How do i fish the pellet waggler?
Recent warm weather has made me think about fishing the pellet waggler, but there a few questions I need answering. Should I use a loaded float or one with shot around it? How shallow should I fish and how often should I feed?
There are a few questions here so the best thing to do is to break them down into separate sections. Remember, though, that as with any tactic, things can change when fishing the pellet waggler and no two days are ever the same!
Pellet size
This revolves around the size of carp in the lake. For fish below 4lb, a 6mm hard pellet is ideal but if the fish are bigger, get an 8mm pellet on the hook. It’s also worth carrying some 4mm pellets if your lake holds lots of F1s.
Feeding
Feed the same size of pellet as that which is being used on the hook and do it regularly, as in a dozen pellets every 30 seconds. You’re trying to get the carp up in the water and keep them there – any break in the feeding may send them down in the water a little.
One tip is to fire the pellets out so they fly in an arc and drop into the water with a louder splash than if you were firing them directly at the float on a flatter trajectory. This noise will help draw carp in to the noise created.
How long to give it
There’s little point in flogging away when the pellet waggler isn’t going to work.
Normally, you should have had some signs within 45 minutes of starting, but if the float has remained motionless at this point, chances are it won’t work. However, if during the day you see some carp moving near the surface, have a few casts to see if you can nobble one.
Casting times
Cast every 90 seconds so that the bait is always falling through the water or the float is hitting the water with a good splash. This can be increased to every 60 seconds if the carp are on the surface and unlikely to take a bait that’s left in the water for those extra seconds. A good ploy if fish are on the surface is to aim and cast straight at them rather than relying on them swimming over to where you are feeding and casting to.
Float type
There’s a wide choice of materials that pellet wagglers are made out of, but the most popular seem to be plastic or foam. Foam is very buoyant and good for fishing extremely shallow, whereas plastic performs better when fishing slightly deeper. A loaded float is always best, as there’s no shot to get tangled plus the float will fly truer and with more accuracy on the cast. When fishing less than 3ft deep, it makes sense to use a short waggler that won’t dive under the water too far, but if you need to fish deeper than 3ft, a longer float comes into play for stability.
Bites
Generally, the float buries but some bites can be quite delicate with just a little dip on the tip. Strike at any movement but with luck, the carp will be feeding confidently and will often pull the rod almost off the rest with a savage take!