Sorry but I can't help you with this one because I have never fished the Lea. In a match the object is to get bites rather than sit it out for a big fish. I would have thought an attack with caster and hemp in a feeder would be a good option. Fish four to five pound hook lengths and strong spade end hooks - size 14 or 12 Drennan Super Spades are a good choice. Mix the caster and hemp one third caster to two thirds hemp. You might need to enlarge the holes in your feeder to allow the bait to escape, especially if the swim you draw is quite slow flowing.

Best of Luck,

Matt

Hi Matt,

My name is Fabio Iori. I live in Ethiopia, and I see Total Fishing a lot. Why don't you come to Africa to fish? There are a lot of cool fish to catch, Tiger fish, Huge Catfish species, Perch, Barbel and other types there are also trouts. So tell me why not?

Thanks, bye,

Fabio

Hello Fabio,

Great to hear from you. I intend to come to Africa. Actually, I have fished in Kenya offshore but I have never caught a tiger fish and I would very much like to. I dare say I'll realise my ambition sooner or later.

Thanks for getting in touch,

Matt
 

Hi,

My name's Adam. I'm 13 and I've been admiring Matt for some time. I was wondering...what age did Matt begin to fish??

I started fishing when I was three or four years old and the first fish I caught was a gudgeon from my local canal. Look out for the new series, 'The Great Rod Race' which is screened next year on Discovery. In it you will see me and Mick Brown fishing the very same stretch of canal that it all started on when I was a kid.

Catch loads, Adam,

Matt

I am going to Mexico (Cancun) on holiday and would like to go fishing, any suggestions on where to go and who to see? I won't be taking any tackle with me.

Thank you,

Tony

Dear Tony,

Sorry about the delay in getting back to you. There is not much I can tell you about Mexico. I have only being there once when filming for Total Fishing and the place I fished was the Baja Peninsula. The best time of the year to go there is May and you can catch wahoo, small blue marlin, stripe marlin and dorados.

As for the tackle they have everything that you might need to fish there. Your best bet is to contact the information desk at the hotel where you are staying and I'm sure they will be able to help you more.

I'm sorry I can't be much help.

Have a good trip,

Matt Hayes

Hi Matt,

Please, I have tried to find venues for pike fishing that I can fish at night. I live in South East London. Any help would be most excellent.

Many thanks,

Dave

Sorry but I don't really know the area too well, but I would think that your local tackle shop will know where to go. The Thames is underrated as a pike fishery, but I don't know whether you can travel that far. Why not join the PAC (Pike Anglers Club) and go to the local meetings? The PAC have their own website - just put 'Pike Anglers Club, Great Britain' into your browser. (Try this page - Ed)

Hope this helps!

Matt Hayes

To Matt,

I always watch you on TV and I think you are brill at carp fishing. I have just bought a new carp rod, it has a test curve of 2lb.At my local fishery the carp are only about 9lb at average.

Thanks for writing to me,

Liam Horsley

No worries Liam - sounds like you've got a good piece of kit! I hope your carp fishing goes well and that you get a bend in that rod that blows your confidence to smithereens!

Catch Loads,

Matt

Hi Matt,

Do you know of any good big carp pools in Shropshire that are day ticket? If so, where?

From Matt Whittington, 16

Not really. I think that Bayliss pools over at Shifnal has some big fish and the details have been published in this month's Improve Your Coarse Fishing Magazine. I have not visited the venue, but I believe it holds big fish with carp to over thirty pounds. It is very near junction 4 of the M54. (You may also like to try a free search here - Ed)

Matt

Hi Matt,

I have  invented a gizmo that could change the face of pike fishing world wide, but I need some help with its development. I think with your help and your links with the big tackle companies, this could be a winner. If you would like to know more, please contact me. 
      
Mr LawrenceTownsend 

Hello Lawrence,

I really need to know what it is before I can advise you. I presume that you have taken out some form of patent to protect yourself - if not, I suggest you do so.

The best bet is to send the invention along with some notes to the Total Fishing Office. The address is Old Forge Cottage, Hampton Loade, Bridgnorth, Shropshire, WV15 6HD. The guys at Total Fishing will pass it on to me.

Matt

Hiya Matt,
 
You being an angling hero, I need your help!!

I'm  lure fishing addict, 90% of my fishing is for Pike with plugs, and I've noticed on the internet and in my local tackle dealers that there's a whole new range of "soft plastic" lures available. These are obviously not fished in the conventional manner, my question is:
 
What's the best way to fish the new generation of soft plastics? Any tips would be greatly appreciated.
 
All the best, 

Graham Freestone

Graham,

Soft plastics are very flexible. You can catch fish by simply straight winding them but be wary of soft nips or touches - bites on soft plastic are often very gentle but when you strike the bait is often right inside the fish's mouth. The most effective way to fish jigs is to jig them by allowing the bait to sink to the bottom and then fishing it back in a series of hops across the deck. You do this by lifting or flicking the rod tip sharply upward and winding up the slack. Keep flicking and winding, staying in contact with the jig all the time. Bites often come on the drop and the fish will also take the jig while it rests briefly on the bottom. If you feel a pluck, slack line, bump or resistance at any stage - strike!

Matt

Hi Matt,
 
My name is Calum Czajkowski and I go to a local carp pond where the carp grow up to 20lb plus, but everything over 5lb seem to be very shy and they are not caught very often.

I was wondering if you had any tips for shy carp that you could tell me? I like your TV show. Do you go carp fishing anywhere round Yorkshire on your TV show?
 
