Match ace Harry Billing looks back at his White Acres Bait-Tech Festival campaign…
WHITE ACRES BAIT-TECH FESTIVAL 2012
I've been chomping at the bit for the start of the first brilliant White Acres spring festival. The fishing this winter on White Acres has been awesome and this festival turned out to be the best I've fished with loads of bites and great fishing, heres my diary of what happened:
DAY 1 - POLLAWYN, PEG 20
Really fancied this peg as its fished well all winter and has framed on a number of occasions. I started on the meat feederfor a skimmer and an F1. Fished on the bar at 15metres using a0.
Round five of league
Victoria Products League - Round Five01/04/2012Number of pegs/anglers:* 32 The first Canal match usually proves popular but this year a bumper turnout of 32 anglers fished Round Five of the Victoria Products League at the Lime Kilns. Nobody was expecting a great day’s fishing with bright sunshine, clear skies and a cold wind forecast and talk at the draw was that the pegs along the wall would be the place to avoid. The fishing went as expected with eleven anglers failing to catch a fish and the majority having just one bonus fish it was poor throughout. Winner on the day was Darren Lawrence; his catch of 5kg 620g from peg 25 was enough to take the £95 1st prize and 10 league points.
Weekend competition results
Holmedale Lake Sunday 1/4/12 28 Fished 1st Will Creswell Eastwood Angling Notts peg 20, 52-7-02nd John Darby Sherwood Forest Fishery Notts peg 24, 39-11-03rd Andy Birkin Phil’s Bait & Tackle Notts peg 28, 39-4-0 4th Pete Hodgetts Mansfield Angling Notts peg 32, 37-11-05th Mick Langton Sherwood Forest Fishery Notts peg 13, 37-1-06th Andy Lakey Worksop Angling Notts peg 34, 36-3-0A very cold start and sunny flat calm for the rest of the day, but on days like this peg 20 in the shallow bay is the place to be, Will Creswell drew it and fished the method feeder and maggot cast tight into the corner landing 10 carp – 7lb. In 2nd place beating of the rest with 39lb 11oz John Darby fished the pole and meat for carp – 6lb Cavendish lake winter league. Sunday 1/4/12 15 fished 1st Russ Brookes, Rivendell, Notts, 30-06, peg 2 2nd Roy Butterfield, Gateford Angling, Derbys, 18-08, peg 43rd Ivor Birkin, Rivendell, Notts, 13-14, peg 14th Lionel Twiss, Peg One, Notts, 12-155th Dave Whitworth, Rivendell, Notts, 10-156th John Slinn, Rivendell, Notts, 10 -13The early pegs were the place to be on the final round of the Winter league, way out in front was Russ Brookes with a superb 30-06 net of mainly skimmers all taken on short pole and pellet at peg 2. In second place was Roy Butterfield who found some quality skimmers on maggot at 3 metres.
Midweek competition results
Sherwood Lake Tuesday 27/3/1219 fished Dave fished the pole with caster and worm out at 14m landing mostly Ide – 1lb in his 36lb net of silvers. 2nd placed John Wooff fished the pole and caster at 6m for a net of skimmers – 2lb. 1st Dave Hiley Peg One Angling Centre peg 55, 36-0-02nd John Wooff Sherwood Forest Fishery peg 49, 30-15-03rd Lee Payling Peg One Angling Centre peg 36, 26-7-04th Dave Round Mansfield Busman AC peg 46, 25-9-05th Ian Boyd Woodhouse Angling Centre peg 51, 23-7-0Wednesday 28/2/12Holmedale lake25 fishedDrawn at peg 4 Mick fished the pole out at 13m with pellet and short at 6m with the paste landing 32 carp – 10lb weighing in 140lb 7oz the best weight of the year so far. In 2nd place nearly 60lb behind Pete Ellis had only got one carp in the net with two hour to go, but when the fish turned up it was a fish every put in on the pole and corn fished down the margin.
