The Gardner-backed specimen ace targeted a large Southern Gravel Pit and found a 7ft-deep gravel hump in around 11ft of water at 20 yards out.

The Gardner-backed specimen ace targeted a large Southern Gravel Pit and found a 7ft-deep gravel hump in around 11ft of water at 20 yards out.

He baited this feature with three pints of maggots and two of hemp, and cast two maggot feeder helicopter rigs – complete with popped-up maggot and chopped worm hookbaits – over the top in anticipation of a bite.

“I only had one small bream on the first night, but a steady trickle of bait and regular casting saw the 12lb 2oz girl slip to the worm rig just before dawn,” Mike said.

“A couple of hours later I lost another fish that managed to wipe out both rods, but as soon as I had untangled them and cast back out a 10lb 10oz tench picked up the maggot rig before I’d even managed to get the bobbin on!

“They were the only tench for the session but I was more than happy with a new PB and my first ’12’.”