Pole Fishing Tips | Six tips to get through the tiddlers - Stu Redman

GETTING through the tiddlers to the quality fish you know are in the swim can be a nightmare!

There’s nothing wrong with a netful of little fish, but coming off the bank having caught 50lb of prime, fat roach, rudd and tench is a lot more satisfying.

Fat roach, rudd and tench are far more satisfying

Here are six tips to get through to the better stamp…

USE Big pole floats

I use a 2.5g Ian Everett float with a rugby ball-shaped body and a highly visible bristle, and group the olivette and dropper shot above the hooklength to bomb the bait down quickly.

A big float with a heavy bulk shot will help get the bait down through the smaller fish

Double up your corn

Rudd and tench love corn, so that’s the only hookbait to use – two grains on a size 14 hook. That way, if one is nicked off the hook, I’m still left with the second piece to fish with.

Two grains can withstand the attentions of small fish

Create a cloudy mix

A very wet mix that clouds the swim is deadly but groundbait alone won’t do this. To my mix I add a big squirt of Sensas IM2 Green One Shot Spray, that helps give me that long-lasting cloud up in the water.

Clouds can keep the small fish distracted

Liquidise some corn

To the groundbait I add liquidised corn blasted for 30 seconds in a blender. Before adding it to the mix I wring the corn out to remove as much water as I can to help stop the groundbait becoming too wet.

Use a light plummet

Over-heavy plummets will spook fish, so I carry two sizes. The 30g version finds the depth to begin with, but when I need to recheck, I slip on a tiny 10g plummet that creates far less disturbance.

Smaller plummets create less disturbance

Dunk your balls

Before I feed a ball of groundbait, I wet it. Now it will stick to the lakebed and not roll away. Dunk the ball for just a few seconds and this extra water will also help it to break up that bit quicker.

Dunked balls of groundbait will stick to the lakebed and not roll away