Double Header this week and one more still to come. Having been stood down on my shifts on the Saturday and Sunday, I thought it would be a shame to waste it by doing house stuff. instead a couple of days fishing was in order. The first was a pleasure day on Warren Pool at Meadowlands Fishery near Coventry.
I had never fished this pool before so could not tell one peg from another, but with three of us we settled into 25, 24 and 23. Vic took 25, myself 24 and Pete 23.
Vic had set up a small method feeder and long pole, whilst I opted for the long pole and margins, Pete was on long pole and also set up a standard waggler. Pete was first into some fish, small perch and odd skimmers, whilst I opted to feed 4mm fishery pellets and fish a 6mm over the top. This worked and I was picking up small skimmers. A switch to a banded 8mm saw a few larger skimmers and a couple of carp around the 14lb mark. I found I could catch on a 6mm but only odd skimmers. In hindsight I should have fished more positively for the carp as I foulhooked a couple and I was sure there were a few in the peg. I tried the margins on and off throughout the session and it was only later in the day that a few fish showed with me catching another couple of carp. Vic had a couple of carp and lost just as many from his long line. Pete had one carp that must of gone 20lb and another late on that was just as big.
Overall, I enjoyed the day out and catch up with some good friends.
Sunday saw me guesting for the Pringles team in the Drennan Alders Farm Winter League. Not having a preference to which lake I fished, I was handed peg 24 on Pines, not a good area unless it was blowing in to the bank. The reason for this is the depth. At 5m I had a good 4ft and going out to 11m it was 6ft and still sloping off. I set up a rig to fish at 5m, 11m and a shallow rig. I also set up a couple of margin rigs just in case. My plan if you can call it that was to fish corn at 5m, pellet at 11m both up and down in the water, corn to the left hand margin and maggot over GB to the right edge.
At the all in I cupped a small pot of pellet onto both the outside swims and cupped in a half pot of corn to the left hand edge. I threw a handful of maggot to the left and a small pot of GB. Starting off at 5m I drip fed some corn in regularly to try to draw a few fish in. After 10 minutes I had my first fish of around 3lb.At least I was off and running. With no more bites forthcoming I switched to 11m and tried the deck rig. A couple of missed bites for nothing. Onto the shallow rig and second put in and another carp. 2 fish in the first hour. Not good.
It was fishing hard in our corner of the lake, Pete Brand on 23 was nicking odd fish but they looked smaller, Gary Toole on 25 was also struggling with a couple of fish. For the next two hours I kept rotating the lines in the hope that one of them would come good, alas with only another couple of fish to show for it I was pinning all my hopes that the maggot line down the edge would come alive in the last hour. I had been feeding it regularly and decided to cup in a full pot and sit over it. Within 10 minutes there were tail patterns and a bite. Just got to keep them coming. To cut a long story short I had 6 fish from this line. Maybe I should have fished it earlier. Maybe they just came in late.
Overall I finished with 36lb odd for 4th in the section of 9. Tony Kay winning it with 111lb from peg 12, Roy Makins second with 68lb and Matt Kearns with 55lb for 3rd.
Overall the team finished 4th on the day. Picking up a couple of points on the team in third.
The match Lake dominated the weights on the day with 181lb winning and plenty of ton weights as back up.
Sunday 30 October 2016
Tuesday 25 October 2016
Alders Farm Tuesday Open 25 10 16
After feeling a little disappointed with my performance last week I was determined to do better this week. I had stripped out my elastics as they have been too tight over the last few weeks. I was starting afresh, with a few lighter elastics through puller bungs but with a normal bung still in tact, this will allow me to adjust the tension to suit. Hopefully this will help, landing a lot of hooked fish.
Today's match saw 14 anglers on the venue, and with the weather still relatively mild considering the time of year, everyone was hopeful of a good days fishing.
Most of the cafe bank had gone by the time I placed my hand in the pot and true to form peg 29 came out. Not too bad, it had done well over the weekend but the reality is it should be behind peg 30 in the section. Although the fish are normally a bit bigger on 29. Mick had drawn peg 4 and would have a good weight from there, with Madd on 3. Terry had secured the fancied peg 30 and with Trevor taking the last peg in the box he would be on peg 1. Pete Aldridge had peg 8 where 200lb came from last Tuesday, so he would need an eye kept on.
I decided to fish 3 lines today rotating them, to try to keep fish coming. My first line was at 11m and would be fished with 4mm fishery feed pellets and 6mm hookers. My second line was at 10 o'clock towards the end of the bush and would be a corn and pellet line. My last line was to be at 2+2 and would be a corn line. Even though I had only 15inches depth I was sure a few fish would show up on it.
