I've just had the most amazing match fishing experience, catching 266lb 5oz of F1s at Larford in a Maver Pairs qualifier. And the bait that did the damage was either 6mm Sonubaits S Pellets or 6mm Sonubaits Fin Perfect Feed pellets on the hook.

At Larford you have to use the fishery's own feed pellets, but the Fin Perfect feed pellets are just as good on fisheries where you can use your own preferred choice.

Where F1s are concerned, I like to have two batches of feed pellets on my side tray. First up, I like to have a tubful of hard pellets, straight from the bag, and another tubful that have been slightly softened, only for feeding.

To soften the feed pellets pour a good quantity into a tub, cover with water, and leave them for no more than three to five minutes. Drain the excess water off and they are ready, although I tip mine on to a maggot riddle for a while before putting them back into the tub. It may sound daft, but if you leave them too long and they go too soft, they are difficult to catapult accurately.

Catching F1s in late spring and early summer is about whipping them into a feeding frenzy. When they grab the hookbait they are really aggressive, especially when fishing very shallow, and if you get your rigs and elastication right, you can enjoy tremendous sport.

I use the Preston Genis 12 pole and fit it with the shortstop tops, which are one piece and measure up at a shade over five feet long. I will have four of these made up on the bank, all fitted with 13H Preston Hollo elastic, set under slight tension so that the fish bolt and hook themselves against the tension.

At Larford you must fish with a minimum of six inches between the pole tip and the float. I am very careful about this and use a tape measure to check off the distance. I will have two identical rigs made up with six inches of line from the tip to the float, with seven inches maximum, from float to hook. I will also have another two identical rigs - all using Preston Purple floats in 0.20gram capacity - with the six inches from pole tip to float and 17 inches of line from pole float to hook. All these rigs are made up on 0.13mm Preston Powerline, direct, and will be finished off with either a PR32 in a size 14, for hooking a 6mm S Pellet, or tied to a PR36 in a size 16 or 18, depending how finnicky the F1s are, with a small latex bait band, for using a hard 6mm feed pellet as hookbait.

I will feed with the catapult up to three times per minute, flicking in half-a-dozen pellets and then dropping the rig into the area where the feed pellets have landed.

It is a very busy method, constantly lifting and dropping, and you tend to find that the angler who finds the right depth and feeds well does the best. On the day in question, I got into such a rhythm that I was wondering when the bites would end.

It was a fish a bung and when the all-out sounded I could have kept on going for a long time. I didn't feel the least bit tired and knew I had done a decent weight, but I didn't realise I was only around 6lb short of the match record at Larford.

I managed to qualify for the Maver Pairs final in August, with travelling partner Steve Mayo, who won his section on the Specimen Lake, and I also have the record on the match lake for a pole only catch of F1s. When Klaus Fix set the record on here he did it on the Method feeder catching big carp.

Here's to next time - I'll try to go one better!