Over the year's a lot of angler's have asked me about Alders Farm, near Milton Keynes and every now and again a match is organised to fish the prolific match lake. Al Loader from www.maggotdrowning.com had arranged to have a little knock up on the water, the idea being to give those who have not fished it before the chance to enjoy the great catches that can be achieved. Only 12 pegs but enough to give those a good glimpse of the lake's potential. Unfortunately, like most things, internet, the wires got crossed and a few dropped out leaving 5 of us on the bank and fishing. I had worked the Friday night and finished at 1am to allow a little sleep before the experience.Then back to work for the night shift and stock take after the fishing. No match, but, what would be a cracking days fishing regardless.

I arrived at the fishery to meet Dinah, the owner, who after a quick chat and dipping my landing nets, pointed me into the direction of ny good friend and work colleague Vic Nugent and his partner Diane, who had dropped themselves into pegs 34 and 33 respectively. This left me with a choice of 35,36,37 or 38 on the same small bank. I dropped my gear off in 36 leaving three spaces for 2 confirmed anglers ( Colin Sharrad and Tony Roberts, who regularly fish for Marsh AC) who would turn up later. Both Vic and Diane were straight into fish from the off fishing no more than their top two's. So I fed around 3 handfuls of 4mm GOT Sinkers to the bush on my left before tackling up.

Nice and simple today, margin pole, red hydro, .18 Colmic Stream to a size 14 B911 finished off with a 2 no8 MW Dinky float, set to fish around a foot deep. No messing around. Bait would be the new Atomic Paste and 6mm GOT Expanders.

The swim I had fed was alive with carp and I knew I had made a mistake in feeding so heavy from the off, there were tails everywhere and they were pushing the other fish out of the way but after around a minute the fish of a few fish came to the net. A lively common around 4lb. Back out and the same. The paste was getting knocked around all the time and the float was moving all over the place before finally burying. I was getting plagued with foul hookers and no matter what I tried could not cure it. Trying expander seemed to lessen the effect but still foul hooked fish were disturbing the swim. However another small pinch of feed brought them back. After around an hour I had around 10 fish.

Colin & Tony had arrived by now and asked where to fish and were pointed into the direction of 37 and 38. Both Vic and myself took the time out to ensure they would know where to fish in there swims and although they had enough bait with them I gave Colin another 3 pints of sinkers just in case he needed them. Having tackled up thenselves they both decided to start on the paste feeding pellets all the time. Both were straight into fish, although, Tony seemed to be getting a few more from the opposite side of the bush he shared with me.

It was now close to 1030 and we decided to stop fishing for a bit and have a spot of breakfast in the cafe. Leaving the gear in the pegs we walked the 50 yards to the opposite bank and the lakeside cafe where Gwen was busy rustling up some bacon and eggs sandwiches and a pot of tea to wash it down with. Gwen gave permission for both Colin & Tony to bring their cars down after there session, the hill back up is a real hill, not a mere slope like Rayne Lodge top lake.

Everyone returned to thir pegs and continued where we had left off, catching and losing fish, carp upto 8lb from all the swims. I had decided to try to fish to my right still on a top two and feed a lot less, to try to cure the foul hooker problem but even after feeding 5 pellets every put in it still happened. Changes to depths and shotting never improved things and I think it was just one of those days where no matter what you tried it made no difference. Fish were still coming thick and fast for all the anglers.

Vic & Diane were first to pack up around 1330 and with Diane admitting to 74 fish for around 230lb, Vic was close behind although he never counted his fish. I took Colin & Tony for a walk around the lakes and showed them the good pegs and worst on each of them. The one thing we noticed was that no one else was feeding. Just sitting there with rods and poles out into the water and not a pole pot or catapult in sight. Still I suppose it is good to get out in tranquil surroundings. Horses for courses and all that.

Back at our pegs, it was as if we had never been away, fish coming at regular intervals to the remaining three anglers and when I was asked when I was going to stop fishing I said at 99 fish. I think the ton of fish is a magical number and although I could easily reach that target I wanted to do it next time ( in a match). After another hour and a half it was time to pack up. It was now 1530 and by the time I had sorted the gear out and gave out my left over bait to Tony it was time for a quick chat before giving directions back to the motorway for the lads from Surrey and Kent.

