By Stewart Lister | No Comments
Last updated: Monday, December 8, 2008

I really look forward to all the White Acres Festivals but if pushed on a favourite I would have to admit that the Silver Fish is my number 1. It’s the smallest of the year with 55 anglers taking part but the quality of the field is very high with numerous England Internationals taking part, in fact I had three of them in my section!

This year was to be the first real silver fish festival as in previous years F1’s and Crucians had been allowed, this year they were on the banned list. Personally I think it is a good move, I have had some success with F1’s in previous years but ‘silvers’ they are not. Another good move in my opinion was the relaxing of the bait limits allowing competitors to take what bait they wanted to the peg. Not that you need gallons of bait, it just allows you to take a variety to the bank without worrying that you are pushing the limits. Two top rule changes in my book, well done White Acres.

I was entering the world of the ‘Pirate of Penzance’ as I was lodging with Jim Smith for the festival, at least I was guaranteed a laugh after a hard days fishing! The other main advantage of rooming with Jim is his complete insistence on looking after the bait, absolutely perfect in my view; I knew my casters would be perfect as his other alias is ’The caster master’ If he was allowed to sleep with them I’m sure he would!

The section draw saw Jim and I on different lakes and unbelievably we were pegged next to each other on day one! One of the sections was a split between Pollawyn and Sycamore and the other was Pollawyn on the points and arms, which was my mine. I drew peg 30 which I was pleased with but couldn’t quite believe it when Jim turned up on 29.

I was feeling confident as I knew the peg and had fished it previously, I had Fishery Manager Clint Elliot to my right and Darren Cox opposite on fancied peg 20 so I knew I had my work cut out. I knew to do well in this section I would need bream so that’s what I set up for. It would also be important to set up a line for Perch down the edge as on the first day they can be big weight builders.

My tackle consisted of my favourite Cralusso Capri floats in .75 gram I set up two one had a PR21 size 18 hook and the other an 18 Middy T6313 both were on .8 Xedion hook lengths. I had a roach rig to fish at five metres this was a 4 x 12 with strung out shot so that I could fish ‘top to bottom’ searching for the fish. My tackle was completed by a .2gram Capri for down the edge. For bait I had two bags of Green Swim Stim ground bait along with 3 pints of casters, maggots, pinkies and a kilo of worms.

My two main lines were at 6 and 13 metres and at the start each line received four balls of GB containing some worms and casters. I had previously loose fed the edge and that is where I started looking for some Perch, they run to well over two pounds so are a real bonus if you can get one early. I had ten minutes down the edge without a bite in fact from the banter I don’t think anybody was catching! Time to go long and have a look over the GB the light was atrocious and it was very difficult to see the float tip, in fact during the match I had used orange, black and yellow tips on numerous occasions!

Clint was first to catch followed by Jim even though he was not in my section there was a nugget side bet so there was a lot of pride on this match! I eventually caught a roach or two and as the lake started to warm up a few fish were starting to be caught. Jim was catching well and try as I might I just could not keep up with him. I was not alone in this quest as I could see Jims left peg neighbour Tommy Pickering also falling behind.

Clint was also catching and I felt I was falling behind on both sides added to the problem was the fact that Darren Cox also catching! My answer was to feed some more GB and try to draw some fish. This didn’t work and I think my aggressive feeding was wrong on the day. There was nothing to be caught down the edge or at 4 metres, really strange. I finished with 16lb 9oz of skimmers and roach. Clint on the other had had 24lb odd to take second in section behind Darren who had 30 odd pounds from the other side of the lake. There were some other 18 – 20lb weights in the section which left me with a mountain to climb after day one.

Jim on the other hand fished a really good match to win the section with 31lb so I was well trounced on the opening day. Later in the week Tommy presented Jim with a White Acres shirt on which was printed ‘Well done Jim, It was a pleasure to watch, you fished a brilliant match’ signed Tommy Pickering. It was a great gesture from one of anglings true gents and I know the thought was really appreciated by the pirate.

Tuesday saw me draw peg 15 on Jenny’s another draw that I was pleased with, the only problem that I envisaged was the fact that Harry Billing had it the day previously and he leaves very few feeding fish in a swim! I had current champion Andy Dare to my right so I knew there was going to be some banter and another difficult match. A Mars bar challenge was struck between us and it was going to taste very sweet if I could prize it from Andy.

The day was completely different the sun was shining and it was very windy. Before the match started I went back to the van to get my sunglasses as it was so bright. Within 10 minutes of me returning it was tipping down! Oh Man did it rain!

