Commercial Fishing Tips | Sort your shotting with Steve Ringer
Shotting patterns – now there’s a topic you could argue about long into the night! What’s best for deep-water bream? What about the margins, or fishing up to an island?
I get asked questions about this a lot and it’s always hard to answer because the key lies in responding and altering your shotting to how the fish are feeding.
Some days, a straight bulk and two droppers pattern will be best while on others, spreading the shot out for a slower fall catches more. There’s no right and wrong answer and my biggest bit of advice would be to experiment. If you’re not catching as well as you’d like, slide the shot about to see if it makes a difference!
That said, for much of my fishing, whether on a commercial carp fishery or an Irish lough, I have two patterns that have served me well for years – the strung bulk and the straight bulk. I love using a strung bulk due to its versatility, as it allows me to change from quite a positive way of presenting the bait to a more refined one simply by moving the shots further apart.
The key lies in responding and altering your shotting to how the fish are feeding
Tailor your weights
For floats of 1g and upwards, use an olivette and below this, shot. A 0.8g float may seem to need too many shot and risk tangles, but that won’t happen if you use bigger-sized shot.
For floats of 1g and upwards, use an olivette
Shot sizes to use
When using rigs of 0.6g to 0.8g I’ll use No8 and No9 shot. For rigs below 0.6g I’ll use No10 and occasionally No9s. Lighter floats let you present the bait falling more slowly through the water.
Carry a variety of shot with you
Versatile pattern
I rate a strung bulk pattern. This consists of shot spaced 1ins apart in the bottom half of the rig. I space the shots further apart for a slower fall of the bait or create a bulk if I need it to get down quickly.
Strung shotting aids a slow fall of the hookbait
A solid bulk
Solid bulks tend to be an olivette for bream rigs, and are fished with two or three dropper shot below it. If I’ve got only shot on the line, I’ll group it together for fishing in the margins.
A bulk will help get the bait down quick for species like bream
Commercial Fishing Tips | Time to switch to corn - Steve Ringer
I’m sure we’ve all felt the chill in the air every morning, a sign that autumn is here and, with it, falling temperatures!
As far as fishing is concerned, this signals a changeover period from the methods and baits of summer to something a little more refined to ensure you keep on catching.
Water clarity will improve as colour begins to drop out of the water and fish, especially carp, will start to feed as much by sight as via their other senses.
With this in mind, hookbaits and feed need to be something that stands out, something that the fish can find quickly and easily. To my mind, there’s one bait that is king of them all – corn.
Super-soft and bright yellow, no fish can miss a few grains lying on the bottom and when all else fails, I know slipping a piece of corn on to the hook will give me a much better chance of a bite or two.
To my mind, there’s one bait that is king of them all – corn.
Big potting
How I feed depends on the species being targeted. If it’s a mixed lake, I’ll use a big pot to feed more, but if it’s just carp I’m after I’ll use a small one and feed for a single fish at a time.
If there are lots of species present, feed a big pot of corn
Hooking corn
As we move into autumn, I want to leave less and less, hook on show while leaving the hookpoint clear. I hook a grain through the rounded end so it will stay on the hook if I miss a bite.
Mask the hook as much as possible without covering the point
The right floats
Corn is a visual bait and fish will follow it down to the bottom. That makes using a float on the light side crucial iin order to give the corn a slow fall. The 0.4g Guru Wire Pinger is the ideal pattern.
A light float will aid the slow fall of the hookbait
Go for a light hook
To help with the slow fall of the bait, a light hook makes things look as natural as possible. The Guru Super LWG is my main corn hook, although a Kaizen is a good second choice.
Use a light hook too so the bait looks natural
Commercial Fishing Tips | Get on the skimmers with Steve Ringer
AT this time of year, carp and F1s can be fickle creatures. Cooling water makes them less inclined to feed for long spells and, for the angler, that can mean a lot of wasted time spent waiting for a bite.
By changing your target species to skimmers, though, action is guaranteed. I know that they’re not everyone’s cup of tea, thanks to the slime they always leave behind on landing nets and clothing, but if they’re the right size, then skimmers are a great fish to spend those quiet spells of the session fishing for.
They grow big in commercials, thanks to a diet of pellets, meaning that catching 30lb of fish around the 1lb 8oz to 2lb mark is relatively simple. They also don’t need a specialised approach. When you’re fishing a commercial water the baits you use for carp will just as readily be taken by skimmers –namely corn and pellets.
Skimmers are a great fish to spend those quiet spells of the session fishing for
Catch close in
Skimmers like deeper water, and to catch them quickly you need to fish close in too. Look for so 5ft depth around 6m out. For the bigger fish you might have to go longer and deeper though.
Look for a depth of around 5ft for skimmers
Balls of pellets
Micros are the best feed on commercials, because the skimmers see so many. Instead of feeding them loose, where they can be spread out too much, feed a dampened ball of them.
A damp ball of pellets will keep the skimmers near your hookbait
Corn is king!
