gel-it. For feed I opted for micros with a handful of 4mm sinking pellets, both fishery supplied.
At the all in I fed a pot of corn and micro onto 14m and a pot of micros with a few 4mm's to 7m. Another half pot of corn and micro down the edge.
I started off fishing at 14m and after around 15minutes I had my first bite, a skimmer around a pound, I was off and running, a couple more followed before a carp around 5lb put in an appearance. With an hour gone I had around 10lb in the net. Hugh was catching well and Terry was catching opposite on 16, Vic was not doing so well towards the shallower end of the lake, he had caught but was trailing.
It was around this time that the ice had decided to move into my peg and stretched across to the island, I tried tapping it but that did not break it so tried to keep it moving through the swim. After 10 minutes I was ice free but it was closing in on Vic. Despite trying to move it towards the very end of the lake and tapping it with a cup to no avail, it was time for the ice-breaker. Unfortunately this worked for a while but disturbed his peg too much.
Hour two and three saw my catch rate improve with a few more carp than skimmers but I felt it was dying so re-fed another pot of micros and corn and switched to 7m. Despite fishing both 7m( half an hour) and the edge( for 5minutes) for no fish, I was soon back out to 14m. I was now end peg on our bank as Vic had had enough and packed up. Hugh was still catching and Terry was plugging away long. Trevor was quiet so I thought he was catching and well Charlie was having a pleasure session on his own on that dam wall.
Hour four and five seemed to go to quick, I was catching a fish regularly but felt that my weight was not improving, if you know what I mean. But at least I was still catching skimmers and odd carp.
At the all out I reckoned on 15lb of skimmers and 40lb of carp. I was surprised to see the scales go round to 73-2.

Overall

1st Hugh Crawford        127-09

2nd Keith Ashby             73-02

3rd Terry Lancaster         56-09

4th Trevor Price               49-14

5th Charlie Lancaster       36-03

6th Vic Nugent                 DNW

A welcome return to fishing and a small brown envelope to match. The bug is back and where shifts allow I will be back on the bank. Mick could not make this week but is planning to start the MK Nugget challenge next week, so that should spur me on. I had better start stocking up on the corn.