Know your stuff | What's good about the ronnie rig and how to avoid skimmers
Question 1. I keep hearing anglers talking about the Ronnie Rig. Why is it so good, it looks a bit over-complicated to me!
A) I have used it for a while now, before I had heard the ‘Ronnie Rig’ mentioned. It is a very good rig and one that I had hoped to keep under the radar for a little bit longer. It is the perfect pop-up presentation on clean bottoms.
It sits incredibly low to the bottom, which I really like. It biggest advantage is its amazing flexibility. The rig will spin round 360 degrees, which is why I have always referred to it as the spinner. When you make the rig, it constantly wants to catch your hand which, to me, says that it will be easily latching on to the carp’s mouth.
It has similarities to the 360 rig, but I believe it to be a lot safer. I have never had mouth damage and use it in conjunction with a size 4 hook. I hooked 75 fish last winter and lost one, which was my fault.
To make the rig, I place some shrink tube over the hook, then clip the ring swivel on to the eye of the hook. Then pull the shrink tube over it and add a bait screw. I use a bit of silicone on the shank of the hook and have it level with the barb.
I then shrink tube it down neatly over the hook eye and swivel. Then all you need to do is tie your boom section to it. I use a supple Dark Matter hooklink, but you can use what you like.
Question 2. What’s the best way to sink your line because my float keeps getting blown out of position?
A) Any line left on the surface causes an increasingly large bow to form. This will drag a waggler unnaturally and ruin your presentation. In order to achieve a decent presentation and fish direct to the float to hit bites, hold the rod pointing directly at the spot you are casting to and follow this two-step process.
Secondly, flick the rod tip sharply upwards. This is enough to sink any remaining line and you usually only have to do this once. Start by overcasting the rig by a few yards and then wind the float back to the spot keeping the rod tip under the water. To help your line sink you can also soak the spool beforehand in a 50:50 mixture of washing up liquid and water.
Question 3. How can I avoid skimmers and pick out the proper bream from my local lake? I’m struggling to get through to them
A) The first, and most obvious, thing you can do is to increase the size of your hookbait. If you’re using a 10mm pellet, for example, move up to 14mm. Bream are capable of getting surprisingly large baits into their mouth.
Secondly, you could try amending your feeding. For example, don’t use too much groundbait as skimmers are drawn to the clouding it can produce. Try using particles instead, or a heavy groundbait that hits the bottom quickly.
Question 4. Have you got any tips when it comes to using a groundbait and a pole in the margins?
A) This is a tactic that has become very popular in recent years and it can be devastating in the right circumstances. Groundbait in the margins really comes into its own in warm weather, and especially in margins measuring between 2ft and 4ft deep.
It’s best to use a heavy fishmeal groundbait that will get to the bottom quickly, paired with a large, stand-out hookbait such as a whole worm or a bunch of dead maggots. Try introducing a couple of large pots full of groundbait to your margin spot, with a few hookbait samples included, then leave it to work its magic for an hour or two while you fish a different line.
Hopefully, before too long you’ll notice signs of life over the primed spot – tail patterns being one of the main giveaways – which is the signal for you to drop your rig over the top and hopefully haul out a lunker!
Know your stuff | Should you strike at small taps?
Question 1. I’ve heard it said that atmospheric weather pressure affects the way carp react, both in their feeding and positioning in the water. If this is true should I be changing my tactics to improve my catches?
I would say yes, but it depends on the lakes that you fish. Some venues respond really well to high pressure, others don’t. On Stoneacres, the best conditions were bright sunlight, high pressure and light winds. That would be the time to make sure that you were fishing on the deck, and with plenty of bait too.
On the flip side, if I were fishing on Christchurch, which is just 100 yards away, I would expect the fish to be up in the water. Generally, a low-pressure front is the best conditions for carp, especially after weeks of high pressure. You will find varied results depending on the lake, but every water has a pattern, so research your lake. Some conditions are terrible, no matter what time of year it is.
Question 2. How long is it safe to retain a carp in a margin sling for?
This is a contentious subject and you will get many different answers. There is much to take into consideration when retaining carp. Personally, I would only do it when the water is cool and, overall, I don’t like putting fish in slings for any length of time if I can help it. If you do want to retain the fish, then half an hour is enough time to sort your stuff out and give the fish some time to calm down and recover.
