Perch deadbait does the trick for 14lb zander
A FRESH perch deadbait helped Andrew Stacey put his new personal best zander in the back of the net.
It weighed 14lb 9oz and came from a stretch of the lower River Severn during a three-day session on the waterway.
The 39-year-old told Angling Times: “This fish is by far my best catch this year.
“It fell to a small freshly-killed perch which I fished at the bottom of the marginal shelf.
“The bite came at around 1am, and was followed by another three takes that brought me another couple of smaller zander.”
Avon roach project thriving with 3lb 2oz beauty
This year’s Avon Roach Project annual fundraising match has been a massive success, highlighted by the capture of a spectacular 3lb 2oz redfin.
The specimen was caught by Dr Mark Everard from a stretch at Winkton Fishery, on the Lower Hampshire Avon, and secured victory for the lifelong roach enthusiast in the ‘friendly’ match.
Mark said: “‘Match’ is perhaps too strong a word, as these much-anticipated occasions are really a meeting of old friends and roach ‘obsessives’.
“I was stood on an exposed bank trotting all day. The pain was worth it, both for a fantastic catch and to support the great cause.
“The big roach sank the float decisively and, like most good roach, rolled straight away. I had to navigate it through two weedbeds before finally bringing it to net. It looked enormous!”
Mark trotted breadflake under a 5g Avon float and fed liquidised bread, a tactic that accounted for a further seven roach to 1lb 1oz.
The fundraiser took in matches on other stretches of the Avon and raised £5,500 for the Avon Roach Project to help continue its work of replenishing roach stocks and habitats along the river.
The project’s Trevor Harrop said: “In the early years of the event roach never featured in catch returns. Now they are doing so in increasing numbers each year. Don’t you just love it when a plan comes together?”
Trevor also revealed how the project plans to build on its success. “As well as growing on roach, habitat improvement continues with the excavation of a huge fry bay at Sopley, on the lower Avon,” he said. “We’ll also be spearheading an initiative to increase the effectiveness of gravel spawning sites in the Avon in partnership with the EA.”
Biggest fish ever to be caught on a pole?
GIGANTIC 200lb-plus catfish has been caught – on the pole!
This is the eye-opening image of possibly the biggest fish caught on the tactic – it certainly sets a new personal best for captor Sebastian Nash.
The 36-year-old from Parcieux, France, hooked into the beast, along with a string of giant sturgeon to 190lb and koi to 40lb, during an adrenaline-fuelled seven-day trip at a private lake in Italy.
The Colmic-backed angler told Angling Times what it was like to catch monsters on a method usually associated with taming fish under 20lb.
He said: “It’s absolutely exhilarating – for me there isn’t a bigger adrenaline rush than playing a big fish on the pole.
“The fight of the biggest sturgeon (190lb) was mental, as it took me 90 minutes to tire out and bring to the bank.
“It nearly snapped me off twice as it swam round a big rock in the water!”
To cope with the powerful surges from every giant hooked, Seb had to step up his gear, and fitted his 13m Colmic Karper pole with 5mm solid latex elastic – which he quadrupled in his top kit to help fight against the power-packed predators.
His mainline was braid with a breaking strain of more than 165lb, and this was attached to a large hook carrying herring, sardine or anchovy deadbaits.
“I caught steadily throughout the week, but found that mornings were the most productive, so I planned to be up extra-early for the last couple of days,” Seb added.
“That next morning I had a very positive take, followed by a mad 30-minute fight when the fish took me all over the swim and stayed deep.
“When I finally got it to the bank I had to call my friend over to help me hoist this monster on to two large unhooking mats – a monster that turned out to be a new personal-best catfish measuring nearly three meters in length.
“I couldn’t believe it.
“Later that day I hooked a smaller catfish which eventually broke my pole!
“I think that was a clear sign that I’d caught too many big fish that week,” he added.
Pristine pair of river perch
Phil Askew took advantage of favourable conditions to land these two beautiful perch weighing 3lb 7oz and 3lb 5oz from a Suffolk river.
He told Angling Times: “It was a good session which saw me catch fish right from the start. Normally it takes a bit more feeding to draw the fish in.”
The cracking stripeys were caught on quivertipped lobworm presented on a size 6 Drennan Specialist wide gape hook.
Old barbel rod stands the test
A 12-year old rod was put to the test when Wayne Nunn latched into this 14lb 12oz barbel.
