TURNING DETECTIVE
::: Meet the team
edi tori al
E2 025
It’sbeen afunny oldmonth –carpand breamwerespawninginApril after an unusually hotearly spring,and whereI waspreviouslyconcerned that moving theDavid Hall Memorial match from mid-Maytoanearlierdatemight have seen us shiveringand fshing in wetweather gear,weactually basked in glorious hotsunshine. It’s amazing to thinkthatthismatch hasbeen running for10years nowsince thepassing of DHPfounder DavidHall. It’s asmall invitation eventheldatThe Glebe formembers of theanglingtrade,old friendsand past workmatesofDavid, anda few others gathered alongthe way, andhas been wonbysomeverynotable namesinthe past,including DesShipp, Matt Godfreyand LeeKerry
Adding hisnametothe listthisyear wasJon Arthur,who worked on Match Fishingmagazine afew yearsago,and he took thetrophywithanexcellent 204lb 8oz, with LeeNewsonsecondwith 184lb 4ozand MF’s tackle tester Alex Bonesthird with 160lb8oz.Sadly Idrew outofit(that’s my storyanyway) and spentmuchofthe daystaring at atip that seemed strangelyreluctant to move
As always theday raised some money forMacmillanCancerSupport,who helped Davidinhis fnal days,and it’s nice to keep hismemoryalive, especially nowthatDavid Hall Publishing is no longer with us.The manwas such a pioneer (and lovablerogue)and without him, youwouldn’tbereading this
Some news just in (atthe time of writing) is that ashowcalledMatch FishingLiveisindevelopment,a newevent underThe BigOne banner, designed with matchanglers in mind andtobeheldatStoneleighin Warwickshire next year.While the BigOne is nowseen mainly as acarp show therehas been agrowing call for an eventfor thematch,coarse, river andpleasurefshingscene,and the
organisersclaim that this won’tbejust anotherfshingevent,theywantitto become “an annual hubfor thetackle youactually use, theanglers youadmire, tips,tactics anddemos that elevateyour time on thebank.”Itwill be interesting to seehow it pans outbut if it is to succeeditneedsthe support of itscore target anglers– you.
To fndout more andadd your inputvisit www.thebigoneshow.co.uk/ matchfshinglive
Andfnally,justtoprove that even a blindsquirrelfndsthe occasional nut, just before we went to pressI wona Saturday open at Packington with 116lb, my best weight at thefshery. If Ican do it,anybody can! Have agreat month’s fshing
CommissioningEditor David Haynes Email: dhaynes@mor tons.co.uk
Tackle Tester Alex Bones
:::Adver tisement Sales
Magazine Manager Justin Fox Tel: 07813 327966 Email: jfox@mortons.co.uk
:::Design
ArtEditor PaulEvans Email: pe vans@mor tons.co.uk
:::KELSEYMEDIA LTD
Accounts,Administration and Correspondence to: Kelsey Media Ltd,MediaCentre, Morton Way, Horncastle, LincolnshireLN9 6JR
:::Subscriptions AndBack Issues
Tel 01507 529529 (Mon -Fri, 8:30am- 5pm)
E-mail subscriptions@mortons.co.uk
Web www.classicmagazines.co.uk/mfsub
Back Issues
E-mail support@mags-uk.com
Website www.mags-uk.com
Phone 01795 662976 (Mon -Fri 9.30am-1.30pm) Only the previous 12 months’ issues arestocked. Printed By WilliamGibbons &Sons Ltd Tel 01902 730011
Seymours Distribution 2East Poultry Avenue, London EC1A 9PT +44 (0) 207 429 4000 |info@se ymour.co.uk
0958-9023
KELSEYmedia
THE BACK OF BEYOND
Glen Picton demonstrates howthe waggler canput fishin your netwhentargeting ideand F1sshallow.
ANDYPOWER’S DIARY
More qualifiers, more festivals andyet more success for Andy –the manjustcan’t stop catching!
KEEP IT SIMPLE!
When thefish areinthe rightmood there’slittlethatcan beat asimple pelletwaggler approach.Match Fishing’sAlexBones showshow it’s done
BAIT CLINIC
More bait-related questions answered by Dynamite Baits’ panel of expert anglers.
VENUE DETECTIVE
This monthweheadtoMilton Keynes with Graham West to cast an eyeoveranup-and-coming matchvenue –BlackhorseLake!
IBERIAN ADVENTURES
Darren Coxrelates thehighs and lows of hisrecenttrips to the IberianMasterFeeder andMasters Feeder WorldChampseventsin Spain.
GARBOLINO CLUB ANGLER OF THE YEAR –SOUTHERN QUALIFIER
Thejourney to thefinalbegins againasweheaddowntoTodber ManorindeepestDorsetfor the first of theGarbolinoClubAnglerof theYearqualifying matches.
MATCH FISHING EVENTS
Thereare still plenty of events to come in 2025 andtickets are availablefor some of them
CAM’S CORNER
CamHugheshas been over the watertothe EmeraldIslerecentlyto fisha festival or three, andwhata time he’s had.
VETERAN’S ANGLE
John Brooksfindsthe goingtough in windyconditionsashefails to fishtohis strengths.
LAST CAST
This monthEngland Feeder team captainand former WorldFeeder ChampSteve Ringer answersthe questions.
NOTHING TO BE AFRAID OF!
Keep putting off thosetrips to bigcarpwaters? IanMadden says there’snothing to be afraid of if you’re correctlyprepared forthe job…
FEEDING IS EVERYTHING!