If the water is warm, make sure that the fish is always in deep water and away from any large weedbeds. I will only retain a carp for a short period and once the fish is ready to swim away, make sure it does so safely. If the fish is exhausted and when returned, lies in a weedbed, I think it is in danger of suffocating. We had this happen a few years back on Christchurch. The fish were exhausted and with the water being so warm, it took them a while to recover after capture. It meant sitting in the water with the fish and waiting for them to regain as much strength as they could. Above all, use common sense and don’t retain a fish unless it is absolutely necessary to do so.
Question 3. I fish a lake that holds a lot of single-figure carp but also the occasional bigger fish over 20lb. Unfortunately, boilies are banned, so how else can I try to single out these bigger fish?
Carp will eat anything really, but other than boilies, one bait they really do like is pellets. Many fish are reared on pellets, so it is almost like a natural food. I would go with a straight pellet approach and maybe even add some sweetcorn in the mix for hookbait options.
If allowed, I would fish a dumbell hookbait over the top of the mix. This will mimic a larger pellet. The beauty of using pellets is that they are great carriers for liquids. I soak mine in Krill Liquid, to give them the same taste and smell as Krill boilies.
Clusters are also a great bait to use for big fish, being naturally full of oil and nutrition. That is often why big fish like boilies, because they know they can gain a lot from eating them. By using a mix that does that, additions like clusters are a superb alternative.
Question 4. Should I strike at small taps when I’m fishing the Method feeder?
These little taps are most likely being caused by small fish and should be ignored. Even in winter, a carp bite will pull your tip right round, but to remove any doubt, tighten the quivertip right up so there will be little movement shown when a small fish takes the bait. A carp, on the other hand, will often drag the tip round and almost pull the rod off the rest!
You may also get drop-back bites, caused by the fish moving the feeder back towards you or down the slope. It’s also worth casting more often as the idea of a Method feeder is to get fish to investigate the ball of feed soon after it lands. If nothing has happened after five minutes, cast in again.
Question 5. What are jelly pellets, and how do I prepare them?
Jelly pellets are firmer than normal expander pellets and will stay on the hook better, while still retaining that superb softness that carp, skimmers and F1s love.
They can be shipped out on the pole without any danger of them falling off the hook, and you can also get away with missing a few bites without the bait coming off. Presented correctly, they can even be fished on the feeder or waggler.
Preparing your own jelly pellets is easy to do and allows you to add colours and flavours to make your finished bait stand out. Doing this before you pump them is also a handy trick if the fish in your venue respond particularly well to red or yellow baits, for example, or if they show a liking for a particular flavour.
How to make jelly pellets
Step 1) Melt the jelly in hot water. Cubed jelly is fine, and you can pick the flavour and colour to suit
Step 2) Put some expander pellets into a bait pump and pour in the melted jelly to cover them
Step 3) Pump the pellets as you normally would, and allow the bait to stand for 30 seconds
Step 4) Drain the pellets off and within a couple of minutes they’ll develop a rubbery coating
Know your stuff | Bream on the feeder and how to prevent foul hooking!
Question 1. I’m always confused about how much meat to feed on commercials. Can you give me some guidelines?
Fed alone, meat is never that effective unless you plan on fishing shallow, so you’ll always need to use it in combination with another feed. Pellets and corn are popular, but the best of the lot are either casters or hemp. These crunchy baits offer a contrast to the softness of the meat when a carp moves over the feed.
Getting the ratio of meat to other feeds right is important, as you only want the meat to act as a taster which will make a fish home in on the meat hookbait far quicker. Kick off with around 70 per cent hemp or casters to 30 per cent of cubed meat in 4mm or 6mm sizes. As the fishing improves, you can slowly increase the amount of meat going in to a maximum of around 50:50.
To begin a session fishing in open water on the pole, pot in around half a large pole cup of meat and hemp or caster but then revert to either a small pot on the pole or feed by hand if fishing short enough, introducing five or six pieces of meat every drop in.
Using the big pot again should only be done if the fish show signs of coming off bottom or if the peg dies off and you’ve got nothing to lose!
Question 2. Is a paternoster or a running rig better for bream on the feeder?
