Commercial Fishing Tips | Six tips to exploit far-bank shallows - Tom Edwards

Have you ever plumbed up your peg and thought that in places it’s just too shallow to catch fish from?

Let’s face it, a mere foot of water doesn’t seem enough to hold fish consistently throughout the day, let alone give you the chance of catching them without suffering the trials and tribulations of them being hooked everywhere except in their mouths.

It makes sense to fish in deeper water where you’ll be a lot more comfortable and confident of catching. Do this, though, and you’ll be missing out on one of the very best parts of your peg on a narrow snake lake, the water tight against the far bank known as the mudline.

Yes, there’s only 12ins or so to work with, but fed correctly, this is enough to catch from all day long. Done right, foul hooked fish and line bites can be totally eliminated.

Float sizes

In mudline fishing, a heavy float will sit properly for longer. A rig based around a Carpa Ape pattern is as stable as you could wish for.

Short hooklengths

A 3ins hooklength lets you put all your shot close to the hook. Fish 0.18mm mainline to a 0.14mm hooklength and a size 16 Guru Super LWG hook.

Which pot?

I start with a medium-sized pot, tapping the pole butt to release the pellets. The biggest pot will put too many pellets in and whip the fish into a frenzy.