At the all in I potted a small amount of 4mms to 11m and a small pot of corn and pellet to the left hand bush. I also threw around 8 grains of corn to 2+2. Shipping out a 6mm to 11m and the float stood still, nothing, I tried to kinder a few pellets over the top and still it stood still. Over to the left hand swim and a grain of corn saw the float dip slightly and fish number one was on and soon off. Re-feed and try the 2+2 line and nothing, so back out to 11m. This time the float buried and a foul hooked fished around 2lb was in the net. No more bites were forthcoming. Back to 10 o'clock and another fish, this time around 3lb, hooked in the mouth on corn.
I could here the banter between Terry and Trevor and at times it was better than the fishing. Madd was giving Ken some on pegs 2 and 3 as they do. Meanwhile, Miick was steadily plundering the carp out of peg 4.
After another fish from 10 o'clock and I noticed a swirl over the near line. Dropping in on it the float went and the soft elastic came out before subduing a nice 6lb fish. Back out and another. That's more like it. 2 in 2 puts but alas it tailed off again. Switching between the lines kept odd fish coming throughout, however I did notice the larger fish coming from the closer swim.
At the all out I felt that I had done alright, but could not get any number of fish lined up to make a good weight. I knew peg 30 and Terry had caught well throughout, I just hoped they were smaller fish. Trevor, I think had an enjoyable day, albeit sorting out customers at the shop to start with. He had caught well on the waggler and late on down the edge on his trademark maggot approach. Ken and Madd had a decent peg to peg battle but it was Mick who triumphed for his first win on the venue. And more importantly a MK Nugget from me.
Overall
1st Mick Wright 156-13
2nd Trevor Price 136-05
3rd Terry Lancaster 103-03
4th Keith Ashby 82-07
5th Ken Taylor 79-14
6th Phil Young 76-12
I thoroughly enjoyed today, good craic was had by all, and a good days fishing. Now looking forward to fishing the Winter League on Sunday. A few lessons learnt today and a few things to try out.
Today's match saw 14 anglers on the venue, and with the weather still relatively mild considering the time of year, everyone was hopeful of a good days fishing.
Most of the cafe bank had gone by the time I placed my hand in the pot and true to form peg 29 came out. Not too bad, it had done well over the weekend but the reality is it should be behind peg 30 in the section. Although the fish are normally a bit bigger on 29. Mick had drawn peg 4 and would have a good weight from there, with Madd on 3. Terry had secured the fancied peg 30 and with Trevor taking the last peg in the box he would be on peg 1. Pete Aldridge had peg 8 where 200lb came from last Tuesday, so he would need an eye kept on.
I decided to fish 3 lines today rotating them, to try to keep fish coming. My first line was at 11m and would be fished with 4mm fishery feed pellets and 6mm hookers. My second line was at 10 o'clock towards the end of the bush and would be a corn and pellet line. My last line was to be at 2+2 and would be a corn line. Even though I had only 15inches depth I was sure a few fish would show up on it.
At the all in I potted a small amount of 4mms to 11m and a small pot of corn and pellet to the left hand bush. I also threw around 8 grains of corn to 2+2. Shipping out a 6mm to 11m and the float stood still, nothing, I tried to kinder a few pellets over the top and still it stood still. Over to the left hand swim and a grain of corn saw the float dip slightly and fish number one was on and soon off. Re-feed and try the 2+2 line and nothing, so back out to 11m. This time the float buried and a foul hooked fished around 2lb was in the net. No more bites were forthcoming. Back to 10 o'clock and another fish, this time around 3lb, hooked in the mouth on corn.
I could here the banter between Terry and Trevor and at times it was better than the fishing. Madd was giving Ken some on pegs 2 and 3 as they do. Meanwhile, Miick was steadily plundering the carp out of peg 4.
After another fish from 10 o'clock and I noticed a swirl over the near line. Dropping in on it the float went and the soft elastic came out before subduing a nice 6lb fish. Back out and another. That's more like it. 2 in 2 puts but alas it tailed off again. Switching between the lines kept odd fish coming throughout, however I did notice the larger fish coming from the closer swim.
At the all out I felt that I had done alright, but could not get any number of fish lined up to make a good weight. I knew peg 30 and Terry had caught well throughout, I just hoped they were smaller fish. Trevor, I think had an enjoyable day, albeit sorting out customers at the shop to start with. He had caught well on the waggler and late on down the edge on his trademark maggot approach. Ken and Madd had a decent peg to peg battle but it was Mick who triumphed for his first win on the venue. And more importantly a MK Nugget from me.
Overall
1st Mick Wright 156-13
2nd Trevor Price 136-05
3rd Terry Lancaster 103-03
4th Keith Ashby 82-07
5th Ken Taylor 79-14
6th Phil Young 76-12
I thoroughly enjoyed today, good craic was had by all, and a good days fishing. Now looking forward to fishing the Winter League on Sunday. A few lessons learnt today and a few things to try out.
