My first visit to Alders Farm

Saturday saw me fish my first Maggot Drowners’ match, at Alders Farm near Milton Keynes. I’ve been a member of this forum for a year or two, and I was looking forward to meeting the 16 who turned up, having never met any of them before.

Ash Lake at Alders Farm used to have a reputation for producing almost obscene weights in matches – 400 lb was not uncommon and 600 lb the record, but the new owners, who took over in 2014, removed a lot of the fish and have kept the population at a sensible level. Now the fishery has a high reputation among matchmen, with much more sensible winning weights.

Ash Lake is shallow at one end – around three feet, with twice as much depth at the far end, where the dam is – roughly pegs 12 round to 20 I think. The fliers are 1 and 2, and I wanted to draw anywhere from 1 to 6, or 21 round to 30, in the shallower water...so of course I drew 19!  The depth here was around five feet at six metres, shallowing up to very shallow margins.

High, cold, winds

The wind was forescast to come from SSW, which it did for the first hour or so, over my back, during which time it started to rain – and to cut down on weight I had left my brolly in the car! Then the wind moved round 90 degrees so it was into our faces on this bank, from the left. The angler on 20 had a carp at this time, about 3 lb, on a 13-metres pole, while the angler on 17, to my right, had a foulhooked carp about the same size, on a feeder. He had started fishing a waggler, but by now he found that impossible, so stayed on a feeder all day (the angler on 20 stayed on his pole all day).

I eventually had to change from pole to feeder, fishing maggot, and first cast produced a 2 lb-plus carp. But then no more. I couldn’t cast to the island, as that was in front of peg 20, so had to just vary my length of cast at random. Even though the rain eventually stopped it grew gradually colder and colder, and my mate Colin, who lives nearby, came down to watch, but he stayed only 15 minutes because of the cold. I was shivering violently at one point, so got up and had a muddy walk to my left to see what was being caught – not much.

Suddenly there are bream in my swim

I came back, seriously thinking about packing up as I was so cold, but had another go at the pole at 13 metres (I had tried inside for nothing) and was surprised, suddenly, to hit a fish, which came off. Next drop-in a 6 oz bream came in. I started catapulting maggots out during the occasional lull in the wind, which was now quite fierce, and during the next hour I had another eight or nine bream of similar size.

With half an hour to go a drop in a little closer brought another, then two fish which came off – one seemed a bit better – and then the match finished. And I was mighty pleased to be able to pack up. Altogether I pulled out of five fish in the strong wind, probably bream hooked lightly, but I doubt if that made any difference to my placings.

The weigh-in

The angler on my right had 6 lb – plus – I think he may have added another carp. I was surprised to weigh 8 lb 13 oz, and was told it was second in my 6-peg section, with peg 7, opposite, leading the section with 16 lb 10 oz. The angler to my left, Keith, had added a couple of silver fish, and weighed 3 lb 11 oz. The next angler had 4 oz so I won a prize for second in section, and was sixth overall.

The top weight came from peg 23, local expert Trevor Price, casting a waggler right to the island. The early pegs produced two weights above mine – and it was galling to see them sitting in bright sunshine for the last three hours while we were freezing, with the sun behind us but shaded from the bank by trees.

Bitterly cold winds kept the weights down, though the early pegs had some sun.
The previous Tuesday peg 1 had won and 2 was second. But today there were no fliers!

Conclusions

Three of us – pegs 20, 19 and 17, really caught the full blast of the wind, so on a water I had never fished before I was happy to beat them, and to win something. Stupidly at the after-match meal I put my prize on the table and accidentally left it there when I left!

I would think twice about going to the fishery again in the Winter, though. The platform I was on was great – brand new, a good size, and rock-steady, with paving slabs behind and to one side. That was very useful as the bank was very muddy indeed.

Nothing much the fishery could have done about the muddy bank near the platforms – but there were two big areas of mud, on the approach and at the exit, where my trolley became stuck solid. Obviously these areas have been dodgy for some time, as they were well churned up. Leaves had built up in a couple of hollows, and that prevents the ground from drying out in a wind. A piece of perforated rubber matting, which allows the grass to grow through, would solve a lot of that problem. I was using a motorised trolley for the first time, and without the help of the motor I would have needed help to extricate it.