My thoughts on the peg were simple; fish two lines one around 5 metres which was going to be loose fed with casters for roach and the other at 12 metres which was going to receive some ground bait and chopped worms, hopefully to attract some bonus fish . Floats were .3 gram Tamas Walter series 2 which have a thick tip. I prefer them on this lake as the light can be difficult especially when the sun comes out. I dot them down to a pimple on the roach line but I still find that I can see them.

I started on the long line and had two small roach on the first two drops but then had to wait for a bite. It wasn’t long before I was on the five metre line and catching roach over my loose fed caster. Andy was catching skimmers on his long line every time he caught one he let me know! I just kept thinking that’s another 3 roach I need. I felt I was in touch with him and every now and then went long myself and caught the odd one but generally I was having to wait for bites on that line.

I realised that I was better just concentrating on the roach, they started coming really well towards the end of the match, I hoped to pick up a bonus fish but unfortunately never found one. The match ended and I weighed in with 24lb odd of roach for second in section. It was a really great days fishing and one that I enjoyed immensely. Andy finished with 18lb of mainly skimmers. Incidentally, that Mars bar really did taste sweet! The section was won by Steve Hemmingray with a 38lb from end peg 21 he had a great net of roach but included several of those important bonus tench.

Wednesday saw me have a dip for a good peg on Trelawney I picked the end peg 23. I was not too disappointed but felt I was the wrong end. This peg is ‘round the corner’ to all the others in the section and you have your back to all the other anglers it makes it very difficult to see what was happening. As it happened that didn’t matter too much as the banter was flowing all day! I had a tough section today with Darren Cox to my left followed by Steve Hemmingray and Clint Elliot.

It was a roach day and the lake had been fishing well so I was keen to get started. I had two lines one at 14 metres which was just up the shelf in slightly shallower water and the other at 5 metres. Rigs were a selection of Mosella floats in the 4 x 14 and 4 x 16 sizes all had size 20 middy T6313 hooks to .8 Xedion line. At the start I fed two balls of Euro cup ground bait containing a few worms and casters.

I went straight onto the longer line expecting a bite immediately but it didn’t come. Glancing over my shoulder I could see Darren on his shorter line and he was having the same lack of success! Not like Steve and Clint who were immediately into fish! Great, once you get too far behind in these matches it is hard to get back. I asked Darren what lines they were catching on. He replied Clint short and Steve long if that tells you anything! I quipped that all it told me is that it was obviously roach city in front of them.

Darren started to get the odd fish and eventually I got them but we were probably now an hour and a half into the match and we both knew out of the equation. I decided to forget all about points and just enjoy the day. And to be honest that’s what I did, I was comfortable fishing the long pole and was catching a few on the maggot or caster. I actually finished last in the section but it’s not a bad day when you have over 16lb of pristine red fins and finish last!

The section was again won by Steve with over 35lb of roach, second was Clint with 30lb followed by Darren with 25lb he narrowly beat Andy Dare’s 24lb.

Thursday saw us move onto the split section of Pollawyn and Sycamore. I was hoping for a peg on Sycamore and was really pleased when I pulled peg 2 Sycamore out of the bag. It was again going to be a tough one as I again had Darren Cox and Steve Hemmingray in the section. I also had Andy Dare for company on peg 4. At least I had him in my left ear this time! The obligatory Mars bar bet was struck as we got ready for action.

This is one of my favourite lakes and we were really looking for a mixed bag that could be Roach, Skimmers or Perch with the odd Tench thrown in for good measure it really is a mixed fishery. I was in two minds how to approach the match in relation to ground bait. In the end I took full benefit of the rule changes and mixed up two batches! One lot was Green Swimstim and the other was Mosella Euro Cup and All Round Select with the old rules I wouldn’t have been allowed to take enough GB to the peg.

I had decided to feed the Swimstim straight in front of me at 14 metres and the sweet GB to my right again at 14 metres there would be chopped worm and casters in both mixes. My thinking was if skimmers wanted to play I had set a table for them. I was only going to fish on the deck so rigs were a 4 x 16 Mosella float and .75 gram Cralusso Capri. Each rig was very positive with a .10 Xedion hook length to a size 18 Pr 21 hook. I did set a 4 x14 roach rig to fish at 4 metres just in case!

I started with worm straight in front of me and again expected an indication straight away I couldn’t quite believe it when the float remained visible! After five minutes I swung the rig to the right over the sweet GB and the float buried, what’s more it was a good roach! I started to catch well on this line the problem was shipping the pole back it was difficult with the high bank and brambles behind me. Andy was starting to get the odd roach and worryingly skimmers were mixed in with his roach. I swapped between both lines but there was no doubt that the sweet GB line was best. I was loose feeding short and after a couple of hours gave it ago I had a bite immediately but missed it! This was followed by a couple of more missed bites. I let the float really bury next time and counted to two struck and a ½ oz roach was swung to hand, not what I wanted. I gave this a ball of Mosella to see if it would attract a bigger stamp of fish and I was back long.