Tuesday 18 October 2016
Alders Farm Tuesday Open 18 10 16
Three matches in 5 days, must be mad. First, the JJL event at Alders, Second, a match in Kent on the Saturday before the Tuesday Open at Alders Farm. I am knackered. Still I did manage to pinch a Nugget off Mick on the Saturday so now lead him 6-5 and with both of us fishing today, another nugget was at stake.
We had 13 anglers today, some getting in a sneaky practice before there league starts on Sunday. With everyone ready for the draw, we decided to fish Ash Lake. The weather was mild with a hint of rain in the air and the wind getting progressively stronger. At the draw, I dipped in first for a change and out came peg 1, not really where I wanted to be as I have not fished it since all the changes to the bank. From the patio, no fish were showing and this was not a good sign. Charlie was on his favourite peg 8 and Terry on 21. Pete Archer was on 29. Mick had drawn in form 27. Trevor Price was sat on peg 16.
I had heard that the previous day Terry had been clearing out some of the reeds on peg 1 to the right, so would fish a line along this new edge and set up a couple of rigs to cover the inevitable breakages and trashed rigs. I also set up a line to fish long at 11m due to the wind. Again two rigs were set up. My last line was at the corner of the wall.
At the all in I toss-potted both of the long lines with micros and shipped out a 6mm hard pellet. I missed the first couple of bites and connected with the third, a nice common around 3lb, out again and the same thing, miss a couple and then connect. I thought it might be the length of line between float and pole tip, so shortened it but this just meant I lost control of the float in the wind and it was not right. I adjusted the depth to just off bottom and a couple of fish came to the onion bag. At this point in the match I was struggling, I foul hooked a few fish and lost them and had 6 fish in the net when Dave Pontin went to the toilet, he was admitting to 17 fish, so I was way behind already. I had a quick look down the edge and had a couple of small carp around the 1lb mark so went back out after re-feeding the edge. Another couple of small fish on pellet and one on corn was getting me nowhere. I was getting bites but could not hit them despite several changes to the rig.
Back down the edge, and I started getting a few better fish on corn, only 3lb fish but better than the twister's. This again died after around 20 minutes and I went back onto the pellet. I would get a few fish shallow then have to go back onto the deck to keep bites coming. This was the story for the remainder of the match, I would catch a few then adjust, catch a few then adjust.
At the all out I knew I was battered, I had around 50 fish for a level ton. Garry on peg 2 was admitting to 40 fish on the tip at 20m with dave on 3 admitting to 40lb per net.
We had 13 anglers today, some getting in a sneaky practice before there league starts on Sunday. With everyone ready for the draw, we decided to fish Ash Lake. The weather was mild with a hint of rain in the air and the wind getting progressively stronger. At the draw, I dipped in first for a change and out came peg 1, not really where I wanted to be as I have not fished it since all the changes to the bank. From the patio, no fish were showing and this was not a good sign. Charlie was on his favourite peg 8 and Terry on 21. Pete Archer was on 29. Mick had drawn in form 27. Trevor Price was sat on peg 16.
I had heard that the previous day Terry had been clearing out some of the reeds on peg 1 to the right, so would fish a line along this new edge and set up a couple of rigs to cover the inevitable breakages and trashed rigs. I also set up a line to fish long at 11m due to the wind. Again two rigs were set up. My last line was at the corner of the wall.
At the all in I toss-potted both of the long lines with micros and shipped out a 6mm hard pellet. I missed the first couple of bites and connected with the third, a nice common around 3lb, out again and the same thing, miss a couple and then connect. I thought it might be the length of line between float and pole tip, so shortened it but this just meant I lost control of the float in the wind and it was not right. I adjusted the depth to just off bottom and a couple of fish came to the onion bag. At this point in the match I was struggling, I foul hooked a few fish and lost them and had 6 fish in the net when Dave Pontin went to the toilet, he was admitting to 17 fish, so I was way behind already. I had a quick look down the edge and had a couple of small carp around the 1lb mark so went back out after re-feeding the edge. Another couple of small fish on pellet and one on corn was getting me nowhere. I was getting bites but could not hit them despite several changes to the rig.
Back down the edge, and I started getting a few better fish on corn, only 3lb fish but better than the twister's. This again died after around 20 minutes and I went back onto the pellet. I would get a few fish shallow then have to go back onto the deck to keep bites coming. This was the story for the remainder of the match, I would catch a few then adjust, catch a few then adjust.
At the all out I knew I was battered, I had around 50 fish for a level ton. Garry on peg 2 was admitting to 40 fish on the tip at 20m with dave on 3 admitting to 40lb per net.
