HOW I WON IT
STEVE HARWOOD RELIVES AN EXCITING VICTORY
DAY 1 – PEG 16, APPLEFORD
A tough, deep swim, so I decided to start with quite negative feeding – just 100ml of caster in six small balls of groundbait and soil at 14.5m and some chopped worm in soil at 8m.
My rigs were simple – a 2g Drennan AS8 and a 1.5g AS8, both with a bulk and six No11 shot below, which I could move as I needed. Mainline was 0.14mm and hook was a size 18 Drennan Fine Match to a 0.09mm hooklength.
After half-a-dozen gudgeon on the feeder, a move to the pole brought a few roach and perch before it died, so I started loosefeeding hemp over my initial feed. The peg is around 12ft deep and I wanted to catch near the bottom so I didn’t feed too often. I swapped between these two lines for three hours then concentrated on the long line, catching 2oz roach for the rest of the match. My weight of 11-9-0 won the section
DAY 2 – PEG 10, ABINGDON
A good area for skimmers and roach, but I was up against it to win the section. It was a very bright day with a strong downstream wind, so again I opted for positive rigs with the peg only 7ft deep. A Drennan 1.5g and 1.0g running rig nailed it for roach at 11m, and a 2g float caught me skimmers at 14.5m.
On this decent peg, I fed more positively than the day before with 100ml of chopped worm and 100ml of caster in eight balls or groundbait at 14.5m, and 100ml of caster in six balls cupped in at 11m.
From the start I caught the odd 8oz skimmer with roach for the first hour-and-a-half, then just roach off both lines all match by loosefeeding casters and caster on the hook.
I weighed in 20-2-0, which won me the section.
DAY 3 – PEG 13, CULHAM
Not a bad peg, so like the day before I fished a positive match and fed it exactly the same with the same rigs.
After a biteless 15 minutes on the feeder, I came in on the pole and had two small skimmers and a 2lb roach on double red maggot.
The fish seemed more responsive than on the previous day, with bigger fish, so regular top-ups with caster in groundbait worked well.
My 23-6-0 won the section, while my nearest rival, Steve Townsend, weighed 21-0-0.
That meant I was the Thames Festival winner by just 12oz!