JJL Teams of 5 Invitation Match, Alders Farm. Friday 21st August 2020

 When I came back to coarse fishing after a break, it didn't take me too long to get back into match fishing, I joined a website called Maggotdrowning.com and have remained an active member ever since, somehow ending up becoming a moderator in the process.

Maggotdrowing is a fairly friendly website, whreby advice is offered freely, I will admit, at times, as with any internet based site, the information quality can sometimes vary from 100% spot to somewhat eccentric to say the least, but as long as its not downright dangerous or illegal, we tend to leave it for the members of the site to comment and make a thread go in the right direction.

This year, I threw my hat into the ring for selection to the 5 man team to fish the Joseph James Law Invitation Teams of Five match at Alders Farm, a venue I've never seen.  But with some local info and fishing commercial isn't hugely different I fancied a go.

I must admit, more than half way through the match I was starting to think it was going to be a huge mistake and the van trip computer info of 4 hours 45 minutes driving, 263 miles at an average of 54MPH using 43.3 MPG was all in vain, but thankfully, whilst I didn't cover myself in glory, I didn't have to sneak out with a blanket over me in shame.

The draw was made the night before with teams able to place anglers, I was allocated peg 7 on pines, a decent peg I was told. It has a little spit on the LH side which I was assured that if I kept feeding maggots the fish would turn up at some point.  The next bit of advice was fish maggot or pellet at 2+2 and then a line at 13m, up and down.

I was told a gallon of maggots might be necessary - long time since I fed a gallon of maggots, it would have been on a river for chub.  Keep feeding them to the spit and the fish will turn up was the local advice.

I started at 2+2, I was toss potting pellets and had a indication straight away, then a foul hooker that came off, I could see pegs 9, 10 and 11 catching straight away, they were at the end of the lake with the wind hacking in and I was told peg 10 was the peg.

I had also been told to fish GB on the short line so fed a small ball with some pellets in, to get it to the bottom, this saw the liners stop, but I don't think it was the reason, the fish seemed to move off the short line for all except the previously mentioned windward end pegs.

I was an hour and twenty minutes into the match and blanking, in an open that's frustrating, in a team match its a totally different scenario, you are letting your team down, your ability is in question and it just means redoubling efforts.  I had a couple of things to try that weren't in the team plan/locals advice handbook, method feeder, not so much as a liner, next up, a lead rod with some teabags, fished further out than the method, again, not even a liner.

I have yet to mention it, but it was windy, bloody windy and I was far from convinced that I'd be able to fish at 13m with any sensible presentation, I did venture out to 9m and had a carp that wind assisted, might go 3lb on pellet, that was the only bite.

I then got off my box and put together a ready made waggler, hoping that even though the wind was horrendous, I might get it to present well enough to catch.  One missed bite on this, so it was far from successful, I took the clip off the method rod and ventured as near to the island as I dared, without straying from my peg boundary, that saw another small carp netted, but it was looking grim and I was preparing for a last on lake, if not last in match....

I had kept feeding the edge, as per the info and the bank runners reminders, it was to no avail, I had one bite in the edge and it was a 1.12 perch, the only silver I netted. With 90 minutes to go, I decided that I had to try something else, as the local info wasn't working, the fact every peg was in and the wind was hacking down the lake may have rendered what was good info, almost useless.

I went back on the 2+2 line and started toss potting corn, with corn hair rigged onto the band of the pellet rig, this seemed to be the answer and I started catching, I was hopeful that it could see me claw back a decent section finish and I'm sure I could have had an extra point or two, as the fish I had were 6 - 8lb and I was confident ot get a few more in the last 30 minutes.

Unfortunately there was a cock-up in calling the all out, it was called 30 minutes early, then we were told that was a mistake and then just after told it was the all out, as the other lakes had stopped.  Bit gutted really as I was expecting to put a few lb in the net in that last 30 minutes, as the peg was getting stronger.

When the scales got to me, 45lb was top weight (next peg to my left) and I put 42.08 on, I am sure I had the beating of him had the match lasted the advertised time, but shit happens, it wasn't to be.  the pegs at the end of the lake weighed in 3x what I had, I really don't think my peg was worth that, but may be I should have switched to corn earlier.

The team aim was to finish in the top six, I obviously wanted to win the section (and match, but our lake [pines] came nowhere near the winning weight of 260lb), I achieved the team goal, but felt I could and should have had another point than the 5 I achieved - 12 peg sections)

It was a great day out, well done to the winners Guru, we had a couple of poor draws and finished nearer the bottom than the top, but thanks to Dave who owns/runs magggotdrowning.com, to the members of the site who chipped into to help cover the costs, the bank runners and the locals in the team whose advice would probably have been spot on 99% of the time.

If I get picked to fish again next year, I'll be there in a shot, great day out, many thanks to Joseph James Law for the  sponsorship of the event, the breakfast, the food after the event and the well run match with a great atmosphere.

If there was a downside to the day, it was my stupid bravado at pushing my trolley back up the hill, which any one who has been to Alders will now be mentally viewing with some dread, my dodgy knee is suffering and I can hardly walk, next time I'll need a Caddy......