Overall
1st Terry Lancaster Peg 21 202-06
2nd Trevor Price Peg 16 201-11
3rd Charlie Lancaster Peg 8 199-06
4th Pete Archer Peg 29 163-08
5th Gary Page Peg 28 152-01
6th John Clennet Peg 5 129-13
Overall, I could not get my head straight today, there were fish in the peg and I felt that I did not do the peg justice. Lessons learnt today and feel better for having fished the peg, it has changed and with the colour dropping out a little probably knew it would be hard, so my 116-04 was not too far off the lower places, but still a long way off the winners.Still I did take a nugget of Mick, albeit by 6lb. Standings now 7-5.Sunday 16 October 2016
Hartleylands Res 15 10 16
The final club match of the year was to be held at Hartleylands Reservoir In Kent. This lake shuts for matches between April and September and we normally try to book the first Saturday in October for our last match of the year, but due to another booking we had to re-plan it for the second Saturday. We have always had good close matches on the reservoir with a variety of methods winning and framing.
I was driving today and when I arrived at Mick's house to collect it was a nice 11 degrees, it was still dark as we travelled the 2 hour journey to the Knoxbridge Cafe, around 15 minutes from the venue. The breakfasts here are really good and value for money. The weather though had changed and it was now 9 degrees and getting foggy in patches. However, arriving at the venue saw clear skies, but the temperature was still low.
With a couple of late drop outs we had 10 anglers on the lake and after speaking with the bailiff we decided to only fish 2 and a half banks of the reservoir. leaving the rest open to pleasure anglers. I already had a plan in mind and this consisted of fishing the pellet waggler for the first hour, longer if I was catching and then coming to 5m and the margins for the remainder of the match.So at the draw I was glad of peg 9 coming out. This was 1 peg off the flyer (10)by the willow tree on the far bank, it was flat calm but stronger winds were expected later in the day. Mick had drawn peg 8, so no getting away from him, Tony Watkins was on Peg 10 and with his brother on 7 and Clive on 6 it would be interesting.
However, my plans very nearly went out of the window, when I realised I had left my wagglers at home, but Clive came to the rescue with one I could borrow, although I did need to add 2 AAA shot to it, to stop it looking like a lighthouse. I plumbed up at 5m and set my rig to fish dead depth, with a plan to fish 6mm hard pellet on this line and I rigged up both margins to fish with corn.
At the all in I pinged a few pellets out towards the middle of the lake and chucked the waggler out with a 5ft tail and an 8mm hard pellet. After around 10 minutes the float dipped and fish number one was on, a nice common around 6lb, Tony had also set up a waggler and had lost a fish at the net. I went out again and another 10 minutes of pinging, retrieving, pinging, casting, pinging and so on passed before I had another fish of 11-04 ( all fish over 10lb had to be weighed and returned). So two fish in the first half hour and I was going well. I could see John and Gino both catching on the favoured pegs 4 and 5 and felt I was still in it. Pushing on I had another two smaller carp on the waggler before the wind got up and made the fishing awkward. The wind was blowing the line all over the place and although I could cast the distance easy enough, the bow in the line was causing issues on a strike. I then tried the 5m line with a 6mm pellet and was plagued by little dinks from small roach and skimmers. A switch to an 8mm banded pellet and a carp was hooked.
With the increased wind, which was now blowing into Simon and Clive's bank, I was struggling to keep fish coming, so I upped the feed and put 3 inches of line on the deck, this saw improved presentation, but an increase in foul hooked fish. Shallowing up to 2 inches off deck saw the rig running through with the tow a little but I would also get proper bites and hook fish in the mouth. Clive was now catching well and I reckoned that I was always one fish behind him throughout. I would catch one and then Clive. Simon was struggling and had nicked a couple of carp, Tony was catching odd lumps, whilst Mick was having a nightmare on peg 8, with only a couple of roach and 2 carp caught late on.
Overall
1st John Holdsworth 86-00
2nd Clive Pritchard 66-08
3rd Keith Ashby 62-04
4th Gino Exell 52-08
5th Tony Watkins 42-00
6th Terry Goff 41-04 ( including a 23-08 carp caught in the tail with 10 minutes to go)
7th Tony Roberts 41-00
8th Simon Watkins 26-12
9th Mick Wright 13-08
10th Rod Turner DNW
Well, that's it for another year with the Marsh AC lads, I have thoroughly enjoyed the matches that I have been able to attend. Good to see a few new venues appearing on the calendar. See you all next year.
On the MK Nugget front I have taken gone in front for the first time this year and now lead 6-5 with time and available dates running out. Never Give Up.
I was driving today and when I arrived at Mick's house to collect it was a nice 11 degrees, it was still dark as we travelled the 2 hour journey to the Knoxbridge Cafe, around 15 minutes from the venue. The breakfasts here are really good and value for money. The weather though had changed and it was now 9 degrees and getting foggy in patches. However, arriving at the venue saw clear skies, but the temperature was still low.
