The idea of simply staring at a quivertip, praying for a carp to come along doesn’t keep me interested in winter – so follow my tips on using Sonubaits' F1 groundbait as the basis of your match plan, and catch a few fish!

There’s nothing worse, in my opinion, than sitting like a gnome, praying for a bite from a carp or two on a cold day on a commercial match venue.So I like to fish the pole instead, and I try to encourage all species to have a little feed, by utilising Sonu F1 groundbait.The fact of the matter is that a small amount of F1 groundbait, wetted Sonu Fin Perfect 2mm feed pellets, plus a few dead red maggots, will catch you bream, skimmers, tench, goldfish, roach and proper carp.

I’ll kick-start the swim by mixing a tangerine-sized ball of Sonu F1 groundbait, containing a few 2mm pellets, plus a few dead red maggots.I will fish over this and when bites start to tail off I will put in a tiny nugget of wetted F1 groundbait in my smallest cadpot. The groundbait will contain no particles and I will hope this triggers a response from the fish.

I’ve employed this tactic many times and it rarely fails to draw fish into the swim and allows you to have an enjoyable day’s fishing, which is what it is all about when it is cold and stringing a few bites together is important for the confidence.

A lot of commercial fisheries hold stocks of fish such as skimmers, tench and goldfish that are never targeted because the majority of anglers go thinking only one thing: carp! The secret is not to go nuts with the feed. A bag of Sonu F1 groundbait and a bag of Sonu Fin Perfect pellets may last me three sessions when winter is biting at its hardest.

It pays to lighten up on the pole elastic front too. A Preston Hollo 9H elastic will subdue big carp in winter but another alternative is a doubled number four Slip elastic from the relatively new Preston ‘Doubled’ elastic range. Mix the Sonu F1 groundbait quite wet and sticky, so that it will hold the pellets and maggots well, and feed frugally.