Feeder fishing is farfroma ‘chuck it andchanceit’ tactic, andMattWrightisquickly becoming amasteroffeeding with thefeeder!
EXTEND THE MARGINSFOR BETTER BREAMING
Sean Cameronreckons that on bigcanals, by carefully consideringyourmarginand far lines,you will catchmoreand better.
SHORTAND SWEET
Luke Bamfordswaps hispole andpaste pots forthe Method feeder fora quicksession at Makins.
FEEDER ESSENTIALS –MAP
Alex Bonestests thenew Parabolix ProBlack Edition Distance Feeder rods.
UPCLOSE –NUFISH
We take alook at thenew XACT Rig& Hooklength Line from NuFish,thengiveyou the chance to winsome!
UP CLOSE –NYTRO
Alex Bonesgetsout on thebank with thenew 8m NytroPower EdgeCarpmarginmarvel.
FOCUS ON THE EDGE
Will Raison revealsthe gear,baitand feed he chooses when it comes to targetingthe margins on largevenuesfor big carp
SOFTLY, SOFTLY, CATCHY CARPY!
By taking things slowly butverysimply, Ian Chadburn reckons difficultspringtime fishing canbechild’s play
NEW GEAR
More of thelatestnew tackle andbaittotempt you.
GEAR GUIDE
We highlightseveral of the same products from different brands to show youwhat’s on themarket. This month, carryalls.
COMPETITION
Here’s your chance to winone of threeMarvelist TPSFloat Rods from Nytro, with atotal prizevalue of £344.97.
Graves, North Yorkshire and Colin Ferguson, Derbyshire
MOORHEN LAKE
Hillview Lakes and Cabins, Twyning, Tewkesbury
Gloucestershire GL20 6JH www.hillviewlakes.biz
The back of beyond
The waggler is a rare sight on commercial venues these days, but Glen Picton demonstrates that it’satactic that can put fish in your net when targeting ide and F1s shallow on the pole just isn’t cutting it.
GLEN PICTON Lives:SwindonSponsor:HindersGarbolino,
Wo rds and photos: Steve Martin
Somecallitthe ‘change-over period’, butit’sthe time of year when winter has passedand thedaysare longer,which meansthe waterhas beguntowarmup just enough forthe fshto starttofeed shallow. It’s not thesameonevery venue, however, as thenightscan still be cold,which means that although thewater lookscoloured, on closer
Everyskimmer counts.
inspection there’sstill some clarity, so sticka pole over theirheads andtheywill very quicklybackofany feed,eveniftheyare keen to initially come to your loose feed
That wasthe scenario that Garbolino’sGlenPicton foundhappening to himon arecentmatch on Moorhen Lake at HillviewLakes and Cabins,and to trya fnda solution to catching thebig
ideand F1sthatmakeupthe bulk of theweights,hehad dusted of some gear that he rarely,ifnot quitenever uses anymore– hiscommercial waggler rods
“It’sa frustratingtimeof theyear, as youcan clearly seethe fshswirlingonthe surface, buttheyseem to back of once youstart to fshshallow. If youlook in theedge, youcan still see down afoot or so,sothey
will certainlysee your pole when they come up forloose feed.
“You couldjustadd sections andfollowthem out, butifyou thinkabout it,you arenot goingtoget many bitesbeforethe fsh move furtheraway. Ibelieve that going‘oldschool’with awaggerislesslikelyto spook them,and so I’m goingfsh beyond the16m mark to seeiftheywill feed
Big, loaded wagglers were the order of the day.
Garbolino’snew sinking mono is agood choice when there’sastiff breeze on the water.
Aneattrick and less likely to spook fish when plumbing up.
It’snot just ide thatfeed on the deck early doors.
Casters are betterwhen feeding atightarea.
Maggots create awider spread and keep the fish on thedeck.
Topchoice on the day for both shallow and on the deck.
It’samazing howmany fishyou can catch on the same hook bait when it’sbanded.
with more confdenceatthat distance andwithnothing buta foat abovethem.”
Glen hadtwo 11ft 6inrods with him. Hisfrstsetup was to fshonthe deck initially, untilhesaw fshonthe top. It consistedofGarbolino’s newPro Sinking0.16mm mono,onwhich he hada 4g loaded SPW01foatwith an insert to allowfor better sensitivity. Thefoatwas trappedwithadditional bulk andthenthere were three
Keep your tiplow to avoid fish crashing on the surface, which might spook anyshallow-feeding fish.
Regular loose feeding is essential, but tryand gauge howmuch and howoften.
No10s spread down theline to give aslowfallinghook bait.Atthe business end therewas ahook to nylon speed swivel that held a12in 0.14mmfuorocarbon hook linkwitha size 16 Kamasan B911 eyed hook anda bait band
“I want to tryand fsh this setupatasclose to dead depthaspossible, so to plumbupI putanSSG shot in theband, so that it is securely held,and usethat
to getanaccurate idea of the depth, as it won’tpluginto anysilt theremight be on thebottom.”
Thesetup forrod number twowas alot lighter.Glen hada loaded 1.75g Visi Wag, againon0.16mmmono, butthatwas settofsh half depthand with aslowfall, so he hadfourNo10s spread outdownthe line, andthe 12inhook linkwas this time attached with aloop-to-loop connection.
