I’ve been fortunate enough to be involved in a number of high profile match wins and near misses, for the most part as a member of a team, or pair, but with the odd individual triumph thrown in. Over the last ten years Mainline’s bait and clothing sponsorship has been an important factor in the success of the Carpworld and International Carper teams I’ve been involved with. I’ve used a number of Mainline baits in matches, including pellets, freezer boilies and ready-mades. The length of match and its location tends to dictate the type of bait you choose. For instance it is difficult to opt for freezer baits when you are fishing the St. Lawrence: logistics are all against that choice, but where freezer baits are an option then that is the route I prefer to go down. The combination of instant attraction and ongoing food quality of the Mainline freezer baits mean they will catch early in a five-day match, and go on working throughout the match. Ready mades can be fine for three-day matches but they do start to lose their effectiveness after three days. When Steve Briggs and I won the World Championship on the St. Lawrence we actually switched from Pineapple ready-mades to Tutti Fruttis half way through the match to keep the carp coming back for more. Here are the match wins I’ve been involved with under the Mainline sponsorship:

Team titles (three pairs)

World Carp Classic 1999 at Lac de Madine.
World Carp Classic 2007 at the Orient.
World Carp Classic 2008 at Lac de Madine.
World Carp Classic 2009 at Lac de Madine.

Pairs titles

World Championship at Fishabil, 2000: Steve Briggs and I won with a weight of 496lb, almost exactly double that of the second-placed pair, from a field of 54 pairs.

World Championship on the St. Lawrence, 2005: Steve Briggs and I won, again with a weight of nearly 1,509lb – again close to double that of the second placed pair – from a field of 108 pairs.

There was a 24 hour period in this match when Steve and I caught over 1,200lb of carp! At the time the first prize to the value of $96,000 was the biggest prize ever won in any type of angling match, and I don’t know if it has yet been surpassed.

Steve and I on our way to our World Championship win, Fishabil 2000.	On top of the podium at Fishabil.
Some serious bait sponsorship for the World Cup on the St. Lawrence, 2005! Thanks Kev.	Celebrating the moment at the end of the exhausting St. Lawrence win.
On top of the after World Cup win number two.	The Carpworld/Mainline winning line-up after victory in the World Carp Classic team championship at the Orient in 2007.
The Carpworld/Mainline team that won the World Carp Classic team championship at Madine in 2008 and 2009.	Celebrating the team win in 2009, and the runaway win of the pairs title by team members Rob Tough and Tom Duncan-Dunlop.