Started match fishing in my late 'teens' and got into the Open match circuit in the Mid Eighties fishing venues such as the R.Witham, Trent (Including Tidal) and a few of the Lincs Drains. A serving member of the HM Forces in the 80's, 90's and 00's my Nomadic style travels put onto the open match's around the GUC, Thames, Ouse, Trent, Seven and indeed a few Puddles here and there.

I always enjoyed match fishing, but mostly in Teams. Most teams I have fished for had me marked as a 'scrapper' who would produce the goods on any venue and any method. I was once described as being most at home on the whip. Nationals have always been kind and I'm proud of my consistent results over the years. Never won my section, but I've never been that far off. The worst points I've had over years in a Div 1 was 38 when drawn on Cyanide Straight on the R.Witham, I can't remember getting any less than 56 points in any of the others. Winning a Team Silver in the Div 1 was only topped with Gold in the European Military Championships in Belgium 7 Days later (The Belgium Team had no less than 3 full Internationals!).

Over the years I have fished with some fantastic anglers and I rate Phil Foster, Lincs County as the very best of them all. Spending time with Ivan Marks was as special as it gets and for the master to sit and watch me fish the feeder in Holland in a pre-match practice on the Ijssel was surreal, he even took time to give me boll***ing for stopping whilst catching - by then Ivan had set up next to me and I wanted to watch him, but it seemed he was happy watching what I was doing.....

I've always enjoyed being next to the water and still get a 'buzz' when setting up for that big match. Even if it's riddling casters or preparing pellet for a match, I'm grateful to GOT Baits for their assistance in improving my Commercial Match Angling and continue to enjoy the complexity of pellet and paste fishing and over the moon to be learning from the very best..

Favourite Method - Speed Fishing (Silvers)

Quick Guide

A quick guide to how I fish a 4m Whip for Silvers

2 No 4 Drake Crow Quill Waggler.
0.15 Direct to a 16 b911 (14 if on a venue where the Silver don't see a hook very often - which is good for this method!)
A little sloppy groundbait to get some initial reaction

The Drake Wagglers cock immediately and take about a further 2 seconds to settle the 4 single number 10's I'll have shirt buttoned down the line - I use the preston shot as it doesn't get knocked off. It's important to have a steady drop of the last 4 inches of these floats (I'll add a picture when I get time) I'll always have 3 or 4 casts without bait to count the drop and get it right in my head. Any deviation of the drop when fishing will result in a strike...and consequently a fish 9 times out of 10.

The most important thing to get right when speed fishing is the feed! I guess this is true for any fishing but fishing for silvers at speed it is crucial to get the feed just right. I start by putting in just 4-6 baits every 10 seconds - my 10 second routine is as follows

1. Cast with arm extended out
2. Pull Tip under water back towards self - sinks line and gets everything straight.
3-6 Let float settle and wait for bite.
6-7 Swing fish in. (or wait 2 more seconds at what point I'll recast)
9-10 Unhook fish, re-bait, feed, and start again.

Keep an eye on the feed and how long it takes to get a fish, I've taken 30lb of bleak on the Ouse when I was putting a fish in the net every 6 seconds. Here I'll use a hook that I've straightened out a bit to allow the fish to fall off as I grab the top of the hook and let the fish shake itself into the net.. If fishing for fish over 2 oz's I'll use a barbless hook and the biggest I can get away with as you'll need to find the hook as quick as you can to unhook the fish.

I'll up the feed to 8-10 to see if the size of fish improves without effecting the catch rate, and again and again until I know I'm taking the best stamp of fish for the speed and in the shortest interval I can achieve. This feeding method will also work for Hemp, Pellet, Squatt, even Wag and Mag when fishing much slower 'proper' methods. It's just a case of not bursting the bubble.

If I ever over feed the fish, i.e the bites are too quick and the fish are going mad or worse they've slowed down, then it's so important not to stop feeding - just start again with 4 or 5. Something must be falling through the water at all times.

Best tip I could give is not to loose your bottle if someone lands a lump. Know what you're method is going to put on the scales. If it's not going to win you an envelope or get enough team points - then and only then chuck it up the bank! It's a 5 hour method that rewards those with the bottle to fish it from the off. I look forward to drawing at Alders on the Snatch Lake to see if I can top Gaz's 52lb of Rudd. I know I have the method to do so, we'll see.

Tight Lines

Lloyd