Although expander pellets would be my main hookbait, big skimmers love corn. I only use corn when trying for a better fish and will feed a few grains by hand to attract the bigger ones.
Skimmers love corn
Positive floats
You need a substantial float in deep water. The Guru Wire Pinger in 0.6g is very stable, allowing me to combat any wind or tow. I work the rig by lifting and dropping it to entice a bite.
Use a stable float in deep water
Commercial Fishing Tips | When to use which bait colour? - Steve Ringer
If you’re anything like me, you’ve got tubs full of hookbaits in a range of colours – but how many of them do you actually use?
Which colour hookbait to use is down to water clarity
Confidence in a hookbait plays a big part and it’s easy to keep picking out the same one, working on the assumption that you caught on it last time, so why would it be any different this time round? Nothing wrong with that, but bait companies make different-coloured wafters and hook pellets for a reason – they all have a time and place!
Which colour to use is down to water clarity. In coloured water, some colours can be seen better than others. On the flip side, gin-clear winter swims call for a different bait that stands out easily.
Take the Ringer Baits Chocolate Orange Wafter. This has caught me hundreds of carp and bream, but it won’t always be the one I go for. First I will find out what colour works best at the fishery I’m visiting. I’ve had too many sessions where a yellow bait outfishes all others.
I’ve broken the options down into my four main colour choices, but do experiment.
A bright green bait that’s been sat in a tub for months might just catch you one a chuck when nothing else is working!
Fluoro yellows & whites
These are the ones to go for in clear water or in winter. Yellow is especially good, as it’s the same colour as corn, another top clear-water bait.
Yellows and whites are a great clear-water bait
Fluoro pinks & oranges
These are best on heavily-coloured fisheries, mainly for the silhouette that they make. The shadow is easy for fish to pick up.
A flouro pink or orange is best in coloured water
Natural
Natural brown hookbaits work in summer when I’m feeding a lot of pellets. A plain hookbait ‘matches the hatch’ of my feed.
Dull browns work best in the summer months
Washed-out
These baits are very dulled down to look as if they’ve been in the water for ages. Washed-out yellow wafters are a real winter favourite.
Washed-out yellow is another winter winner
Commercial Fishing Tips | Time to catch them 'deep shallow' - Steve Ringer
October may be just around the corner, but you can still catch carp shallow – albeit with a slightly different twist.
The days of setting the rig a foot deep and blasting bait around the float are over for another year, although fish will still be feeding well off the bottom.
So how do you catch them then? By adopting a ‘deep shallow’ approach, you’ll still pick them off. This involves fishing at half depth so, in 8ft of water, you’ll set the rig 4ft deep. Finding the fish is key and involves a lot of adjustments to your depth until you locate the carp.
That’s not to say you won’t still catch fish a foot deep and, on very warm days, carp will quickly come up in the water. That’s something that I always bear in mind at this time of year. I’ll always have a very shallow rig set up and ready to go.
Normally, though, I’ll begin fishing deep shallow and work my way in from there.
If I catch, great, if I am getting line bites, this tells me the fish are shallower and I need to make a change.
Shallow fishing with a twist!
How deep to fish?
Unless it is a hot day, the fish will be anywhere from 2ft to 4ft deep in a swim with 8ft of water. Begin at half depth using a loosely strung bulk with shot 3ins apart in the bottom half of the rig. This creates a slow fall of the hookbait but gets it down to the fish relatively quickly.
Begin at half depth
Create some noise
If I see fish moving close to the surface, I reach for a 1ft deep rig. In this situation, it can pay to stop feeding totally and either slap the float and hookbait on the water a few times, or tap the pole-tip in the water to create a noise that fish will come to investigate.
Create some noise to draw in the fish without feed
Constant feeding
Feeding should be regular, even if you aren’t catching. You need a stream of bait falling through the swim to pull fish into the peg. Six to eight 6mm pellets is enough, but if bites slacken off, I may reduce the number of pellets. If there are lots of fish about I’ll feed more.
Feed little and often
Which float to use
A classic bristle-stopped pattern such as the Guru AR or Pinger is better than a dibber, but used in a small size, around 4x10 or 4x12. Depth adjustments happen if I’m getting bites but not hooking fish. Shallow up a few inches and eventually you’ll find the fish!
Use a small sized classic float like the Guru AR
Commercial Fishing Tips | Margin Feeder Fishing With Steve Ringer
Perhaps one of the most underrated tactics on commercial fisheries is fishing the feeder in the margins.
In fact, when you think about it, it’s amazing that it isn’t used more because the approach has several big advantages compared to fishing the pole.
Firstly, you don’t have the carbon waving about over the fish’s heads, which can spook them in shallow water. Secondly there is very little chance of foul-hooking fish because by fishing the feeder in the edge, the carp hook themselves – which eliminates striking at line bites, too.
The other bonus to the tactic is that you aren’t restricted on the distance you can fish at either, because even if you have a really long margin you can fish it easily with a feeder!
