Portsmouth’s Matt Tann with a tremendous pair of specimen Dace from the Hampshire Avon caught on the Matchpro Ultralight 15ft rod. 

Matt enjoyed a tremendous weekend before last, fishing the river as it fined down on both the Saturday and Sunday. With many spots still unfishable due to the high levels, Matt made a new swim in an area he hadn’t fished before, and it paid dividends – the highlight undoubtedly was this ‘brace of Dace’ weighing 1lb and 10oz respectively, the best of a number of big examples of the species. A Dace of 1lb is an exceptionally rare specimen fish!

With the higher velocity flow Matt used a Drennan Big Stick on 4lb Supplex line, with three maggots (red-white-red) on a size 14 Wide Gape hook – trotting in around six feet of water.

These tactics also appealed to the Chub, which we’ll tell you more about later in the week!

For full details on the magical Matchpro Ultralight 15ft as used by Matt, click here.