Both have their day! A paternoster is the classic rig to use for bream but it is prone to tangling on the cast and retrieve. For that reason more and more match anglers after bream on big lakes use a running rig, or one fixed inside a running loop.
Bream bites today are so much more positive than the trembling knocks on a quivertip that we used to get when fishing small hooks and baits. Braided mainline helps to exaggerate the bite, and fishing with bigger hooks and larger hookbaits corn, banded pellets or whole worms will give you a more positive indication. These baits produce a decent stamp of fish and will avoid smaller skimmers.
With the feeder running on the mainline, the bite is transferred directly to the rod tip without the fish feeling much resistance compared to a paternoster, where there’s a risk of the feeder being moved. A running rig is tangle-free and also safer if you suffer a mainline breakage when playing a fish as the feeder pulls free of the line.
Question 3. How close to the hook should I place my final shot when polefishing for crucians?
A crucian pole rig needs a tiny shot close to the hook to show up incredibly shy bites on the float. Begin with the rig set to just touch bottom, placing the shot a little over 2ins from the hook. If you are getting tiny indications but not hooking fish, move this shot closer. Don’t fish overdepth or that final No12 shot on the bottom will spook the fish.
Question 4. How do I prevent foul hooking carp when fishing in the margins?
foul hooking can be down to the way you are feeding, how much you feed, how many fish are in the swim and the depth of water. Try to find the optimum depth to fish in – at this time of year, you’re looking at around 2ft maximum.
If the water is too deep, fish will move off bottom and this will produce line bites and foul hooked carp. If the water is too shallow, carp won’t have enough water to move around in and will keep bumping into the line. It’s never a good idea to have a margin swim packed with carp – the competition created by the feeding fish is a recipe for disaster.
How many fish move into the peg can be dictated by how much bait you feed, and that basically means potting in enough to draw in and hold in the swim one or two carp at a time. In high summer, though, lots of feed will be needed to hold the fish.
Once you begin fishing the edge, introduce a small helping of bait at each drop in and leave it at that, as the appetites of carp will not be too high in the spring.
Question 5. I fish a small pond full of little rudd. Should I use a normal top and bottom pole float on the whip or a small waggler instead?
Whip fishing is all about speed, and the waggler will give you this compared to a top and bottom float, especially if there is any sort of breeze blowing. A waggler will let you bury the line briefly under the surface to improve presentation and also offers a little more casting weight to swing the rig out when compared to a normal pole float.
Look at a small canal-style dart float taking up to a couple of BB shot with a fine insert and shot this to leave just a centimetre of float tip showing. Many anglers use a few small shot down the line, even when fishing shallow, to help show up bites on the drop, which will register as the float bristle holds up out of the water.
Know your stuff | Big carp edition!
Question 1. What are the advantages of a braided hooklink over mono?
Dozens of hooklink materials are available these days, but broadly they fall into two categories – stiff or supple.
Traditional braided hooklinks are strong for their diameter, and limp. They’re perfect for use inside PVA bags where you want a hooklink that can be stuffed easily into a tight space, and their suppleness also means they can present a bait ‘naturally’, allowing it to move freely.
Unfortunately they’re prone to tangling and despite their low diameter can be quite conspicuous.Mono or fluorocarbon hooklinks are much harder to see underwater and are far stiffer. This makes them difficult for the carp to eject once they have picked up your hookbait. On the flipside, they won’t follow the lakebed’s contours as well as braid so they may sit unnaturally.
A hybrid of the two is coated braid, with a supple braided inner section and a stiffer outer coating that can be peeled back to create hinges and supple sections. Available in a range of stiffness ratings, they are great all-round hooklinks.
Question 2. What’s the safest carp rig I can use?
A safe carp rig is one that the fish can get rid of in the event of your mainline snapping (either during the fight or as you cast). Any rig with a barbless hook is safer in this respect because without pressure from the angler’s end these hooks tend to fall out of a fish’s mouth quite easily. However, most carpers consider the lead and any leaders to be the most dangerous part of a set-up, if the carp can get rid of these it is unlikely to become tethered.
A free-running lead, attached to the line via some form of ring, will slide off the broken end of the mainline in the event of a breakage. If you wish to fish a ‘semi-fixed’ lead then a lead clip, which holds the lead on a plastic arm, can also discharge it.