Wayne caught the cracking fish while fishing a swim on the River Colne he had been prebaiting for two weeks.
The painter and decorator from Hillingdon told Angling Times: “I didn’t even have to wait till dark as the rod tore off after just 15 minutes. As a result I went home early and celebrated with a glass of wine!
“I bought the rod more than 12 years ago so I thought I’d give it a dust off. It was obviously a good luck charm.”
Wayne used an 8mm pellet wrapped in Sticky Krill paste to induce the bite from the big bertie.
Crucian gold among the silvers
John Lewis was left shaking after putting this colossal 3lb 12oz crucian in the net.
John was fishing a southern club water with his son, and was catching plenty of bream and roach before the large bar of gold put in an appearance.
He told Angling Times: “It was the biggest crucian I’ve ever caught – I’m still shaking now at the thought of it!”
The fish was lured on three red maggots fished on a size 14 hook over a bed of bloodworm groundbait.
Go after big chub after species has an incredible week
The season’s best chub of 8lb 5oz tops a bumper list of fish caught in a fantastic week for the species.
Backing-up the mid-8lb fish were a pair of seven-pounders alongside several more of 6lb-plus to round off a tremendous run of form on southern rivers.
The 8lb 5oz fish was landed by southern specimen angler Matthew Hartshorne, who connected with his prize on a night fishing session.
At the time of Angling Times going to press, Matthew was unavailable to provide additional details of his catch, although it was banked from a section of the River Thames in Maidenhead.
This massive fish was followed by a thumping 7lb 2oz chub caught by Leighton McDonnell.
Targeting the River Great Ouse, Leighton fished with paste wrapped around a cork ball suspended 18ins off the bottom.
Speaking of his capture, Leighton said: “I fed 50 pieces of paste across two swims after hearing the fish splashing as it searched for fry in the margins.
“It was on my third cast when I hooked this very fat chub that spewed out fry in the net!”
Stewart Barnes also had a sensational session, landing a 7lb 6oz chub alongside a 10lb 1oz barbel. Targeting a gravelly spot behind streamer weed on the River Great Ouse above Bedford, Stuart legered two 10mm boilies wrapped in paste alongside just four boilies fed in a PVA bag.
The third ‘seven’ fell to Paul Restall in the shape of a 7lb beauty. He hooked into the fish from a stretch of the Hampshire Avon, but Paul believes there were even bigger fish in his peg.
“I spotted a shoal of large chub, and I’m sure some of these were even bigger than the fish I landed!” he said. He legered an 8mm halibut pellet over 4mm and 6mm feed alongside crushed hemp and halibut groundbait to tempt the impressive specimen.
Patience was key for Andrew Tredgett, who landed a cracking 6lb 13oz River Lea chub on his latest outing.
He said: “I located a shoal of big chub and barbel under a bush and fed them pellets for a week before casting a 15mm boilie on a short hooklink to nail the fish.”
To round off a sensational week, Derren Burr scooped a stunning pair of chub including a monster of 6lb 15oz and a smaller one of 5lb 10oz. Fishing the River Great Ouse, the angler from Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire made the most of a quick evening session and landed his fish in consecutive casts using 8mm halibut pellets alongside PVA bags filled with 3mm samples.
FIVE record sharks... one amazing trip
These images depict one of the greatest shark catches in UK history, when four anglers boated six record-breaking six-gilled sharks in just 48 hours.
One remained unweighed, but the other five giants scaled 204lb, 237lb, 242lb, 320lb and 512lb – all of these eclipsing the official British record that was taken way back in 1976.
Adrenaline junkies Phil Riley and John Owen, along with Sea Angler magazine’s Dave Lewis, had boarded Liverpool charter boat ‘Size Matters’ in search of the record-breaking sharks.
The trip was conceived months ago by skipper Kevin McKie after a local commercial fisherman told him of a mark where giant six-gills had been spotted.
Kevin said: “It was fantastic to witness history being made and prove beyond doubt that there’s a healthy population of six-gills in British waters.
“I’m especially proud I’ve pioneered the fishing for them, as no-one has done that before.
“My boat is twice the size of your average charter vessel and one just of a handful in the UK with a deck big enough to bring a big shark aboard. It’s fitted with a harness to assist this, as some of these sharks can weigh over 1,000lb.
