Maggotdrowning.com Xmas Fur & Feather 2018 Alders Farm

Way back in September the Admin team at www.maggotdrowning.com stated there was to be Christmas matches at Lindholme Lakes and at Alders Farm. Unfortunately I was working on the first date at Lindholme, but was available for the second of the two matches. With no work hampering my preparation, I was able to concentrate and plan a proper "strategy" for Ash Lake. I had spent some time during the week, setting up rods, both feeder and waggler. These had not seen the light of day since my time at Viaduct earlier in the year.
With Alders being a local venue for me, I was able to set the alarm for a little later than most, but still wanted to get there early. I arrived at the venue nice and relaxed to be met by Trevor and Sophie in the shop chatting away to Dai and Dan, a couple of lads I had not seen in over 10 years, both looked good although Dan has grown a lot since. With bait and breakfast paid it was down to sorting out the tackle and getting down to the cafe.
Slowly but surely, the other site members started to arrive, Red Leader, Pete, Mermaid, Chris, Mickyboy, Len Wade and Boggis all putting in an appearance. With a Full English washed down with a couple of hot mugs of tea, I was set for the day. With the pools paid and a brief agenda of how the day is planned out, it was soon onto the draw.
Both Mick and I discussed where we both fancied to be, me choosing 6,7 or 29, Mick opting for any peg opposite the cafe, 27,28,29 or 30.
Mick puts his hand in and as expected draws peg 29, I cannot believe how consistently well he draws. As for me I go into the bin of dreams and peg 27, a good steady peg and one that I was happy with. I would hope to catch on the tip to start, and later on the pole lines long.
For bait I had a pint of dead reds for feeding on one pole line and a hook-bait for the tip. Three pints of live red maggots treated with some Atomic Cloud, half a bag of fishery micros and a few 6mm hard hook pellets.
I set up a maggot feeder for fishing the island and 2 long pole lines, one .3g the other .5g MW margin floats in case the wind got up. Both were strung shotted on .15 NGuage to a size 16 KPMB .13 hook-length. I also set up another rig to fish 7m in around 2ft of water, I did not expect to catch here as the water was very clear, but you never know. I would regret it if they rocked up and I was not prepared for them.
With the match split into sections, mine consisted of Dan on 21, myself 27, Len Wade on 28, Mick on 29 and Paul on peg 30. At the all in I started off feeding both long pole lines one with dead reds the other with fishery micros. Picking up the maggot feeder I cast out to the island , sunk my line and a few little taps saw a 6oz skimmer in the net. Out again and waited, Pete Morton on peg 3 was into a carp, Linda (Mermaid) was also into her first fish. 10 minutes later and the tip goes round and my first carp was in the net. Another 15 minutes go by and nothing so a quick look on the pole, no bites over any of the 3 lines so it was back onto the tip.

Barry on peg 2

Another carp, after 10 minutes and I was thinking it could possibly be a feeder match. An hour had passed and I had not seen a carp caught on anyone's pole line. That changed when I saw peg 4, Chris land one.

Chris started the ball rolling on the pole line.

The waggler getting done by the feeder

Trevor Price was "getting battered" by Linda off the next peg and was swapping between waggler and long pole.I was waiting longer and longer for a bite, so it was back onto the long pole.
It was obvious the lake had switched off, there was a lot of cold water going into the lake, from the rain clouds above and also from the filtering effects from the other lakes.It was going to be a hard match, but also a fair one.
I managed to nick a few skimmers over the micro line but still had nothing over the maggot line. Re-feeding the maggot line I started to ping a few maggots as well over the top. This seemed to have an effect as I nicked odd carp, along with a couple of bigger skimmers. Again no-one was setting the world alight and it was a case of heads down and keep plugging away. I could hear Mick catching on 29 and could see Dan nicking odd fish on the tip from 21.

