I've just returned from a successful visit to Woodlands View where I managed to catch enough fish to get through to the next round of the Match Fishing Cup. And I did it by employing a preparation trick which allows you to use Sonu Baits' Competition Feed Pellets on the hook.

I caught 64lbs of mostly common carp on the pole to make it through to Round Two, which is being fished at Packington Somers.
To prepare Sonu Feed Pellets for hooking, take a quantity and place in a bowl. Cover the pellets with 5mm of water and leave to stand for 40 minutes. Then drain off the water and place the pellets in an airtight bag, knot it and pop them in your bait bag ready for the next day.
The result is perfect pellets which are soft enough to hook but which don't crumble as you hook them.
At Woodlands View, I also soaked my 6mm feed pellets, but only for three minutes. This means every pellet sinks, and quickly. The idea was to pot pellets into my swim - about 15 to 20 at a time - and to fish for one bite at a time. I wanted to attract one fish into the peg at a time, and have it hoovering up every pellet, including the one with the hook in it. This helps you to avoid foul-hooking fish.
The rig was a PB Inter 2 in a 4 x 16 and the elastic was a preston 13H Hollo. I fished it at six metres in seven feet of water and the rig comprised 0.13mm Preston Powerline direct to a size 18 PR28 hook. The float was shotted with a bulk of soft No.10 shot some 18 inches from the hook, which was set at dead depth, and I had two number 10s as droppers, the furthest from the bulk still being a foot from the hook.
I could lift and drop the float by a foot, and it meant the float settled to a dimple straight away, while the pellet slowly wafted down to the bottom. Lifting and dropping occasionally helped to induce a fish to take the hook-bait.
I caught on my six-metre line for three-and-a-half hours and then moved out to 13 metres where I had not previously fed, and started to feed from scratch. Only only my second pot of pellets I hooked a carp and I went on to catch another six or seven to make my final weight which got me into the next round of the competition.
I'm a big believer in matching feed and hook-baits. Try my trick with soaking feed pellets for the hook. Who knows, it could make a vital difference at your next match!