Great organisation - thanks, Dave

However, Dave (Red Leader) did a great job of the organisation and the meal was just right – quick and hot. I enjoyed everyone’s company, and obviously some are very good matchmen. They gave me several tips beforehand, though the weather was against us – you can see from the results. Around 80 lb was expected to win, and no-one expected there to be any DNWs. But the water was very clear, and obviously very cold, so well done to everyone who caught a fish...and well done for sticking it out to those who didn’t.

PS. I was told at the weigh-in that the rule is that silver fish on Ash lake are to be kept in a separate net. But I had read the rules online and the only reference to a separate net was as follows: “When Fishing a match on Pines Lake, all Silver Fish to be kept in a separate Keep net.”

There was no question of disqualifying me on the day, but it made me uncomfortable to think that I could have unintentionally broken a rule. Are there any other rules not on the website?

An inauspicious start to my Winter campaign

Scraping ice off the windscreen before you set off fishing is not a good sign – agreed? But it has to be done – and the one thing to look forward to was that the Rookery Farm Over 60s was on Raven Lake, where you can get your car to every peg.

At least I had a laugh at the draw when Tim Bates reminded us that the fishing times were 3 to 10 (I’m sure that’s what he said). There are 29 pegs on Raven, with 24 fishing,  and I desperately wanted to avoid pegs 12 to 17, because they face right into the sun and it make fishing a long pole really nasty in Winter, when the sun is low. So of course it was Peg 14 that stuck to my fingers.

There’s not much to add, actually. There was hardly any wind, but obviously the water was cold and nothing was moving on the surface. And as I had expected, the sun was horribly glarey - right in our eyes, hence no picture! A few minutes fishing punch bread at 14.5 metres to the far bank in two feet of water proved fruitless – you really need reeds on the edge of the deep water, and there are none on these pegs. In addition the sun never hits that far shelf. So I tried maggot in the deep water (a good six feet at the moment) which also brought not a tickle.

My left arm ached!

Then Adrian Hunter, to my left on 12, caught two fish from what appeared to be about eight feet from the far bank. I plumbed up and it was about five feet here, up the slope, so I tried for a long time on this line. Eventually, after a couple of looks in the margins and back across, I had a bite and landed a carp about 1 lb 8 oz. From time to time I had to stop and have a drink, as having to hold my left arm out to stop the glare made it ache. Adrian said he did the same. I put on sunglasses, but then couldn’t see the float properly against the black far bank reflection.

Then two hours biteless and with 90 minutes to go Roy Whincup, on my right, had a couple of fish on a short line and then one on four sections. I tried this line for half an hour, in the deepest water, with a mere pimple of the float showing, but never had a knock until I swapped from dead maggot to live maggot. This brought two carp both about 1 lb 8 oz, which just dipped the pimple the tiniest bit, and with half an hour to go I thought I might get more. But no. And though the sun was now on the near shallows, I don't think any of us on that bank caught close in. That, as they say, was my lot!

The weigh-in

Mick Curtis on Peg 11, on the corner, was top weight round to me, with 30 lb 7 oz. He told me later that Adrian on 12 had seen fish moving on the far bank there as they had tackled up, but hadn’t told him! Mick couldn’t see them, but eventually turned to his right, towards the sun which was not quite so annoying by then, and found them. He finished fourth. 

Lots of DNWs - I assume they all blanked. Far-bank reeds which extend out to the edge of the shelf are best.

Adrian had six fish for 9 lb 9 oz, and my three went 4 lb 9 oz. Roy on 15 had six for 6 lb 8 oz. And when I saw that Tony Watling Snr on Peg 17 had weighed just 3 lb 3 oz I felt a smidgeon better! He’s one of the best senior anglers in the country.

Four of the top five weights came, as we had all expected, from the higher numbers – 23, 27, 28, and 29, where the far bank has reeds which the carp hang around. It also helped that these swims caught some sun. There were nine DNWs, and I was 11th.

I have to miss the next Wednesday Over 60s – Addenbrookes calls, where I expect to receive some sort of outline of how they will tackle the cancer on my lungs (I have no symptoms yet, but it’s there). And the next Wednesday should see me at the big Over 60s Christmas match at Pidley, when I will win a prize (it’s like Hook-A-Duck because everybody gets one).