With a couple of late drop outs we had 10 anglers on the lake and after speaking with the bailiff we decided to only fish 2 and a half banks of the reservoir. leaving the rest open to pleasure anglers. I already had a plan in mind and this consisted of fishing the pellet waggler for the first hour, longer if I was catching and then coming to 5m and the margins for the remainder of the match.So at the draw I was glad of peg 9 coming out. This was 1 peg off the flyer (10)by the willow tree on the far bank, it was flat calm but stronger winds were expected later in the day. Mick had drawn peg 8, so no getting away from him, Tony Watkins was on Peg 10 and with his brother on 7 and Clive on 6 it would be interesting.
However, my plans very nearly went out of the window, when I realised I had left my wagglers at home, but Clive came to the rescue with one I could borrow, although I did need to add 2 AAA shot to it, to stop it looking like a lighthouse. I plumbed up at 5m and set my rig to fish dead depth, with a plan to fish 6mm hard pellet on this line and I rigged up both margins to fish with corn.
At the all in I pinged a few pellets out towards the middle of the lake and chucked the waggler out with a 5ft tail and an 8mm hard pellet. After around 10 minutes the float dipped and fish number one was on, a nice common around 6lb, Tony had also set up a waggler and had lost a fish at the net. I went out again and another 10 minutes of pinging, retrieving, pinging, casting, pinging and so on passed before I had another fish of 11-04 ( all fish over 10lb had to be weighed and returned). So two fish in the first half hour and I was going well. I could see John and Gino both catching on the favoured pegs 4 and 5 and felt I was still in it. Pushing on I had another two smaller carp on the waggler before the wind got up and made the fishing awkward. The wind was blowing the line all over the place and although I could cast the distance easy enough, the bow in the line was causing issues on a strike. I then tried the 5m line with a 6mm pellet and was plagued by little dinks from small roach and skimmers. A switch to an 8mm banded pellet and a carp was hooked.
With the increased wind, which was now blowing into Simon and Clive's bank, I was struggling to keep fish coming, so I upped the feed and put 3 inches of line on the deck, this saw improved presentation, but an increase in foul hooked fish. Shallowing up to 2 inches off deck saw the rig running through with the tow a little but I would also get proper bites and hook fish in the mouth. Clive was now catching well and I reckoned that I was always one fish behind him throughout. I would catch one and then Clive. Simon was struggling and had nicked a couple of carp, Tony was catching odd lumps, whilst Mick was having a nightmare on peg 8, with only a couple of roach and 2 carp caught late on.
Overall
1st John Holdsworth 86-00
2nd Clive Pritchard 66-08
3rd Keith Ashby 62-04
4th Gino Exell 52-08
5th Tony Watkins 42-00
6th Terry Goff 41-04 ( including a 23-08 carp caught in the tail with 10 minutes to go)
7th Tony Roberts 41-00
8th Simon Watkins 26-12
9th Mick Wright 13-08
10th Rod Turner DNW
Well, that's it for another year with the Marsh AC lads, I have thoroughly enjoyed the matches that I have been able to attend. Good to see a few new venues appearing on the calendar. See you all next year.
On the MK Nugget front I have taken gone in front for the first time this year and now lead 6-5 with time and available dates running out. Never Give Up.
Friday 14 October 2016
Joseph James Law Team Event Alders Farm 14 10 16
It is not often I get to fish a team event, due mainly to work commitments and the shift patterns making it impossible to fulfil league events unless I book loads of holidays to cover them. However, I got a phone call from Pete Morton, one of the moderators at the highly popular fishing forum www.maggotdrowning.com. A team has pulled out of the Joseph James Law Team event and can I fish, course I can, I was off anyway as I was fishing Hartleylands tomorrow, so another day's fishing with some of the other Maggotdrowners won't hurt.
The team consisted of Dave Pontin, Garry Toole, Dave Hart, Terry Pearce and myself. All had fished the recent MDs two dayer on the venue and had an idea of how to fish it.
On arrival at the fishery it was clear this was going to be a big event and Joseph James Law had pulled out all the stops and had everything organised to a tee.A bacon roll and a mug of tea supplied by the ever enthusiastic Alders Farm Catering team set me up for the day ahead. The match was to be a 5 aside match with 2 sections on both Ash and Pines and a single section on Oaks. To be honest I did not mind where I was placed, but in true MD tradition we drew lots and my home was to be A section on Ash Lake, all I needed now was a low number at the draw. Alas it was not to be peg 10. Not really where I wanted to be, it was flat calm and these pegs in the corner need a bit of a ripple on it. Garry had drawn peg 21, a good peg but will have his work cut out with Pete Archer next door. Dave had drawn the short straw and was going to peg 8 on Oaks, but we still had a couple of good pegs on Pines, Dave on peg 16 and Terry on 10. All to play for.
