Festivals – A Step Too Far?

Festivals – Too big for me?

Eventually I started fishing again but found I only enjoyed fishing matches. Soon I could hold my own with the local anglers and fished matches with Academy Angling and my local drinking hole Sandhurst Sports Club which both held monthly competitions.

I had some very good results in these matches and slowly I was drawn further afield to try my luck. I started to fish MBK waters near Liss and eventually got into a team to fish their winter league and some opens with varied success. I became friends with a couple of anglers call John Cowey and Colin Marshall who fished for Waterlooville Angling Centre and they asked me if I was interested in fishing a festival with them at White Acres in Cornwall. I declined; surely this was way out of my league!

Weeks passed and I was asked again. They slowly twisted my arm and stated it was the Maver festival they were looking at but we might not get in as there was a waiting list. As I am a bit of a Maver tackle tart I decided to put my name down. I thought to myself it would be a nice holiday anyway and that’s what I would treat it as and not take the fishing seriously.

Weeks passed without any word whether we were in or not, then suddenly two weeks before the start of the Festival we got a phone call from Kirsty. We were in!

Now I know I said I was not going to take it seriously and treat it as a holiday but the next couple of weeks were frantic; on the internet getting information on the waters, baits and methods. There was not an hour went by without me thinking about it.

The next couple of weeks were frantic

The day finally came and I travelled down to White Acres. On arrival I met up with my caravan buddies and proceeded to the bar where the list of names for the event was on the board.

I slowly read down the list and suddenly felt very out of place. It read like the who’s who of fishing. Will Raison, Tommy Pickering, Ben Leach and from what I could see most of the England team plus many, many more who I had only read about in the angling weeklies. There were 180 anglers, many of them the best in the country. I headed straight for the bar – I needed a drink!!

On the morning of the 1st day of the festival I was overwhelmed. We had to queue near a small entrance to the entertainments hall, all around me people chatting excitedly. Both my mates were pointing out people to me so that I could put faces to names I had only read about. Nervious. Yes. I went to the toilet four times before we went in to draw our peg.

I won’t go into how the fishing went but after day 3 I had to sit myself down and give myself a good talking to. I had had a game plan but I had been so nervous the first 3 days I had forgotten about it and was concentrating more on other anglers than on my own fishing.

On the last day I was at Porth Resoiur which is a vast expanse of water but I had done my home work and was lucky enough to be drawn in an area where the bream had been showing all week. I fished steadily and at the end of the match weighed in 46lb 10oz.

The presentations were that evening and Clint, large as life, was on stage giving out the prizes. It was amazing, everyone clapped as 1st, 2nd, 3rd and the section winners of each lake were read and the people walked up on stage. Next were the results for Porth Resiour. I sat there praying to the fish god. 1st and 2nd went by then Clint read out 3rd place, Gary Thomas. I felt I danced up to the stage.

My winnings!

Clint shook my hand and said well done.

Now I was hooked. It was only £ 40 as I had not had the confidence to enter the super pools, but I carried that envelope with the money inside in my wallet for weeks after.

Festivals – a step too far? No.

You have to take them for what that are. They are great experience, a lot of fun and a great learning curve if you can stay calm. I have fished the Milo festival since and as long as I can I will fish two festivals a year. I don’t think I will ever end up winning a festival but if I can win the odd section or frame on a lake or even just take a few points off the ‘big boys’ I think I will have achieved something.