One of the most underrated tactics on commercial fisheries is fishing the feeder in the margins.
Where to fish
There are a few features to look for that always hold fish. The most obvious one is an empty platform. I prefer to fish to the side of them because the water will be shallow, meaning I’ll have less trouble with line bites.
Empty platforms are great spots to fish to
Feeder size
A large 28g Guru Hybrid is ideal. I like to fish with a slack line from rod to feeder, so there’s less chance of fish spooking. Don’t worry about not seeing a bite – you can’t miss them when a fish takes the bait!
You a large feeder, you won’t miss any bites!
Bait choice
This is decided by the depth of water. If the margin is over 2ft deep, I’ll use micros with a hard pellet or wafter hookbait. If the swim is just 12ins deep, I’ll use groundbait with dead red maggots on the hook.
Let the depth dictate your feed choice
Casting times
If you see fish moving about, be patient and let them find the bait – around six or seven minutes between casts is about right. If there’s no signs of action, wind in and fish somewhere else until the carp turn up.
Search them out
Commercial Fishing Tips | How to fish up to islands - Steve Ringer
Islands are great holding spots on fisheries, and they prove almost as attractive to anglers as they do to the fish!
Faced with a swim that features an island, it’s the most obvious area to target because fish naturally live there, using the island as cover, so you won’t have to do anything special to start catching.
However, bites can soon dry up given the relatively shallow water you are fishing in, and that makes your next moves crucial to success.
Having other areas to target, feeding differently and changing hookbaits will all get results, so don’t keep plugging away doing the same thing that worked well in the first hour of the day.
Often, making what seems like just a small change can have a huge effect!
Islands can produce some frantic sport
Fish multiple swims
Unless there is a mudline between reeds or sedges, I would have an eye on several areas of an island. This gives you somewhere to move to when you’ve had a few fish from a spot and then they back off a little and bites die away.
Try to fish multiple points on the island margin
The right float
The size of float I use is based around how many fish I am expecting. If it’s not too many, something like a 0.2g Guru AR pattern is perfect, but if a lot of carp arrive, you’ll need a float of double that size to give you stability in among feeding fish.
If you are expecting lots of fish to be present, make sure you use a heavy float
Pellets and pots
Pellets are the safest bait and feed to use if you don’t know a venue that well – they’re never the wrong choice! I’d begin by feeding with a pole pot, trickling in a dozen 6mm hard pellets and then changing to a catapult to create some noise.
Pellets are the best bait to start with in an island swim
Change the baits
Banded hard pellet is my starting bait, as these won’t come off if you miss a bite. On venues with smaller fish, an expander pellet is perhaps a better option. If there aren’t too many silvers, groundbait and maggot can be a great pairing too.
Try maggots if there aren’t too many silverfish
Commercial Fishing Tips | Ready your pellets with Steve Ringer
Given the range of pellet sizes, shapes and colours on the shelves of tackle shops, it’s easy to see how anglers can get confused about which is the right one to use.
Years ago, life was a lot easier. We had plain brown pellets in just a couple of sizes but now we’ve got micros through to big 10mm ‘donkey chokers’ and colours from bright yellow to black. You’ll get bites on them all, but some will be much better than others – if you know which ones!
I tend to use just a couple of sizes – micros and 6mms – for much of my summer pellet fishing, and I stick to plain-coloured baits. Most carp and F1s are reared on plain pellets, so they see them as part of their diet.
Having an edge, though, is important and that’s where colours come into play.
On some venues, I’ve struggled to catch on a brown pellet but emptied the lake by changing to a red one. Swapping sizes can also have a big effect. Experimentation is key, but getting the basics sorted is the first thing to get right.
Micro pellets
At this time of year micros won’t get to the bottom due to small fish. I will only use them in shallow water and on a Hybrid feeder.
Micro pellets are best used in shallow water or soaked for a feeder
Big pellets
The best all-rounders are 6mm pellets. Big enough to be loosefed on a waggler or feeder line, they make plenty of attracting noise.
The plop of a 6mm pellet is hard for a carp to resist
Expanders
Expanders are a great, light hookbait for carp and bream. The only time I’d feed them would be on shallow and very silty lakes.
Expanders make a great hookbait for bream and carp
Colour them
On venues where the water is heavily coloured, a red expander pellet will stand out that bit better because it creates more of a silhouette.
Colouring your pellets can be a real edge
Commercial Fishing Tips | Ambush them under your feet! - Steve Ringer
There’s no easier way to fish the pole than with just the top kit at close range – no shipping out is needed, there are no tangles and you can feed by hand. However, for me there’s another reason why using just a few metres of pole is a winner.
Fishing with just a top kit is easy and devastating!
When fished late in the session a top kit can catch some massive carp, fish that are moving from open water into the margins.
By fishing like this you can ambush those carp before they get to the shallow water and, for a short spell, absolutely empty the lake from just yards out!
