I'm a big believer in carrying a range of different baits in the colder winter months and I'd never go anywhere without my 4mm Sonu Baits Fin Perfect expander pellets.

In fact, I used them to very good effect before the pre-Christmas freeze-up occurred to win an open match at Lindholme Fishery near Doncaster with 104lb of F1s and mirror carp.

Lindholme is a case in point interms of bait choices. Despite the fact all the fish stocked come from the same source, some lakes respond better to maggot, others to corn and others to pellets.
On the day of my match win, I drew peg 65 on Bonsai Lake. I had drawn a couple of pegs away from there a few days earlier and though fish had been coming out to maggot, I had not been able to catch on the bait.
So on this particular match I decided it was going to be an all-out pellet attack and I soaked a few 2mm micros and prepared some 4mm Sonu Baits Fin Perfect expanders.

I used the brilliant new Preston GiS 14 Absolute pole, which is so light that even at 16 metres it is inbelievable. I fished at 14.5 metres and by constantly lifting the pellet an inch off bottom and dropping I caught 70lb of F1s and 34lb of mirror carp.

I used a Preston Innovations 9H Hollo elastic through a Preston Pullakit and the rig comprised a .3g Preston PB Inter 1, with a bulk and two droppers. The main line was Preston Powerline in 0.13mm diameter with a Preston Powerline 0.11mm hooklength.

The hook was a size 18 PR32 and I just drip-fed about 20 micro pellets every put-in.

As a reminder to blog readers about how I prepare my Sonu Baits Fin Perfect hook pellets, I'll recap. I just pump them for a few seconds until they sink, then I leave them in the pump for about 30 seconds before transferring them to a corner of a polythene bag, with just a little water for them to absorb. By the time you are ready to fish they are perfect in every way, soft but firm enough not to break up as you ship out.