Helicopter rigs work on the reverse principle, whereby the hooklink is discharged from the lead. Most manufacturers offer ready-made versions of these set-ups, with detailed instructions on how to use them safely.
Question 3. I’m confused about the various types of carp hooks. Surely a standard pattern would do?
Just as in match fishing, there is a wide range of hooks to pick from for carping and they all achieve different tasks on their day. The long shank hook comes into play when fishing a blowback rig, allowing the hookbait to move when a fish takes the bait but leaving the hook in place to ensure a firm hookhold when using bottom baits. Adding some shrink tube to the shank further enhances the set-up.
Wide gape hooks are unbeatable when fishing with short hooklinks, a large lead and PVA bags with either pop-ups or bottom baits. You may also come across hooks with an out-turned eye that are great for fishing with rigs made from stiff materials (mono or fluorocarbon). These help keep the gape of the hook at its maximum, encouraging a better hook-up and subsequent hookhold during the fight.
Then there are curved shank hooks with a swept gape that work well with blowback rigs or pop-ups. These hooks allow the rig to re-set themselves if a carp picks up the bait and blows it back out, which means the rig is still fishing effectively without the need to reel in again. Of all the hooks available, the wide gape is the most commonly-used and versatile, so this would be the one to pick in the tackle shop if you are restricting yourself to one type.
Know your stuff | Big perch and when to use paste!
Question 1. Paste has worked well at my local commercial recently, but is it still effective at this time of year?
Paste traditionally scores best in the hottest months of the year, but if you play with the consistency of it you can still get plenty of bites in autumn. Make sure your paste is stiffer than you are used to. You’ll have to wait longer for bites, and a sloppy paste will fall off the hook in the meantime.
You can also add dampened micro pellets and hemp to your paste so it provides the one mouthful of food that the fish are craving.
Question 2. I have started fishing for big perch on the pole but seem to be losing a lot of fish so what’s going wrong?
One of the most common mistakes anglers make when targeting big perch is to fish too light. A big perch has a very bony mouth, and penetrating that with the hook can be tricky. But by using a fairly heavy elastic and a big hook this can still be achieved, and you can land every fish you hook. Use a Preston Innovations 12 or 14 Dura Hollo elastic and a medium-wire size 12 hook and your fortunes will soon be transformed.
Question 3. Experts at my favourite fishery catch lots of carp on the waggler close to an island but don’t feed a thing – how does this work?
Right now fish will start to shoal up and you need to place the bait in front of them rather than drawn them in.
Cast a loaded waggler with no shot close to the island and allow the hookbait 20-30 seconds to sink. If you get no response, quickly twitch the bait and if the float still doesn’t move, recast. Make sure you feed absolutely nothing or you’ll reduce your chances of your hookbait being taken.
The idea is to put the hookbait directly in front of the mouth of a carp, and if you are on a large shoal, this won’t take long at all.
Question 4. What are the differences between braid, mono and fluorocarbon lines, and when would I use each one?
The three lines you mention are all very different and will achieve specific aims. Mono is widely used for mainline and hooklinks on feeder, pole, float and big-fish rigs. Fluorocarbon is a new generation of line that tends only to be used as a hooklink, while braid, looking and feeling almost like cotton, is popular with feeder anglers after bream, or as carp anglers’ hooklengths.
See below for more detailed descriptions of each one...
Braid
Braid is made from six or eight strands of woven Dyneema. It has no stretch at all, which is why using a strong mono shockleader is a must to stop crack-offs. It’s tough and hard to cut through, and has a very fine diameter in relation to its breaking strain, making it a great line for distance casting.
Mono
Taking in famous names such as Maxima and Bayer Perlon, nylon monofilament is available stretched or unstretched. When pulled hard, mono has some ‘give’ in it, useful when striking hard or playing fish. In a range of breaking strains and diameters, mono is used for mainlines and hooklengths.
fluorocarbon
A type of nylon, fluoro is heavier and slightly thicker than normal mono, and underwater it’s almost invisible to fish. It does have less stretch than standard mono, but sinks rapidly and so is used by some carp and feeder anglers as a mainline. Drop shot lure anglers also use fluorocarbon for their leader material.