It may seem at first glance that you’re fishing too close in to catch anything of any size, let alone do it regularly, but fish associate this short-range area with their feeding routine.
If you think about it, how many anglers throw unused bait in here at the end of the day? Fish cotton on to this free and easy meal very quickly!
Fishing a top kit is not a method to use all day, however, but early and late it can produce surprisingly well, and for very little effort on your part. Much depends on the depth you have and the contours of the lake.
Find the right spot and you’re in business…here’s four tips to fishing in tight.
All in the timing
A top kit works best in the first half-hour and then the final hour of the session. Two or three fish early doors here is a good result, but I’d normally plan on that final hour as prime catching time.
Final hour is bagging time on most commercial lakes
Find the depth
How far out and how deep do you fish? Look for 3ft or more, in the main body of water or on the marginal slope. You may need to add a short No4 section, or even a full section if required.
Look for the marginal slope and add sections if neccesary
Keep feeding
I’ll throw in three or four 6mm pellets or pieces of corn or meat every drop in and keep feeding even when I’m not fishing it, so the top kit swim will be primed for that final golden hour.
Keep the pellets going in
Stable floats
A bodied float like the Guru Wire Pinger is incredibly stable. In 3ft or 4ft, a 0.2g float will be fine, upwards of 6ft it might be 0.4g. Shotting is just a strung bulk above the hooklength.
A stable float is important when margin fishing for big carp
Commercial Fishing Tips | Puller kits, why, when and how you should use them - Steve Ringer
Almost every modern pole now comes with top kits fitted with side puller systems.
At first, these seemed like a gimmick, useful only if you couldn’t land a big fish on light elastic. Nowadays, though, they are indispensable and a big help in getting carp in quickly.
In layman’s terms, a puller kit is a top kit with a side hole drilled near the bottom end. A PTFE bush or dedicated puller bush is fitted and the elastic pokes out, tied off with a bead and knot. When you break the pole down to the top kit, you can grab the bead and knot, pull elastic out and keep it there.
This means there’s less elastic for the fish to pull against, and as a result it will tire faster, while you will be able to dictate the battle and keep it away from snags.
I’ve even seen them used for roach and bream on rivers, so the puller kit is not just something you’d use for carp.
But what is the right way to play a fish on a puller kit without ending up having yards of elastic trailing all over the floor?
It all begins with having the right elastic in the first place…
The right elastic
With a puller kit there’s no danger of being broken, even with soft elastic. Don’t go too light, though, or the puller won’t work properly. White Hydro is soft enough to let you strip back lots of elastic but still cushion any surges a fish might make.
Picking the right pole elastic is important
How much to pull?
If you pull so much elastic out that there’s just a foot left coming out of the pole tip the elastic may bottom out and the pole may break. I’d strip enough out to have control of the fish while it can at the same time absorb the power of a bolting carp.
Don’t strip out too much
Don’t overstretch
The fish should be on the surface without the need to overstretch with the net. If you can’t see the float when you pull to net a fish, you must pull more elastic out until you can. Let the lot go back into the top kit if the fish gains its second wind.
If you can’t see the float when you pull to net a fish, you must pull more elastic out until you can.
How many sections?
I run my elastic through either a full Power top-2 or the No2 and No3 sections of the Match kit with the No1 section removed. This equates to 5ft-7ft of elastic, ample to let a fish run but short enough to strip back when it’s time for the net.
In layman’s terms, a puller kit is a top kit with a side hole drilled near the bottom end.
Commercial Fishing Tips | 4 tips for a big weight of silvers - Steve Ringer
One of the joys of fishing is never knowing what you’re going to hook next.
Even on commercial fisheries this is the case. Aside from the big mirrors and commons, you’ll find masses of F1s, barbel, skimmers, tench and roach which, when targeted correctly, can give you a brilliant day’s sport.
To catch them consistently, though, and to try and avoid the carp, you need a different approach. Light rigs fished through the water, small natural baits and regular feeding – plus trying to target areas away from the carp – are the key factors. Once you get these right, the bites will be quick in coming and you can really start bagging.
Amount to feed
Feed a dozen casters at a time, upping this if small fish are a problem. Casters make a noise hitting the water, bringing fish off the bottom.
Hookbaits
A single caster will get bites at the start, but switch to double if you want to catch something a bit better. Use the dark-coloured shells.
Elastics and floats
A Blue Hydrolastic is soft enough for silvers, but has enough power to tame F1s. Use a light float such as a 4x10 or 4x12 F1 Slim pattern.
Terminal tackle
A size 16 Guru F1 Pellet Barbless hook is the ideal hook, matched to a 6ins hooklength of 0.12mm or 0.14mm Guru N-Gauge line.
Commercial Fishing Tips | Time to get down the margins! - Steve Ringer
As much as I love my feeder fishing, there’s something unique about doing battle at close range with massive fish.
Often these can be located just inches away from the bank, where you can see them swim into the area and upend to feed, sending clouds of mud from the lakebed billowing upwards before your float vanishes and the fight kicks off.