“This, Ihope, will be the solution to catching shallow once Istart to seeswirls. I’ve selected aclear foat,as it’s less likelytospook fsh, compared to asolid foat Well, it’s atheory, andwith just enough loadingtocastit with alittlepunch,itwon’t dive when it lands, andalso makesa bitofnoise with the loosefeed
“I’m feedingand fshing castersand maggots today, andwill startonthe bottom,
Glen Picton
Big, chunky ide are the main target in the firstpart of anymatch on Moorhen.
so to getthe ball rollingI’m goingtofeed 30 casters, and then initially spraymaggots over thetop.I will begin on asinglebandedmaggot, butifI starttocatch small silvers, I’ll switch to acaster.
“Whya banded hook bait?Because it doesn’tget trashed, as happens to abait threaded on to thehook.In fact,you will be surprised at howmanyfsh youcan catchonthe onebait. It’s quiteresilient
“Okay, so thereisa downside to fshing the waggler,asyou cannotslap andfsh,slapagain if you miss abite, andsoonasyou canwitha pole,but youcan give yourself twochances everycast. Iliketocast beyond my loosefeed,as youwill oftenget thebigger specimensfeedingatthe back of your feed
“Then, if Imissa bite,or getnointerest, Iwill wind thefoatintomyfeed and leaveitfor 30 seconds. If there’snoindication, then Iwill recast andrepeat. What’s really important is that youneed to feed regularlyatthe start, be it before everycastorafter youcastpastyourfeed zone.”
The Se ssion
Glen fred hisinitial feed at about18to20metres. There wasa breezeonthe water that didmakeaccuracy abit of achallenge, but he managedtokeep the spread reasonably tight. The4gfoatallowedfor a comfortablecastbeyondthe feed andafter drawingit back to the‘back edge’and sinkinghis linehewaited forindications,regularly feedingjustinfront of the foat.
If he hadnoindications, Glen woundbacktodraw hishook bait into thefeed, andif, afterabout aminute, he didn’t geta bite,herecast andrepeatedthe process.
It took maybefve minutes forthe frst bite,but it wasa
big ide, andfor thenext40 minutesGlencaughtthem regularly, plus afew bigger skimmers.However,there wasnopattern as such,as he wouldcatch some at the back of thefeedand others afterhedrewhis rigintothe feed.Healsofound that a banded caster wasbetterfor bites.
“Casters make abetter noisewhentheyhit the water, andbyfeeding them as tightasI can, they create acolumninthe water, which Ithink thefsh lock on to. Themaggots createmore of aspreadthatcarpets thebottomtokeepthe fsh local.”
Afterabout an hour, therewereclear signsthat thefsh hadcomeshallow. Thefrequency of biteson thedeckhad slowed right down,and therewas the oddfsh swirlingaround theloosefeed.Timetogo shallow, andthe result was immediate. Glen caught from thefrstcast, butit wasn’t a‘fsha chuck’,ashe gota lotoflinebites too.
“I need to cutthe feed down alittleand getthem competingfor less. I’m goingtofeed everytwo or threecasts,depending on thebites.I don’twantto reduce thefeedbytoo much as,and it wouldcertainly be an issueina match, Idon’t want to lose them.”
Once again, Glen kept to hisdouble-area tactic of castingbeyondthe feed, drawingthe foat to theback edge,and then into thefeed, if no initialbite.
Afterabout half an hour, theswirlsonthe surface lessened, andthe bites slowed.Itcoincided with theweather changing.The rain stoppedand thesky brightened.Thatsaw Glen reachfor hisbottomrig to seeifthe fshhad dropped back down
“Those toplayersare still clearand,asisoften the case,assoon as it becomes bright,the fshwill drop
Another caster cruncher
Latch on to abig F1 or carp, and it’sa tug of war on light waggler gear
down.It’snever an issuein theheightofsummerwhen thewater is coloured,but we arenot thereyet,soit wouldbenogood trying to keep fshing shallowinthe hope that they mightcome back
“Thatwould be amistake at this time of theyear, and if youdon’t adapttothe conditions,you will fall behind thepace. Especially when it’s afsh race to catch theseide.”
Glen didstart to catchon thebottomagain,but what became clearafter ashort spellwas that he wasgetting bitesonthe drop everyso often. He wasalsocatching more smallskimmersthan ide, andsohepickeduphis shallowsetup andadjusted thedepth to fshjustofthe deck andspreadout his droppershottogivethe setupa really slow fall rate
Thetacticalswitchwas spot on,asGlenstarted to catchthe bigide again, plus abig F1.The on-the-drop rigkeptthe fshcomingfor theremainder of thesession, so it wasclear that they did want to feed of thedeck, butnot that shallow, dueto thechangeinconditions.
“Wethatwas abit of a throwbacktothe olddays. Ijustfeltthatinthe last matchI fshedhereI might have been missinga trick. It’s keythatyou catchthe ideinthe frst part of the match, as youcan put40 to 50lbinthe netbefore targetingthe carp andF1s later.
“Itneedsa bitoffnetuning anda better understandingofwhatand when to feed,but it was castersall theway today, as Ifeltthe maggots were pullinginthe ‘wrong’fsh
“The nights arestill fairly cold here,soI don’t thinkthe waterisgoing to heavily colour up any time soon.I’vegot another matchcominguphereand I’mcertainly goingtopack my rods forthatone.Who knows, Ijustmight shocka fewpeople!” 12 | Match Fishing
The only F1 of the session, but they tendtoshowup in the latter stages.
