Hero, Zero, Hero, Zero…etc

I have fished the White Acres Spring Festivals for a number of years, but this is the first time I have entered an Autumn one. I had booked on, but owing to work commitments I was only 50/50 about whether I could attend right up to the last week. But fortunately I managed to get there. All the talk was of the rumoured fish kill, but I was simply glad to be there, rather than at work. I announced to my brother that I would need to spend the Sunday ‘doing my gear’, and when he saw the state of my rods and seat box, he commented “I see what you mean”. So Sunday was spent putting new line on reels, taping up split pole sections (yes, it was that bad) and generally getting my head round a draw that saw me start on Pollawyn.

Day One – Pollawyn
I had, apparently, been drawn in the “Section of Death”, otherwise known as A section. As I looked along the rest of the A section draw queue on Monday morning there were certainly plenty of well-known faces. But whilst this would have spooked me once but I’ve learnt to concentrate on my own game and just get on with it. Out of the bag came peg 9, a reasonable peg and one of several potential section winners, along with 6, 10, 12 and 13. I looked at the lake-map in the bar and noted it was opposite the point of the island. So I quickly borrowed my brother’s two Tourny Pro extensions and made my way down to the lake.
I got to the peg opposite the point of the island, dumped my gear, and then discovered this was in fact peg 7. So I moved two further along to a very different looking swim. Peg 9 is about 25m across to the island, with the lake opening out to the right of you, so that Pegs 10, 12 and 13 to the right have much more water. But on the upside, Peg 9 has a nice looking left-hand margin, which a passing competitor told me “used to be good”.

I decided on a margin line to the left at 12m, a long pole line at 13m in front, a 6m pole line, and a chuck across to the island. The latter would be my main attack (pellet on the bomb to the island) with my left hand margin primed for the last two hours. Given the problems with fish deaths, I had seriously thought long and hard about an out-and-out silver fish attack. But in talking it through with my mates we had reasoned that two fish an hour on the bomb would still defeat a silvers bag, so that should be your opening gambit on Pollawyn. So at the all in, I cupped in at 13m in front, and 12m to the left margin, and then chucked a drilled, hair-rigged 10mm pellet tight to the far bank. I picked up the catty, fired 5 over the top, one at a time, and began the waiting game. The angler to my right on Peg 10 went straight after silvers, fishing worm and caster at 5 metres. He would prove my strategy right or wrong.

After 25 mins the tip went round, and a 7lb mirror settled my nerves. A second smaller fish half an hour later meant I was on track. Jon Arthur on Peg 6 had landed a lump early on, and and some other fish I couldn’t judge the size of. No one to my right seemed to be catching much, and the guy on 10 was getting a few smaller fish on the silver fish line but not enough. I couldn’t see the anglers on pegs 1 to 4 so had to forget about them. I stuck to my plan, by re-feeding my pole lines, and going back out on the bomb.

A second quieter hour saw me ring the changes with hookbait – corn, double meat, double pellet, but to no avail. One fish in the second hour was welcome, but with Jon Arthur continuing to catch, after two hours I had to have a look long at 13m. A few very iffy bites showed me that the skimmers were not going to play ball at all, and I then treated myself to a very quick look down the margin. An instant bite set my heart racing, but my red hydro catapulted a 2 oz roach skywards. I went back in again but 5 minutes with no sign made me re-feed and leave it. Back out on the bomb, and a wrap around virtually straight away led to a foul-hooked lump that quickly shed the hook.

It went quiet again on the bomb but no-one else was doing much. The guy on Peg 7 opposite the point had 3 big fish in 3 chucks, which started to worry me, be then they drifted away from him. Although it was slow, I couldn’t see any reason to change my tactics. I kept chucking the bomb, and feeding a few big pellets over the top. In the fourth hour things looked up. I had another two fish, one of them 10lb plus, which gave me five fish. With an hour to go I came down the inside, but nothing showed. Another fishless 20 mins on the bomb saw me trying the margin again, and this time the float buried and the red hydro came streaming out. In the last half hour I managed to put two more carp in the net, one of them smallish, to give me a 7 fish total.

