MATCH NEWS
Maggots in the margins proved key for Callum Dicks as his side clinched the Tunnel Barn Farm Winter League
Callum Dicks leads charge
THERE’S no better feeling in team fishing than seeing your side crowned champions with the help of an overall win on your part. Just ask Callum Dicks after he helped his South West All-Stars quartet to take the Tunnel Barn Farm Winter title after winning the day with a near-100lb net of carp and F1s.
Fished over 10 rounds by some of the biggest names in the sport, the ‘Tunnel’ league is a tough one to win. Going into the final clash at the Warwickshire fishery, Callum’s team were sitting in third place but well within striking distance. A good draw on the morning gave them a chance but, in winter, anything can happen.
Handed peg 8 on Jenny’s Pool, former England star Callum really didn’t know what to expect given the mixed form of his peg. After 50 minutes, he was beginning to think it might be one of those days. Until he changed to the margins that is...
At the peg
“My draw was a corner peg which can really be hit and miss, but I was very happy to see the wind blowing into my bank, so I fancied it for some big carp and F1s. I took the water temperature and, at 60C, it seemed bang on.
“I planned to begin dobbing bread around the peg looking for a few early fish but also put in lines across to the island and in front of me at 6m into the deep water for late on. There was also the empty pallet to my right to possibly fish at 16m down the edge.
All change
“The weather had been cold all week so I felt feeding immediately might not be best. I
started dobbing a piece of bread all over the peg but after 50 minutes I hadn’t had a bite.
“One of my final chances was that margin swim where there was 36ins of water and with the water being coloured I was hopeful. Fishing a 7mm piece of punch 4ins off bottom, I went in tight against the pallet leg and had a run of 10 big F1s and two carp.
The F1s begin to feed
“I was halfway through the match but bites on bread died off. I knew the fish were there, so I fed some maggots. I’d already seen anglers netting fish and I could see they had a little pot on the pole tip so that told me they’d been feeding some bait. Tapping in 15 maggots and fishing two reds on the hook did the job with another 15 F1s.
A bonus at 6m
“Eventually, the wind got up so much that I couldn’t fish to the pallet, but I had been throwing in maggots by hand at 6m in 5.5ft of water. There were about 25 minutes remaining when I dropped in a 4x14 float fished a couple of inches overdepth for another eight F1s on double red maggot.
“When to change lines is always tricky but I had a good angler in Adam Rumble next to me and used him as a guide. He tried short with 40 minutes left and didn’t catch so that told me it wasn’t quite time to change, plus I was still catching an odd F1 from the pallet swim. It was only when the wind became ridiculous that I changed.
At the scales
“I knew I had 35 fish and worked them out at 2lb each taking me to 70lb! Obviously, they weighed a bit bigger for almost 95lb at the scales and the overall win.”