Commercial Fishing Tips | How to fish up to islands - Steve Ringer

Islands are great holding spots on fisheries, and they prove almost as attractive to anglers as they do to the fish! 

Faced with a swim that features an island, it’s the most obvious area to target because fish naturally live there, using the island as cover, so you won’t have to do anything special to start catching.

However, bites can soon dry up given the relatively shallow water you are fishing in, and that makes your next moves crucial to success.

Having other areas to target, feeding differently and changing hookbaits will all get results, so don’t keep plugging away doing the same thing that worked well in the first hour of the day. 

Often, making what seems like just a small change can have a huge effect!

Islands can produce some frantic sport

Islands can produce some frantic sport

Fish multiple swims

Unless there is a mudline between reeds or sedges, I would have an eye on several areas of an island. This gives you somewhere to move to when you’ve had a few fish from a spot and then they back off a little and bites die away.

Try to fish multiple points on the island margin

Try to fish multiple points on the island margin

The right float

The size of float I use is based around how many fish I am expecting. If it’s not too many, something like a 0.2g Guru AR pattern is perfect, but if a lot of carp arrive, you’ll need a float of double that size to give you stability in among feeding fish.

If you are expecting lots of fish to be present, make sure you use a heavy float

If you are expecting lots of fish to be present, make sure you use a heavy float

Pellets and pots

Pellets are the safest bait and feed to use if you don’t know a venue that well – they’re never the wrong choice! I’d begin by feeding with a pole pot, trickling in a dozen 6mm hard pellets and then changing to a catapult to create some noise.

Pellets are the best bait to start with in an island swim

Pellets are the best bait to start with in an island swim

Change the baits

Banded hard pellet is my starting bait, as these won’t come off if you miss a bite. On venues with smaller fish, an expander pellet is perhaps a better option. If there aren’t too many silvers, groundbait and maggot can be a great pairing too.

Try maggots if there aren’t too many silverfish

Try maggots if there aren’t too many silverfish