MATCH TIPS

This month Rolf Marschalek, England boat team member/manager – and nine time World Championship medal winner – shares his expert tips on boat match angling success

■ Keep any eye on what’s being caught around you. Don’t try and catch species that aren’t there. It’s a percentages game that you are playing; think about the points the species are worth.

■ Memorise the points scoring system. Keep track of your points and the points of the anglers around you. Very often the last fi sh of the day wins the match by those anglers who know what species, and how many of them, they need, in the fi nal minutes of the match.

■ Hooks — use as smaller hook as possible. You can catch a 40lb conger and a 4oz rocking on a size 2 hook. Big fi sh sometimes take small baits! I use Tubertini series 2 which are really strong. The size 6 wouldn’t bend out on a 40lb conger but will catch bream, conger and poutt on the same ground. ■ Check hooks every time you bait up to make sure they are sharp. If it’s not sharp, change the hook. I use a clip-on system for hooks to save time. On certain ground, such as drifting, use hooks that bend out to save time getting snagged and losing rigs. Have pliers to bend the hook back once you’ve checked the hook point.

Rolf has been competing in the World Championships since 2002

■ Organisation — speed is really important. A shoal of fi sh might appear and disappear in fi ve minutes; that bit of hectic action is critical to winning. On a multi-hook rig, unhook and rebait each hook one – it’s more effi cient than unhooking three fi sh and then rebaiting three hooks. Swing fi sh in when there’s lots of fi sh, don’t wait for a net. Think about where everything is, where the weight is going to go and how effi cient you can be at getting your rig back in the water. We use bait trays that are clipped onto the gunnel of the boat. The Italian and Croatian internationals are excellent organisers and have mastered their techniques and organisation through practice.

■ Always call for net if there aren’t many fi sh about — it could make all the diff erence if it drops off . Every fi sh becomes important. It might look stupid netting a doggie but it could be the one point that makes the diff erence between winning or not.

■ Bait presentation — streamline your bait so it doesn’t spin when it drops down through the water column. Many anglers start off on the wrong foot with a tangled rig before it even reaches the seabed. I use a lot of bait elastic to make sure my baits streamlined.

■ Casting — fi sh won’t be evenly distributed around the ground you are fi shing. They’ll be focused around one spot. Locate this and cast to it consistently. This involves watching where the boat is spinning in the wind and as the tide changes. Nearly all elite match anglers now use big fi xed spool reels and long rods (3.8m-5m) with quiver tips. In the World championships anglers will be casting up to 120 away from the boat with an underarm cast!

■ I like to use braid and a long leader up to 15m with a FG knot. The cushioning eff ect of mono helps when fi sh bite and can help prevent them pulling the hook from their mouths.

■ Use rigs that don’t tangle. Generally elite anglers tend to now use boom rigs – wire or plastic — to eliminate tangling, particularly when there’s not much tide. UK match anglers adopted this from the Belgians and Dutch. We also now all use two-way beads, adopted from the Italians after the World Championships in Weymouth in 2005.

■ Gather info about venue before the match: friends, tackle shops, skippers. Keep a diary in case you repeat a venue in the future. Listen to what people say and keep a record of it.

■ Don’t carry too many diff erent rigs. – keep it simple. During the World Championships we will only use three or four diff erent types of rigs. Have faith with the rig you are using. However, just in case, have a few bits and pieces in your box in case something is out-fi shing you and you need a new rig.

■ Size limits – if there aren’t then a fi sh that’s two inches long could be worth as many points as a 15lb bass. Think about hook sizes and match to the species available. Be selective by using hook sizes for bigger fi sh when this will win you the match.

■ Unhooking fi sh quickly, learn how to use T-bar and barrel disgorger. You get no points for mutilated fi sh in the World Championships.

Memorise the points scoring system Always call for a net when the fi shing is slow