Catching 80/120lb in matches is very good going.

Which rivers are you doing these weights on

riverboy?

Sounds like your set up is ok. You are never going to hit every bite but if you are hooking and losing fish you are probably at the wrong depth. Try shallowing up a bit, 2 inches or so can make a huge difference. Alternative is to try a different hair length or smaller hook.
Heavier hook length can sometimes work too or simply use a coloured pellet or a different size pellet, feed 8s fish 11s etc. Vary things too chuck beyond your feed and around it etc.
Its never a case of feed cast strike and land fish!!!
I use a mixture of 8mm green, red and brown pellets in my feed, the robin reds are pre drilled so you can pull the band through the hole, this can sometimes be deadly.
Just one final point, your rod is not too stiff I assume? You need a soft action otherwise stiffer rods will rip hooks out as the fish powers off.

@riverboy wrote:

Hi rob, I asked the question as I am new to pellet wag fishing on commercials and wanted opinions on set ups, I mainly fish rivers most weekends but with more time on my hands I’m dabbling in carping. What setup do you use for this type of fishing?

I don’t do any carping so can’t offer any advice on that.

What rivers are you fishing and how have you got on?

I fish Boddington a lot and have had weights up to 328lb this year….. Ive been fishing 8lb main line with a 0.22 guru hook length to a size 12 or 14 pr38…. Fishing it around 3 feet deep and I have found that since using a longer hair for the pellet I have been catching a lot more fish and hitting more bites

Have a look at how Steve Ringer fishes the pellet waggler on youtube. Think at it’s Boddingtons too!