After my success last week on the Ouse I couldn’t resist going back for another go. Without boring you all to death it was another success. Although the water level was almost back to its normal level it still had a nice bit of colour to it.

To cut a long story short I had three barbel 7lb 2oz, 11lb and 13lb 6oz, two chub to just over 5lbs and four bream of about 7lbs. You really must give the method mix and boilies that I spoke about last week a go on a river near you now.

I also mentioned in a previous blog about an open day that Marukyu will be attending at Manor Farm Fishery in Biggleswade on the 11^th and 12^th of September. I hope that some of you can come and see us that weekend to see some of the Marukyu range and hopefully see some fish caught on the products as well.

With this in mind most of my week will be spent preparing for the weekend. I know from my trial fishing at Manor Farm that the carp there are suckers for baits fished under a method float or a bagging waggler.

So I shall be preparing my ground bait and hook baits to suit this type of fishing. My hook baits will be slow sinking probably using trimmed down pop-ups so that the weight of the hook just makes them sink

My ground bait will include lots of different sized particles. This will include different sized pellets broken boilies, sweet corn and some hemp. The idea behind this is to get the carp competing up in the water for the different sized food particles as they fall off the method float.

THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK

Does hook size make a difference? Without a doubt it does, too big, too small or too heavy can all make a difference to how many fish you catch. Try to match the size and the weight of the hook to the size and weight of your bait. If you can, try to counteract the weight of the hook with bait that is buoyant. If your hook is small compared to your hook bait you may find that the bait will affect your chances of a good hook hold. The best bit of advice I have been given about hook size was by a very good match angler who said if you are missing bites, use a bigger hook.

Hopefully I will see some of you at Manor Farm at the weekend.

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