If you’re on the lookout to up your personal best, there really is no better way to do it than from in the margins.
Because this is a method that works later in the day, it’s ideal for after-work or evening sessions when a couple of hours is often ample to catch a string of fish.
So why not get up close and personal with the fish? It’s a really satisfying way to fish.
Get up close and personal with the fish
The right floats
A margin swim is typically 12ins-18ins deep, calling for a 0.3g or 0.4g float. In deeper water you’re better off trying to catch shallow with a 0.2g float. In any case you must always get the float as close to the bank as possible to eliminate line bites.
Get the float as close as possible to the bank
Big baits
For carp, double corn, double expander pellet, two worms or eight or nine dead maggots is perfect. For F1s, double maggot or caster rules on a size 16 hook. Red-dyed meat or pellets work really well in heavily coloured water.
Dyed meat works brilliantly in coloured water
Find the flat spot
If I can’t find a flat area, I will fish on the slope and set my rig to 14ins, plumb up and find where this is on the slope. I then lay the rig in with the float closest to the bank and drag it into position so that the bait is resting on the bottom.
It is essential to plumb the depth
Try the feeder
A big Hybrid or Method feeder fished on an underarm cast tight to the bank is an easier way to fish than the pole. If you are getting line bites on the pole, a change to a feeder will give unmissable bites and properly hooked fish.
The feeder will give unmissable bites down the margins
Commercial Fishing Tips - Break out the pellet wag! - Steve Ringer
There’s something unique about fishing the pellet waggler. Incorporating big floats, big hookbaits, regular casting and aggressive, frequent bites, it’s a method that really gets the adrenaline pumping.
It comes into its own at this time of the year, when the sun is high in the sky, the mercury is hovering at around 20 degrees celcius and the fish are cruising about in the upper layers. Although the main quarry is carp of all sizes, it will catch other species too, and it’s a lot easier to fish shallow than the long pole.
Now is the time to get active with the pellet waggler
It’s also a very busy method, one that gives you better results if you work hard at it. You might make 50 casts without a bite but on that 51st chuck, the float will bury. If it doesn’t, then you should wait no longer than about 30 seconds before you reel in and repeat the process.
Get things right and the bites will be almost instant, as the fish will be sat waiting for the splash of the float hitting the water and the pellet hookbait alongside it.
Pick your float
There are two main types – balsa and foam-bodied. The balsa is an all-rounder, while the foam is for going very shallow on hot days.
Make sure you pick the right float for the conditions
Get the right size
Loaded floats are my only choice. On big lakes, we’re talking floats with a 10g to 12g loading but elsewhere half that size will do.
Loaded floats are my only choice
Don’t sit and wait
Cast so the float lands just behind the feed and twitch the reel handle to draw it into the feed. Bait and twitch again, then it’s time to recast.
You have to stay active to win with the pellet waggler
Choose pellets
For F1s use a 6mm hard pellet fished in a bait band and for carp try an 8mm pellet. A good change bait is a pellet wafter.
Use hard pellets, 6mm for F1s and 8mm for carp
Bag up down the edge with Steve Ringer!
With days getting longer and temperatures on the up, carp are waking up and starting to look for food.
It seems they have been looking for shallow water, too, as the margins have already produced some very big weights on several of the venues I fish. That makes sense, as the shallow water warms up first. No wonder the carp are going to be happy feeding there! Fishing the margins at this time of year is a bit different to the summer months, though. Big pots of bait are a no-no. It’s all about feeding for one fish at a time.
While there are carp to be caught in the edge there are loads of them not yet coming in, and so all feeding a lot of bait does is reduce your chances of catching the one or two fish that are there – you can give them too many options other than your hookbait.
The trick is to feed and fish for one carp at a time. That might seem quite negative, but when you realise the carp can weigh 10lb apiece it soon becomes apparent you don’t need many of them for a big weight!
Which baits?
My bait isn’t that different to what it would be in the summer, I just tend to use less of it. To start off I have 1kg of groundbait, and I’ve had a lot of success over the years with a Sweet Fishmeal mix I created with Dynamite a few years back. That’s my ‘go-to’ mix for the margins.
I like to prepare it slightly on the wet side. This makes it heavier, so it sits on the bottom a lot better, something I believe is very important when fishing in the margins. I also have two tins of meat and a tin of corn. The meat is chopped into 6mm cubes, and while some will say meat is better when the weather is a bit warmer, I would argue that big carp can’t get enough of it, and that there’s no better time to use it than now, providing it’s fed in moderation.
Corn is one of those baits that carp go for in a big way, and I like it for edge fishing as it’s heavy and doesn’t waft about once the fish are feeding. Its bright colour also stands out well, as the water in most commercials hasn’t properly coloured up yet.
Rig choice
In terms of floats I have very quickly become a fan of Drennan Margin Crystals. These are relatively small floats, yet they take plenty of shot. If there are a couple of big carp in the swim I find that a heavier float gives me that little bit more stability and my hookbait won’t be wafted about all over the place by feeding fish.
