How to catch shallow on commercial fishing lakes
It can be tricky to catch on lakes at this time of year, especially large, apparently featureless ones.
Lakes such as this are often shallow, and because of the water temperature – which is still quite low – fish are unlikely to be in the margins just yet.
But with the right approach you can enjoy a great day simply by fishing the pole directly out in front of you, even in swims that are only three or four feet deep.
Preston Innovations star Graham West is your guide…
Where to fish
“When you sit down at a swim with no obvious features it can be a little daunting, but that peg could be capable of producing a big net of silver fish,” says Graham.
“There’s no obvious cover for the fish to go at, so you need to pay careful attention to how the wind is blowing.
“If the wind is howling in your face you won’t be comfortable and will be unable to present a rig properly. What you want is a ripple blowing across your peg.
“This ripple gives fish confidence to settle and feed. If you are fishing a shallow swim when it is flat calm then the fish will be able to detect the slightest movement, such as a pole waving over their heads, and they’ll soon back off and go elsewhere.”
How to feed
“Assuming you’re fishing for silvers, start the session by feeding two balls of groundbait.
Once that initial dose of feed has gone in, the catapult comes into play on a regular basis, with a constant rain of pinkies keeping the roach, rudd, perch and bonus skimmers coming. Add more groundbait only if bites dry up – I much prefer to loosefeed.”
A clever pole rig
“Waving the pole directly over the top of where you are fishing will spook fish on a shallow, lake so you need to use a much longer length of line between tip and float than normal.
“I make my rigs the whole length of a top kit and don’t cut them down. So if the swim is 3ft deep, I will have around 4ft of line between tip and float.
“Use a 4x12 float, 0.11mm mainline, 0.08mm hooklength and a small hook – one as small as a size 22.”