Catching F1's when the water cools with Des Shipp
Maggots or pellets for F1s in winter? It’s a question I’m often asked on my coaching days and it isn’t an easy one to answer.
I’ve enjoyed some great results fishing and feeding maggots, even when there’s ice on the water.
However, maggots are no good if your swim is full of tiny roach, so then pellets will be my first choice.
Pellets are more selective and you wait a lot longer for a bite, but you’ll bypass the little fish and know that when the float buries, it’ll be an F1 or a decent skimmer. So what exactly is my approach with pellets?
New line for pellet
You’ll struggle to turn a maggot line into a pellet one – instead start a new line a few metres away and feed just pellets. This always seems to work better than trying to catch off one line that’s already full of tiny silver fish.
Feeding
For both baits, I begin by introducing eight or nine dampened 4mm pellets every drop in a small pot. I also have a catapult to hand in case I want to begin firing in bait to make noise the F1s will come to investigate.
Band on the hook
If the small silvers are feeding, a soft expander pellet will simply be ragged off the hook, so that means using a hard 4mm pellet hookbait.
I fish this in a small pellet band, slipping the hook through the band and then slotting the pellet into place.
Two rigs for one job
My favourite float is a 4x12 F1 Maggot, which is light enough to give the pellet a slow fall through the swim.
I’m convinced that F1s and skimmers in winter sit a foot off bottom and watch it fall the final few feet before taking it.
Line is 0.13mm Powerline to a hooklink of 0.10mm or 0.12mm, and a size 18 PR434 hook with Preston Innovations 9h original Hollo elastic. I set the rig to fish slightly overdepth, plumbing up so just the float body is above the surface, being sure to dot the float down well and lift at every dip.
Lowering it in
Slowly lower the rig in rather be in a rush to get the float cocked. I’ll lay the bottom half of the rig in, then lay the upper half of the rig complete with float in the opposite direction over the top.
The pellet sinks naturally, giving the fish time to pick it out and take it. A strung bulk is ideal for this, in the bottom third of the rig.