Bearing in mind that today I’m fishing in 2ft of water I have opted for one taking 0.3g. As I’m targeting carp from 8lb to 10lb-plus, my mainline is 0.19mm Guru N-Gauge and my hooklength is 4ins of 0.17mm. Hook is a size 14 Guru XS spade, which is a strong, wide gape pattern that lends itself perfectly to big baits such as meat or corn.
It will come as no surprise to regular readers of this column to learn that my shotting pattern is a strung bulk of No9s with the bottom shot 5ins from the hook and the rest of the droppers spaced at 1ins intervals above this.
Go longer above the float
If possible, try and use a slightly longer than usual length of line between pole float and pole-tip, say 24ins minimum. This way, with the water still quite clear, there is less chance of fish spooking off the shadow of the pole. Better still, hide the pole using the bank or even a platform, as I have done today.
With big fish the target my elastic choice is Red Hydro – yes it’s thick and powerful but once bedded in it’s quite forgiving.
depth is crucial
In relatively clear water, when I’m looking to catch big carp, depth is very important. In the summer I would be happy fishing in just 12ins of water, but at the moment I feel a lot more confident fishing in 2ft-3ft, and ideally close to some sort of cover.
Today I’m on the big lake at Meadowlands, and with blank pegs either side of me the empty platforms are ideal to target. They offer the right depth and give cover too. If that wasn’t enough, carp get used to finding food around these platforms so they become a natural feeding area.
How and when to feed
I see no point in feeding the edges until around two hours to go in a match situation. Feeding earlier than this is just wasting bait and could actually lead to overfeeding later in the match. To kick the edge line off I initially feed half a 250ml pot of bait made up of two-thirds groundbait and the rest meat and corn.
Then, unless I see signs of fish colouring up the water, or tail patterns, I will leave the swim to settle for 15-20 minutes. When it’s time to fish the spot I feed two-thirds of a large Guru pole pot of bait, a 50:50 mix of meat and corn with a cap of groundbait to keep the bait in place and prevent the loss of any of it when shipping out. Once the rig is in place I will turn the pole over and tap out the contents of the pot.
Lift the rig out
As soon as I’ve fed, I lift the rig clear of the water for five seconds before slowly lowering it back in again, right on top of the bait I’ve just fed. I remove the float from the swim straight after feeding in order to minimise the chances of line bites and foul-hooking, which is something that tends to happen when feeding over the top of the float.
Once your rig is in place it’s then just a case of waiting for a bite. If there is a carp present in the swim then generally you will get an indication in the first minute to tell you. If, however, there are no signs after five minutes I prefer to look elsewhere to keep my catch rate ticking over.
Resetting the trap
If I do catch a fish, though, it’s simply a case of resetting the trap by feeding with the pole-mounted pot and then waiting. What I am trying to do is feed for just one or two fish, catch one and then repeat the process.
Because I am feeding when I go in, I always know I am fishing on top of bait, even though in terms of margin fishing it’s a relatively small amount. This stops me from worrying about whether I have been cleaned out – I can fish safe in the knowledge that there is definitely some bait on the bottom.
Vary your hookbaits
As far as hookbaits go I like to keep it to just two. The first is my secret ‘cube-and-a-half’ of meat. My meat cutter is getting a bit worn and the end row is slightly bigger than the rest, which is actually something I like because it creates these slightly larger cubes which are great to use on the hook.
My second hookbait is double corn. This is a big, stand-out bait that has caught me an awful lot of carp over the years and often produces a quick response.
Get a bite every cast with these waggler tactics
Learn how to get a bite every cast when reaching for a waggler with Steve Ringer.
In early spring when the water is cold and clear and not quite warm enough, the fish tend to back away from the bank.
Because of this, there is no better way of picking them off than by using a waggler! The beauty of the waggler is that you can fish further out than those using 13m-16m of pole. While they’re doing that, you can fish at 20-25m on the waggler. This obviously gives you a real edge, as you are fishing a line that you have all to yourself.
Additionally, you have the benefit of no pole waving about over the heads of the fish. Despite all these advantages, I see hardly anybody fishing with rod and line in the cold. however, here’s how I do it…
Bait
On commercials there is no better bait than pellets. All species eat them, from carp and skimmers right through to roach. Today I’m on Warren Pool at Meadowlands, near Coventry, where you are allowed to feed pellets only to a maximum size of 4mm. As it happens I wanted to feed 4mm pellets anyway, so this suits me. I wet my pellets before fishing. The reason behind this is that they become heavier, which allows me to loosefeed them further than would normally be possible.
The second benefit to wetting my feed pellets is that soaking them starts the breakdown process within the pellet, which means they release a lot more attraction into the water.
Alongside my 4mm feed pellets I’m also carrying some expanders. I have two different types today – 4.5mm Ringers Cool Water pellets and standard 4mm Bag Up pellets. This gives me a couple of different colour hookbait options, with the Cool Waters being slightly lighter in colour than the Bag Ups.
