with Andy Kinder - Maver Match

the 3–hour challengethe 3–hour challengethese fish because it’s just not necessaryon commercials.The float is a 4x12 Maver Elite Series7 – a wire-stemmed float with a rugbyball-shapedbody featuring a hollowplastic bristle. Choosing the correct floatis vital to success and this style of bristleis both easily visible and sensitive – thebest of both, really. You’ll also notice thebristle is quite long, meaning lift bites –something commonly associated withskimmer fishing – are easily visible.The shotting is simply dealt with byusing a string of No10s over the bottomthird of the rig. This gets the bait down,but also offers a slow, enticing fall of thehook bait.Elastic is grey Maver Dual Core andwill easily cope with bonus fish, butis soft enough to marry with the lighthooklengths I use. As ever, balancingyour tackle is the name of the game toavoid disasters.Bait is the next consideration. I’mgoing to use a mixture of groundbaitand pellets as feed. However, I’ll keepthe two separate with a view to feedingCup your balls of groundbaitfor accuracy and tominimise disturbance.1Marukyu EFG 130 and SFA 400krill. SFA 430 liquid is for corn.2mm carp pellets – softened by beingsoaked in water and Marukyu SFA 430liquid – over the top of the groundbait.Small fish love activity, so by using theactive ingredients in the groundbaitand regularly having small pelletsfalling through the water I’ll, hopefully,constantly attract new fish to the swimand keep them competing.I soak the pellets at home and keepthem in a sealed plastic box. Not onlydoes this save time on the bank, but itmeans I can get my pellets perfectlyprepared with no rushing. Soakingthe bait has many advantages; it addsweight so they can be catapulted longerdistances and they sink faster. They’resoft, which all fish prefer, and they breakthe surface film, unlike dry pellets.Hook baits are simple; softened 4mmand 6mm expander pellets and a jarof small red Marukyu JPz pellets. Nomaggots, pinkies or other wriggly baitsare on my side tray because I like to keepit simple.Hour OneThe lake looks like a sheet of glass andthere’s no tow – not ideal for skimmers.They like it with a good wind on; evenbetter if the tow is pulling the oppositeway to the wind. Hey-ho, there’s nothinglike a challenge!I’m using a mixture of Marukyu 130groundbait and SFA 400 powdered krill,simply mixed with lake water. I measureout each of the ingredients, just followthe sequence for my exact mix.To kick the session off I’ve potted asmall ball of the groundbait mix, thenpotted a small handful of the softenedfeed pellets on top.The float is dotted to a tiny pimple soI can see every indication in these flatcalmconditions. I expect the bites to beshy when the water’s as flat as this andthe smallest of indications on the floatcan be a ‘proper’ bite.To get the mix spot-on measure it … plus one 50ml pot of SFA 4002out. Two 250ml pots of EFG 130… 3 krill powder make the base.The Perfect FloatOpt for small sizes like4x12 and 4x10Hollow plastic bristleRugby-ball-shaped bodyWire stemTwenty minutes into the first hourand I’ve had four small skimmers and abonus one around the 1lb mark, all on a4mm expander pellet mounted on a size18 Maver Invincible CS22 hook.I’ve not fed since the initial potting,instead I like to try and ‘fish the feedout’ to prevent overfeeding the swim.It is a fine line between overfeedingand underfeeding, though, so what I’mgoing to do is loose feed the softened2mm pellets over the top to keep the fishinterested. If I get a lot of liners I’ll revertback to using a pot to ‘nail’ the fish to thelake bed.I’m 57 minutes into the session andI’d estimate I’ve got around 10lb ofsmall skimmers and a bonus cruciancarp. Most of the fish have fallen to asingle 4mm expander pellet hook bait,but it has been noticeable that whenI’ve switched to a JPz pellet I’ve waitedlonger for a bite, but been rewarded witha better fish!Hour TwoThe swim seems to be getting strongerand stronger but the wind keeps pickingup and dropping, which seems to havehelped sport.I’ve just had another crucian, thistime on a JPz, and lost a carp due to anunfortunate hook-pull. Carp and eventench can be ultra-valuable bonusesPut the two dry ingredients into a4mixing bowl and blend thoroughly.and there’s never any need to rush asthey can be many times the weight ofthe small silvers you’re catching. Thisis where choosing the right elastic canplay a part and often you’ll find that bigfish pull back with far less aggression onlight gear.Around 45 minutes into hour twoand things have gone dead, perhaps asa result of another big fish in the swim?What I will say is that there are a coupleof other anglers fishing on the lake whohave also stopped catching, so it may beSimple strung-outshotting for Andy.Put a No10 shot under yourfloat to act as a depth marker.Bonuses often makeall the difference.to do with the bright sunlight rather thananything else.Putting another section on to fish pastmy feed soon gets me in among the fishand ‘dragging’ my rig very slowly acrossthe swim results in five hand-sizedskimmers to give me a total of around20lb, approaching the end of hour two.Hour ThreeAs we move into the third hour I’verepotted groundbait and pellets, whilecontinuing to loose feed around 30 2mmpellets over the top every few minutes.A few bubbles have started to appeararound the float, telling me that fish arethere and rooting through the silt.Lifting and dropping the hook baitproves to be a winning tactic – it seemsthe fish want a moving bait today –which results in three better hand-sizedskimmers and eight smaller specimens toadd to the rapidly accumulating weight.I’ve tried a 6mm expander pellet a fewtimes, but I ended up waiting longer fora bite, with less reward, so I was quickto realise 4mm was better today. Thelarger pellets often prove to be betterwhen you’re targeting bigger skimmers,bream and carp as they’re slightly moreselective.Loose feeding every few minutes,combined with potting when the swimLoose feed softened 2mmpellets over your float.Andy passed the MFchallenge with flying colours.has ‘switched off’ has allowed me toamass just over an estimated 30lb inthree hours; just think what’d be possiblein a full five. You’d probably even get afew more chances at landing additionalbonuses too.This sort of catch rate will win manymatches now the water has startedcooling down, and don’t forget totry fishing past your feed if the fishseemingly disappear.5Add one 250ml measure of water.Andy always mixes it on the bank.Add the water to the dry6ingredients and mix vigorously.No need to riddle the finished mix,7just keep it covered with a towel.Softened 2mm feed pellets and8expander pellets for the hook.Andy’s age when hewon his first match!The year Andy fished thefirst-ever junior worldchampionship, whenEngland won gold.The age he startedfishing. His first outingwas to the Middle Levelstretch of the Fens.The number of bags ofpellets that Andy usedto catch 247lb!The value in poundsthat Andy has won inmatch prizes, sinceJanuary 2011.November ’11 matchfishing 17