“It was the only way we could accurately measure them all to determine their weight.
“The trip demanded a lot of dedication. The mark was in the region of 60 miles west of the Isles of Scilly near the Continental Shelf, more than 100 miles from the port of Plymouth.
“It was a long steam out but it was certainly worth the wait.”
Once on location it was a matter of whose rod would be in action first – and the four anglers didn’t have long to wait as conger eels, blue sharks, blue whiting, cod and the rare blue skate were pulled from the depths.
But six huge six-gilled sharks also found the party’s mackerel hookbaits irresistible. The first, at 204lb, fell to Phil, followed by a fish of 242lb for John, and then a 237-pounder for Dave.
Kevin was next to score with a six-gill that went unweighed, before Phil smashed the record with a 512lb fish.
John ended the proceedings with a 320lb shark.
“Every six-gill we caught was a new record, but we just seemed to better it every time the rod went off,” an elated Phil told Angling Times.
“I’ve caught 1,000lb six-gill sharks off the Ascension Islands before, but nothing beats the feeling of knowing you’ve caught a British record.
“You’re playing a big shark in around 400ft of water with nothing but a belt harness and your rod, so the experience is incredible.
“At that depth the fight is fairly subdued, but once they can see the lights of the boat they begin to scrap in a more dogged manner.
“I’ve usually only caught them at night, but we’ve had them during the day here – maybe it has something to do with the fact these sharks are juveniles?
“Our waters are getting warmer each year, so I wouldn’t be surprised if we start seeing bill fish soon - that will be my next challenge!” added Phil.
Carp angler sees the light with bream pb
A change of target species paid off for Brett Longthorne when on a recent session he landed this monster personal-best bream of 15lb 6oz.
Brett was fishing a large North West stillwater for carp, but after seeing bream rolling he decided to change tactics and target them.
The big slab was caught on a 10mm yellow Redemption pop-up fished over a tight bed of 4-6mm pellets and some boilies. James presented this attractive hookbait on a size 10 Bank Tackle hook tied to a 15lb Kryston Mantis hooklink.
Three 4lb perch in single session!
The capture of three huge perch totalling 12lb 8oz this week proves that there’s no better time to target one of autumn’s most prolific species.
The three big stripeys weighed 4lb, 4lb 3oz and 4lb 5oz, and were banked by predator fanatic Trevor Gunning during a session afloat on a lake near his Swindon home.
Trevor located the venue’s perch shoals by first casting a chatterbait lure. Once he had found them he switched to drop shot and jig tactics to winkle out the bigger specimens.
He said: “I had a fish of around 2lb, then changed to a drop shot rig and got done by a much bigger fish in the weed. I must admit that I thought I had blown my chance, but I decided to give it a bit more time and my reward was another hard hit on the lure that resulted in a real old warrior of 4lb 3oz.
“Amazingly, I had another fish of 4lb a few minutes later. A 4lb perch is special, and to catch two in one session is something I had never done before.”
Trevor then moved swims, a decision that would lead to him crowning his remarkable day.
“I had a hit that pulled the rod round in my hand. The fish weighed 4lb 5oz, meaning my best three fish together weighed 12lb 8oz. It really was a day to remember,” he said.
Trevor wasn’t the only angler to enjoy success with big early-autumn perch this week. Nathan Morse got in on the action too by banking a 3lb 12oz fish from an undisclosed quarry. Targeting a swim with overhanging bushes, Nathan floatfished a prawn soaked in squid and orange glug to tempt the new personal best.
Monster Nene chub landed!
This chub, claimed to weigh 8lb 2oz, came from the River Nene near Peterborough.
It was banked by Anthony Holland, who was fishing a stretch near Peterborough, Cambs. The 36-year-old had already taken a 5lb 2oz fish from another section of the river when the big one took a hair-rigged chunk of spicy sausage fished alongside a swimfeeder crammed with krill groundbait.
Anthony, aged 36, said: “My mate and I weighed it twice, just to make sure. Catching it was one of the best days of my life!”
Schoolboy lures top catch22 perch
Teenager Jake Ball has caught one of the biggest perch of the season so far, kicking off his Angling Times Catch22 reader challenge in style.
Jake (14), from Huddersfield, was fishing an early-morning session on a stretch of the River Don when he spotted the 3lb 8oz specimen attacking smaller fish in the clear water.
