March was the time that I was party of a full on Drennan Cup campaign and with myself and the eventual winner Neil Stephen fighting it out for this prestigious prize.  At this time I was fishing my local River Loddon hard and had saved two and a half weeks holiday so I could give it my best shot.  I had been priming two swims o the river every other night with a mixture of Sonubaits 4mm Elliptical pellets and a tin of Hemp N corn.  The spots had been baited for a couple of weeks and were becoming VERY ripe.  It took me around 3 weeks between mid February and the first week of March before my target fish slipped up.  During this time I managed around 18 chub from a very difficult stretch of the river with the best weighing an incredible 8lb 5oz.  The following evening I also lost another big fish at the net, one that would certainly weigh over 7lbs.  I also caught several barbel during this short campaign, the best weighing 13lb 2oz, which took a liking for a 13mm Sonubaits pellet wrapped in the excellent Hemp N Spicy Sausage paste.  After catching the chub I also did a night on the river targeting some big eels that the river contains and managed one fish weighing 5lb 1oz, which was a nice bonus and two PBs in a matter of weeks. 

With my target chub banked I went back to work for a couple of days to let it sink in before heading off in search of my bogey bream which had failed to show.  I fished for 3 consecutive nights without a bite before packing my kit up at 5am and after a quick stop off at home to swap the gear over and grab some food.  I was soon heading for Oxford in search of yet more big roach.  This water has been very kind to me and my first season produced a number of big fish.  After stopping off at the local tackle shop I ordered my regular 4 pints of maggots without maize and added a healthy sprinkling of Supercrush Green Groundbait to give them an added boost.

Arriving at Oxford the going swim that had produced most of the winter was free and I set up in double quick time.  The first 24 hours didn’t produce a single bleep but the further 48 hours produced an amazing 9 roach with 6 weighing over 3lbs.  Fish weighing 3lb 1oz, 3lb 3oz, 3lb 3oz, 3lb 4oz, 3lb 6oz and 3lb 8oz, which equalled my personal best for the species.  The session also allowed for a rare brace shot of 3lb roach as two fell within a matter of minutes of each other.

After a full on Drennan Cup assault which ended in second place, a result I was extremely happy with.  It was now time to take some time off of angling and I spent the next 6-8 weeks recharging my batteries from a very draining yet rewarding season.