Alders Farm Ash Lake 25 07 17

Back to what can only be described as normality, the onset of getting up early to go to work instead of getting up to go fishing. As Mick says it's strange it is easier to get up to go fishing than it is for work. Still, I still had a day off before hitting the treadmill again so a Tuesday Open at Alders Farm was planned.
We had 16 anglers on the match today with the favoured cafe bank, still the place to draw. My drawing hand needs a good talking to as I endured the long trek round to 21, a good peg to be honest. Mick decided that a walk of any description was beyond him so settled into peg 1, right next to the cafe. Worse still, I could not see him nor him me.
Armed with the Positive Mental Attitude gained over the last few weeks, I had a plan for the day. Try corn at 2+2 for the first hour followed by a dabble on paste, something I do not really try recently, but used to. Pellet down the side to the tree and corn the other side. I had made duplicate rigs for the 2 plus 2 lines consisting of a .4g DS Diamond strung shotted to a size 16 B911X. I would fish this along the slope feeding closer and marked the line where the top of the slope levelled a little. My edge rigs consisted of a .2g DS Green to a size 14 Kaizen hook with a lasso for a 6mm pellet. The other side was a .2g DS Diamond to a B911X size 14 for single or double corn. My paste was at a top three to 10 o'clock. This was an original Mick Wilkinson paste self cocking float to a size 12 B911X.
At the all in I cupped in a half pot of corn with 4mm fishery pellet. Throwing corn short would serve two purposes, I could bring them onto the top of the slope and also try to get the fish competing higher up in the water in the hope of catching quicker. After an hour I had 6 carp for about 15lb yet felt that I was going no where. A look on the paste line saw a few foul hooker that dragged me straight into the tree to my left. After 30 minutes and no fish, two trashed rigs and I soon realised why I stopped fishing paste.
Down the edge I started on the corn, to the right. A couple of fish on the corn, slightly away from the bank was shortlived. A switch to a banded 6mm pellet again saw a couple of fish, All fish being around the 2-3lb mark.
Lee next peg along the dam wall was picking off odd fish down the edge and on 2+2 lines on pellet, Jim Stubbings was getting amongst a few fish but the real fishing was being done on pegs 2,3,4,5,6. It was flying, every put in I could see anglers netting fish. Again I could not see Mick but assumed he was doing the same. Del and Gary in the corner on peg 30 and 29 respectively were also bagging. It was just pegs 8 round to 25 that were struggling to put a weight together.
I had been feeding the edge to my left from the off with 4mm fishery pellet and with a few tails showing in the peg I decided it was time to have a look. Baiting the lasso with a 6mm pellet it was not long before I was catching regularly, again smaller fish but still fish. A bonus 6lb common graced the net with 45 minutes to go and I was hoping the bigger fish had put in an appearance. Alas it was not to be. I was still getting foul hookers but was also getting more fish so I suppose it was a false economy, depth changes and alterations to shotting did not seem to make any difference, changes to feeding worked by slowing down on the feed a little but you still needed some going in.
My weight of 143lb was never going to trouble the pegs opposite but I was glad to beat those around me. But, would it be enough to win the MK Nugget and draw closer to Mick. After 3 weighs Mick total went 123lb so the prize was mine.

Overall

1st Graham West 251-11

2ld Trevor Price 250-04

3rd Charlie Lancaster 250-03

4th Peter Archer 230-13

5th Lee Newsom 218-09

6th Del Smith 216 -03