What’s
not tolove about 40lb of chunky ide caught on ‘old-school’ tactics
The UK’sNo.1match bait UK’s No.1 matchbait
•Proven&unchanged formulas
•UK’sleading pellets,groundbaits & liquids forcommercialfisheries
•Includesexclusivefeedingtriggers
•Incorporates Koitechnology
More qualifiers, more festivals and yet more success for Andy Power –the man just can’tstop catching!
After aspecial weekend last month, qualifying fortwo finalsinone weekend, both at the first attempt, Iactually had twoweeksoffand my next matchbackwas my first Feeder Mastersqualifier of theyear, at BarstonLake. Surely my luck wouldnot continue this time?
It wasa warm andfairly flatday,certainly notideal conditions to be fishing on thebottomwitha feeder,but that wasexactly what we had to do,ata feeder-onlyevent! IdrewPeg 56,atthe deeper endofthe lake,anareaI’m familiarwith. As Idrove past the120s at theother endit wasclear thereweremore carp showingthemselveson thetop in thesunshineat that end, whilstitwas much quieterwhere Iwas pegged.
On this dayI foundmyself sandwiched between four Englandinternationals! I don’tfeel it ever affects me whoI am peggednextto, if Iget beaten then at least Imight learnsomething Although,after travelling fora fewhours to gethere, I didwishtheyweren’t in my section!
As it hadwarmedup abit recently,I feltthere wasa chance thefish were responding to abit of bait, rather than themorewintertype approach of castingout andbeing patient. Ihad rods, alongwithbait-up rods for 30, 45, and60metres.
At thestart Iwas reluctant to feed anybait. Iknewthose around me wouldstart with abait-up feederand make some commotion,soI felt Imight nick onebycasting shortand keepingmyarea
quiet. So,I crackedopena pastyand satbackwhilst everyone else seemed to give it abombardment!
This first cast Ifeel taught me more than anyother,as that tipjustdidn’tgoround! Meanwhile,one of the“A Team”nexttomecaughta fishstraightafter feeding with abait-up feeder.I knew then that Ineeded to feed some bait,thencastoverthe topwitha Method feeder
Idecided on feedinga mix of mainly different sized pellets andcorn. Ifed a larger volume on my shorter 30m lineinitially,thenfour castswitha largefeeder on thelongerline, to tryand draw some fishintothe peg, then Iusedthe medium size ICSMethodfeeder over the topofthatfeed.My2mm FinPerfect feed pelletshad plenty of PowerScopexBait Boosteronthemalong with a dollopofHaze before acast out. Hook choice wasa size 14 KKH-B,witha 6mmPink or YellowBand’Um
This littleroutine of feedingbeforeI cast the Method outseemed to be theright thingtodoasI startedtocatch fishand wasdoing betterthanmost of thosearoundmewho weren’tcasting andfeeding as regularly. However, alot of thefish Iwas catching were smaller, newerstocked fish, insteadofthe bigger carp that afew otheranglers were catching,which was interesting.
Aftera fewhours,this longer linestarted to slow down abit andI wasn’t catching as well as Iwas before.I switched to the30m line, whichI hadfed abit
ANGLER FILE • Lives: Wells • Sponsors: Preston Innovations, Sonubaits
97lb at Barston to qualify for Feeder Masters.
Peg10onCanal Lake at WhiteAcres.
more aggressively andleft alone, anditwas much better than thelongerline. Ithink this 30mlinewould normally seea lotofbaitina normal match, when youcan loose feed,soitmadesense that the fishwould come here to feed
At theweigh-inI put 97lbonthe scales,much more than Iwas expecting from this area of thelake. Luckily it wasenoughto comfortablywin thezone andcomesecondinthe match. That meantI had done it,I hadqualified for thefinalatTamar!Welldone to ZacWilliams whowon thematch from theother end with 145lb! Ican’t wait for September!
Back to White Acres Iwas also back to White Acresthismonth forthe Guru Festival.A fewweeks back Ihad fishedthe Dynamite Festival,coming seventh. IfeltI hadsome toughdraws back then and washopingI hadn’t used all of my luck up in therecent qualifiersfor this week!The weatherforecastwas for bright sunshine allweek,so it made achangeneeding suncream insteadofthermal clothing!
Dayone’s draw putme on thenewly remodelled CanalLakeonPeg 10. Ihad actually walked around this lake theevening before,as Ihavenever fisheditsince it reopened.Thiswas nowa complete doughnut-shaped lake,and therewas awarm wind headingtowards the bridge between Pegs1 and 19. Irememberstandingon Peg 10, thinking to myself “I really hope Idon’t draw here,” as it wasthe only placeI didn’t seeany carp Most of thefish seemed to
havefollowedthe wind Naturally IdrewPeg 10! My sectionran from Peg 3 to 10, so Iwas thefurthest away from that bridge!I hadKristianJones on Peg 9 to at leastgivemesomeone to catapult pellets at!(He startedit!). Kristian gotoffto agreat start, afterthree and ahalfhours he hadseven decent carp.Meanwhile, Iunbelievablyhad only caught four carp,and mine were allthree inches long, last year ’s fry! Untilthe last 90 minutesI just couldnot geta bite apartfrommy baby carp!
Then it waslikea light switch,and Ifeltlikethere were carp in my pegfor the first time!Switching between 16 metres to thefar bank, andclose in my margins, I went on to catch10carpand overtake Kristian.I caught on maggots over Match Method Mixgroundbait. Icould notbelieve it!I came from plumblastand probably 6ozinmynet,to winning thesection with 65lb! It felt likea greatresult. Forthe rest of theweek,the pegs closesttothatbridge dominated.
