Bread proved the winning bait for John Merchant in the big Tunnel Barn Farm Open at the weekend.

Venue regular John fished breadflake and punch at half depth for 106-10-0 – the only ton-up bag of the day – in a tight finish that saw two other anglers take over 96lb to the scales. John fed a cloud of liquidised bread for a string of F1s to 1lb oz on Jenny’s Pool Peg 2, fishing the bait on a size 14 Tubertini 808 hook to 0.14mm line and black Hydro elastic. That was enough to see off runner-up John Berry, who fished paste on Canal Peg 1 for 99-11-0, and Kevin Keasley, whose pellet approach on Club Pool peg two saw him weigh in 96-7-0.