Find out why depth can be better than distance
It’s a horrible feeling when you slip the plummet on, lower the rig in and it keeps going and going… and going.
It gets to a point where your rig isn’t long enough to cope with the substantial depth in front of you, and panic kicks in.
Fear not, though. Up-and-coming star Kristian Jones believes deep waters are much easier to fish than many think.
“I’ve fished lots of commercials where you have over 8ft of water on the pole line, and I’ve even experienced some extremes where you have over 30ft,” explained Kristian.
“But these swims are still full of fish and you can still catch them on the rigs you have worked hard to prepare.”
Keep it short
“Many anglers instantly ship out to anywhere between 11m and 14m and start the day fishing there, regardless of the depth.
“But it is important to fish in an appropriate depth, no matter where you find it in your peg.
“I will never fish on the bottom in 8ft of water or over in summer, and if that is what I find on my long pole line I will only fish up in the water here.
“Anywhere between 3ft and 6ft is ideal, and whether that’s 5m or 10m from the bank, you should make it your main line of attack.
“Tight in the margins is also usually shallow and this is an area to feed and attack later in the day.”
Heavy baits
“If you fed light baits such as micro pellets and maggots in water 6ft deep, a lot of it would be engulfed on the way down by smaller fish and those on the bottom wouldn’t be getting fed.
“So I find it best to use much bigger baits that will sink quickly. Corn and 6mm pellets are ideal.
“Groundbait works well in the margins because of the shallow water. It creates a dinner plate for the fish to feed over and I use an equal blend of Bag’em Matchbaits Krill Seeker and Commercial Carp.
“This is quite heavy so it holds the bottom well and makes sure there is always some bait in the peg for any fish that turn up.”
Versatile rigs
“When fishing for carp and F1s you have to use rigs that guarantee you’ll land everything you hook.
“I use three rigs in deep water and I go with a Jigga float on my shallow line, a Tim Moores Pellet float at 6m and a 0.3g rugby ball-shaped pattern down the edge.
“Mainline is 0.17mm to an 0.13mm or 0.15mm hooklength and a size 16 or 18 Guru SLWG.
“White Daiwa Hydrolastic is spot on in open water, when you have no chance of getting snagged, but I step up to Preston Innovations 13H in the margins to stop big fish charging into cover.”