Daytwo wasthe windiest day, andI drew what can be agreat pegona pointof Pollawyn, Peg 20. Thewind though wasgoing to be very awkwardasitwas coming rightacrossme, making pole fishing difficult!
Istarted off on aMethod feeder to theislandand caught acarpstraightaway, butnoothers! Icould getthe oddbitebyfishingpellets on thebottomat14metres, but it wasimpossibleattimes with thewind. Iwas hoping Icould catchbyfishingmeat shortordownthe margins lateron, butfor whatever
Forthree and ahalf hours all I could catch were four of these…
reason Ididn’tget anybites here,maybe they didn’t want to settleinthe tow?
Icould seeWayne Kearny on Peg 45, andKristian Jones on Peg 22 both catching shallowoncasters.They both hadthe wind on theirbacks,which Ithink
helped,asI caught nothing whenever Itried shallow. TheonlylineI couldget bitesfromF1s waslongon thebottomwithhardpellets. Ibattled formostofthe day, andinthe last hour when the wind wasworst,was when I caught most of my fish.
…then the proper carp turned up!
Pollawyn Peg20.
Aftera frustratingday I endedupthird with 66lb, behind Kristian andWayne Iknewthathad thewind allowedmetofish properly Imight have hada better chance of winning,but these things areout of my control. In allhonesty afterday one, Iwas still happy with my results, as my pegonCanal couldhavegiven me avery different result!
Daythree wasour turn on Twin Oaks,where Idrewin themiddleofthe left-hand lake,onPeg 12. Usually, thecloserto16you getthe better, butthisweek thewind wasblowing towardsthe lownumbers so Iwasn’ttoo unhappy with my draw
With ariseintemperature, theF1s anda fewofthe carp hadstarted spawning,so it washardtoknowwhat to expect.I actually hada sort of matchwhere Ihad to just keep changing tactics. Throughout theday Icaught some on abomb, apellet waggler to thefar bank, long pole with pelletson thebottomand some bigger carp on meat shortlater in theday.ThenI hada nice spellatthe endcatchingcarp in themargins on maggots andMatch Method Mix groundbait.Withspawning on theirmind, Ithink it wasjusthardtoget thefish feedingonjustone tactic
Iended up weighing 128lb, whichwon my section, and also addeda bitofextra weight aftertwo lowweights forthe first twodays.
Dayfour, IdrewPeg 14 on Trelawney. This sectionhad been wonbyPegs9 and11 so far, butwitha bitofripple on thewater,going across my peg, Ifeltthere wasa chance I couldcatch some F1sshallow on thepole.
Igot off to agreat start catching some cruising fish Icould see. Then forthe last threehours or so Icaught F1sshallowoncasters at around 11 metres.The wind wasreally awkward, and it made fishing with light andstrung-outrigsthatI
wouldnormallyuse really difficult. Instead, fishing with ajigga float wasmuchmore effective
Ihad abrilliant busy day, ending up with 189lb, winning thelake. It wasnice to be catching abig weight,as both Andy Bennett andCraig Edmunds,who were aheadof me in thefestival, hadcaught some massive weightssofar
So,going into thefinal dayI wasthird,and unlikely to winoverall, butanother sectionwin wouldlikelykeep me in third.
IdrewPeg 1onJennys. This wasthe first endpeg I haddrawn in sixfestivals, although this week thewind hadblown down to the opposite end. It hadbeen poor allweek, andanangler Irespect hadonly2lb from it theday before!The wind though wasdue to swing around slightly,sothere was achancetoday wouldbe different
Idecided Ineededtocatch carp,asthe carassios and F1sonthislaketendtohang around theopenwater pegs furtheralong thesection.I washopingtofish meat short andthe marginsfor most of theday
Luckily thosewerethe only twotactics Iused, as there were some carp to be caught! Ididn’tcatch many fish, but Isomeofthemweredoublefigurecarp, so it waswell worthbeing patient. Icaught by just throwing threeor four pieces of meat at atime, at around fivemetresout.I wouldthenswapbetween this andmymargins,where Ifed maggots andMatch Method Mix.
Ifinished thematch weighing much more than I ever expected –114lb!This wonmysection,and kept me in that third-placespot. Well done to Andy Bennett for winning overall, consistent as ever
It made anicechangebeing satinthe suninCornwall, the weightsonthe wholewere decent too, Ican’t wait for next time!
Twin Oaks Peg12.
Day four,Peg 14 on Trelawney, 189lb to win the lake.
My catch on the last day of the Guru Festival, 114lb on Jennys.
Topthree in the Guru Festival –Craig Edmunds was second, AndyBennett won it andIwas third.
Fish Midlands
Thenextday Ithought Iwould trymyluckata Fish Midlands qualifier at MeadowlandsFishery Somehow, Ihavenever fisheda matchfor carp theresowas looking forwardtoitafter the long drive!
Thematch wason Lambsdown, thebigger lake.I drew Peg58, whichdidn’tmeanmuch to me,but everyone hadlotsofroom on
Part of a349lb catch at Meadowlands, I’ll be back for some more of this!
this match, so Iguess anything couldhappen. Drivinground to my peg, Icould seebig carp cruising alloverthe lake.Itlooked awesome! With notmuchinfotogo with,I setupthe usual things likebomb, pellet waggler,poleshallow rigs,ashort pole rig anda margin rigin18 inches.Tobehonest, this matchwas likea dream, Ihad 80lbinthe first hour catching those cruising fishonthe pole
with 8mmpellets.Some of them were monsters Ihad no idea thestamp of fishwas so big, one of them must have been 18lb. Then Icaughtsome on abomband pellet waggler.
