I have enjoyed the first two festivals of the White Acres scene this year and scored a lake win and a lake second on Porth, using pole and waggler tactics, with Sonu Baits' F1 groundbait being the common denominator in both approaches.

I ball F1 groundbait on the pole line at around 14 metres, but I also like to fish the waggler at half-depth to catch the skimmers which, in the spring, swim off bottom in the warmer layers of water.Catching skimmers shallow is nothing new but I like to target them on Porth because there are millions of them and they do live off the bottom.

I can use the F1 groundbait mixed sloppy but firm enough to fire small balls out on to the waggler line. It creates a great cloud and the skimmers love it as I fish seven and a half feet deep in 15 feet of water.The rod I use is the Preston 13 foot Excel, and I team it with 3lb Preston Direct Mono line and a six-gramme loaded straight peacock waggler, which is fixed on the line via a waggler attachment, with four number eight shot spread down the line.

I use the Preston Exceed hooklength line in 0.11mm and a size 18 Preston Innovations PR34 with a piece of worm or two dead red maggots on the hook. When it comes to mixing the groundbait, I add a small amount of the new Sonu Baits' Dark Method Match Mix to the Sonu F1 and mix it the night before the match so that it is inert on the day of the competition. If I fish the feeder, I will typically start off with a three-quarter inch-long open end feeder and then switch to a smaller one of half-an-inch in length.

Although Porth is full of skimmers, they always seem to back off if too much feed goes in, so you have to go easy. It’s almost like you have to try to keep them there but not feed them. On the Bait Tech Festival my win on Porth came with 9lb 14oz of skimmers, while a week later when the waggler came into play I managed to improve the weight a bit, catching 12lb 8oz.