Fishery competition results
Tuesdays contest was close once again but Lincs county rod spike Milligan made the most of his end peg draw to catch carp, F1 s on pellet down the edge from peg 18 on skylark second spit wet to Chris White who fished worms and caster down the track Tuesday’s £1000 qualifier 26 pegs 1st Spike Milligan garbolino Lincs County 52lb 8 oz2nd Chris White whisky Lincoln 46lb3rd Stan Stanovich Westwood Lakes 43lb 14oz4th Steve Gilbert Whisby Lincoln 37lb 8oz Thursdays over 50 s skylark 37pegs This match saw bag em backed angler Colin Smudge Smith tame the spoils with over 100 small F1s for his 48lb final total all taken on 4mm expander down the edge from peg 39 1st Colin Smudge Smith bag em 48lb2nd Bill Whitworth Lincoln Vets 42lb 12oz3rd Robbo Lincoln Vets 38lb4th Borris Walker Army 33lb 12oz Sunday’s qualifier 39 pegs skylark The latest qualifying round was a real cracker of a match with Venue Expert Sean Higginbottom taking the money from peg 9 using worm and caster at 5m and 11m taking bream ,skimmers ,ide and F1 s . second place went to 4x world champion Bob Nudd fom peg 29 who used the same tactics as the winner 1st Sean Higginbottom Maver Bait-Tech 61lb 8oz2nd Bob Nudd Browning 48lb 8oz3rd John Spalton Maver Bait-Tech 43lb 2oz4th Dave Hurst RAF 40lb 1oz . . .
Bag'em Matchbaits Silver League for Pairs Round 4
32 pegs – Sunday 18th March 20121st Barry Carr Dean Hancox (Daventry AC) Peg14 33 24lb 7¾oz Orfe Perch2nd Rich Wills Simon Potter (Daventry AC) Peg4 31 16lb 15½oz Skimmers/Perch3rd Jake King Graham Cheney(Daventry AC) Peg24 12 11lb 10¼oz Roach/SkimmersSections:A1 Barry Carr (Daventry AC) Peg14 16lb 9¾oz Orfe/Perch/Roach. A2 Rich Wills (Daventry AC) Peg4 10lb ¼oz Skimmers/PerchB1 Dean Hancox (Daventry AC) Peg33 7lb 14¼oz Orfe/SkimmersB2 Simon Potter (Daventry AC) Peg31 6lb 15oz Roach/OrfeBest Perch: Graham Brownlie Peg17 2lb 12¼oz. Light rain greeted the anglers for round 4 of the Bagem Matchbaits Pairs league at Dog Lane Napton this week. It turned out that Daventry AC pairs made a clean sweep of the top three places with one pair, Barry Carr and Dean Hancox, getting the perfect 1 point per section.
Bag'em Matchbaits Silver League for Individuals Round 5
30 pegs – Sunday 11th March 20121st Kevin Folwell (Spring Street) Peg14 20lb 3¼oz Orfe Perch2nd Lee Taylor (Bagem Matchbaits) Peg32 12lb 11¾oz Bream/skimmers3rd Mick Turner (Daventry AC) Peg17 10lb 4oz Roach/skimmersSections:A1 Jake King (Daventry AC) Peg4 7lb 11½oz SkimmersA2 Tom Clish (Rugby Tackle) Peg13 7lb 7¼oz Skimmers/PerchB1 Carl Hulley (Daventry AC) Peg28 7lb 13¼oz Orfe/SkimmersB2 G Cheney (Daventry AC) Peg20 5lb 14½oz PerchBest Perch: Pete Palmer Peg36 2lb 6¼oz. This week most of the anglers that had turned out for round 5 of the Bagem Matchbaits Individual league at Dog Lane Napton found themselves over dressed for the occasion as the bright sunny weather and higher temperatures meant that one could sit out in shirt sleeve order. The warm conditions gave everyone the expectation that the roach would be on the move, however, it was the skimmers that showed the most this time. The winner this week came from peg 14 where Kevin Folwell (Spring Street) found that the big Orfe were still in residence and a selection of Perch to 2lb were too.