Mick concentrating hard

At the all out I had 7 carp for around 25lb plus 7lb of bits and was telling anyone 30lb. Mick was also admitting to 30lb so it would be close for the MK Nugget. Packing up I thought about improvements or would I / should I have done anything different. To be honest, I do not think so. perhaps a method feeder rather than maggot feeder, pole lines generally worked as I expected, the water was very clear, it also seemed that fish moved in and out of the peg, perhaps that was due to the spraying effect of the catapult. Still I felt I had fished a good, tidy match.
Overall
1st Linda    65-12  Peg 7
2nd Pete     47-13  Peg 3
3rd Trev     44-13  Peg 6
4th Dai       42-07  Peg 18
5th Keith    33-08  Peg 27
6th Madd   33-00  Peg 12
7th Mick    32-08  Peg 29
8th Dan      29-12  Peg 21
9th Alan     19-13  Peg 20
10th Chris  17-05  Peg 5
11th Paul    13-02  Peg 30
12th Barry  11-02  Peg 2
13th Len     10-00  Peg 28
14th Dave ( Red Leader) 3-14 Peg 1
Well done to all the framers and section winners. I also managed to pick up a few beers and a couple of bags of pellets as a raffle prize as an added bonus.
I must admit I thoroughly enjoyed the day, the event is about having a laugh and a bit of a sing song where needed. The sound of Pete singing Mariah Carey's "All I want for Christmas" will haunt me all over the festive period. Dave turning a perfectly good method rod into a swingtip rod when a wand was a more suitable tool. Trevor, fishing the waggler and striking as if he was Zorro, Barry, starting to pack up and his tip goes round. Too many to mention.
I was lucky enough to nick another of Mick's shiny new pound coins making the season score.14-6. I am sure he will be gunning for me next year.
With thanks to Peter Morton for use of his photographs from the day.

Oakfield Open 07.11.2018

Again, shift work has got in the way of fishing any of the regular Alders Tuesday matches so with my day off work scheduled for Wednesday, it was off to Oakfield fishery near Aylesbury. They have regular opens on Red Kite Lake, a lake with a good mix of carp and F1s.
Pulling into the car park I could see Mick's car. Sitting in the cafe he was waiting for his turned over eggs breakfast to arrive. Standing in the corner was Storming Norman, always good to see and a genuine nice bloke, who has made friends all over the country. He is back on the road to recovery and was feeling better than he has in the last three years. I am sure everyone wishes him well.
There was 15 of us fishing the match with seven on the far bank and eight on the near side. Alan Foulkes took over the draw as regular organiser Pete Alland would be late. After a chat with Mick, I decided to go into the tumbler first for a change. Peg 35, end peg on the near bank. I would have the wind coming over my shoulder, whilst Mick would have to face the wind with peg 12.
I decided to set up a maggot feeder for fishing towards the bare bank and aerators to my left, a 12m pellet line, a 5m maggot line and an edge line towards peg 34. Bait was 2pints of dead reds, a pint of live ones along with a few 6mm hookers and expanders. Feed wise I also had a bag of fishery micros.
I fed my pole lines to start with and then fished the feeder for around 45 minutes but apart from a couple of liners I had no takers. Bob on the next peg was already into a couple of F1s fishing long. So, I had a look over the 12m with a 6mm expander, a couple of roach and gudgeon but no F1s or carp. At this point I started feeding dead maggots on this line. A look on the 5m line brought me another couple of roach but still no carp. Back onto the feeder for 30 minutes where I had a single 9lb carp tight to the mudline. Then nothing again.
Going back out to 12m, I was now getting a few indications on maggot. A couple of lost fish which felt foul hooked before again dying. 5m line just brought more and more roach or gudgeon, so I decided on fishing the edge in front of the platform. I had around 2ft, a metre away from the platform and concentrated my efforts here. Five maggots impaled on a size 16 KKBM. Feeding regularly via a toss-pot I was again soon getting a few bites but although a few were again foul hooked, a few couple of F1s were hooked in the mouth. Switching to a lighter elastic helped as this was far more forgiving.
At the end I weighed in 30lb for nowhere, still enough to take a MK Nugget off Mick, who weighed in 22lb from his peg on the opposite bank.Richard ives won the match with 75lb with Bob ??? second with 69lb. A couple of 40lb weights were recorded but overall the lake fished well on the near side bank in the middle of the lake. The corners and far bank struggled.
Keith 13
Mick 6.