Casting a Z-Man Finesse TRD lure to the showing fish, it didn’t take long for it to take the bait.
“I saw the perch smashing little fry on top of the water, so I cast out and my TRD didn’t even touch bottom before the perch screamed off towards the far side.
“When I was bringing it in I noticed a lot of similar perch that followed it right to the side as we got it in the net,” revealed Jake, who added several two-pounders to his tally during the trip.
The perch is the biggest of its kind to be entered into our exclusive Angling Times Catch22 competition so far.
Earlier this year we launched a brilliant new event where we challenged our readers to catch 22 different types of fish before the end of the season.
Open to all anglers whatever their age and ability, the Catch22 Challenge is designed to inspire anglers to try new tactics and catch as many fish species as they can from every type of water.
The list includes some of fishing’s favourite species such as roach, carp, bream and tench, as well as some tougher challenges guaranteed to stretch your angling abilities to the max.
Angling Times Editor-in-Chief, Steve Fitzpatrick, said: “Catch22 has really captured the imagination of the UK’s anglers and thousands of readers have already chalked off more than a dozen different species.
“As we move into autumn, there are lots more species which become easy targets, and any angler who can catch all 22 target fish before the end of the season can truly call themselves a top all-rounder – good luck!”
Never too old to battle big barbel
Conditions for catching specimen barbel couldn’t be better, as huge catches from rivers all over the country prove this week.
The largest came in the form of this stunning 16lb 5oz River Trent beauty which set a new personal best for its captor, 83-year-old Mervyn Wilkinson.
The Coventry angler pinned his hopes on a stretch of the middle river to produce a specimen barbel – a decision that proved to be a wise one when his rod sprang into life at around 10.30pm.
He told Angling Times: “The fight was horrendous – because of my age I find it very difficult to stand up, so I had to play the fish sitting down.
“When I finally managed to scoop it into the net I was shaking – I rang my fishing partner, Phil Smith to tell him I’d caught a bloody big one!
“I have to take my hat off to Phil, who assisted with the weighing of the barbel and ran up and down the bank for me.
“He’s in his seventies, so it must’ve been a hard task for him too. If it wasn’t for Phil I’d struggle to go fishing.
“I can’t foresee improving on the 16-pounder, I simply enjoy being on the river when I can.”
Mervyn’s barbel best fell to a swimfeeder rig loaded with soaked pellets, and a 14mm halibut pellet hookbait.
This was fished over a bed of micro pellets which Mervyn introduced via a bait dropper.
The River Trent was also the scene of the capture of Brett Longthorne’s 15lb 12oz personal best barbel.
The Manchester angler enjoyed a memorable 72-hour session on a tidal stretch of the waterway, where he smashed his barbel personal best twice and upped his chub record as well with a fish of 7lb 7oz.
He said: “The session ended with 12 barbel, including four doubles that went 15lb 12oz,
15lb 4oz, 12lb and 11lb 10oz.
“A couple of chub also came in at 6lb 3oz and 7lb 7oz – so that meant I’d caught three personal bests in just 24 hours, an achivement that blew my mind!”
Brett’s bait and tackle for the session included 3FT Redemption boilies, 4oz UFO leads, size 8 Bank Tackle hooks and Kryston’s Jackal braided line in 30lb breaking strain.
Top Trent angler Ian Potts also cashed in on the river’s fine form with this sleek 15lb 5oz example.
Casting halfway across the river with Vortex Bait Hydroshrimp cocoons on the business end proved to be the downfall of the barbel, as well as a personal-best 20lb 8oz mirror carp.
specimen bream go on the munch in amazing week
A stringof specimen bream catches topped by an 18-pounder proves that now’s the time to smash your personal best.
The giant fish fell to Angling Direct-backed specimen hunter Darryn Stolworthy, who fished a southern gravel pit.
It was the biggest of six double-figure bream taken by Darryn in his 48-hour session. The other fish weighed in at 12lb 13oz, 14lb 14oz, 15lb 3oz, 16lb and 17lb 2oz.
Darryn explained his session: “I got to the swim first thing on Saturday morning and I thought I could see tench and bream rolling on a spot around 80 yards from the bank,” he said.
“I didn’t put any bait out there until Saturday tea time, and decided on a bait boat instead of a Spomb to avoid spooking the fish, which were very active.