Plumbing the depth
Plumbing the depth with a waggler is a lot easier than a lot of anglers think. Whatever you do, don’t cast a big plummet out into the lake. You’ll scare every fish in the vicinity. Instead, squeeze an SSG shot on to the hook and then cast that out to get the depth. This creates a lot less disturbance and at the same time gives a very accurate reading.
Feeding
Little and often is the key. I don’t like to put a bed of bait on the bottom straight away, but prefer to build the swim up gradually.
As a guide I will kick off feeding 8-12 pellets every cast. In fact I normally get into a rhythm of ‘cast out, sink the line, feed and then wait for the bite’. It’s then simply a case of repeating the process throughout the session.
Of course, sessions rarely go perfectly – you need to vary your feed rate and frequency to take into account how many fish are in the swim. For instance, if the fishing is very hard I will keep up the regularity, as I believe the noise of pellets hitting the water attracts fish, but at the same time I will drop the amount down to 4-6 pellets at a time. You just have to think about what’s happening under the water and adjust your feeding accordingly.
On the subject of feeding, I’m not too worried about keeping my bait in a really tight area. One of the great things about the waggler is that it allows you to cover a lot of water, so I don’t mind feeding a decent area as opposed to a really tight spot.
Hookbait
This is a usually a single 4mm expander, which pretty much matches a soaked 4mm feed pellet in size so it blends in nicely with the loose offerings.
I could, of course, fish a banded hard pellet on the hook but when looking for a mixed bag I always feel a soft pellet has the edge. In the cold I do feel a soft expander pellet leads to more bites anyway.
One little tip regarding hooking an expander for waggler fishing is to make sure the hook has as much purchase inside the pellet at possible. In other words, don’t just nick it on, but instead thread it on. This just gives that little bit of extra security on the cast.
The second hookbait I like to have with me is sweetcorn. A single grain of corn often produces a bonus fish, so every now and again I will slip a grain on, even though I haven’t actually fed any.
Hookbait (left) and feed – wetted 4mms.
Casting
Expanders are a very soft hookbait so if you cast with a really fast action then chances are they are going to fly off the hook. The secret to fishing expanders on the waggler is to keep the cast nice and smooth. This ensures that your hookbait is still on once the float hits the water.
It’s also important to sink the line slowly once the float has landed on the surface. Winding the float under the water at 100mph is again going to tear the hookbait off. So instead I give the rod-tip a quick flick and then a slow but firm wind to sink the line.
This way I can be sure that the bait is still on the hook. Of course if it’s flat calm then there is no need to sink the line.
The Set-Up
Warren Pool at Meadowlands Fishery in the West Midlands lends itself perfectly to waggler fishing. It’s shallow, with just 2ft 6ins of water at around 25m. With this in mind, my float is a 5BB Drennan Glow Tip Antenna.
I love these for pellet fishing as they have a very fine tip which is very sensitive, and are easy to see in even the poorest of light.
To fix the float in place I use two AAAs and a BB, but rather than put them straight on to the 4lb mainline, which could potentially damage it and lead to a breakage, I thread some fine silicone on to the mainline first, then squeeze the shot on to that. This prevents the shot damaging the line. A 4lb Guru Pulse mainline makes a massive difference when waggler fishing. Not only does it make casting a lot easier, it also aids presentation as a light mainline isn’t picked up as readily as a heavier one by wind or tow.
I have recently started using size 14 Cralusso Fine Quick Snap Swivels to connect my waggler mainline to hooklength. These allow me to change my hooklength fast, should I need to, and are no heavier than a No9 shot. The swivel acts as my bottom dropper and above this, at 6ins intervals, I have two No9s.
For waggler fishing I like an 8ins hooklength of 0.14mm Pure fluorocarbon, with a size 16 Guru F1 Pellet hook, fast becoming my favourite in the cold! On Warren Lake I am fishing for skimmers, small stockie carp and the odd big carp, so 0.14mm is perfect. If the fish were all ‘proper’ carp, I would step up both hook and hooklength.
10 brilliant bait tricks from Steve Ringer
Looking for an edge on commercials? Match ace Steve Ringer shows how to boost your baits.
1. Margins – big baits means more bites
When fishing in the edge, one of the hardest things is getting a carp to pick up your hookbait, especially when a lot of them are feeding, .
I would go as far as to say there is nothing more frustrating than being able to see carp in the edge and then not be able to catch them.
This is where a big ‘target bait’ such as 10-12 dead red maggots really comes into its own.
If you think about it there are going to be lots of maggots on the bottom so if I fish just two or three on the hook it’s going to take a while for a carp to find them. Fish a bunch, however, and bites can be instant! That’s how much of a difference it can make.
2. Blow up your pellets
A few years back I was doing a lot of straight lead and pellet fishing but always felt I was missing an edge over other anglers who were fishing the same tactic.