Question 5. When should I begin to fish casters for river roach?
It often takes a while for the fish to turn on to casters. You’ll need to feed them for a while before slipping one on the hook – this change can result in fewer bites but better quality fish when they come.
A general rule of thumb would be to start on maggots or pinkies but loosefeed casters. Once you are catching regularly, put a caster on the hook and judge the response – if you catch, carry on bagging, if not, change back to maggots, keep feeding and try again half an hour later.
Know your stuff | Casting tips and hookbait ideas!
Question 1. What are ideal conditions for fishing a long whip to hand on rivers?
When fishing up to 7m of whip to hand there will be a lot of line between the float and tip. If the wind is coming from the wrong direction it can drag the float off line, regardless of how heavy it is – so there will be conditions when the whip simply won’t work.
The ideal wind to fish long in should be blowing over your shoulder or slightly upstream – in neither case will it drag the line in the wrong direction. A back wind makes flicking the rig out much easier, while an upstream blow will actually hold the line back against the flow, keeping the float on line.
Question 2. How much additive should I douse hookbaits in at this time of year?
You can never add too much attraction when the water goes cold and clear. A single hookbait leaking out plenty of smell and colour can now outscore a plain bait, especially where carp are concerned.
With that in mind, give your boilies, pellets, corn or meat an extra-long soaking to lock in as much flavour as you can – top carp anglers will soak boilies in pots of liquid for days on end to get the job done. A quick dip before you cast out often won’t be enough. One word of warning about the liquid you use, though.
Oil-based dips aren’t fully effective in cold water as the temperature will see the liquid struggle to break down and leak off. Use a water-based additive instead.
Question 3. How does the location of carp on small lakes change from the summer to winter?
Cast around with a lead or plumb up on the float to locate the deepest areas. Clearing water will force carp out into the lake. A soft lakebed will hold the most natural food.
A feature is always worth exploring – on commercials this could be a aerator, as this provides some cover over the heads of the carp but an overhanging tree or bed of rushes against an island is equally good. However, the water will be slightly shallower here and so you may be best off waiting for the day to warm up fully before making your cast.
The same applies to the margins. Provided that there is a minimum of 3ft of water in this spot and some cover from reeds or dying lily pads, a carp or two will mooch into this spot late in the day so you should never ignore what’s under your feet.
Question 4. When should I point my feeder rod up in the air?
By pointing the rod up in the air you’ll keep line off the surface and reduce drag from the current. This way the tip won’t be bent round anywhere near as much. Having the rod low to the ground is the norm on still waters, allowing you to tuck the tip out of harm’s way. So keep the rod low on lakes or slow-flowing rivers, only putting it up in the air on powerful rivers.
Keep you tip high on big powerful rivers.
Question 5. When would you use a bait dropper?
A bait dropper is a metal bowl-shaped device with a lid swinging on a hinge and a weight attached to its base. You fill it with feed, close the lid, attach your hook and either cast it or lower it in, allowing the weight to hit the bottom, triggering the lid to open and distribute the contents.
This makes for accuracy of feeding in deep or fast-flowing water. You may be the most accurate of anglers when throwing in feed by hand but once in 10ft of water, it will spread out as it sinks across a wide area. Thus is no good if you are trying to keep things tight, especially in winter. A dropper will put the feed in the same place each and every time.
A bait dropper is a very accurate feeding device.
Know your stuff | Your coarse fishing questions answered
Welcome to know your stuff, where Angling Times readers have sent in their burning fishing questions to be answered by experts. In this Q&A we have an interesting range of questions from how to catch winter carp all the way to what float stick to use on a river.
Question 1. How would you tackle a corner peg on a commercial fishery in winter? How would you tackle a corner peg on a commercial fishery in winter?
Commercial carp in winter tend to prefer shoaling up in the middle of a lake, so the fishing never seems to be much good! Corners at any time of year can be feast or famine, and for every good day you have to endure a few bad ones – but there are things to do when you’re sat in a corner.
If the status quo is to fish long on the pole or feeder, it may well be that fishing much shorter will catch a few. The carp will seek that quieter water well away from where everyone else is fishing. This will only produce an early burst of fish but it can be enough to make the day worthwhile.