The rest of the match saw me catching loads of roach I again had no bonus fish but I really was enjoying the days fishing despite the torrential rain that was trying it’s best to spoil the day! The scales arrived and I weighed 24lb 7oz which was good enough for second in section and second on the lake. I was beaten by that man Hemmingray again who had 28lb including some more bonus fish. Oh man, why can I not catch any bigger fish this week? Actually I wasn’t that worried about it, I was catching fish and enjoying myself and I felt if I carried on like this a few pickups would follow. I did win a Mars Bar, well I would have done if Andy had paid up!

Where had the week gone? It had flown by and before we knew it we were on Twin Oaks for the last match. I hadn’t slept the night before due to the high winds which threatened to blow the lodge away it was an incredible night. It had calmed down a little by morning but was still in the region of 35 mph. I studied the weather forecast and was pleased to hear that the winds were due to die down as the day progressed.

My draw saw me on peg 8 and once again had no complaints. I had my old mate the Daiwa Dorking skipper Steve Sanders for company to my left and the aging scribe Roger Baker to my right who fancied his chances as he struck up the Mars Bar challenge! I also had a nugget with Roger on our overall position that he struck up on Wednesday morning when I was a point behind him! After yesterday I was two points in front and it practically needed me to be last and Roger to win for me to have to pay up. I like these little challenges, they sometimes are more important than a bigger envelope! It’s all good fun though.

I felt I could hold the pole ok at 12 ½ metres and due to the fact that the weather girl was so convincing about the wind dying as the day went on I decided on two swims at that length. One was to be fed with sweet GB and the other I was going to loose feed with casters. Rigs were again Mosella floats in 4 x 16 and 4 x 14 with small hooks and light lines.

The match started and I went out over the GB with no bites and I was a little dismayed to ‘feel’ that the wind had not died down! No bites on that line I moved over to the loose fed line and the float buried with a small roach being the culprit. Never mind it was a start and I had to keep up with Steve. Fish were coming but I had a couple ripped off as the pole was wrenched out of my hand shipping back! I finally hooked my bonus fish and carefully played it on my 4 elastic I couldn’t believe it when it turned out to be an F1 which was on the banned list!

I could see Andy Dare on the end peg catching really well on what looked to be five sections of pole. Man, he had it right today. There was Steve and I struggling on the long pole. To be fair the wind was worse where Andy was so he had been forced into making the correct decision on where to fish and he looked to be making no mistakes.

I gave it a little longer before I started throwing casters onto the close line and after an hour or so I was forced to come close even though there were loads of fish long.

I started catching roach on this line just having the odd look long over my GB especially after Roger had landed a Bream and lost one at 11 metres. I couldn’t find one so continued catching roach on caster on my 4 x 14 rig. A switch to a 4 x 16 saw my catch rate increase and I put this down to the larger bulk picking up the tow, my float started going properly against the wind and every drop in I had a roach. I even managed two small tench of a pound each which were good fun on 4 elastic. The fish stayed to the end of the match and it was once again a great days fishing. The wind was just as strong as when we started. Last time I listen to a girl just because she’s pretty! I was kicking myself for not starting on that line.

The scales came and Andy was winning the section with 18lb 12oz my fish bounced them round to 18lb 4 oz and Steve put 18lb 6oz on! Oh man that was close. What a fool I had been in trying to beat the wind. Never mind another great net of fish which saw me average 20lb per day, not bad for little winnings. Oh yes, I had a Mars bar and a nugget from Roger but that cheeky sod Andy Dare insisted I share the choc with him even though he owed one from yesterday! Mind he did have his quad with him and was driving my gear back to the van!

Overall young world champion Callum Dicks was a worthy winner followed by Steve Hemmingray and Clive Carter well done lads you all fished brilliantly all week. Just to give you an idea how tight it was if Timmy Rowe had caught 3lb more on the last day he would have won his section and the festival, in the end he didn’t and consequently finished well out of the race!

I had a fantastic weeks fishing but messed things up on day one with some aggressive feeding, fed groundbait on the wrong lines on Sycamore and believed the weather forecast lady but I have put a lot of things in the old memory box and hopefully will be able to reap the benefit of experience in future matches.

I really want to thank Vic Bush at Mosella and Darren Cox at Garbolino for sponsoring the festival and to the staff at White Acres for putting on a great week, well done to you all! Oh one last thing, there were loads of carp hooked during the week which isn’t bad for a venue that has supposed to have lost them all to KHV! I for one am looking forward to the spring festivals.

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