Afterthe shallowfish dispersed, Iremember pickingmyshort pole rig up whereI hadthrowna fewpellets,thinkingthis will nevergounder!AsI lowereditinmy15Hollo elasticjustrippedout of thepole! Hmm, surely afluke? Ididn’texpect thesefish to be feeding butI caught really well on theshort pole,before catching fishdownthe marginstoo! Isimply fedMatch Method Mix andmaggots aftereach fishwitha bigpot, then fisheda bunchof maggots on thehook
Again, most of thefish were over 10lbeach, and by theend of thematch I hadeight keepnets in!
Iweighed in 349lb, whichwon thematch andbookedmea spot in thesemi-final.I will definitelylook outfor some more qualifiersat Meadowlands!
Asidefromthatthe only bigfinalleftfor me to getintoisthe Maver MatchThisFinal.Sofar, Ihavehad asection win up at Hayfieldonthe Island Lake with 93lb, then my latest attempt at Westwood Lakes wasspent at home after my vanbroke down! Hopefully Iwill at least gettothe next qualifier!
Plenty of room at Meadowlands.
ALEX BONES
Lives:Age:42West Midlands
Keep It Simple!
When the fish are in the right mood there’slittle that can beat a simple pellet waggler approach. We joinMatch Fishing’s AlexBones on the bank at MakinsFisherytosee howit’sdone…
Tod ay I’ ve de ci de d to si to nL ak e1 he re at Ma ki ns Fi sh er y. It ’s wh at ’s kn ow n as th ei r‘ sp ec im en ca rp la ke ’a tt he fi sh er ya nd se es al ot of bi vvy an gl er s, bi te al ar ms an db oi lie s. Ho we ve r, th is la ke is qu it e ty pi ca lo fm an yo th er la ke s arou nd th ec ou nt ry an di s ho me to ag ood st am po f ca rp .I nm yo pi ni on th ey ’re pe rf ec tp el le tw ag gl er fi sh to ta rg et ,b ut re ga rd le ss of th ef is hs ta mp th is is th e sa me ap proa ch th at Iw ou ld ad op ta ny wh eret ha tI ’m us in gt he pe lle tw ag gl er
sp ec if ic al ly fo rt arge ti ng ca rp
Th is is at ac ti ct ha t re wa rd sa hi gh wo rk ra te an de ss en ti al ly th eh arde r yo u’ re prep ared to wo rk (u su al ly )t he be tte rt he re wa rd s. By wo rk ra te I me an ca st in ga nd fe ed in g ve ry,v er yreg ul ar ly to ke ep yo ur ba it an dr ig fa llin g th ro ug ht he wa te rb ec au se it ’s th is re gu la ri ty th at is go in gt oc at ch yo ut he ma jo ri ty of th ef is hy ou ho ok
I’ ve sa to nt he fa rb an k of th el ak ew he re we ha ve so me sp ac e. If is he dt he se
sa me pe gs wi th my so na we ek prev io us ly an dw e ha d1 2d ou bl e- fi gu re ca rp in as ho rt th re e- ho ur af te rn oon se ssi on ,s oI wa nt ed to sh ow ca se ho ws im pl et hi s ta ct ic ca nb e. As us ua lI ’v e se tu pj us to ne ro d, wh ic h is a1 0f tD ai wa Sp ec tron Co mme rc ia lU lt ra Ma tc h 10M fl oa trod pa ired wi th a3 012 TD Mreel .T he re el is lo ad ed wi th 8l b/ 0.23m m
Hy pe rS en so ri nG un Me ta l grey co lo ur,w hi ch I’ ve ju st sw it ch ed ov er to af te r ye ar sa nd ye ar so fu si ng th eo ri gi na lb ro wn Se ns or mo no fi l. In ow us et hi s
Hy pe rS en so rf or bo th my fl oa ta nd fe ed er ca rp fi sh in g as it offe rs br illia nt st re ng th to di am et er.You ab so lu te ly ne ed arob us tl in ef or th es e fi sh ,b ut yo ua ls on eed th e th in ne st po ssi bl ed ia me te r to he lp wi th ca st in gt he lig ht er wa gg le rs th at Il ik e to us e– th is li ne (i nm y op in io n) offe rs th ep er fec t bl en do fb ot h.