The key advantage of a corner peg is the margin that you’ll have all to yourself. Fish will be here, especially if there’s some cover, but don’t rush things. You could catch seven fish in seven casts from here and then not get a bite for the rest of the day.
You’d be better off just catching one fish at a time and then resting the corner swim by fishing elsewhere. This allows carp to gain confidence, and as the day progresses and they seek some safety, the fish will move into the area in greater numbers.
What won’t happen, however, is the summer phenomenon of more and more carp drifting into the corner as the day goes on. These fish aren’t searching for food and so will only turn up if they think it is safe – this is why plundering the peg early on is a strict no-no.
Question 2. Should I leave my feeder completely in winter or should I twitch it every now and then?
Fish are lethargic in winter so leave the feeder once you have cast out and tightened up. However, if the weather is mild and the water warm the fish will be on the move a little more. The trick here is to still leave the feeder completely still and if you don’t get a bite within five minutes, or you have indications that don’t develop, give the feeder a little pull to kick some life into the hookbait.
As a rule though, it’s safer to rely on your feed to build up an area over which the fish will feed and eventually find your hookbait.
Question 3. What kind of stick float should I use on a river?
A good rule of thumb is to use a No4 shot for every foot of water that you will be fishing. Balsa, cane and plastic bodies are fine for smooth, even flows but in fast, shallow water a short float with a balsa body and alloy stem will get the job done. Lignum floats are very heavy and cast really well. A domed top float can be shotted right down, but when you want to hold the float back or inch it through the peg, a stick with a distinct shouldered tip will get the job done better.
Question 4. I keep deep hooking perch fishing worms on the pole. Am I leaving it too late to strike?
If you strike too early, the fish may not get hold of the worm properly – but leave it too late and deep hooking occurs. So what’s the answer? It will take perch a while to get hold of a big worm on a size 12 hook, whereas a size 16 hook and a tiny worm section will be easily engulfed.
If you’re fishing small baits, strike as soon as the float goes under. With a lobworm tail on the hook, let the fish take the bait and count to two when the float has vanished.You will then see how deeply, if at all, the fish is taking the bait down. If it is too deep, strike sooner. If you are missing bites, leave it longer.
Should you deep-hook fish and struggle to get the hook out, invest in a pair of narrow-nosed forceps or a long disgorger with a wide neck to get the shank of a large hook into the slot. Barbless hooks are also handy in this situation.
Question 4. How wet should groundbait actually be for fishing a slow moving river?
Too dry and it won’t hold together – too wet and it will be a useless slop. On a slow moving river, the finished mix should be slightly ‘over-wet’, which means very tacky and damp to the feel. This allows the ball to hold together and carry loose offerings without falling apart.
For the ideal mix, keep adding water to dry groundbait a little at a time and regularly form a ball with one hand until it holds together with just a light squeeze. A good test to see if the mix is ready is to make a ball and poke a finger into it. If it falls apart, it’s ready! Leave the groundbait to stand for 15 minutes, return and add a touch more water to dampen the mix just that little bit more. Now it’s good to go.
Question 5. Can I still catch carp shallow in winter
Typically, carp will sit at mid-depth or a few feet off bottom as they seek the warmest layer of water – so popped-up baits work well even in freezing cold weather. If you are legering, you should consider using a pop-up and varying how far off bottom you present the bait.
On the waggler or even the long pole, keep altering the depth anywhere from 12ins off the bottom up to a few feet deep. An indication on the float or quivertip will let you know when you’ve found the fish, but often there will be no need to feed – the carp won’t be at this level because they’re hunting for food.
Know your stuff | World champ Steve Ringer answers your questions!
In this Q&A, Steve Ringer reveals some of the tricks that he uses to overcome common winter fishing problems...
Question 1. Do you use braid or mono on your reels for bream?
For bream fishing at range, braid is vastly superior to mono. Braid has zero stretch, so bite detection is enhanced. It’s also much thinner than mono, which helps distance casting. Even so, there are a couple of things you need to do when fishing braid to avoid any mishaps.
First, always wet your braid before casting – dry braid is a recipe for a tangle, so I always spray mine with an atomiser full of water before use.