Alders Farm Ash Lake 30.10.2018

With the cold weather looming, it will soon be the time to put the gear into hibernation.for a couple of months. I have done my time breaking ice and with ageing years and bones, I must say it is not something I enjoy. Still we are not quite there yet and although the weather forecast was sunny but cold, I was happy. Overnight there was no sign of the frosts that greeted me getting into my car after a night shift.
Mick and I were both in attendance along with a few regular faces, a few visitors practising for the upcoming winter league and a few new faces, well new to me.
With our monies paid and the whole lake to go at, Trevor set about spreading the anglers out as best as he could, trying to give everyone a bit of room. Mick was in his customary position towards the front of the queue whilst I slipped in unnoticed at the back. Peg 2 was to be my home. A good summer peg with the cafe wall and reed beds to go at, but in winter I have always found fishing long to be more beneficial. Mick was still drawing flyers in the shape of peg 8, a good peg with decent depth close in.
My plan was a simple one. two rigs for 10 and 2 o'clock one for pellet, the other maggot, scaling down to .13 hooklengths and size 16 or 18 KKMB hooks, Both using .3 MW Steadies. Black hydro completing the set up. I did the same at 5m, plumbing up lines at 10 and 2, the same as long. Still on this line I would throw back but on the longer lines everything would go in via a tosspot. Feed wise I had 3 pints of maggot, 2 pints of fishery 4mms and around a pint of fishery micros. Hookbaits would be 4 and 6mm expanders, maggot or 6mm hard pellet if the fish were having it.
At the all in I went out to 12m at 2o'clock and the float stood still, nothing was coming from the pellet line, lifting a dropping a 4mm expander saw a small indication on the float but the float did not go under. Bringing the rig back in I added another shot and greased up the bristle to hold in the surface tension. Back out and the float buried after a 5 minute wait. A 6oz skimmer being the culprit. Out again and nothing, so re-fed the line with half a small pot of micros.
Moving to the 10 o'clock line with maggot saw a procession of small perch and odd skimmers.I was now feeding via a tosspot on this line and adding a pinch of micros to each pot of maggot. Feeding needed to be regular to keep bites coming and after an hour I had my first carp to go with a few silvers. However, whilst placing the fish in the net I glimpsed up and saw Mick playing a fish.
For the next hour I kept switching between the two long lines for another couple of maggot fish. Hour three saw me having a couple of looks at 5m, I had been feeding it regularly, both by hand and accidently shipping out to the long lines. Only 1 bite on a 6mm expander but no fish within 30 minutes so I binned the lines,deciding to stick to 12m. Hour four and five saw me catching well on maggot over the micros and I felt that the fish had finally arrived, too late to do any damage, but still I was catching and learning.
Realistically I must admit that I probably had 20lb after three hours but doubled that towards the end.
Overall
1st Trevor Price     99-05
2nd Peter Archer   93-05
3rd Sean Wain       88-06
My weight of 65-11 was not too far off the pace, ifs, buts and maybes but was still a days fishing. I also managed to secure another MK Nugget off Mick as his flyer peg was only good for 48lb.
Keith 12
Mick 6

Marsh AC Puddledock Islands Lake 20.10.2018

Like most good things, there must be an end and today was the last of the Marsh AC matches for 2018. The club predominantly having club matches from the end of March through to October leaving a few months for recuperation, a spot of predator fishing, winter leagues or a dabble on the rivers.
I had been doing well this year despite not fishing all of the matches,.I was in front by a couple of points from my Nemesis, Mick. Yet still felt that the match was mine to lose rather than win. All I needed was to beat Mick and the overall title was mine.
Seeing as Puddledock Fishery is only 70 miles away we were able to leave Mick's house around 0615 for the relatively short trip along the M1 and M25 motorways. The cafe was just opening on arrival and with a couple of full English Breakfasts ordered we sat down and pondered the day ahead. Some of the lads popped into the tackle shop for advice, whilst I had a plan which consisted of micros, maggot and 4mm expanders. The target fish were small stockies around the 1lb mark. Islands Lake is a water we had never fished before and an ideal way to end a season.

Lots of little islands give the lake it's name.

Strangely enough, things tended to run smoothly for a change, perhaps it was Tony's near perfect delivery of organised chaos, details were taken, monies collected and the rules spoken with such calmness and clarity. Mick had drawn peg 9 and I as always hung back and allowed everyone else to have a go in the bag of dreams before plunging my paw and pulling peg 8. Typical, but not so bad. I could keep an eye on Mick, as he could me, but we were also on different banks. We both had the corner of an island around 25m away which was a comfortable lob, but as i did not bring a rod with me I did not even consider it.