Match fishing scene had laid down the gauntlet regarding the match itself saying" as long as we beat MDs we will be alright". But there were plenty of class teams on show today and some very good anglers within those teams, after all Joseph James Law had put up a £1000 prize for the winning team, £500 for second and Lake winner prizes as well.
Onto my match I had decided to fish a tight match as the weather had got cooler, still feeding 4mm fishery pellets and fishing a 6mm, but had a bag of corn with me as well. I started off fishing 2+2 and after the first four put ins I had 4 fish around 2 1/2lb each, then nothing, I edged the rig out another 10 inches where it dropped off a couple of inches and nicked another couple of fish. It was fishing hard, I could hear Mark Russell fishing for Team England on peg 9 and D Pez from BAE on 12 both nicking a few fish, but no more or less than I. It was a heads down match. As the time progressed it became clear there were not the numbers of fish in the peg, that could do any damage to the early pegs, so I settled for just trying to stay ahead of those around me. I tried coming in closer as sometimes just fishing before your feed can get you a few bites and switch to the side of the tree for another couple of fish, however it was not to be. I would get a couple of fish then nothing for 20 minutes. My final weight of 82-03 was good enough to beat 3 others in the 12 man section and I contributed 4 points towards the team total.Mark had beat me with 106-11. Not bad for a man who claimed only 70lb, I should have known better.
In hindsight I think a negative approach may have done better on the day, feeding everything via a tosspot and only a little at a time.
Garry had suffered on Peg 21 weighing in 36-08 for last in the section, Dave Hart had fished well and althogh he only weighed in 8-13 from Oaks it was enough for 7pts and a midway finish. Terry Pearce had drawn peg 10 on Pines and chipped in with 42-03 and 5pts whilst Dave Pontin secured second last in section with 5-07.
Team wise we came 10th from the 12 teams fishing, beating BAE and Match fishing scene.
Overall winners on the day were Team Drennan, with 2 section wins and 2 section 2nds and a 7 point score, this was enough to beat Team Garbolino by three points.
Overall individually
Colin Spencer ( Drennan)with 249-11 from Peg 3 on Ash
Steve Tucker (Garbolino)with 218-08 from Peg 2 on Ash
Steve Waters ( Drennan Oxford) 204-01 from Peg 1 on Ash
I have had an enjoyable day today, a good laugh with the other MDs, Dave taking photos of anybody with a name on their jacket, Joseph James Law have put so much effort and resource into a fishing match, if they deal with your legal needs with as much efficiency as they did today you would be a winner, they really have excelled themselves, from the moment you arrive and checking in, taking pre-match and match photos(from a distance) organising a buffet and hot drinks for after the event and providing the prizes for the presentation. Finally to everyone at Alders Farm, you do this week in week out and always have a welcoming smile.The lads who weighed in, did a sterling job, no moans, no gripes, very organised. Well done to all the winners either individually or in the teams. A credit to everyone involved and if I am invited next year within the team, I would definately take a days holiday for it.
The team consisted of Dave Pontin, Garry Toole, Dave Hart, Terry Pearce and myself. All had fished the recent MDs two dayer on the venue and had an idea of how to fish it.
On arrival at the fishery it was clear this was going to be a big event and Joseph James Law had pulled out all the stops and had everything organised to a tee.A bacon roll and a mug of tea supplied by the ever enthusiastic Alders Farm Catering team set me up for the day ahead. The match was to be a 5 aside match with 2 sections on both Ash and Pines and a single section on Oaks. To be honest I did not mind where I was placed, but in true MD tradition we drew lots and my home was to be A section on Ash Lake, all I needed now was a low number at the draw. Alas it was not to be peg 10. Not really where I wanted to be, it was flat calm and these pegs in the corner need a bit of a ripple on it. Garry had drawn peg 21, a good peg but will have his work cut out with Pete Archer next door. Dave had drawn the short straw and was going to peg 8 on Oaks, but we still had a couple of good pegs on Pines, Dave on peg 16 and Terry on 10. All to play for.
Match fishing scene had laid down the gauntlet regarding the match itself saying" as long as we beat MDs we will be alright". But there were plenty of class teams on show today and some very good anglers within those teams, after all Joseph James Law had put up a £1000 prize for the winning team, £500 for second and Lake winner prizes as well.
Onto my match I had decided to fish a tight match as the weather had got cooler, still feeding 4mm fishery pellets and fishing a 6mm, but had a bag of corn with me as well. I started off fishing 2+2 and after the first four put ins I had 4 fish around 2 1/2lb each, then nothing, I edged the rig out another 10 inches where it dropped off a couple of inches and nicked another couple of fish. It was fishing hard, I could hear Mark Russell fishing for Team England on peg 9 and D Pez from BAE on 12 both nicking a few fish, but no more or less than I. It was a heads down match. As the time progressed it became clear there were not the numbers of fish in the peg, that could do any damage to the early pegs, so I settled for just trying to stay ahead of those around me. I tried coming in closer as sometimes just fishing before your feed can get you a few bites and switch to the side of the tree for another couple of fish, however it was not to be. I would get a couple of fish then nothing for 20 minutes. My final weight of 82-03 was good enough to beat 3 others in the 12 man section and I contributed 4 points towards the team total.Mark had beat me with 106-11. Not bad for a man who claimed only 70lb, I should have known better.