Because of the odd shape of Pollawyn, pegs 1 to 6 are weighed in, then all the other sections and pegs on the lake, then finally pegs 13 down to 7 are weighed in at the end. Best weight in the other half of my section was Jon Arthur’s 48lb. I figured it would be close between us. When the scales eventually arrived my 7 carp (plus 1 roach!) went 52lb, giving me a section-winning start. Better still, it turned out 52lb was second on the lake, giving me £160 into the bargain. Patience is not my strong point, so I was delighted that I had the discipline to sit and wait for the tip to go round.

Day 2 – Twin Oaks, Acorn, Canal or Python
I drew on Python, peg 10. Most of the fish in Python seem to congregate in one area, and so 9 pegs in a line form the section on this lake. The venue is narrow at either end (pegs 18 and Peg 10) but much wider in the middle. On day 1 the section had been won by the angler on the widest peg (15 or 16) who caught 60lb of F1s shallow. Alan Scotthorne had 10lb off Peg 18, and from memory Don Slaymaker had 12lb off the other end peg – my peg 10. So I wasn’t too enthused. That said, the Monday had been sunny and quite calm, whereas Tuesday was blowing a gale. End peg 18 still looked awful – dead still and tranquil, but my peg at the other end had plenty of wind on it, so there was some grounds for optimism.

I started on the tip over to some far bank rushes – about 22m in my swim. I bumped one small F1, and landed another after 45 mins, but those further up were catching quicker than me, particularly Callum Dicks. He was soon on the pole and catching steady, although not mega fast, shallow on peg 15.

I tried to catch shallow but with no bites, presentation was also a real problem with the wind. I had put in a swim 12m to my right down the track. A look over this with soft pellet led to a skimmer, then a better F1. I decided to try and coax this swim by feeding tiny amounts of micro pellets, fishing a tiny expander over the top. This was painstaking work in the wind, but it started to bear fruit, and after a couple of hours I probably had 10lb to 12lb in the net.

I had been feeding meat at 5m by hand from the start of the match, – 4 or 5 small cubes every few minutes – but persisted on the 12m down-the-track swim. It went through a quiet spell, but slow and steady feeding brought it back to life and I probably added another 4 decent F1s in the third hour. With 2 hours to go, I dropped my 12m rig in over my 5m line – the swims were identical depth. I missed the first bite, but was encouraged. The second bite was a roach about 6oz – not huge but still welcome on a tough day. The third bite, however, was when the fun started. My orange Middy Hi-viz elastic came out, and out, and out, and out. The fish only decided to turn when it ran out of lake. I had 0.12 bottom on so I knew I had a chance. After a good 10 or 12 minutes, I got the extractor from my draw and started pulling elastic out through the bung. 5 minutes later I had the top two in my right hand, pointed at the fish, with my Middy Hi Viz elastic now very taught, having turned a very pale shade of orange! The fish wallowed on the surface, and I scooped a very welcome 6lb mirror.

Decision Time! Do I go back out on my proven F1 rig, or throw this up the bank and ‘waste’ 10 minutes sorting proper gear out. I decided to do it right. 10 minutes later I was ready to go back in with 0.16 straight-through to a grey hydro elastic. It proved a wise move as I went on to land 3 more lumps at 5 metres on the meat.

At the scales I was first to be weighed and put 39lb 15oz in the purse. This beat everyone apart from Callum Dicks who had 40lb 3oz of F1s from the wides. I was disappointed to be ounced for the section, but glad to have come back from the dead.

Day 3 – Trewaters

As a newly stocked water, this was an unknown quantity. I pulled out peg 49 at the draw, and when I checked the boards I was pleased to see that young Last Cast squad member Jamie Howarth had 45lb off it the day before, for second in section. I quickly tracked him down. “Fish soft pellet at 5 metres, slightly to the left” he said, and added: “You’ll empty it”.

