My winter campaign has been going well and I started November in a great way, winning an open match at the Blundells commercial complex near Manchester with an 83lb carp haul which came to 4mm Sonu Fin Perfect expander pellets and 2mm Fin Perfect micro pellets.

The match was on East Lake and I managed to fish across to features, shrubbery and trees, using my Preston Innovations Absolute 14 pole at 18 metres. This is achievable because the pole is very light and in the first couple of hours I caught 40lb of carp in three-and-a-half feet of water, using a PB7 float with three number 10s spread at mid-depth and one number 11 dropper. The elastic was a Preston Innovations 11H Hollo on a pulla kit and I caught carp up to 10lb, losing a 12 pounder at the net. The main line there was .13m Preston Reflo Powerline with a .11mm diameter hook-length of the same material, to a size 18 PR32 hook.

I also primed two swims in front of a couple of islands which were in front of me some seven metres out. On these feature swims I used a similar float but with a single strand of original Preston slip elastic in number eight grade. That's the black-coloured elastic. The hook length was .10mm Preston Reflo Powerline to a PR32 sized 18 and here I caught F1s as well as proper carp to 2lb.

The trick in each peg was to drip in a small cadpot containing maybe 30 2mm Sonu Fin Perfect micro pellets, with a couple of 4mm Sonu Fin Perfect expanders. I like to feed expanders in the winter because they sink slower than micros and attract fish into the peg as they drift down through the water.

Another thing I do after pumping the expanders is to leave them in a tub just covered in water. This stops them from breaking down as they do not come into contact with air. This way, a  batch that has been pumped on the bank while tackling up for the all-in can last a full session.