“For feed I introduced caster, chopped worm, maggot, corn, mini boilies and groundbait – but rather than fill it in I only put in three or four handfuls of bait.
“I just wanted to fish for one bite at a time.”
It was a tactic that soon proved effective for the Norfolk angler, as by 6am the following morning one of his rods ripped off with an 8lb 6oz tench.
However, his next bite was from another species, and something altogether more special.
“At 9.30am I received a single bleep followed by slack line… a few minutes later a new personal best bream of 18lb lay in my net. I was shaking, “Darryn added.
“By 3pm I’d caught five other big doubles as well as a 34lb 10oz carp – I just couldn’t believe it.
“There wasn’t a cloud in the sky – you couldn’t have asked for worse conditions for bream!
“Owing to family commitments I had to shoot off, but I could easily have stayed.
“It was a freak catch that I’ll never forget.”
All Darryn’s fish fell to fake caster and maggot hookbaits fished helicopter-style in conjunction with a 2oz lead.
fishy boilie tempts wye barbel best
Targeting a new stretch of the River Wye proved to be a golden decision for Mark Doherty, who slipped his net under this torpedo of a 13lb 5oz barbel.
After a biteless three hours fishing in the morning, the Monster Baits and Dips-backed angler moved swims and received a powerful take on his first cast.
Mark’s new Wye best fell to a halibut, garlic and tuna boilie fished in conjunction with a blockend feeder filled with hemp.
Is this the season's top tench?
This excellent fish is potentially the largest tench of the season, and was banked by Alex Warren after he noticed fish holding up in a corner of the syndicate lake his dad used to fish when he was a youngster.
It weighted an astonishing 14lb 2oz and fell to a Nash Tackle Tangerine Dream boilie hookbait.
Alex told Angling Times that he cast under an overhanging willow tree before his rod burst into life moments later.
A 10-minute battle followed before Alex slipped the net under the big tinca.
He said: “I guess it all began many years ago when my dad took me to this syndicate lake and he caught the most amazing tench.
“As the big tail of this fish went over the cord of the net I jumped for joy. To catch it from the next swim down to where my dad caught his many, many years previously really did make this the most rewarding catch of my life.”
Incredible week for specimen roach
As summer fades to autumn the roach begin to feed hard – and anglers across the nation have been taking advantage of the ideal conditions.
Dynamite Baits-backed Matt Fernandez kicked things off with a cracking bag of 10 river Itchen roach, the biggest at 2lb 2oz.
Talking to Angling Times about his catch, Matt said: “I found a decent shoal of roach among some weed in a tricky area to fish.
“The river was low and the conditions were bright, so it took some time to tempt them to feed – but eventually they started taking my loosefed maggots.”
Matt fished a 4BB stick float on 2lb line to land the roach, using red maggots on a size 16 hook.
Martin Abonyi also fished the float to target large roach, which resulted in the capture of an immaculate 2lb 4oz roach from a tiny northern river.
He said: “I spotted a group of big roach under some tree branches, but unfortunately I had a few chub straight away that I thought would wreck the swim – however, as the light began to fade I struck into the roach.”
Martin presented his breadflake hookbait on a size 12 hook fished beneath a small crystal dibber.
Like Matt, Martin also used 2lb line, however fine tackle is not necessarily needed to land large roach, as Maris Miervaldis proved when he landed an immense 2lb 14oz fish on a boilie wrapped in paste. Maris was fishing the Warwickshire Avon for chub and barbel when he encountered the near-3lb fish.
Ryan Dolby opted for a feeder with pellets and boilies to land a cracking 2lb 4oz roach from the River Trent, alongside large chub, barbel and bream.
It’s not only rivers that have been in good form for roach, as James Howes proved with a 2lb 8oz fish from a northern stillwater. Fishing specifically for the redfins, James used a helicopter rig with a 10mm boilie hookbait to single out the largest fish.
Whether you fish rivers or stillwaters, with the float or feeder, now is the perfect time to target your biggest-ever roach.
Epic crucian haul at johnsons lake
An angler on a 48-hour trip has taken one of the UK’s largest-ever hauls of crucians – 47 fish topped by a 3lb 14oz beauty.
The monumental feat was accomplished by Gardner Tackle-backed Mike Lyddon, who spent two days targeting Marsh Farm Fishery’s prolific Johnsons Lake in hope of catching a few of its specimen crucians.
