| I travelled down to Whiteacres on Sunday April 1st thinking that it was April fools day and wondering what lay a head for me at the scheduled two festivals. The first week was the Sensas arranged event followed by the Abu backed one.
I needed to put the events of last autumn behind me, both the elation of winning the last festival and the disappointment of just missing out on the shootout. I needed to sort myself out and start all over again. Having not seen the venue since I needed to do some research to find out what had been happening over the winter and what if anything was beginning to happen now the spring was arriving although you would not believe it looking at the weather! On arrival down at the complex I met up with my usual roommates, Steve Saunders, Tony Troth and Pete Wedgebrow, who were all looking forward to the two weeks.
The first week and the Sensas festival was a warm up! Seriously though, we all learn things from a venue and that first week was, as it turned out, a learning week, switching back on to the various waters and watching other anglers perform, some of whom had been down there a little while longer than I, practising.
The second week was to be my week, but it nearly wasn't. Read on to find out why.
Day One. - Porth.
I drew peg 73. Not a bad peg but not the best on the pool either. Peg 79 being an example of a better one being an end peg, and having Dave Pimlott sitting on it, I knew I had my work cut out straight away. I opted for a two-pronged attack. My first choice being the feeder and my second being the pole at 11 metres. I thought the match would be a 'tip' affair because the peg had not been fished for a while and the fish only come in on the pole line after a few days of heavy ground baiting. With this in mind and edging my bets, I balled the 11 metre line with ground bait 'just in case'. I'm glad I did! I went out on the tip for the first hour only to find that the pole lines were producing and people were catching well. After that hour I also switched to the 11 metre line, the tip had been a mistake and I had chosen the wrong tactic. I should have been on the pole from the off. Anyway I put together 11 lb 5 oz for third in my section. I had been beaten in that first hour with weights of 16 lb and 15 lb. Third section points was not a bad result but not good either. You can discard a result in the festival and Hopefully I will be able to throw this one away.
 Keep your eye on other anglers it may make you change tactics earlier.
Day Two - Bollingy
Just before the match started, My phone fell into the water and it took 10 mins to find. The missus didn't believe me!
I drew peg 10. Not a brilliant draw within the section because 12, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20 are all very good pegs that had been producing well. With this in mind I opted to fish cat meat. I know what you are thinking but I had to fish it to try and compete with those pegs for good section points. I plumbed up at 11 and 13 metres. The whistle went and I cupped in a small amount of cubed cat meat and fished a piece over the top. Within 5 minutes I was into a fish. Four put ins and four fish, I couldn't believe it! As the match progressed the bites started to slow and I could see peg 20 having a fish a chuck. Towards the end of the match I hooked another fish around the 2 lb mark that turned out to be my saviour. The whistle went to signal the end and I was first on the scales. 52 lb 8 oz. I followed them round. There were 20's and 30 lbs and then they reached peg 20. 51 lb registered as they settled. I had won the section and was so pleased to do so off peg 10. I also finished 3rd on the lake.
When using cat meat, keep a fair bit of float bristle out of the water so you can detect line bites. You will soon know about a proper bite!
Day Three - Pollawyn.
Peg 36 came out the bag for me, which is down one of the arms. Again not the best of pegs within the section but one that was capable of catching a few fish. I had drawn peg 45 on the Sensas event and had put 117 lb on the scales and peg 52 had also put 84 lb on them. So I knew I had my work cut out depending who was on those pegs, meaning if the angler knew how to fish them.
Peg 36 is 15 metres wide offering about two foot of water over. The all in came and I cupped in some meat and fishmeal groundbait and went over it on a small piece of meat. Within 10 mins I was into a 4 lb common, but the fish that followed were only pasties, and those were only every now and again. The angler to my left was catching on the waggler about 3 feet deep and a lot quicker than I was. I decided to put the pole out at 16 metres and go further down my swim to my left. It carried an extra 3 inches of water. Again I cupped in some more ground bait with some meat and offered meat as hook bait. Again I had a fish straight away. I looked at my watch to see that I had an hour left to try and do some damage. The fish only appeared every now and again but they were a better stamp, running to 6 lb. At the all out and I found that it had been the right decision to fish that extra metre down the peg. The fishing had been hard within the section with only the angler to my left putting some fish together. The scales reached him first and he offered 38 lb. I weighed 57 lb for another section win. Again I was pleased.
Be willing to change tactics or try something different. If your not catching you have nothing to lose but possibly everything to gain. It worked for me.
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