The fishing tactics which won the £70,000 Maver Match This final

Matchman Rob Wootton has scooped £70,000 thanks to a last-gasp carp he landed in the Maver Match This Final at Yorkshire’s Hayfield Lakes.

The Leicester angler claimed competition fishing’s biggest prize in the most dramatic fashion, netting the valuable fish seconds after the final whistle, after crucially hooking into it just before the all-out.

The fish helped him to a total weight of 42.175 kilos, just two kilos ahead of runner-up Chris Cameron.

But for Dynamite Baits man Rob, there were no fancy rigs and secret baits involved. Instead he relied on simple bomb and pellet tactics for his bumper payday, after catching a few early carp on the pole and later on a Method feeder.

“I wanted to select the carp and avoid the skimmers and small fish in the venue, so large hard pellets were the automatic choice for me,” he said. “I started the match on the 6m pole line, and although I caught a couple of decent fish early using an 8mm pellet on a band and feeding 6mms, the fish soon backed off.”

With anglers nearby fishing the long pole and struggling, Rob decided to go straight out to a line at about 25m where he’d been loosefeeding 8mm pellets. 

It was here that he caught most of his fish, with a few also falling to a Method feeder fished to the island 65m away. He said:

“Feeding is really important on the bomb and it seemed the best tactic on the day was to cast out and immediately catapult about eight 8mm pellets over the top of the rig, three times in succession. This kept the fish on the bottom.”

Here exclusively are the three rigs that won Rob Wootton that £70,000 prize pot...

THE RIG
 

HOOK
Not risking hook pulls in such a big match, Rob’s was a size 12 QM1. The pellet on the band was almost touching the bend of the hook. 

HOOKBAIT
This was an 8mm light-coloured Skrettings pellet.

HOOKLENGTH
A 12ins hooklength of 0.18mm Guru N-Gauge was Rob’s choice. It’s long enough to keep the bait away from the lead and short enough to give a bolt effect.

BOMB
A 20g Guru Cube was perfect for a short 25m chuck. A lighter lead may have struggled to achieve a bolt effect in the deep, towing water of Hayfield. 

QUICK CHANGE BEAD
The simplest and easiest way to connect both lines. The 6lb mainline is tied to the back of the Stonfo part of the bead, with the hooklink clipping into the front.