Tony had 66 fish for an estimated 222lb and Colin slightly less 53 fish for around 170lb and were still fishing and catching. They had planned to fish til around 6pm before enduring the trip home. My 99 fish would have been around 300lb with the average size being just over 3lb. We had made the "best of a bad job" with the lack of organisation of the match. A good breakfast and bridges rebuilt with the fishery. Two Alders "virgins" had emptied the place.Two venue regulars had emptied the place, and finally Diane had emptied the place.

Where else can you fish top two's all day, have fish to 8lb and everyone beat 200lb.

Many thanks to Dinah and Gwen for treating us very well, Tony & Colin for sticking to their guns and going fishing when it would have been easier to cry off and finally to Vic and Diane for being good friends.

Marsh AC are a great little club that really make you welcome. I have been guesting for them for a couple of years now, when work allows. It involves a lot of travelling on my part but the banter is well worth it. You never win any money for it because of the way the payouts are structured and are lucky if you come away with more than it costs to fish. But it is the fishing and the craic that makes it all worthwhile.

Today, they have managed to secure pegs on a private lake that the organiser Dave Collier reckons is just up my street (don't know what he means). It has a strict no publicity ban so unfortunately I cannot reveal more details. And so it was that after a two hour drive from my Milton Keynes home, saw myself and another guest Mick Wright turn down a single track road and into a little paradise. The lake looked absolutely great. First impressions are a wonderful thing and tend to stick in the memory bank, a large open bowl, a couple of small islands and a stretch that looked like a narrow canal. I could see it was well looked after with cut grass and just about the right amount of trimming back, with natural banks and not a single paving slab in sight. Every peg had a feature in the shape of trees or reeds lining the bank. Set in beautiful surrondings with traditional oast houses overlooking the water.

After paying our peg fees,pools and dipping our nets, it was down to the draw and in goes the hand and peg 1 comes out. A few groans and words of discouragement come out so it must be a half decent peg. A couple of the others had fished the lake before and knew what to expect so I tapped them up for some info on my peg, only to be told it was a very good peg on its day with most fish being caught late on in the day. Plenty of lumps down the left hand edge under a tree, on the other side a few fish could be caught fishing to the reeds close in on a top two. Mick had drawn peg 14 and it was my aim to beat him for once, I have had a torrid time of late trying to take the bragging rights with Mick defeating me on more occasions than I care to remember.

 Bill Gibbens and Al Loader, two of the venue regulars had drawn well on pegs 4 and 15 respectively, the pasteman Colin Sharrad had drawn 5 with Dave Collier on 6, another guest Clive Pritchard had also drawn well on peg 8 just before a corner and with access to one of the islands.

I decided to fish the margins to both left and right and feed positively hoping to catch the resident carp. I set up 3 identical rigs to fish both sides. Mick Wilkinson Dinky floats to .14 Colmic Stream and size 14 B911s coupled with red hydro and my margin pole. The fish I was expecting to catch were on average 5lb apiece and on steroids so no room for mucking about on lighter gear. Feed was 4mm GOT Sinkers with 8mm hair rigged banded pellet on the hook. I also had a selection of 6mm GOT Hookers and Expanders.I had a couple of tins of corn and meat in the bag just in case but was told that the fish are used to pellet baits and that pellets accounted for the majority of fish.

Two big pots of 4mm Sinkers were deposited on both margins lines with the left hand swim being topped up by hand as it was only on a top two. First put in down the left produced and instant bite and I was in, the red stuff was getting a proper work out as it kept going out and out. Keeping the pole tip low and at a slight angle to the fish I managed to steer it back to a waiting net and scooped it at the first attempt, phew. At close to 8 or 9lb it was a good start. Feed again another small handful and nothing, not a thing, after 10 minutes I was already onto the second swim at 3m down the right. Still nothing, I tried fishing it tight to the edge and upto a metre away but still no indications. Back down the left and a small dip produced a small carp around 3lb so after an hour I had around 11lb in the net. Bill  had caught a few fish straight out on paste feeding heavily with pellets and Al was getting a lot of fish fishing around 12m on the deck, like an idiot I never set up to fish a longer line, lesson learn't. Into the second and third hour I suffered a few foul hookers managing to get one out for another 6lb. I was struggling to get bites. I adjusted my feeding from dumping pots in to trickling a few pellets at a time but nothing seemed to get into the groove. Adjustments to the rigs from 6inches overdepth to 6inches deep provided nothing.                               