In hindsight I think a negative approach may have done better on the day, feeding everything via a tosspot and only a little at a time.
Garry had suffered on Peg 21 weighing in 36-08 for last in the section, Dave Hart had fished well and althogh he only weighed in 8-13 from Oaks it was enough for 7pts and a midway finish. Terry Pearce had drawn peg 10 on Pines and chipped in with 42-03 and 5pts whilst Dave Pontin secured second last in section with 5-07.
Team wise we came 10th from the 12 teams fishing, beating BAE and Match fishing scene.
Overall winners on the day were Team Drennan, with 2 section wins and 2 section 2nds and a 7 point score, this was enough to beat Team Garbolino by three points.
Overall individually
Colin Spencer ( Drennan)with 249-11 from Peg 3 on Ash
Steve Tucker (Garbolino)with 218-08 from Peg 2 on Ash
Steve Waters ( Drennan Oxford) 204-01 from Peg 1 on Ash
I have had an enjoyable day today, a good laugh with the other MDs, Dave taking photos of anybody with a name on their jacket, Joseph James Law have put so much effort and resource into a fishing match, if they deal with your legal needs with as much efficiency as they did today you would be a winner, they really have excelled themselves, from the moment you arrive and checking in, taking pre-match and match photos(from a distance) organising a buffet and hot drinks for after the event and providing the prizes for the presentation. Finally to everyone at Alders Farm, you do this week in week out and always have a welcoming smile.The lads who weighed in, did a sterling job, no moans, no gripes, very organised. Well done to all the winners either individually or in the teams. A credit to everyone involved and if I am invited next year within the team, I would definately take a days holiday for it.
Saturday 8 October 2016
Maggotdrowning Alders Farm Pines 08 10 16
I have been a long standing member of maggot-drowning.com since the very early days of its inception. I think my membership number is in the early double digit country and have met some great people over the years, many of whom are friends outside of the forum. So when the chance to catch up with a few of the old guard appeared on the site, I stuck my name down for the saturday match. They had booked Alders Farm for the Friday and Saturday but due to work I was unable to fish both days. They had a good day on Ash Lake on the Friday with 199lb winning and nearly everyone having a ton plus weight so good tight fishing.
Todays Match would be on Pines Lake, a lake I do enjoy fishing, although never seem to do well on it. With Trevor Price doing his normal meet and greet service by the shop, making sure everyone had there bait and advice.
Anyway after devouring one of Charlotte's lovely breakfasts it was down to the draw. There was only 9 of us fishing, a couple of others had dropped out due to man flu, namely my mate and normal nugget bandit Mick. So no MK Nugget to play for today. Another is the main man himself Mr Dave Webster, or Wibblester for those in the know, who by all accounts caught his dose of man flu rebuilding a house for another maggot drowner, Pete Morton. So lets get this straight Pete, you work the poor man into the ground, he catches a sniffle and cannot attend the weekend, this is what you do to the owner of MDs. Your a bad man. Still nine anglers and a match was to be had.
At the draw, we had the near side bank on Pines 1-10, as there were a few pleasure anglers dotted about on the far bank. Garry had drawn peg 1, I took the last peg 2, Gingert76 Tony Leutchford on peg 3 and Mugger himself on peg 4, Dave Hart on 5, John Holdsworth and Clive Pritchard on 6 and 7 respectively, before pegs 8 and 10 were filled by Terry Pearce and match organiser Dave Pontin.
So peg 2, not one of my favourites, but today is a different day. I aimed to start off at 2+2 at the edge of the shelf fishing and feeding fishery pellet. I also set up another rig to fish just past the feed which was a heavier rig, in case they backed off a little and the wind got up. A couple of margin rigs to fish the reeds both sides, one would be fed with corn, the other pellet and a little corn.
