HOW I WON...
£65,000 Match This Final
FISHING TO THE SIDE
IN THE match I had the option of fishing up to the empty platforms either side of me but I’m not always a fan of doing this. The trouble is, the angler on the next peg can do the same and you both end up fishing in almost the same patch of water! I’m much happier targeting the edge at five to seven pole sections so that any fish I draw in are in my own bit of water. At Larford this was 6m to one side, where there was a tree stump, and 8m on the other to some lily pads a few metres away from the platform.
USING MEAT MUSH
RATHER than feed only cubes of meat in the margins, I fished mushed meat, which is simply cubes of meat pushed through a meat grinder to produce smaller bits to be added to the whole cubes. This then gives the fish lots of smaller particles to have a go at, with your bigger hookbait sat among them. Mincing the cubes up means that from six whole cubes, I can end up with almost 100 tiny pieces to feed.
BIDING MY TIME
PATIENCE was important. Knowing Larford, the big carp were always going to feed down the edge in the final few hours so even though, by that point, I think I’d only caught one small carp and a skimmer, I wasn’t out of it. It was all about timing and keeping an eye on other anglers around me. I can remember Lee Thornton catching a big fish on his 5m line with just over two hours to go, which told me the carp were moving in close and it was time to concentrate on the edges.
MAKING THE SWITCH TO MEAT
I USED meat as opposed to groundbait with maggots or worms for a couple of reasons. I do have a lot of confidence in meat but, more importantly, the time of year when the final is held – early September – is when the water starts to cool and meat really begins to work. The way I feed it is much more precise than simply piling in big pots of groundbait.
FEEDING ENOUGH FOR TWO CARP
WITH only a few hours to plunder the margins, it’s vital to make every bite count. You don’t want foul-hooked fish or too many line bites and achieving this is down to how you feed. Pot in three or four cups of maggots and groundbait and you’ll have the fish swimming about all over the place, whereas by Kinder potting in just a blob of mushed meat, I was putting in enough feed to get one or two carp to move in and take the bait.
I always feel there’s a ratio of fish needed in the peg to catch – four or five at a time is too many, but a couple make it much easier and create more competition for the hookbait.