I followed Skip McCabe to the lake, about a 10 minute drive from the site, full of anticipation. My peg was sort of in a corner, but the wind was howling. It didn’t look too exciting, as the pegs further round were more fishable, but it had form so I set up two 5 metre pole rigs, one lighter one heavier. The tow was ripping through so I left myself plenty of line on the rig to lay on the bottom should I need it. There is a 13 metre pole length limit at Trewaters but a long pole line was impossible in the conditions, so I also set up a small feeder for the far bank at 16 metres away.
On the all-in, I cupped in a hard ball of soaked micro-pellets, and went over the top with a 4mm expander. Two small stockies in two chucks had me greatly encouraged. The next 1.5 hours brought only two more and had me scratching my head. Stewart Lister to my right hadn’t had a bite, and Skip McCabe to my left had caught for the first hour, then stopped. Further up the section in the more sheltered area they were catching odd fish – not emptying it but certainly leaving us for dead. The rest of the match was a dour wait for odd bites. Stewart did it right. He sat on the tip for proper fish and had three in the last hour to give him 10lb. I weighed 7lb for last in section, and Skip had 9lb to my left. We were all in the doldrums though (eh? Isn’t the doldrums dead calm rather than wind-battered?) as the weights went up and up around the bend, with 35lb winning it from pegs we couldn’t see.

So, crashed and burned on Day 3. With three days gone I had a first, a second, and a last. You can drop your worst result, so I had well and truly used my get-out-of-jail-card. No room for any mistakes. On to Porth where I have traditionally done well.

Day 4 – Porth

My favourite peg here is 89 – the end peg on the furthest section. Into the bag went my hand, and out came … peg 86. Mmmm. A standard Porth peg as far as I’m aware. If you are on the far bank at Porth there is a boat to take your gear across which is a great help. Arriving at my peg I spent the first 20 minutes getting my box sorted with its extending legs. I decided to sit in the water, so donned my chest waders. The rubber felt lovely.

The pegging in the upper 80’s is very tight – literally 5 yards between each angler – so I picked a tip line slightly further out than I would normally go, at 29 turns. I use a Daves of Middlewich Bite Finder rod at Porth. It has two lengths – 8 ft and 6ft! It has the softest tips you could ever imagine, is designed for the River Weaver, and is perfect for skimmers. I use 3lb Ultima line on a TDR reel, with my feeder in the loop. Finished off with 18 inches (to start) of 0.11 line to a 16 B520. They are not ravenous, eat-anything fish at Porth, but nor are they hook-shy.

Groundbait is 50% Crazy Bait Gold and 50% Sensas Roach and Silver Fish. I take two kilos which does me for both tip and pole lines. I have never needed more than this. Some chopped worm and a few casters go into the mix. It has to be packed very lightly, so it comes out on the way down. That’s my thinking, anyhow.

I had decided not to ball it on the pole line, but when Simon Fry to my left did so, and the guy to my right did also, I felt I had to. Why? Basically, the angler two to my left fished the tip all day, giving Simon space to his left. Ditto the angler two to my right, giving the lad on my right space on the pole line all day. The way I figured it, I was hemmed in, and had to announce my presence, so I quickly changed plans and balled it at 12 metres.

I started on the tip and had bites straight away. Small skimmers, but mainly roach. This kind of fishing is all about rhythm (took me three attempts to spell that). You have got to take it easy – keep plopping that little feeder in the same place and gently try and ease your way ahead of the other anglers. The more groundbait that goes in, the more the ratio of skimmers to roach increases. I felt 45 mins into the match I was doing this, ahead of those around me, and then disaster struck in the shape of a 10lb pike. He took a decent skimmer off the hook and spangled my feeder rig. Simon to my left had an early look on the pole, and had a few fish but they dried up and forced him back on to the tip. I stayed on the tip and sought to press home my advantage.