At the all in I potted into the margins and started throwing pellet by hand, this was when I noticed a few 4mms taking a lot longer than normal to sink. I was feeding around two dozen pellets every minute and was wary of over feeding the peg early on, I wanted to feel my way in before upping the feed. I had my first fish after around 10 minutes and with both Tony and Gary having caught a couple I was behind already but a 5lb fish is a good fish. Another few minutes go by and a smaller fish was in the net. This is where it all started to go wrong, I was either foul hooking a lot of fish or simply just losing them off the hook. Elastics were set soft, hooks were sharp and I could not get to grips with it. Changing the feeding to a larger handful less often, settled the fish a little and after 2 hours I was going nowhere, I had a dozen fish for about 40lb. I asked Ginger how he was getting on and he reckoned on 30 fish. Garry was admitting to 25. I needed the margins to produce. I re-fed the edges and had a quick look for a 6lb fish, but nothing else was forthcoming. A couple of smaller samples came in the next hour on a margin rig over the 2+2 line, before I decided to concentrate solely down the edge. I could see the odd reed moving and decided to sit on a grain of corn. Ten minutes later and I was into a good fish, it did not pull or fight but came straight to the net, 10lb thank you. Out again and a couple of small carp about 3lb. I started to toss pot after each fish and this produce regular bites until the end. I reckoned of having caught around 100lb in the last 2 hours down the edge, all from the reed bed towards peg 1.
At the all out I reckoned on a conservative 130lb, admitting to 100lb. Garry and Tony had been catching throughout, and I honestly thought I was fishing for 3rd place at best.
Todays Match would be on Pines Lake, a lake I do enjoy fishing, although never seem to do well on it. With Trevor Price doing his normal meet and greet service by the shop, making sure everyone had there bait and advice.
Anyway after devouring one of Charlotte's lovely breakfasts it was down to the draw. There was only 9 of us fishing, a couple of others had dropped out due to man flu, namely my mate and normal nugget bandit Mick. So no MK Nugget to play for today. Another is the main man himself Mr Dave Webster, or Wibblester for those in the know, who by all accounts caught his dose of man flu rebuilding a house for another maggot drowner, Pete Morton. So lets get this straight Pete, you work the poor man into the ground, he catches a sniffle and cannot attend the weekend, this is what you do to the owner of MDs. Your a bad man. Still nine anglers and a match was to be had.
At the draw, we had the near side bank on Pines 1-10, as there were a few pleasure anglers dotted about on the far bank. Garry had drawn peg 1, I took the last peg 2, Gingert76 Tony Leutchford on peg 3 and Mugger himself on peg 4, Dave Hart on 5, John Holdsworth and Clive Pritchard on 6 and 7 respectively, before pegs 8 and 10 were filled by Terry Pearce and match organiser Dave Pontin.
So peg 2, not one of my favourites, but today is a different day. I aimed to start off at 2+2 at the edge of the shelf fishing and feeding fishery pellet. I also set up another rig to fish just past the feed which was a heavier rig, in case they backed off a little and the wind got up. A couple of margin rigs to fish the reeds both sides, one would be fed with corn, the other pellet and a little corn.
At the all in I potted into the margins and started throwing pellet by hand, this was when I noticed a few 4mms taking a lot longer than normal to sink. I was feeding around two dozen pellets every minute and was wary of over feeding the peg early on, I wanted to feel my way in before upping the feed. I had my first fish after around 10 minutes and with both Tony and Gary having caught a couple I was behind already but a 5lb fish is a good fish. Another few minutes go by and a smaller fish was in the net. This is where it all started to go wrong, I was either foul hooking a lot of fish or simply just losing them off the hook. Elastics were set soft, hooks were sharp and I could not get to grips with it. Changing the feeding to a larger handful less often, settled the fish a little and after 2 hours I was going nowhere, I had a dozen fish for about 40lb. I asked Ginger how he was getting on and he reckoned on 30 fish. Garry was admitting to 25. I needed the margins to produce. I re-fed the edges and had a quick look for a 6lb fish, but nothing else was forthcoming. A couple of smaller samples came in the next hour on a margin rig over the 2+2 line, before I decided to concentrate solely down the edge. I could see the odd reed moving and decided to sit on a grain of corn. Ten minutes later and I was into a good fish, it did not pull or fight but came straight to the net, 10lb thank you. Out again and a couple of small carp about 3lb. I started to toss pot after each fish and this produce regular bites until the end. I reckoned of having caught around 100lb in the last 2 hours down the edge, all from the reed bed towards peg 1.
At the all out I reckoned on a conservative 130lb, admitting to 100lb. Garry and Tony had been catching throughout, and I honestly thought I was fishing for 3rd place at best.
Overall
1st Keith Ashby 142-08
2nd Clive Pritchard 127-00
3rd Tony Leutchford 112-00
4th Dave Pontin 103-00
5th Garry Toole 101-00
6th Dave Hart 96-08
7th Pete Morton 93-08
8th Terry Pearce 92-00
9th John Holdsworth 38-00
A surprise win and it just goes to show that fish can turn up in your peg at any time, if they turn up early then you can have a big weight, if they turn up late, as in this case, then a good weight can still be had. I was surprised though that pegs 1 and 3, although they had caught a lot of fish, their's were a lot smaller than I thought.Never give up.
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