Alan Scotthorne spent an enjoyable session on a little known stretch of river last week, catching over 20lb of roach.

He chose to tackle the River Torne with his son Oliver for a spot of pleasure fishing, but also to brush up on his whip fishing skills in readiness for the forthcoming Winter League Final on the Fens. Being just 12m wide and no more than 5ft deep, the Torne at Belton is not unlike the Old Nene at March – but a good 100 miles nearer to his Yorkshire home!

Alan soon had the fish queuing up on his 5m whip swim by feeding regular small balls of punch crumb with punched bread on the hook. He chose to use a 0.4g AS7 pole float, which he had slightly modified by cutting down the wire stem because of the extra shallow nature of the swim. A simple bulk and one No9 dropper was all that was needed with a size 20 barbless Silverfish Match hook to a 0.08mm hooklength. Swapping between 4mm, 5mm and 6mm Brass Head Bread Punches kept the fish coming as he amassed well over 100 pristine roach.

Alan fished the Doncaster & District Angling Association controlled stretch of the River Torne at Belton, South Yorkshire.