Keith Arthur

The fact that I actually CHOSE to fish in it, making that decision WHILST IT WAS RAINING says a lot for my intelligence.

Keith Arthur
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Well if that wasn't the wettest July day I've ever experienced, it must have come pretty close.

The fact that I actually CHOSE to fish in it, making that decision WHILST IT WAS RAINING says a lot for my intelligence. My excuses are that I was at White Acres Holiday Parkin Cornwall, which has 13 super lakes; I haven't fished in a match for months and I had not much else to do.

I say 'in a match' but in reality I was fishing with the match anglers during a match but not officially taking part.

White Acres, which is a major holiday destination for many UK anglers, operates matches for different levels of ablity: regular match winners fish the 'Gold' pool match on Monday, the rest can fish 'Silver Pool' events on Wednesday.

I qualify for the former but I am usually only there for the latter so I am allowed to fish the match but not enter the sweepstake pool. That actually saved me some money on Wednesday because I was battered off the next peg!

All that being said, I really enjoyed the day and, by prudent selection of outerwear, actually remained 100% dry all day, despite enough water falling from the heavens to raise the lake level by three inches and when I returned to my vehicle water was cascading across the car park akin to a riffle on the upper Test!

Dry

Perhaps I should explain what I wore to maintain my dryness. A few weeks ago I took my neoprene chest waders on a Tight Lines shoot in case the cameraman wanted to stand in the water. He didn't but I left them in my fishing van. They kept me dry from the chest down.

The gale-force winds accompanying the downpour made an umbrella more of a liability than a help so I had to rely on my jacket. You will probably have seen it: the blue/dark blue short Goretex made for me by Halkon Hunt Design maybe 8 or 9 years ago.

Several anglers have told me their Goretex isn't waterproof and, if that's the case, I don't think they can be treating it correctly. I've read and heard about washing it in wax treatments and so on but I never have: I simply pop it (and the matching bib-and-brace) into the washing machine on 'delicates' with a non-bio washing liquid.

You see the reason why your Goretex leaks (I'm guessing now) is that you don't wash it enough. Fish slime, mud or just general 'dirt' allows moisture to 'wick' through and also prevents sweat vapour escaping. The simple rule is: Keep it clean, keep dry!

Plunge

So, to the fishing. I drew peg 3 on Trelawney Lake. No great shakes and little 'form' but being a VERY short walk from the car park and with the kind of features I wanted to fish one method only, I took the plunge - and maybe the degree of dampness makes that almost a literal plunge!

I wanted to fish 'the bomb' and following some tips last year from White Acres fishery manager Clint Elliott, I was more than confident of catching a few Trelawney carp.

The peg is maybe 20m wide with shrubbery growing almost directly out of the water and a 'Christmas tree' or one that looks very like it, dead opposite.

The trick is to fish VERY close to the cover, as near touching as possible. To do that it is essential to 'clip up', by which I mean cast to the required distance then put the line under the little heart-shaped piece of plastic on your reel spool. There; you now know what that's for! Once the line is in the clip, you can't cast too far which saves a few bob in hooks and weights.

I've still not revealed Clint's biggest secret, but here goes: because the main bait is pellets and those pellets need to be heavy enough to fire to the far bank with a catapult, by using the smallest bomb possible, when it lands on the water it makes a noise similar to that of a pellet, so feed two pellets at a time, then cast and fool the fish!

Subterfuge

I can't tell you how well that small piece of subterfuge works and, of course, it doesn't only apply to far banks.

The only difference I'd make if you are fishing open water is to not clip up as the fish can take off at some speed which, if they are against the far bank, means sideways and it's possible to keep up. In open water they can run away from you and that can be disastrous.

As for the result, I was severely lacking: my 32lb 8oz comprising 13 carp, 2 'F1' brown goldfish/crucian hybrids and a single greedy roach (it took a 10mm pellet!) was outshone by many, including winner Gary Hawkes excellent 124lb from peg 24, the identical peg where his mate Craig Weir had won the Monday 'Gold' match suing the identical bomb and pellet style.

Even more conclusive is that Craig's wife Georgina, last seen at White Acres at the Thursday 'Residents' Match' draw two years ago wearing her wedding dress(!) used bomb and pellet to win her section on the Solero Ladies Championships. So, there's a few tips in one fell swoop: how to stay dry AND how to catch fish: this summer both may just come in handy.

Incidentally, after three days of hard, competitive fishing, England international Wendy Locker took The Solero, dropping just one section point in three days and weighing in a total of 225lb, beating Reading's commercial expert queen, and 2007 champion, Denise Hudgell into second place.

Do you want some tips or advice from Keith Arthur? To send him a question, please click here: skysportsclub@bskyb.com

Keith answers your questions

Dear Keith, It was nice to meet you and the rest of the team from SKY SPORTS on Mikes boat FIREFOX; I was the gentleman who came on board who has the big rib in the marina. The reason for this e-mail is I have a friend with a very old fly fishing reel and we need to find out where we can get it valued and also find out the make and what year it was manufactured. I would appreciate any help on this matter. Many Thanks, John P.S Please keep up the good work with the programme and the useful information that you and your guests give out. John Perrin.

KEITH REPLIES: Hello John and it was good to meet you too. If you are quick and able to spare a day enjoying yourself in the cream of the English countryside, the CLA Game Fair is on over the last weekend of this month, July. It's at Blenheim Palace at Woodstock (not the Joni Mitchell, Jimi Hendrix and Neil Young one), near Oxford. My good pal Christopher Sandford, Angling Times antique tackle man, will be there carrying out such tasks as you require.

Alternatively you could take a few digital pictures and mail them to me at: tightlines@skysports.com and I'll let Chris and Neil Freeman of the famous Chiswick Angling Auctions cast their eyes over them. Reels can be very popular collectors' items, especially old brass models. We'll be seeing the results of our trip with Mike and Tara soon, it was a great day and, whilst I don't want to spoil the surprise, seeing Nigel's face when his biggest bass came aboard was lovely. Cheers, Keith

Do you want some tips or advice from Keith Arthur? To send him a question, please click here: skysportsclub@bskyb.com

Keith answers your questions