I’ve not been fishing much lately due to other commitments so I was looking forward to this match as the canals at Hillview generally fish well in the winter. 3 canals were in and I drew peg 71 on the 3rd canal, just where I wanted to be as the talk at the draw was this area had been fishing well.

I planned a simple attack, maggots in the aerator and pellets close in with the margins left and right if needed. So I started fishing with 4mm soft pellets and micro’s on a top kit plus one first just to see if anything was close in while I began to prime the maggot line. The angler on the next peg was also starting short on pellets and he had a great start catching 3 F1’s from the off. I wasn’t getting any indications but seeing him catch gave me a little confidence starting short. But nothing happened during the first 30 minutes here so it was over to the aerator with maggots next.

I expected to catch a few silvers first before drawing in any F1’s or carp and this proved the case, catching small Perch and Roach with an odd Ide. I knew it would take an hour or so feeding the maggots via catapult before any bigger fish moved in and It was another hour before I caught my first F1. Once this happened I hoped for a good days fishing and my catch rate with F1’s and Carp steadily improved as the day progressed. It was a slow at first but I knew the bigger fish where there now as I never caught a silver fish once I’d netted that first F1.

3 hours in now and I was starting to do a weight then something very strange happened. I was fishing close to the aerator and a hooked carp took me under it and snagged me up. It was stuck solid and I pulled for a break. I was only fishing with an 0.11mm hook length and I pulled it back. Strangely the hook (a Preston size 18 SFL) snapped in half rather than the line. Very strange. So on went another new rig and I carried on. A couple more fish took me under the aerator but I managed to get them out. After this happened I came a little away from the aerator and the bites continued but not as good so I rested the line for a while and went on to the short pellet line. I did catch one carp here but a foul hooker and then nothing so I was soon back on the maggot line and I stayed there for the rest of the match.

Come the weigh in flyer peg 81 recorded 85lb which was always going to be hard to beat. So I hoped to pick up the section. The angler next to me placed 58lb on the scales which I thought was also going to be hard to beat but my fish went to 69lb 4oz which won the section and was actually 2nd overall.

Best rig of the day

This was the maggot rig. A 4×12 Preston F1 maggot pole float in 3.5 foot of water set up on 0.17mm mainline with strung out shotting, 4 no. 9 shots and 2 no. 10 shot above a 6 inch Preston size (0.11mm) 18 SFL Ready rig. set up on Preston 11 dura slip though a short stop kit.