Thanks a lot,

Calum Czajkowski

I get so many questions like this that literally need a book to answer them. Your question is simple on the surface and yet very complex because it is so open-ended. It is pointless giving small tips in isolation because unless you can learn the essential elements of carp fishing you will not be able to apply them.

My advice is to buy a good video or book on the subject and really try to absorb all of the information. A good choice is the Fox Guide to Carp Fishing Videos - they are packed with great ideas and they are easy to follow. Why not subscribe to a carp magazine - Catchmore Carp, Carpworld and Advanced Carp Fishing are very good.

To regularly catch big carp you need a good grounding in carp fishing and there are no short cuts. Having said this, you are about to embark upon a very exciting journey and I am glad that you are keen to learn.

Good luck with your carp fishing, Calum, and let me know how you get on.

Matt

Mattie,

Please, please, please, please, bring out a out takes video/T.V. program This would be a lot of fun, seeing the character you have on your programs!

Cheers,

Keith Walcroft

We are filming at the moment and there are some classic out-takes. Problem is some of them are too near the knuckle to show prime time. Mick Brown and myself have had a ball while filming the Great Rod Race and the out-takes are a hoot. I'd love to do it but whether Discovery will agree is another question.

Thanks for watching the shows,

Matt

Hi Matt, 

I have been fishing in a lake in Cardiff called Roath Park Lake. It has everything for carp, weeds, deep water, and carp (of course), but I can not catch them. I have used fruit boilies, maggots and bread and I am running out of baits to try. The fish there are very natural feeders there are freshwater shrimp, snails and all. Only once in the five weeks of fishing there have I had a bite I got it in about a foot from the bank - it looked HUGE but it came off!

Do you have any idea on baits I could use or, even better, come down to the lake and see how hard it is to catch them. I love fishing but that is the only fishery with in five miles, literally, and it is hell trying to catch the fish but they are a great sport as I figure for the one that got away.  

Alex Phillips 

p.s your shows are great!

You will probably have to wait until next year to try this idea out, but I am sure that it will work. Try fishing with hemp and corn or hemp and maize with maize on the hook. Put down a carpet of bait in the holes in the weed either with a spod or with a catapult. Fish the maize over the top. A really good rig is to use two grains of the rubber sweetcorn on the hook. These float and can be popped up an inch or two off the bottom by putting a small shot on your hook link near to the hook. Accuracy is the key with this - pile the hemp and corn in and fish right on top of it. If too many nuisance species are present, ignore the corn and stick to maize.

Matt

Hi Matt,

What's the best way to catch bream on a weedy lake? What method can I fish? And what groundbait can you recommend + hookbait?

Many thanks,

Steven (11)

Steven,

I recently did a feature on bream in Angling Times. The advice was good for lakes both weedy and clear it is just that on weedy lakes you need to fish in the holes in the weed.

To do this you will need a marker float set-up. Get down to a good tackle shop and take a look at a marker rod, a reel and some marker floats. Use braided line on the reel - it makes it easier to feel for the hard patches of gravel or silt between the weed beads. Study the carp press for marker float rigs.

Matt

Hi there,

I would like to ask Matt about lures for pike and zander.

I've been pike  fishing for about 15 years and zander fishing for the last 6 years along with my piking, but have not lured fished for either species, although fishing traditional ways for both species have giving me  pike  to 28lb and zander to 13lb 8oz. I decided to go lure fishing for them properly this season after reading Mick Brown's book (Pike Fishing - The Practice and the Passion), where he states in it that lure fishing is the most skilful aspect of pike fishing and should be worked up to rather than begun with (on page 82). At this point, I decided that I have piking and zander experience. Then I realised that I had never done any lure fishing. Now I've been reading various  articles and books on the subject where and when I can I've spoken to as many different  people as well. After a while I have been  able to equip myself with the right gear to get started and now I need to be able to buy the correct type of lures, spinners and plugs for the job and I don't need to tell you there is a very wide range of lures out there and this makes buying the right ones difficult!

OK, Matt,  I'll be doing most of my fishing on the Fenland Drains and the slow moving rivers of Norfolk, if that gives you any help on what
types and colours and patterns. I know this takes the fun out of experimenting with different lures and stuff but it is damn sight cheaper, as they are not cheap and once I have a few good ones I can buy and try others out at a later date.  I hope you will be able to give me patterns to try and  a few helpful tips.  
   
Hope all is going well with the great rod race with yourself and Steptoe Brown - hope you keep them HANGING ON!

Thank you,

Kevin

Jigs are currently all the rage. You will catch hundreds of pike and zander on the Fox Chubby Shads - these are what Mick uses himself on the rivers and drains you are describing. The five inch shad is the best all round catcher - take a range of colours. Spinnerbaits are also excellent because, like jigs, they are easy to fish. The size ranges you want are three quarter ounce for shallow water and one and a half ounces for deeper water. Chartreuse and white and chartreuse and black are the best colours to buy. It might also be worth trying some really bright spinnerbaits for coloured water - say, orange. Like jigs, spinnerbaits should be worked deep and slow in cold, coloured water and faster when temperatures begin to warm up. Try to keep contact with the bottom if you want zander but pike will take lures higher in the water too.

At the end of the day you do not need to spend a fortune on lures to start with and I think a few packets of shads and say three or four decent spinnerbaits will get you started. The whole lot will set you back somewhere between seventy and eighty quid tops and for that you will have lures that really do catch fish.

Matt