Match Fishing Magazine’s Joe Carass has had a good run of matches recently using some of his favourite Drennan products:-

“The last few matches have been really good for me and after the early part of the year where good results were hard to come by, my recent success has made for a refreshing change. My change in fortune came on the Angling Trust Masters. I drew a good peg at the fabulous Glebe Fishery and had a great days sport netting 197lb to take the match win. It was one of those days where everything I tried worked!

I started my match off that day on the feeder using a 5-square Drennan Wire Cage feeder packed with groundbait, dead maggots and hemp. I had probably 120lb in the first four hours on the feeder with regular casting proving to be the key. In the final hour it was time for the margins. I had loaded the peg up with lots of groundbait and had prepared some fairly robust tackle for the job! Pink Drennan Bungee was my elastic of choice with a super strong margin float fished on 0.17mm line straight through to a size 12 Kamasan B911 X-Strong. I use this set up for a lot of my carp fishing and find it never lets me down. I had a frantic last hour and caught the rest of my weight in the edge. It was a great days fishing and one that got me right back on track.

The weeks following that were a bit low key for me; fishing took a bit of a back seat as moving into my new house, decorating and various weddings put paid to any weekend action!

I was over the moon when October came around and I could get stuck into my fishing again. One venue in particular gets most of my attention in the winter and it is Tunnel Barn Farm. I fish a teams of four winter league there and as reigning champions we have been determined to win it again…

My first chance to get to Tunnel was on a low-key Wednesday open match. I hadn’t been to the venue since May so was a little unsure of what to expect. I decided to take just two baits, pellets and maggots. I drew Peg 8 on Jenny’s, which also turned out to be the golden peg! I really fancied the draw, as it was the end peg on the bank with a nice ripple blowing into it.

A simple approach was prepared with pellets both in the margins and across while loose feeding maggots by hand down the middle. The pellet lines were good with plenty of prime F1s coming to the net but as soon as I started to see swirls for the maggots it was time to reach for the shallow rig. This comprised a tiny 3×8 float with a light 0.09mm hooklength and size 20 Drennan Silverfish Pellet hook. I was soon into the F1s and by laying the rig in and feeding 10 maggots every 30 seconds I was starting to catch one every bung. After a frantic five hours I had done enough to win the match with 165lb of F1s! The golden peg was also a nice little bonus and got my Tunnel Barn campaign right on track.

My next match was the winter warmer match. This was a 60-peg event that the venues owner Mike Hamlington had generously sponsored with cash prizes. They were paying the top 10 places in the match so I was keen to get amongst the money. The match was held across four lakes, canal, club, new and extension. I really fancied a draw on club or canal so was a little disappointed with my New 41 draw. This is a narrow section of the lake that can be a bit tricky at times as the area is very shallow. Nevertheless I was determined to make the most of it and decided on a similar approach to my match the week previous.

I had a quick start on pellets down the middle and it was soon apparent that there were plenty of small F1s and stocky carp in the peg so I decided to get my head down and catch them. My rig for pellets fishing is incredibly simple. A 10×11 F1 Slim float with a strung bulk of No11 shot. Hooklength is a 4in trace of 0.10mm to a size 20 Silverfish Pellet hook. This is a direct set up that gets the bait to the bottom quickly and magnifies the sometimes-delicate F1 bites. My match went really well again and I kept the small fish coming for the five hours. I weighed 86lb, which was enough for 6th place and a more than welcome £150.

My last match was the first round of the winter league. It’s always nice to get off to a flying start and our team draw was certainly favourable. I drew Club 23, which is an absolute screamer of a draw! I must admit as I was setting up I would have a really easy match. However after two hours I was getting a lesson by Marukyu angler Chris Allen on the next peg. He had raced into a substantial lead and I just couldn’t catch.

I decided to go for broke so started feeding a five-metre line heavily with maggots and the same with the margin. Luckily for me both swims kicked into gear and the last two hours saw a relentless procession of carp! I felt I was gaining on Chris but had a feeling he was too far in front to catch. Again the trusty Silverfish Pellet hooks held firm and allowed me to pull hard in an attempt to catch up. We both caught well right up to the final whistle, deep down I didn’t think I had done quite enough. When I lifted my first net out I suddenly thought that maybe I had and my two weighs totalled 112lb. Chris went on to weigh 107lb, I had done it! My weight was enough to win the match. More importantly, the team also produced a colossal display and our 70 points meant we only dropped 6 points. This was easily enough to win the day and get our campaign off to the perfect start.

As you can see it has been a great few matches for me, the drawbag has been very kind to me and by using gear that I trust I’ve had some good results.”