Mine was a match on the Leeds Liverpool Canal at Wigan as a guest at the fishing club my brother was a member of. As I had been booked on it for a few weeks, I spent every weekend leading up to the match practising using the methods I was most comfortable with (advise gained from a few locals.) I would find myself finding a quiet stretch of the cut , and feeding my own swims, as well as potting feed into the swims either side of me to attract fish to other pegs as well as my own, as if there were anglers either side. People must have thought I was a right looney if they saw me.lol.

When matchday came I was fortunate to draw a fancied peg, which made me a little uneasy to be honest, but thought what the heck. I started on the punch and managed to get myself into some sort of rythm then lost the fish completely! I still dont know why to this day. Anyway, within ten minutes of the end of the match I got a sail-away bite that luckily required no strike as the elastic was being pulled from the end of the pole, (I was busy watching the angler to my left, if Im honest I had give up and was waiting for the hooter) two minutes later, along ith two attempts with the landing net and quivering hands, I managed a bream of around 2lb.

It was enough for me to win the section by 7oz! Bloke on left not amused! If I hadn't drawn a flyer I would have been nowhere near in my opinion, but Im glad I did as it more than wetted my appetite for matchfishing.

I would love to get back on the canals. Might try it again this year.

Good thread by the way.