“With conditions improving I decided on my first day of trotting this season and headed to a local stretch of the Dorset Stour. Armed with six pints of maggots and a loafer float, I managed a few small chub before heading to a swim that’s produced for me before.
“I fed it for half-an-hour, then started running my float through. On my first trot down I managed a three-pounder, then bumped three fish off in a row, so I changed to a wide-gape hook.
“Not long afterwards the float buried again, and I struck into a fish that stayed deep as I slowly worked it the 30 yards or so back towards me.
“When I saw it roll, I knew it was a big ’un, but on the scales I couldn’t believe it when the dial spun round round to 7lb 3oz. My first ever ‘seven’ and to have it on the float was all the better.”
