THE SESSION...

A venue where both braid and mono come into play was required to illustrate the benefits of both, and Westy went with one of his favourites – Albans Lakes in Hertfordshire.

The Match Lake holds huge shoals of carp and bream and they were both expected to play a part in proceedings. His long line at 30m was baited up with five big feeders to start, with the shorter line receiving double that.

“I’ve used braid on the spool to bait up and I expect the short line to take a while to come to life. By putting in lots of bait I can leave it for a few hours and be confident that there will be some left when I go over the top.”

Mono went on both rigs due to the short range being fished and it took 20 minutes for the first bite, a 4lb slab being the culprit.

Several others came in quick succession before the shoal dispersed and it was soon clear why when a 15lb- plus mirror took the worm hookbait. Plodding away on the long line produced plenty of action but things stepped up a notch when he switched short late on. Had the fish settled? You bet they had! Almost every chuck produced a quality fish and by the end of the session over 150lb of bream and carp had been landed. “Whether I’d used braid or mono today, I’d have caught fish but there’s no doubt I’d have had a lot fewer than this if I’d fed and fished the swim with the wrong material. “Making the right decision on the nature of your mainline will have a major impact on how your next session pans out,” concluded Westy.