I’ve had a phenomenal amount of success this winter on the White Acres Winter League, catching skimmer weights - and I put it down to using Sonubaits’ Method Mix, or Sonu Method Mix Dark, when targeting these fish.

At the start of the year when it was very cold and the fishing was hard, I found that Sonubaits’ F1 groundbait drew in and held small skimmers in my peg.

But I worked out that something with a slightly higher fishmeal content was needed to attract better quality skimmers, and after some experimentation I found that the original Sonu Method Mix was spot-on.

In clear water, I found that using the Sonu Dark Method Mix was just as good as the original Sonu Method Mix - and I have found that because of its higher fishmeal content, Sonu Method Mix is not as appealing to roach, which can be a nuisance and destroy attempts to build a potentially match-winning skimmer weight if there are a lot of them in a venue.

Two matches spring to mind where the Sonu Method Mix worked when targeting skimmers. One match on Pollawyn resulted in a 74lb catch, which comprised two carp and the rest skimmers, fishing with single caster on the hook no more than three metres out. I kept topping the peg up with walnut-sized balls of Sonu Method Mix and it worked a treat.

I used similar tactics on Jenny’s Lake on another White Acres Winter League match to catch 55lb of skimmers. What I have found is that your catch rate is no different to when using other groundbaits – it’s just that the average stamp, when using Method Mix groundbait, goes up and up.

In my best 12 matches of this winter league, I have totalled 375lb of fish, which works out at an average of 40lb per match - and I’m only third in the league.

It has been phenomenal sport this winter and I cannot stress enough that you should try Sonu Method Mix for better skimmers on the pole. You’ll see a noticeable upwards leap in the stamp that you catch.