Despite falling short of beating his 4lb 4oz best, Mike had no idea that his session was going to be one of the best he has ever experienced with this species.
Speaking to Angling Times, an elated Mike said: “The catch was exceptional, but surprisingly it was well short of my best haul from Marsh Farm when I had 63 three-pounders in a weekend – but it was still good fun!
“On this occasion I decided to stay for 48 hours and fish at about 30 yards with 25g flatbed Method feeders.
“To these I attached 4ins braided hooklinks to size 16 Target Specimen hooks, each with two fake casters mounted on the hair.
“As for features, to tell the truth there weren’t a lot to fish to, really.
“I had a brief chuck about with a lead to see if I could find any weed or variations in the lakebed but there was virtually nothing to suggest one spot would be any better than another.
“I knew that the fish would be in that general area this time of year, so just opted to fish a spot at 30 yards, mainly because it was within convenient casting range.
“I then decided to make my bait a feature in its own right to draw the crucians into my swim.”
Before casting out his rigs Mike used a Spomb to introduce 3kg of groundbait made up of mainly Sonubaits Green F1, Hemp and Halibut and Krill.
To ensure the crucians came back to his spot time and time again, Mike regularly cast the Spomb over the target zone to top up the swim.
“Most of the fish came in daylight, in fact both nights I wound in about midnight to get a decent night’s sleep,” Mike added.
“When the action came it was thick and fast – the final haul was 47 crucians to 3lb 14oz, with 13 over 3lb and the majority of the others being high two-pounders.
“I also caught around 25 tench, four small commons and a handful of roach and rudd –
with the best two of those going 1lb 11oz apiece.
“As far as crucians are concerned I’ve now caught 339 fish weighing over 3lb and nine four-pounders – this is an achievement I’m very proud of.”
Monster week for big chub
Big chub are a popular target among anglers during the winter months, but Angling Times can reveal that it’s already time to hit the banks in search of these often greedy fish.
Several incredible catches of chub have been reported from the country’s rivers this week, but none can hold a candle to a giant from the River Thames weighing in at 7lb 10oz.
The big chevin was caught by Simon Perry during a night session that also produced another fish approaching the magical 6lb mark.
Simon told Angling Times: “I didn’t arrive at the river until at least 7pm, intending to put in a quick overnighter before work with a friend.
“I had the bite at around 3am, and was shocked when I flicked my headtorch over the net to see such a massive fish. I didn’t have much time to think, though, because soon my second rod was away with another cracker.
“I knew this was a special fish and sure enough, it turned out to be a new personal best. Prior to that, my heaviest chub was a huge fish for the Wye weighing 7lb 8oz that I caught last year,” he said.
Simon caught his latest fish on Hinders River Rami dumbells fished in conjunction with Flatz pellets cast just short of far-bank snags. In total four fish fell to this baiting approach during the hours of darkness, traditionally a prime time to target river specimens.
Hinders Elips dumbells were the bait of choice for Paul Potter, who used them to great effect when he presented the bait alongside a PVA bag to catch a clonking 6lb 13oz chub from a stretch of the Dorset Stour.
Paul said: “I was fishing for barbel, if I’m honest, but I always welcome a fine chub or two!”
Moving further along the Stour to the famous Throop fishery, Steve Baddeley enjoyed the chub session of a lifetime.
During a short afternoon trip on Beat Two, the angler from Hampshire caught 12 fish, all over 4lb and topped by an impressive 6lb 7oz specimen.
Steve told Angling Times: “I would say this was one of my best chub fishing sessions ever. The key was staying mobile and spotting the shoals.”
All Steve’s fish fell to a simple freelined pellet approach with a steady stream of bait going through the swim on each cast.
HUGE BARBEL FROM DEEP THAMES SWIM
ADAM Hughes moved his boat to a deep spot on the River Thames he had noticed on the echo sounder, and was quickly rewarded with this clonking barbel weighing 15lb 8oz.
Adam told Angling Times: “I have been targeting carp since June 16 but I decided to have a change and try for the barbel. The decision and move really paid off!”
The big whisker was caught on double 20mm halibut pellets fished on a Korda wide gape hook tied to 25lb Jelly Wire braid. The hookbait was fished over a kilo of smaller pellets to keep the fish grubbing around.
