Starting back on the Roach Pit after the spawning break I decided to fish in a swim known as the steps, as there had been a lot of fish holding up in the main set of snags to the right of the swim. I settled on a solid bag with some CSL pellets & boilie crumb, enough to attract the fish out of the snags, but not too much to attract all the bird life. I’d had a frustrating day, with three aborted pick up’s that I couldn’t fathom, fishing locked up the tip pulled right round three times only to be dropped with no fish.

Time for a re-think on the rigs, so I changed hooks to a size 6 Gardner Covert Wide Gape Talon Tip and lengthened the hooklink to about eight inches. Still with a solid bag and a Specialized Hookbaits S2 barrel for hookbait. After about half an hour the tip wrapped around again and I had a right old tussle trying to keep a powerful fish out of the snags. Mark done a great job with the net and we both recognised the fish as Big Tail weighing 35lb 8oz, a repeat for me, my last fish before the break and the first one after.

I was really impressed with the hookhold and I’m sure the change of the rig made all the difference. I think I’ve found a great set-up for my solid bag fishing, combining 25lb Camo Green Trickster with a few blobs of Critical Mass Putty and a nice sharp size 6 Covert Wide Gape Talon Tip.