Second, when you do get a bite, all you need to do is pick the rod up to set the hook – don’t strike. This will avoid breakages.
Spool up with braid when bream fishing.
Question 2. What elastics should I be using for winter F1s?
For F1s on the long pole I use pink Hydrolastic. This is soft enough so that I can lift into a fish and ship back without risk of the hook pulling out. I can then use the puller to gain control once the fish is under my feet.When it’s very cold I will drop down to yellow Hydro, because then F1s tend to be quite docile and don’t fight so hard.
Pink and orange Hydro for F1 work.
For short pole work I use orange Hydro unless the F1s very small. This is a bit more powerful than pink, and allows me to hook a fish and quickly steer it out of the baited area.
Question 3. On commercials in winter I always seem to get my feeding wrong for carp. Any advice?
I always like to target one fish at a time so I will feed accordingly. This usually means feeding multiple lines and rotating them, with just enough bait to catch a carp in each. if I feed a line and get an instant response that tells me that fish are coming to the bait.
Feed several lines and rotate them until you find feeding carp.
On the other hand, if I feed and it takes ages to get a response I know it’s going to be hard, because the fish aren’t responding to the bait. If you are ever in doubt, a little trick I use is to pick a line well out of the way and feed that more aggressively.
If I then get a response I can try upping the amount of bait going in on one of my other lines. You should also try fishing around the bait as well as on it because sometimes, when it’s cold, carp have a habit of sitting a little way off the bait.
Question 4. Can sweetcorn grain size make a difference?
Yes. When I’m targeting carp and the water is cold and clear I always like to fish a big grain of corn. This was first bought home to me when fishing Makin’s on phase 3 a few years back. I was fishing for carp down the track and the difference between getting a bite and not seemed to depend on grain size.
A big grain produced bites and a small grain seemed to go untouched. I can only think this is down to visibility, as in a big grain obviously stands out better.
Question 5. Which rig do you use for dobbing bread?
I’m a big believer in very light floats for bread fishing, as a light float allows a slow fall of the hookbait. For me it’s a 4x8 cut-down Mick Wilkinson Steady, which has a short bristle and a wire stem so that it sits quickly. Bites can come on the drop as well as when the float has settled.
Mainline is 0.15mm Guru N-Gauge to a 4ins hooklength of 0.12mm Pure Fluorocarbon, which is virtually invisible in clear water. Hook choice is a size 16 or 18 Guru F1 pellet hook, size depending on the size of punch I’m using. For 6mm I will opt for the 18, and for anything bigger I prefer a 16.
Bearing in mind I’m looking for a slow-falling hookbait, shotting is a loosely-strung bulk of No11s with the bottom shot 5ins from the hook and the rest of the droppers spaced at 1ins intervals above this. Use 24ins of line between pole float and pole-tip. This has the benefit of allowing me to keep the pole high off the water which helps to prevent the fish being spooked by the tip waving about over their heads. A long line also comes in handy when I want to change the depth to try and find the fish.
Question 6. How do you prepare bread for dobbing?
I use Warburton’s thick and extra-thick-sliced, which stay on the hook well. If the bread is fresh I remove the crusts and lightly compress it to compact it slightly.
Compress the bread before punching it.
Otherwise I will pop it in the microwave for 10 seconds to put a bit of moisture back into it. Then I pop it in a small clear plastic bag to keep fresh until I get it to the bank. Finally I transfer it to my Guru Punch Box ready for use. For most of my bread fishing I start on a 8mm punch, but if no bites come I will switch to 10mm just to try and find the fish.
For F1s 10mm can be a bit too big, so once I find the fish I’ll often drop back down to 8mm, or even 6mm if the fish are biting shyly.
Question 7. Does ‘Goo’ really make a difference to catches?
In winter I find Goo to be at its best as an impact bait. I won’t start off using it, but if I’m struggling it will often produce a bite when all else fails.
Use Goo sparingly for best results.
Power Smoke flavours are for tagging Method feeders, PVA bags and so on, and Bait Smokes are for soaking hookbaits. One big mistake I see a lot of anglers make with Goo is that they put far too much on. It’s very potent stuff and you don’t need much at all to put a lot of cloud and flavour into the water. As a guide, when fishing the method I find a blob of Goo the size of a pea is plenty.