Midweek open competition results
Sherwood Lake Tuesday 20/3/1215 fished Dave fished his usual pole and caster approach for silver fish including Ide – 1lb and roach – 12oz a change late in the match to pellet on the hook brought him some bonus skimmers – 2lb. Ian in 2nd place fished the pole pellet and caster for Roach & skimmers his biggest fish going 2lb. 1st Dave Round Mansfield Busman AC peg 4, 27-9-02nd Ian Boyd Woodhouse Angling Centre peg 12, 26-8-03rd John Wooff Sherwood Forest Fishery peg 2, 25-6-04th Martin Rouse Mansfield Busmen AC peg 14, 18-5-05th Mick Lysaght Rivendell AC peg 6, 17-7-0Wednesday 21/2/12Holmedale lake23 fishedAndy had 19 carp – 8lb alternating between the method feeder and the pole with pellet hookbait on both. Jon in 2nd fished the pole and pellet at 16m for 25 carp – 3lb 1st Andy Lakey Worksop Angling peg 45, 47-3-02nd Jon Turton Boundry AC peg 17, 35-4-03rd Mick Smith Sherwood Forest Fishery peg 42, 30-0-04th Pete Ellis Sherwood Forest Fishery peg 27,27-9-05th John Darby Sherwood Forest Fishery peg 4, 24-15-06th Pete Hodgetts Mansfield Angling peg 24,23-3-0.
Open competition match results
Tuesdays £1000 qualifier match on skylark saw 23 fishing. Out on top to make it two in two matches was Adam Wakelin the Preston backed rod used his favourite worm and caster tactics to take bream ,barble and F1 s from peg 9 for 70lb 10oz. runner up was Pete Lambdin who fished similar tactics to Adam to take bream ,tench and ide for 60lb 8oz Tuesday skylark Lake 23 pegs 1st Adam Wakelin preston /sonubaits 70lb 10oz2nd Pete Lambdin Westwood Lakes 60lb 8oz3rd Dean Smith Lincoln Whisby 51lb 8oz4th Gary Shinn Liams Elite 38lb 8oz Another good turn out on the Thursday over 50 s open and Mansfield backed Fred Bisham took the spot with 52lb 8oz mixed bag just ahead of Garbolino Lincs Counties Spike Millagan who fell just short with 47lb 12oz Westwood Lakes over 50 s 34 pegs skylark 1st Fred Bishop peg 1 angling 52lb 8oz2nd Spike Milligan Garbolino Lincs County 47lb 12oz3rd Ken Clarke Westwood Lakes 44lb 4oz4th Barry Hawkins Ropsley AC 42lb8oz5th Robbo Lincs Vets 41lb 4oz Sundays teams of 3 matches Sunday saw the first round of the teams of 3 and it was close out in front was venue expert Steve Winters with 66lb 10oz of tench ,bream,carp and F1 s on pellet from peg 26 skylark . Sheffield based IAN Elliot fished worm and caster down the track to tempt tench ,bream and carp third spot wet to 4x world champion Bob Nudd off fancied peg 28 on skylarkTeam wise Westwood Lakes all stars and Middy tied at the top with 8 and Maver Bait – Tech Black with 15 and joint 4th was stampys 3 and Norfolk boys on 16.
Weekend open competition results
Holmedale Lake Sunday 25/3/12 24 Fished 1st Greg Cooper Subfish/Middy Notts peg 45, 94-6-0 2nd Carl Hatton Eastwood Angling Notts peg 53, 35-12-03rd Dave Round Mansfield Busmen Notts peg 20, 34-0-0 4th Shane Wharton Subfish Notts peg 41, 27-12-05th Norman Powers Sherwood Forest Fishery Notts peg 9, 25-14-06th Andy Lakey Worksop Angling Notts peg 17, 25-3-0The platforms where white over with frost at the start of the match and during the match it was hot and flat calm, Greg fished the pole and pellet shallow at 16m at the side of the island landing two net full of carp – 6lb finishing way out in front with 94lb 6oz. In 2nd place Carl Hatton fished the method feeder and pellet cast to the small island at peg 53 for 20 small carp – 4lb. Cavendish lake winter league. Sunday 25/3/12 15 fished 1st Ian Boyd (Woodhouse Angling Centre) Notts, 24-10 peg 3, skimmers and roach on pole and maggot2nd Wayne Haywood (Mansfield Angling) Notts, 18-8, peg 1, skimmers on pole and pellet3rd John Slinn (Rivendell) Notts, 15-12, peg 10, roach and skimmers on caster4th Dave Whitworth (Rivendell) Notts, 15-05th Lionel Twiss (Peg One) Notts, 14-46th Russ Brookes (Rivendell) Notts, 13-12A glorious spring day on Cavendish lake for the penultimate round of the winter league and the fishing didn't disappoint either with all methods working well.