                                         Al was still catching well (more than can be said for his singing).

                                       Clive was getting few fish at around 7m and on a bomb to the island.

                     Bill's swim had died and had resorted to fishing long into the corner close to a willow tree.

Colin's paste line had also died. Tony Roberts was heard cursing his luck and with a good few expletives was winning for the "most swear words in a sentence" competition.I wasn't far away from them but needed to catch a few more to keep up and if I could get a run together it could push me up the leaderboard and to my ultimate goal of beating Mick. He had caught a few fish in the first hour on meat but was struggling now. I decided to push my rig into the water directly under the tree and shorten the line length between pole tip and float to around 6inches as lifting the float would be a problem with a longer line. I picked up my catapult and started feeding around a dozen pellets each put in under the tree.

This had the desired affect as on about my third put in the float buried and carp number 4 was soon coming to the waiting landing net. This was closely followed by number 5 and with these fish around the 5lb mark I was starting to up the catch rate. However just when you think you have got it right it stops. I never had a bite for the rest of the match. Frustrated, but I think and the venue regulars said the same that they have never seen the venue fish so bad. One or two fish could have made a big difference to any of the anglers on the day.The only angler really happy about his day was Al, winning with a fine 122lb.

All in all a good day out and a good trip home, don't know about having to work the following day though. I managed to achieve my objective of "battering " Mick.The craic and banter makes these matches worth their weight in gold and I look forward to each one. Maybe one day I will not have to guest for the club. You never know. Their next match and last of the season is at Rayne Lodge in a fortnight, hopefully the "guest" will be in attandance.

   For regular readers of this blog, you might remember the last time I managed to fish Coleman's Cottage. The wind was so strong that I was unable to fish my peg past 7m and with the bush on the far bank the main catching point it was a non starter from the beginning.However, I did manage a few fish and refused to lose any sleep on it. The point I am making though is that I felt  I did not do the peg or the venue justice on the day. With this in mind I was hoping to do better this time around.

"Guesting" for the Marsh AC lads is always a pleasure. Matches on a variety of venues, all around the South East on established lakes in some of the nicest countryside around. The craic and banter is always good and as I tend to give out plenty, I always seem to attract some as well. Reminds me of the original Jinx Series. Good times.

Well onto the day. I had cheekily asked Dave Collier. the match secretary for Marsh AC for permission to bring along another guest to help break up the monotony of long distance motorway driving and this time it was Pete Thompson's turn to share my company for the day. And bearing in mind the travelling involved it mean't Pete pulling up the drive at 6 o'clock to load my gear into the van. A rather uneventful trip down saw us pull into the car park around 07:30 and ready for a full english breakfast washed down with a nice cup of tea. Now why is it that when I go somewhere, complete stranger's come up to me and start asking me how I am doing. Same thing happened at Colemans, another angler comes up and ask the same question. I am thinking to myself that if I was the only person on a bus that the resident bus drunk is bound to sit next to me. 

All the usual suspects were there and with Pete Morton in attendance after missing the previous visit to Pathfield Lake it was important to draw well and I was hoping for a peg between 2 and 10 as the wind blowing into this end of the lake and with it being a bit deeper I was sure the winner would come from there. After pulling peg 4 for Pete, my hand goes in the hat and a small section of wood with 22 comes out. Not ideal I thought, completely at the opposite end of the lake to where I wanted and really shallow. Still with the pegging leaving me on my own and no one within 3 pegs, i was hopeful of drawing a few fish into the swim.

Pete Morton Peg 6

Pete Thompson Peg 4

Dave Collier was at last able to show off his new toy. A motorised trolley for getting his gear to his peg and with him being pegged on the far bank he was able to show off his skills with it fully loaded.  A welcome rest for all who have carried his gear for the last few years. All he needs now is a set of "L" plates.                                    