Then one day when I was packing up I noticed a few pellets had fallen under my seatbox. What struck me was the size of the pellets – they had taken on water and were almost twice the size.
This got me thinking as the same thing had to be happening in the water once the pellets had been on the bottom a while. I therefore decided to pump some hard 8mm pellets and leave them in water so that they ‘blew up’ into massive, soft pellets.
Once I got the process of prepping the pellets rightthe results were staggering and I was getting more bites than ever before on my ‘new’ blown pellets!
I had found the edge I had been looking for and ever since that day when lead and pellet fishing I always have a few ‘blown’ pellets with me.
3. Hard pellets - noise is the key
When the fishing is hard and there isn’t a lot happening I am big believer in trying to draw a few fish into the swim and the best way to do so is to make a noise with hard pellets.
I pick up my catapult and ping just 3-4 pellets on top of the float every 20 seconds.
The reason this works is that carp home in on the noise of the pellets hitting the water but at the same time I’m not putting lots of bait on the bottom and risking killing the swim.
Size-wise this tactic works best with either 6mm or 8mm pellets because anything smaller doesn’t make enough noise to help pull a fish or two into the swim.
4. Coloured water equals red meat
I love fishing meat but it loses its effectiveness when the water is extremely coloured.
When this is the case I will take a handful of my 6mm cubes and dye them red. The reason being when the water is very coloured red offers a strong silhouette and gives the carp a bait they can really home in on.
I was always sceptical about red meat in the past but I’ve had good results using it too many times in coloured water conditions for it to be coincidence.
I use Ringers Red Liquid to dye my cubes and will only dye my hookbait meat and not the cubes used for feeding.
5. Foul-hooking? Hemp is the answer
I’m often asked how to prevent foul-hooking carp when fishing meat close in?
My answer is to use hemp. But, and it’s a big but, it has to be used in the right way. If you feed it little and often along with the meat then there is a danger the carp can get preoccupied on it and you won’t be able to catch them.
It’s much better to use hemp purely as settling bait. So at the start I will pot in two thirds of a large 250ml Drennan pot of just hemp to form a bed. Then if I start to catch a few and then start to suffer from foul hooking, I will simply introduce another big pot of hemp to settle them back down again.
6. Feed heavy close in to get out of jail
Every now and again in a match you need a get- out-of-jail card and, while most people use the margins for this, I prefer to fish short on a top kit straight in front of me.
I mix hemp, corn and meat and simply lash it in to create the impression of someone packing up and throwing all their bait in.
I normally kick the swim off with three big handfuls of bait and go straight in over the top because quite often I will get a quick response from a fish within seconds.
From that point on I will keep lashing the bait.It’s an approach that doesn’t always work but it has paid off on many occasions for it to be my ‘go to’ line when things aren’t going to plan.
7. Pack in the particles for bream
The secret to building a big weight of bream is particles particles – casters, pellets, worms etc.
I pile in the particles in the first hour to put a bed of bait on the bottom. To do thisuse a bigger feeder and cast more often.
Then when the bream turn up, perhaps 90 minutes in, I have a lot more bait on the bottom to hold the bream for longer.
8. Corn – two grains are better than one
Sweetcorn is a fantastic bait all year round but it’s particularly effective at this time of year.
The interesting part about corn is that when it comes to fishing it on the hook then I always tend to find that two grains are without doubt better than one.
Loads of times I have caught on corn and alternated between single and double on the hook only to find two grains constantly produced quicker bites and bigger fish.
There are two possible reasons for this, firstly the bigger bait stands out more over the loose offerings so the carp spot it that bit quicker, or it could be that everyone tends to fish a single grain of corn so two grains gets treated with less suspicion.
9. Stand out or blend in?
When fishing the Method or Hybrid feeder there are loads of different hookbaits you can use but I like to simplify things by dividing them into two camps, blend-in and stand-out.
Blend-in baits are those such as hard pellets that match the pellets on the feeder. When the fishing is hard this type of bait takes some beating.
The reason for this is that when the fishing is hard there aren’t many fish in the swim so those that are there can afford to be picky about what they pick up. Hence a blend-in bait works well as it can trick even the wariest of carp.
If, however, there are loads of fish in the swim then stand-out baits such as mini fluoro boilies or bread really come into their own. These work because they are highly visible and give the carp something they can really home in on.
10. Give your meat a double cut
A couple of years back I spent a lot of time at Tunnel Barn Farm fishing meat into the shallow water across to far banks and islands. The problem was I struggled to hold the fish in the swim for long periods when feeding 6mm cubes.
What I needed, of course, was to create a cloud to firstly draw the fish in and then hold them in the swim once they arrived. To achieve this I decided to create a meaty mush by passing around a third of my 6mm meat cubes back through the cutter again, giving myself a feed made up of different sizes which almost exploded on the surface of the water.
This was added to 8-10 6mm cubes in my pot so when it was fed the cloudy mush pulled the fish into the swim and once they arrived they followed the 6mm cubes down to the bottom so I could catch them!