I’ ve tr ie da ll so rt so f wa ggl er sa nd de si gn so ve r th ey ea rs ,b ut ti me an d ti me ag ai nI go ba ck to th es es am ec ry st al Dren na n op ti on s. As id ef ro ma few du mp yp el le tw ag gl er s
fo rs pe ci al is to cca si on s th es ea re pret ty mu ch th eo nl yw ag gl er st ha tI no wc ar ry fo rt hi ss ty le of fi sh in g. Il ov et ok eep my fi sh in ga ss im pl ea s po ssi bl ea nd re du ci ng th e nu mb er of fl oa ts Ic ar ry he lp st ha tt oo. Ig en er al ly us ee it he rt he 4.5g or 5g ve rs io nd ep en di ng on th e co nd it io ns ,b ut mo re of te n th an no tI op tf or th e4 .5g ve rs io n, wh ic hI ’m us in g to da y. Th ey ’rea lo ad ed , se lf -c oc ki ng fl oa td es ig n, so Is im pl yl oc kt he fl oa t on th el in ew it hf iv ef lo at st op s– tw oa bo ve th ef lo at an dt hree be lo w. Id on ’t us e an yq ui ck -c ha ng ec lip st o at ta ch th ef lo at as Ih av e no in te nt io no fc ha ng in g th ef lo at th ro ug ho ut th e se ssi on .T he le ss fa ff on th el in et he be tte ra nd my si mp le ri gi sb ot hu lt rast ro ng an dt an gl eres is ta nt
Ia tt ac ha 12 in 0.22m m ho ok le ng th lo op -t o- lo op st yl ef or ma xi mu ms tren gt h wi th as tron gs iz e1 4G uru MW Gh ook an da sm al l
Dren na nb ai tb an do nt he ha ir ri gt oa cce pt th eh ard 8m mp el le th ook ba it .T he se ho ok sa re from th eo ri gi na l ba tc hI de si gn ed wh en I wa sw it hG uru, so th ey ’rea di ff eren tc ol ou rt ot he bl ac k PT FE co at ed ve rs io ns th at aren ow av ai la bl e. Iu se dt o us ea si ze 16 ho ok fo rt hi s fi sh in g, bu tI ha ve fo un d th at st ep pi ng up to a1 4 ha sh ad ap os it iv ee ff ec to n th en um be ro ff is hh ook ed to fi sh la nd ed ra ti o. Af te r al l, th es ea re bi gf is ha nd I re al ly do n’ tb el ie ve th es iz e of th eh ook (w it hi nrea so n) ma tte rs –j us tu se wh at yo u’ re co nf id en tw it h. As yo uc an te ll th ew ho le se tu pi sa bo ut si mp lic it y an ds tren gt h. On erod an d re el ,o ne fl oa tp at te rn al on g wi th ho ok sa nd lin eI ca n re ly on .T he re is no th in g fa nc yn eed ed at al lh ere. Ba it is ju st as si mp le –tw ob ag so f8 mm pe lle ts sh ou ld se ey ou th ro ug h mo st se ssi on s, th re ei f yo u’ re re al ly ha vi ng to fe ed ha rd .H erey ou ha ve
to us ef is he ry pe lle ts ,b ut gi ve nt he ch oi ce Iu se Dy na mi te Ba it s8 mms or an y8 mm th at is as un if or m as po ss ib le on ve nu es th at do n’ ts ti pu la te fi sh er yo nl y fe ed pe ll et s. Au ni fo rm si ze an ds ha pe 8m mh el ps wi th ac cu ra cy wh en ca ta pu lt in g th eb ai ti nt oy ou rs wi m. Id on ’t us ea ny ad di ti ve s or fl av ou rs ,b ut Id oc ar ry af ew da rk er co lo ur 8m m ho ok ba it st ha tc an be us ed as an al te rn at iv eh oo kb ai t on ly.T he da rk er pe lle t offe rs ab et te rs ilh ou et te ag ai ns tt he sk yv er su sa lig ht er co lo ured pe lle t, so wh en th ef is ha re sw im mi ng arou nd lo ok in gu pw ards at yo ur ba it th is ca nm ak e ad iffe re nc es om et im es
Ca ta pu lt ch oi ce is im po rt an t to o– Iu se th eo ld -s ch ool
Dren na no ne sw it ht he el as ti cc ut do wn in le ng th to gi ve th at ex tr ab it of ‘p in g’ .
I’ ve tr ie dl oa ds of ca ta pu lt s an da lw ay sj us tg on eb ac k to th es ew it ht he me sh po uc ha st he y’ re grea tf or ac cu ra cy.
Th ed ep th of yo ur ri gi s ve ry im po rt an ta nd th is fl oa ta llo ws yo ut of is ha ny de pt hy ou pref er.Typ ic al ly
If is hb et we en af oo tt o th re ef eet de ep ,w it hm y st ar ti ng po in ta lw ay sb ei ng at tw of eet de ep .S om et im es it ca np ay to fi sh de ep er th an th re ef eet ,b ut fo r9 0 pe rc en to fm yf is hi ng I st ay be tw een on ea nd th re e fe et .D on ’t un de re st im at e ho wm uc ho fa di ff eren ce ch an gi ng th ed ep th ca n ma ke ei th er –s om et im es al te ri ng it ju st si xi nc he s ei th er wa yc an ge ty ou a bi te af te rd oz en so fc as ts wi th ou to ne ,s om ak es ure yo ue xp er im en ta nd ke ep ch an gi ng th ed ep th if yo u’ re no tg et ti ng bi te s.
On to th es es si on th en an dw it ht he ri gs an db ai ts re ad yy ou ne ed to ch oos ea di st an ce to fi sh .U lt im at el y yo ur di st an ce wi ll al wa ys be lim it ed by ho wf ar yo uc an fi re 8m mp el le ts ac cu ra te ly,s in ce fe ed in gi s ab so lu te ly th ek ey to th is me th od .B ec aref ul if th ere’ s
The right rod for the job.
Perfect floats.
Reel and Line choice is key.
Use these to lock your floatinplace. No shot necessary.
Asize 14 hook is ideal.
Asimple carp catching setup.
Just acouple of bags of 8mm fishery pellets are usually enough.
The depth of your rig is important.
Don’t feed too much at once.