Yours truly

I had my plan and was going to stick at it. Maggots, down the edge in a foot of water, maggot and micros at top 4 in around 2ft of water and expanders or 6mm Hard Pellet at 11m. I did plumb up all the way to 14.5m but found a small dip at 11m where it added another 3 or 4 inches to the depth. Feeding for this line was micros with a couple of 4mm sinkers. All feeding would be via a tosspot and not thrown. Considering the cool nights and slow warmth throughout the day's I wanted to try to concentrate fish tightly, as I was only expecting odd bites throughout.
Tony had drawn Peg 1, a peg which screamed fish, a small island at around 7m and some open water and good looking edges. Gino had a bank of reeds to go at across on the tip and looked lovely in the winter sun.

Tony's flyer or too many options!!!!!!

At the all in I started feeding my lines with a small pot of micros and either maggots or a couple of expanders added to the mix line dependant. It was slow but I started getting a few indications at 11m and after 10 minutes I had a small stocky in the net for around 10 oz. At least I was off and running. Clive on peg 10 had started on the method and went off like a train.with 5 fish in the first hour. I had nicked another couple of small fish with a couple of roach and had around 3lb in the first 60 minutes. The second and third hour saw me switch to the top four line with maggots but just one bite for a 2lb bonus fish. Swapping between expanders and 6mm hard pellets I kept on putting odd fish in the keepnet. Mick had pinched a couple of fish from the corner of the island and was steadily building a weight. Neither of us were setting the world alight but we were catching. I could see Simon catching well on peg 5, Clive had stopped catching on the tip and was now fishing the pole.

Looking forward and happy with his peg, Gino

John struggled throughout but kept smiling

Kyle, feeling unwell decided to go to the cafe and get a  sugary drink, next thing we know was he was beinghauled out of the lake after walking into it. Thank you to the staff and owners of the fishery who kindly driedhis gear off and looked after him getting him back on his feet, whilst we knew nothing of his escapades. 

I could not see anyone really setting the world alight and I was just ahead of those around me and still catching so kept on plugging away in hour four adding a few better fish to around 3lb. I now estimated I had around 28lb. However the last couple of hours simply dried up, I had two bites and two fish both from the 11m expander line. Mick was now getting a few fish from the end of his keepnets on maggot, but love or try I could not get the fish to come so close throughout the match.

Overall

1st Gino Exell         34.08

2nd Keith Ashby    33.00

3rd Simon Watkins 28.08

4th Mick Wright     20.08

5th Tony Roberts   14.00

5th Clive Pritchard 14.00

Overall the lake, I think fished as expected, I said at the off that 30lb would be a good weight and knew the cool temperatures and colder nights coupled with shallow water would have an effect on the fishing. I was lucky enough to come second by switching lines regularly and working to a plan. Mick ended up giving me another MK Nugget. 

I was also successful in the Marsh AC league competition winning both the all matches count league by 4 points from Mick and also the drop 2 matches league by 13 points from Simon.

Well that's it for this year on the Marsh AC front. I will know turn my attention to fishing a few matches at Alders Farm and Oakfield to fix my fishing habit throughout the winter.

Keith 11

Mick 6

Marsh AC Hartleylands Res 06.10.2018

The Marsh AC season of club matches are coming to an end, the weather is starting to turn and with the dark nights getting earlier and earlier, it is starting to feel wintry. Today's match was at Hartleylands Reservoir at Cranbrook, Kent and with that means an early start. Mick picked me up at 0500 for the two and a half hour trip to the venue, although it does mean we get to sample the delights of the Knoxbridge Cafe. After Alders Farm, one of the best breakfasts I have had the pleasure to devour.
As I said earlier the nights are drawing in and although we could still maintain our six hour matches, it is very much dependant on the fishery. After speaking with the bailiff to confirm all the rules we were happy. Scales for the larger fish were scattered around the lake, hooking mats for those that required them, no need for a mid match weigh in as we were showing "a level of responsibility" with our plans.It does the club proud the fact that fisheries will welcome us back each year knowing that the fishery and its rules will be respected throughout our stay.
A good turnout (15) today for the reservoir match saw Mick pushing his way to the front of the queue whilst I was holding back and letting every one else go in first. One day a flyer will be left in the bag for me.

