Match Masterclass - LIVE MATCH - Fishing One Of The Uk's Biggest Open's

I pulled Peg 90 at the draw. A few of the other anglers had told me that it’s a decent area, but I’d seen the results from the week before and this was actually the lowest weight section being won previously with only 9lb 13oz, so while I was hopeful, I knew it could be a tough day. 

My preffered approach was to feeder fish fish for bream, in fact, my feeder gear is all i brought with me. I like to fish positively and target the larger species in the river, but after chatting with a few of the regulars, it sounded like their tactic would be to focus on roach and go for numbers of fish instead. 

One thing you do have to do before you get started on a river like this is to find the right spot to fish. Ideally what you want to be casting somewhere where the feeder takes roughly four seconds to drop to the bottom, which gives you the correct depth, and you want a clear patch of riverbed for the feeder to hold. On the day, that depth seemed to be about two-thirds of the way over towards the far bank.

A strong wind working with the ebbing tide, so conditions were challenging for feeder fishing. I knew I was going to have to play around with the weight of the feeder to find a nice balance between being heavy enough to hold bottom and as light as possible to give the best bite indication.

My second cast rewarded me with a tiny rattle, and after worrying that I had struck into it to quickly and missed it, I had in fact caught a microscopic roach. My first fish from the Yare in a really long time! 

Bite indication was a bit of a challenge early on, especially using the braided mainline I started with. Braid is brilliant for sensitivity, but sometimes it can be too direct. I was getting loads of tiny taps and liners, and I couldn’t tell what was a properly developed bite and what was tow or debris.

So I made the switch to mono to see if that helped. It’s got more stretch, which can actually be a good thing when you’re trying to filter out false indications though it does mean you’ve got to strike a lot more positively to connect with a fish.

For this sort of fishing, I use a 13ft Horizon XD Class rod rated to 130g. It's quite a heavy rod, stiff in the butt section for chucking big feeders but with a delicate soft tip for spotting bites.

The feeder setup is nice and simple; I actually use a waggler attatchment running between some float stops. One above and three below. Hooklengths are a metre long and pre-tied, wich I cut down to around 70 centimiters.

The rig is very customisable so I can swap things around quickly when I need to adapt to the conditions.

For bait, I kept things classic and effective. My main approach was based around fluoro maggots on the hook, they are a really effective choice for picking up both roach and skimmers on rivers like the Yare. In the feeder, I was using a rich, active groundbait mix of Silver X River, Silver X roach and some Worm meal as well packed with chopped worm and a few pinkies, casters and grains or sweetcorn to add attraction and draw fish into the swim. The mix was designed to break down quickly in the flow, releasing scent and particles downstream.

Fishing on the Yare means working with the tide. On an ebb tide like today, the water runs out steadily for most of the match, but when it starts to turn and the flow stops before turning around, there’s a notoriously quiet spell where bites just seem to stop. You’ve got to be ready for that and try to make the most of the productive spells either side of it.

The whole day was a bit of a grind, to be honest. The fish weren’t feeding confidently, and getting clean bites was tough. But that’s river fishing for you. It's all about adapting, staying patient, and doing the right things even when the fishing is difficult. 

When the scales came round, I ended up with 4lb 14oz not a winning weight by any means, but I was happy with how I approached it. Considering I hadn’t been on the Yare in years and was up against 80 or 90 local regulars, I felt like I’d given a good account of myself. In Hindsight I think that my gamble to try ang catch bigger fish wasnt the best move and I would say that I got a few things wrong. I think I fished too far over in the river and I think I used too large a feeder and introduced too much bait.

Live matches like this are a Real test. You can’t plan for everything, and you’ve got to think on your feet but that’s part of what I love about them. Fishing isn't always really productive but even on days like this, very decision matters, and when you get it right, even a few small fish can feel like a big result.