Feed accurately
Into the net she goes.
an yw in dt oo as yo ud on ’t wa nt to st ar tb yf is hi ng as fa ra sy ou ca n, th en af ac e fu ll of wi nd st op sy ou from fi sh in g/ fe ed in ga tt ha t di st an ce .I fy ou ’ref is hi ng in op en wa te r( lik ew ea re to da y) th en Il ik et of is h arou nd 80 pe rc en to ft he di st an ce th at Ic an fi re th e 8m mp el le ts .T hi sg iv es me a2 0p er ce nt sa fe ty ma rg in in ca se th ew in di nc re as es or ch an ge sd irec ti on du ri ng th es es si on .B yt he wa y, th e 4.5g fl oa tI ’m us in gc an be ca st mu ch fu rt he rt ha n Ic an fi re th ep el le ts , bu tI us et hi sf lo at pu rp os el ys ot ha tI ca n al so ca st at crui si ng fi sh to es se nt ia lly ‘m ug ’a ny pa sse rs -b yt ha tI sp ot Th is is wh eres un gl as se s an da ca pc om ei nt ot he eq ua ti on ;n ot on ly do a de ce nt se to fg la sse sa nd ah at re du ce th es tr ai n on yo ur ey es ,b ut th ey ’l l al so he lp yo ut os po t fi sh .E sp ec ia lly if yo uu se po la ri se ds un gl as se s. At th is ti me of th ey ea rt he fi sh aren ’t al wa ys wa nt in gt o fe ed on yo ur ba it fo rt he fu ll fi ve ho ur s; wh ile Iw ou ld ex pe ct to ca tc ht he ma jo ri ty of my fi sh wh ereI ’m fe ed in g, th os ee xt ra bo nu s mu gge rs ca nb ei nv al ua bl e in am at ch sc en ar io . To st ar tt he se ssi on I’ ve cl ip pe du pt oa co mf or ta bl e di st an ce wh ereI ca nf eed an df is hv er ya ccu ra te ly Yo un ev er kn ow ho wt he se ssi on is go in gt op an ou t so Ia lw ay ss ta rt th is wa y an df is h/ fe ed as ac cu ra te ly as po ssi bl e, grou pi ng th re e or fo ur pe lle ts arou nd th e fl oa te ve ry mi nu te or so
Re gu la ri ty of fe ed in gi s ab so lu te ly cruc ia lw it h pe lle tw ag gl er fi sh in ga s we ll as re ca st in ge ve ry mi nu te or so to o. Th is is wh at Iw as ex pl ai ni ng ab ou t yo ur wo rk ra te ea rl ie r– th e ha rd er yo uw or k, th em ore yo u’ ll ca tc h, ju st lik ew he n yo u’ re fi sh in gs ha llo wo n th ep ol e.
Yo ud on ’t ne ed (o rw an t) to fe ed mu ch ba it ea ch ti me ei th er ;t hree or fo ur pe lle ts
is op ti mu ma nd so me ti me s I’ ll fe ed th at tw ic ei nq ui ck su cce ssi on .G et yo ur se lf in to arhy th mo ff eed in g an dc as ti ng th is of te na nd yo u’ ll so on st ar tt orea p th erew ards .R em em be r al so th at th ef irs t2 0t o 25 se co nd so fy ou rf lo at hi tti ng th ew at er is TH E be st op po rt un it yf or ab it e.
As yo um ak et ha ts pl as h an dt he ba it fa lls th ro ug h th ew at er,t ha t’ st he nu mb er on eb it et im e. So me ti me s, on oc ca si on s, yo uc an ge t bi te sb yl ea vi ng th ef lo at in lo ng er,b ut mo re of te nt ha n no ty ou ’l lg et ab it ew it hi n 25 se co nd so rn ot at al l.
Fi sh in gt ot he cl ip ca nb e ar is ky bu si ne ss be ca us e th es ef is hc an te ar offw he n yo uh ook th em .I al wa ys ma ke su re Ip os it io nt he sp ool of th ereel wi th th e lin ec lip fa ci ng me so Ic an qu ic kl yu nc lip if ne ed ed . Ho we ve r, wi th th at sa id , if th es es si on is go in gw el l an dt he ac ti on is th ic ka nd fa st Iw on ’t cl ip up be ca us e yo uj us trun th er is ko f ge tti ng ca ug ht ou ta nd sn ap pe du p. I’ ll us ua lly on ly cl ip up if th ef is hi ng is al it tl eh arde ra nd Iw an t to ke ep ev er yt hi ng ul tr aac cu ra te
Ho wy ou rf lo at an dh ook ba it la nd so nt he wa te r su rf ac ei ss up er-i mp or ta nt to o. If yo u’ re no tf is hi ng to th ec lip ma ke su re yo us to p yo ur fl oa tj us tb ef orei th it s th ew at er.T hi sw il le ns ure th at yo ur ri gl ay so ut ni ce ly an dp re ve nt sy ou rf lo at from di vi ng th ro ug ht he wa te r. Yo uw an ty ou rf lo at to ma ke an ic e‘ pl op ’s ou nd as it hi ts th es ur fa ce ,t he n si tu pi mme di at el ya nd be fi sh in ga sy ou rh oo kb ai t fa lls th ro ug ht he wa te r. It ’s no go od st uffi ng yo ur rig in to th el ak ea nd al lo wi ng yo ur fl oa tt od iv et hrou gh th ew at er as th at wi ll de fea t th eo bj ec to fw ha ty ou ’re ai mi ng to ac hi ev e.
Af te rj us t1 0m in ut es of fi sh in gt he fi rs tb it ec om es al mo st im me di at el ya st he fl oa th it st he wa te r. Is tr ik e an dw e’ re in to th ef irs t