HOW I WON IT – MATT MAGINNIS, 70-12-0
“I WAS delighted to draw peg 46 as I’d seen the swim on previous visits and knew it held big chub and the odd barbel. When I got there, it looked just as good as I remembered. There was a small bush opposite with a 10m clear gap below it, then a bigger bush before the whole river opened out and swung away on to a ford.
“A branch above me meant I couldn’t cast overhead or lift my rod up without the risk of snagging, but a bit of trimming to my left meant I’d just be able to cast underarm, which is my preference anyway to be honest.
“I decided on a simple waggler approach and set up two similar rigs, both on 13ft Wychwood Barbel float rods coupled with a 2500 Shimano MGS reels.
“Float choice was really tricky, though. The top half of the peg had a dark background with really good float visibility but below the downstream bush there was no background colour and the combination of sun and ripple in the stiff breeze didn’t help.
“After trial and error I settled on two rigs for the 4ft-deep peg. The first was a 4AAA DH No2 Speci Waggler, shotted with two SSG locking shot and three No8 droppers. Line was 5lb (0.18mm) DH Pro Match tied directly to a size 14 Kamasan Animal Spade hook.
“The second rig was a 2SSG DH No2 Insert Truncheon Waggler, shotted with two SSG locking shot and three No8 droppers. Line was 6lb (0.20mm) DH Pro Match tied directly to a size 12 Animal Spade. Man tackle indeed!
“I began by regularly feeding half a pouchful of casters on top of the float a little way short of the bushes. Given the size and sheer power of Swale chub, feeding them away from the bushes is definitely the best plan.
“After 20 minutes I was finding it hard to see the float properly in the open water below the bushes, so I made a couple of changes in order to focus on the top half of the peg.
“I changed to feeding before casting so I could feed a bit further up the peg and ensure the bait was hitting the bottom above the open water. I also added an additional No8 shot to each of the top two droppers so the rig was more positive and working almost immediately after being cast slightly downstream into the feed.
“After an hour of the match I had my first bite just above the bottom bush – exactly what I’d hoped for after making the changes. I gritted my teeth and didn’t give the fish an inch, and it turned before reaching the far-bank cover. Constant pressure, winding and careful negotiation of the bush down to my left soon brought it to the net and I’d finally got a 3½lb chub... game on!
“Three more chub followed on the same three-maggot hookbait (two yellows and a red) although these were more like normal Swale fish – between 4lb and 5lb.
“The next fish I hooked was down in the open water, and however much stick I gave it, the extra length of line meant the fish was able to kite and get under the bottom bush and break me on the branches. I suspect it might have been a barbel.
“Extremely unhappy at losing my first fish in six years at the venue I grabbed the 6lb rig and caught another chub fairly quickly, so I stuck with this rig for the rest of the match.
“After a quiet spell a switch to double caster hookbait worked instantly and resulted in another three or four fish, and one I pulled out of after about five seconds.
“With two hours to go the peg died completely, but a switch to feeding and fishing with maggots brought another run of fish.
“By the end of the match I’d fed two pints of casters and nearly three pints of maggots.”