In September 2008 I made one of my annual visits to Cornwall . Our normal destination has been the Whiteacres festivals over the last 10 years but this year I decided to give everyone a chance and not attend ( truth : competition is tougher than ever) J))
This year we stayed on the cliffs at Perranporth and I decided to concentrate on one fishery as the Gwinear pilgrimage was out due to them having awful luck with the prevelant carp disease that was hitting the area badly and also affecting the results at many prolific waters. This one fishery has grown into a popular haunt for many visiting anglers and its reputation is of the highest with its long list of weights over 100lb ,200lb and several 300lb +.
The waters name is of course the MAWGAN PORTH POOLS FISHERY a mile inland from the beach front and set in a valley covered by trees and greenery and paralled by an absolute idyllic stream meandering its way to the sea. The people running this project are very warm and passionate on what they want to achieve and this projects itself in the manner the fishery is run. The people are Janet and Jeff , Janets’ the fishery manager and she runs the place regimental fashion and its that standard she has set which has kept the fishery free from disease thus allowing for good weight returns from satisfied anglers.
Its was four years ago I first fished a match there after watching Andy Dare take a 170lb plus weight on the venue the day before my attempt , which I duly WON !! with only 132lb . I fished it several times more over the years but only taking a 3rd on pool plus a section. Its was this week in September that I decided to fish it 4 times in the week and I had prepared myself with 12 pints of casters from Leicester for the week .
…..The people with passion at MAWGAN Porth fISHERIES Janet – Jeff
A view from peg 5 looking down the lake
so much fish
All weighed in carefully
Andy Partridge - always into fish
Mick Heacock taking 5 or 6 seperate weigh-ins for his huge winning total
Another big weight of Mick's hits the scales
peg 41 prooved too good fro the rest of the field as Mick amassed 223-11 !!! - fantastic weight
Mick in back-breaking action just loading the fish for weigh-in
More of Micks fish
Great fit fish
First day - not bad , took second with 149lb off peg 6 - Freddan got second also of it in 2003 , remember that one mate ?
Excellent fish
Even Janet wants to be on camera - co-owner Janet showing of one of the anglers weights
Harry Billing - the legend !! ........i believe he has won 3 Whiteacres festivals and appeared in top 20 in festivals numerous times - huge angler on the rivers and lakes also - to get near to this bloke on weight is an honour - will i beat him over the week ??
- Harry took 2nd on the tuesday match with 79-1 of peg 41
Mick Heacock again with a respectable weight of peg 9
The second match on the Tuesday I drew peg 8 and the match fished unusually slow with no one breaking a ton . Andy Partridge took the day with 84-9 of peg 10 in second Harry Shilling (Billing) had 79-1 from form peg 41 and in third was yours truly with 42-6……..my lowest weight at MPF However it was noticeable that in the morning the air was cold and the water was showing signs of going a little clear.
3rd with only 42-6 !!!
Johnny Waples has a liking for pink shirts and chocolate baits -sorry John only humour !
did not realise that Preston are making pink clothes !!
Andy with his usual weight of fish
Harry Billings rig . Garbolino float -off course , its his sponsorer- has his line marked as the fish will come off the bottom to feed
simple ! .......loop in the elastic - looks like Preston purple with a dacron connector
Not so much elastic in the top - its connected with dacron
the lucky mascot - goes everywhere with Harry
The third match was on the Wednesday with a lot more anglers on the complex Janet had to peg further up the lake towards the deep end and that’s where I ended up on end peg 19 which caused me to take and make rigs upto 3 foot deep than the usual 12-18 inches. The lake fished hard for the first half but later on a few of us managed to put a weight together. Harry took the match on form-peg 10 with 129-13, I took second with 88-12 taking a larger stamp of carp. Third went to chocolate man Waples with small carp up in water catch of 76-12
Last day match for me on the Friday and I drew peg 6 again ……new this peg well but the big problem was I could see the bottom close in with the colour dropping out. The first 2 hours was desperately slow with some people starting to ship-out full length poles just for a bite !!!. Pete Thomas on peg 5 to my right was taking fish consistently but was unfortunate to loose a lot due to fishing close to the weed beds. The fish came in the end for me at 3 metres on the usual caster a few inches off bottom but had I done enough ? , I knew it was close between myself and Harry. Indeed it was as Harry pipped me with 89-14 to my 87-4 and third was Bob Baker on peg27 with 81-1. Pete Thomas ended up on 69-13 but could of won the match as I feel he easily lost 15 fish . With great sadness I had to return to Sad Leicester and onto Sweden……..the week was a great learning curve where I measured myself against the best on the lake like Harry Billing , John Waples , Mick Heacock and Andy partridge. It netted me 350 quid but It was the experience i got from fishing against the local best - Harry beat me by 2-10 , i will be back next year to try and beat the legend !!
John took alot of fish up in the water but they were smaller.
Harry - will i ever beat this bloke !!??
A typical pose from Harry - always waiting to pick up his money 
2004 and 2005 tope weights
2006 and 2007 top weights
2006 and 2007
2008 weights and i'm on with my 149 !!
jan and jeff - great people and great owners 
all the keepnets are dried out every day - you dont take any next with you - all the keepnets and landing nets are supplied on the day - so smelly nets in the car !!
Everyone is welcomed back again - love j+j
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