White Acres Dynamite Baits Festival.

Day 1. Bolingey.
The weather forecast for the week ahead wasn't good, wind and rain, so much so it buggered the camera! So no piccys! First port of call was Bolingey, peg 38, which was in the corner nearest the car park so an easy walk! I was quite looking forward to it as I had a nice margin to work. The weather hadn't arrived yet but as the day went on it was getting grayer and colder! I set up a meat margin line, it was very shallow only 10 inches deep, and went away gradually. I set up an 0.18 straight through to a 14 hook. Also a line out straight in front of me at 13m, 0.16 straight through to a 16 hook. I started on the 13m line with a toss pot and meat, I had a couple but had to wait for the bites, in the mean time I was trickling meat onto the margin line. The fish were in there but not getting their heads down, and every time I went over their heads with a pole they were gone. I played around with some paste, but that never worked, I also went up in the water for a bit as the bloke opposite had a couple almost instantly , it never worked for me but at least it stopped him from catching! Three hours in and the margin line came to life, the fish were stirring the bottom up and getting their heads down. It was a bite a chuck for an hour before they went again, and that was about it for the rest of the match. The fish weighed 70lb. This was good enough for top half of the section, and a reasonable start to the festival.

Day 2. Pollawyn.
After very heavy rain and severe gales in the night, ( it felt like the caravan was going to take off at one point! ) it was with some trepidation that we ventured onto Pollawyn. Peg 52, not a good draw in a corner down one of the arms, it did have an island to fish to at 16m but in the gusting gales which spun me off my box just plumbing up, I knew it wasn't going to be an easy day. As said I did set a rig up for the island, an 0.14 straight through to a 16. Also a line at 7m 0.12-0.10 18, hopefully for some skimmers, and a margin line which looked nice down to my left, 0.14 straight through to a 16. As the wind was horrendous, I didn't want to be fishing the long line for to long. After ten minutes of starting my game plan went pear shaped as a suitably strong gust of wind took care of a number 4 and 5 section! Much swearing, and telescoping later, I decided that the fish were welcome to the island and would concentrate on the shorter lines! It took me an age to get a bite on the 7m line, and things were not looking good. Heavy squally showers and strong gusting winds were making the day even more miserable than it was already! Over half the match had gone and I was struggling for bites, I even resulted in going back onto the long island line, albeit without much success! None of the lines were working and it was time for a complete change of tact. I began putting the maggot out onto the top two in front of me, using the same rig as on the 7m line as the depth was similar. It was a bite a chuck, from roach and the odd skimmer or small f1. At the all out I weighed in 18lb of silvers, or as I call it plippy fishing! My only regret was not doing it earlier, it would of saved me a lot of hassle and pole sections, and I know I could have doubled or even trebled that weight if I had done it from word go. Second to last in section, not a good day but a valuable lesson learnt, don't ignore the silvers! I think a few whiskeys were called for!

Day 3 Jenny's.
After drowning my sorrows with john in the pub, my head would soon be cleared as it was blowing an absolute hooley! I dropped John off at Trewaters, and had to admit I felt sorry for him, the wind was straight in his face on his peg, He will be needing much whiskey later! I had pulled peg 19, normally in fairer conditions it is a reasonable peg. It has feeder chuck to a point on one the islands on Jenny's. This was the main line of attack, I did set up a 5m line but it was nearly impossible to fish this as the wind was so strong! I set up a method, and clipped up, the wind was that strong I had to punch the feeder over until it hit the clip. It was clear almost instantly that the fish were in the shelter of the island, and not on the point! You could see fish topping in the quieter water, not a good sign! One decent carp and some f1's, and I weighed in 29lb, second to last in section again! The weather had affected the fishing quite badly, and turned my reasonable peg into a poor one! Or I had one or the other! The pole line was a non starter, as it was virtually unfishable! After collecting John from Trewaters, who was frozen solid from being in the teeth of it all day, we thawed out in front of the fire and poured ourselves into the whiskey bottle, well it seemed like the right thing to do!

Day 4, Trelawney.
Day 4 and yes more wind and rain! John described it as a survival mission rather than fishing, and I had to agree with him! Any way peg 10 on Trelawney was destination for my day of wind and rain burn! I fished the same peg in last years festival, albeit in better conditions! Method to the island, and a short 5m pole, it was to windy to go any further, plus I didn't want any more broken sections! An 0.14 rig on the 5m line, which I was going to feed with meat to hopefully get some carp going on. Chucking the method for an hour only resulted in a couple of f1's, so I switched to the short line. It was still hard to control the float so I upped it to a heavier one to help combat the tow. After a while I began to catch a few Fish on the short line. A few f1's with a couple of better carp late on was the result. 34lb for mid way in section, it was clear that the fish wanted to be in quieter water, less affected buy the wind, following the scales and anyone with calmer water had had a reasonable weight, plus they could present a bait much better. Back to the caravan to dry off and thaw out again, more whiskey required!

Day 5, Porth Reservoir.
Final day and the weather had calmed a little, it was still windy with showers only not so rough as the previous days! Checking the results on Porth, and it seemed like the fishing had been getting worse all week, just what we needed! Peg 72, so the gear had a boat trip over. Setting up a light feeder rod with a soft tip was the order of the day and I clipped up at 30 turns. I did set up a 1.5 gram rig for fishing at 13m, hoping that a few fish might be there. I started on the tip after giving the pole line a few balls. It was clear it was going to be a very hard day, the bites were very tentative and there was nothing on the pole line at all. I was working the tip and casting regularly, but they just weren't having it. A long five hours and I weighed in 2lb 09oz, last in section! But only 1lb off coming second in the section! Just shows how tough the section was! The section and lake was won buy the end peg who sat it out on the method and boilies, and latched into 4 bream for 17lb! Well that was my festival over for another year, and can be summed up with crap weather, bad pegs, and indifferent fishing, at least the company was good ( thanks John ) and can take solace that we have helped keep the whiskey reserves down! ( purely medicinal of course! )