The fish were coming and going on the tip, so after a couple of hours I swapped the feeder for a small bomb, and chucked it onto my pole line. A bite straight away had me throwing the tip up the bank, and reaching for the pole. I do sometimes like to fish the bomb over the pole line with my dinky little rod – it works well on the Weaver and indeed I think Tommy Pickering did this to win the lake two days later – but I felt pole was best so went out on my 1g rig. I had bites straight away, but could not get the skimmers to settle. Roach were plentiful, but I couldn’t put a run of skimmers together so I took a fateful decision and decided to go for roach. I went out with my lighter 0.6g rig, set 6 inches off bottom, and started to catch roach steadily. As usual with roach, I had to change depths, presentation etc every 4 or 5 fish to keep them coming. I was catching, but in the last hour the anglers either side of me had the skimmers lined-up. I felt both had overtaken me.

End peg 89 weighed first – 15lb which I knew was way too good for me. Simon Fry to my left put 12lb on the pan which was second best. I pulled out a net of smaller fish which went a big 10lb. The lad to my right pulled out a skimmer net which went….a smaller 10lb. The remaining weights were mainly 5lb to 7lb. So I’d got third in section, but frankly I had a narrow escape. I should have waited a bit longer for those skimmers to show on the pole line, putting more worm in to get them chomping. So much for me emphasising the importance of patience when skimmer fishing! I should try listening to myself. Still, with a first, second, and a third – there was still an outside chance of a good finish. It turned out the 15lb weight from Peg 89 won the lake, so I sneaked my section by default. Happy days.

Day 5 – Bolingey

I needed a good peg on the last day, and I got one. Peg 45. Only problem is, it is in with all the other flyers, such as 21, 22, 23 etc. I was told I would need to fish long so I again borrowed Pete’s extensions. It turned out 17m was about right, so I set up the old-man-bar (spray bar) on my Milo box to try and take some weight off my twisted, decrepit back (courtesy of two collapsed discs). But crucially the peg was out of the wind so it was actually quite manageable. The long swim was against the far bank, and I had a second swim at the bottom of the near shelf, approximately 6 metres. Plus I fed margin swims either side. I never fished these, and as experienced readers will know, that means I had a few fish!

I had three carp long on small cubes of meat, over meat and hemp fed through a toss-pot, in the first hour. Red-hydro sorted them out. Nevertheless, it is quite alarming to have 17 metres of Tourny Pro bent through nearly 90 degrees as a big lump takes off. Dead exciting though. The second hour I had four fish, averaging around the 5lb mark, and in the third hour I came in on the 6m line – the killer line on Bolingey. Again, fishing meat over meat and hemp I caught reasonably steadily, although the fish were slightly smaller. I went long again in hour four, before coming in again in hour 5. Basically, it was one of those matches where you are not emptying it, but every time you think of changing you get another fish. I weighed 91lb for second in section, way behind Jamie Hughes’ 120lb from peg 22. I also got third on the lake, so a bit more lettuce to feed my wicked habits.

The prize-giving that evening was a cracking affair. Everyone knew Steve Ringer had blitzed it with not only maximum points, including dropping a section win, but 4 lake wins and a lake second! Awesome is an over-used word, but apt in this instance. I had 32 points, which was a decent return, but not enough to frame given the calibre of anglers on show. On stage, Clint counted down, with prizes from Maver for those in the top 20: “And in 16th position, with 32 points, dropping 1, with a weight of 200lb 13oz , is Colin Mercer”. The crowd went wild. Well, at least the crowd in my imagination went wild.

So, overall a good week. You tend to look back and rue the missed opportunities – losing the section by 3 ounces on Python – that would have given me 33 points and a top ten finish. But in truth, everyone has these stories. Better to be happy with what you’ve got. Me, I loved it.