Mick with his secret ingredients.

But alas, Mick, Gino, Chris and Simon occupied my perception of the better pegs. I decided that the Reverend Tony Roberts was a danger man, not to the fish but to himself, he had drawn the same peg as last year where he struggled his way to 40lb. Someone said he had brought a rope with him and with plenty of trees surrounding the lake, I made sure to fish a line where I could see him.

The Reverend contemplating happier moments

My peg 16 was one of those where, nothing really happens and then you get a short burst of fish then nothing again. I had a plan to fish 5m in the deep water around 4ft at 10am and 2pm feeding 4mm pellet one side and nothing the other. I would also have a line down both edges on a top three for maggot on the right and pellet left. I did want to fish the pellet waggler to the middle but decided at the last minute to leave them at home, mistake, it looked perfect for the waggler, a little ripple in the middle of the lake with fish topping all over.
At the all in I put a large pot of 4mm sinkers onto the top four line and a pot of maggot down both edges. Starting off on the no feed line I had a couple of six ounce roach to start off with, lifting and droping a 6mm hard pellet. A switch to an 8mm saw my first carp after around twenty minutes, a crisp common around 6lb. Nothing was forthcoming so I switched over to the fed line and again lifting and dropping a 6mm woould only see a couple of pound skimmers and roach whereas an 8mm saw a couple of small 3lb carp.

Terry ready for the off

Gino was going well with a couple of weighers but he felt the Simon was emptying the lake opposite him on peg 1. I could see Mick catching well, fishing the margins and the willow tree. Jim Etherington, a guest of the club was also catching well on the bomb with popped up bread over his pole lines.
I had been fishing top four lines for three hours and had around 30lb including some silvers and felt it was time for the edges, A look down to the left saw a couple of small roach and perch fall to 5 maggots on a size 14, the right hand edge, again started off with roach and perch before the float buried and a good common around 8lb was gracing my landing net. Feeding a pot of maggot after each fish and lifting and dropping a bait was working, I was picking off odd carp in amongst the roach and perch, the only downside being that time was running out.
At the all out I had nicked six fish from the edge for around another 30lb to add to the earlier 30lb and a few silvers.
Asking around, Tony was admitting to another 40lb weight, Gino was revelling in his 45lb weight and was planning on how he was going to spend his section winnings. I must admit I may have been responsible for this as I did tell him I had around 30lb, but watching a grown man fist pump a weight in fishing did make me laugh.
Still the scales do not lie, said weight watchers. Gino was first up and an impressive 55lb Rod had struggled all day to place a couple of pound onto the scales. I put 13 pound of silvers on the sheet before place 59lb of carp for a total of 72lb 12oz. Tony had left his rope in his bag and had worked hard for 44-08. Jim had down the business and walked the section with 108lb, a mix of bread caught bomb fish and a few on the pole. Dave was a bit hemmed in on his peg but still managed 38lb with Roger adding 18lb to the scales sheet.

Chris trendsetting again

On the other bank Mick was first to weigh in and placed a solid 100 - 04 on the board for the section win with Chris on the other side of the willow adding 56lb of waggler fish. Jim had caught well with a solid 70lb with Garry chipping in with a couple of weighers, already on the board and a few silvers for 23-05. Clive was in the corner and chipped in with 48lb before we got to John. Four fish on the board for 40lb plus 51lb in the net would see John leap into 3rd place. Terry weighed 52lb with Simon jumping into 4th place with 83lb of pole and waggler fish.

Simon on his way to 4th overall

Overall 

1st Jim Etherington 108-00

2nd Mick Wright 100-04

3rd John Holdsworth 91-04

4th Simon Watkins 83-00

5th Keith Ashby 72-12

6th Jim Boase 70-08. 

Overall, I went with a plan and felt that with better control on my part it would have worked better. I felt afterwards that potting maggots and feeding via a toss pot would have improved things, hindsight.

The longer line went as i expected really but perhaps more time trying to find a level area within the peg would have been better, rather than trying to get the float to sit right on the slope.
Well done to all the Section Winners.  

Mick had fished a good match from a good peg, but it was good to see him back to winning ways, even if it did cost me a MK Nugget.

Mick 6 

Keith 10.

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.