Easy does it

I set up three rigs to cover the far bank, track and margins. a margin rig could be used if the fish wanted it shallow. Plumbing up saw the track swim at 7m being only 2ft deep, the far bank only 8inches deep and the near side margins only a foot deeper. MW margin diamonds to .16 Colmic Stream and 14 B911 on the far and near swims with a .3g MW pellet float for the track, again to 14 B911s and all kitted out on soft black hydro.

A pot of 4mm GOT sinkers on to each line apart for the left hand margin which was fed with a large pot of corn with no pellet in saw me get underway. Starting off down the track in the deepest part of the swim saw me putting a few small fish in to the net straight away, small skimmers, tench and a few stockies on 6mm GOT expanders. None of the average fish showed so after 20 minutes I put another pot in and went to have a look across. A few missed bites and barbel followed before a much firmer resistance on the pole saw some black hydro come straming out of the pole and heading towards a gap in the island. Edging back the pole slowly I managed to keep the fish coming in my direction and quietly slipped the waiting net under a common around 5lb. A welcome boost and after an hour and a few more carp I had around 20lb. I was catching but a lot of small fish so decide to really attack the peg and fed again down the track, this time with a toss pot every put in. This saw carp swirling on the surface and by fishing my 8inch far bank rig down the track up in the water and lifting it up and down saw me catch a few better fish and plenty of 2lb fish. After 3 hours I had an estimated 50lb and was starting to think about putting another net in the water. The track swim had now died, no swirls or bites were fortcoming so after positioning the third net it was time to look into the margins. My right hand banker swim had been drip fed by hand with 4mm sinkers. After a few barbel I was going nowhere and wondered whether putting in the third net had affected the peg when the elastic just ripped out of the pole and after a healthy scrap a common around 7lb was going into the new net. Unfortunately it was the only carp I had from that line. The left hand swim had been fed initially with a big pot of corn with 4mm sinkers being dripped over the top. Word had reached me that some people were struggling and I felt I was up there or roundabout.  Fishing a 6mm GOT Pineapple soft hooker saw me put a regular stream of carp into the net, fish from 6oz to 6lb fell regularly during the final 2 hours all on a top two. Now with there being a net weight limit of 70lb(something I was not aware of at the draw) I was sure that I had around 50lb in both keepnets plus around 15lb of silvers.

Having packed my gear away all that was left was to help with the weigh in. A great way to weigh in is done at Coleman's. They go around on a quad bike with a set of scales on the back. You tip the fish into a solid plastic bag and the empty nets ( fishery supplied) go into the back of the quad. Weights are recorded and onto the next one.

Clive was first to weigh with 53lb 8oz followed by Pete Thompson with a great 95lb. Not bad on your first visit to the venue. "Mugger" Moton had pipped Pete by a 1 1/2lb and put 96lb 8oz on the sheet, only to see that beaten again by Colin Sharrad by 8oz. I was starting to get worried as the last time I fished hear I thought the fish were underweight for there size. Plenty of 50 to 60lb weights were recorded before getting to Tony Roberts and 86lb of up in the water carp. Onto me, I lifted my first net out and was surprised to see the scales bottom out and 70lb, oops. Taking a few fish out see it still settle on 70lb and with 6 or 7 fish sitting in a spare landing net I accepted 70lb for the net. My second net then came out and with another couple of weighs my total of 142lb was enough     lead and indeed win the match.                                  

Back at the clubhouse, over tea's and bread pudding, the banter was flowing that I was to be disqualified for having too many fish in the net, but I am glad to say that result stood. I genuinely thought I had around 50lb in each net and was really surprised with the final outcome. It just goes to show how easy it is to become complacent during bagging sessions.

Farewell's said and the trip home was a nightmare. A12 and M25 both suffering from accidents saw me getting back to Milton Keynes around 8pm. 2 1/2hours after setting off and ending a 14 hour day.

May I thank Pete Morton for using some of his pictures in my blog this week as unfortunately my batteries died after 3 shots.