I have just qualified for the fourth round of the Drennan Knockout Cup organised through Match Fishing magazine - and I did it using Sonu Fin Perfect 4mm expanders as loosefeed and on the hook to catch 58lb of skimmers and F1s.

I drew a peg with a very soft bottom and I determined that if I feed a denser, harder pellet the chances of it disappearing into the silt were greatly increased.

Instead, I opted to feed 4mm expander pellets and I could do this by hand, as I fished only six metres from the bank.

The pole incorporated a Preston Pullakit top two, fitted with an 11H Hollo Preston elastic. Main line was .13mm Preston Powerline, with a .11mm Preston Powerline hooklength. The float was a .4g Preston PB Inter 3 and I had a simple bulk of shot some 10 inches from the hook, a Preston PR434.

I kicked off by feeding around ten expander pellets at a time and soon started to attract bites. In fact, later on the bites became a bit scatty as the fish went mad for the expanders, so I cut back on feeding expanders and started feeding small balls of Sonu F1 Groundbait, as this has a high concentration of crushed expanders in its make-up.

I was pipped for the section by only two ounces but I had done enough to qualify for the fourth round of the competition, a match being staged at Gold Valley on June 29th. Watch this space to find out how I fare there!