Specimen Fishing Tips | Popped up worms for perch - Jamie Cartwright

Most of the time perch are more than happy to pick worms up off the deck. The only time I really resort to popping them up is when there is leaves or weed in the swim, as that can adversely affect good presentation. 

When that’s the case, I simply hook the worm through the head and inject a tiny amount of air into the tail. I still want the worm to sink, but really slowly, and doing it like this means that on the bottom the tail sits up like a cobra ready to strike, making it visible and enticing to a hungry perch.

Jamie’s perch rig

A word of caution – if you are going to inject air into worms, make sure you work on a hard surface. Accidentally injecting air into your bloodstream is extremely dangerous!

Jamie has caught a number of huge specimen perch in recent years

River Fishing Tips | Feeder fishing for river bream with Ed Warren

With the exception of barbel, no species appreciates coloured water more than bream. 

That murky brown tinge is perfect for the fish to feed, and although the pole and, at times, the waggler can catch bream, nothing beats the feeder.

It puts your bait close to the feed and keeps everything still on the bottom, something bream demand. In a wind the feeder is a whole lot easier to fish than the long pole, and all in all it’s a very simple way of fishing, with easy-to-tie rigs and bites that are a doddle to spot.

Pick the distance

Traditionally, bream favour the deepest water possible, but that’s not always the case. I’d have a few quid on them living towards the far bank, well out of the way. Water 4ft-plus deep is a good spot to base your attack around.

Find this depth by casting a leger bomb around the swim and counting how long it takes to hit bottom. A count of three or four is about right. This searching of the swim will also highlight any snags in the area. You need to be fishing on a clean riverbed, so bear this in mind.

Easy rig

For river bream, a simple rig is best. The feeder slides on the mainline, stopped by a couple of float stops and a bead, below which I twist around 6ins of line to create a stiff boom to eliminate rig tangles.

That leaves the hooklink, and how long it should be. I’d start at 1m and be happy with this, never making it longer and only shortening it if I were catching fish that had taken the bait well down. Going to a 50cm link will show bites up quicker and mean every bream is hooked in the lip.

All about feed

Chopped worm and caster is packed into a feeder capped off at each end with groundbait. The mix is 50:50 sweet and fishmeal, that pongy fish smell putting scent into the water to help the bream find the bait.

I make five quick casts to get some bait in, then rely on each cast to keep the swim on the simmer. Casts are five minutes apart. Bream won’t be eating a lot at this time of year so there’s no need to pile in the bait.

Fish direct

Some river anglers like to create a long bow in the line and rely on the quivertip dropping back to show a bite. I prefer to have a tight line from rod-tip to feeder to show every small indication from a fish taking the bait. 

The Avon is fairly slow-flowing so the pressure on the line from the flow won’t move the feeder. This is why there’s no need to have a bow on the go.

Commercial Fishing Tips | Catch anything on maggots - Rob Wootton

Waiting for a few carp to have a chew in the depths of winter often ends with very little in the net to show for your efforts.

This is why fishing a lake with a good mixed stock of fish gives you the best possible chance of a busy day’s sport.

Every commercial fishery offers much, much more than just carp. It’s almost certain to be home to roach, bream, probably perch and even ide too. 

What’s more, all these species are more than willing to feed in the cold.

Catching a netful from fisheries like these couldn’t be easier, and as far as bait is concerned it’s a cheap outing into the bargain. A tenner should buy all you need.

Two pints of maggots and a little groundbait is all you require for an exciting and interesting session in which you can never be certain just what’s going to be on the end when the float next goes under.

Why maggots are king

Why take only maggots? Well, they catch everything and are nowhere near as selective as pellets or sweetcorn. 

You seem to catch for longer and more consistently with them. Two pints of reds and whites will be enough, and you may even have some left over at the end for another session. 

Rotate your lines

Plugging away on one single swim will only end in it slowly dying a death. You need to have other options and rotate between them to get the best out of the day. This isn’t as complicated as it may seem.

My main swim is on the long pole at 11m to 13m. That’s a comfortable distance, but I do try to find any changes in the depth, such as deep hole or bar. These are very attractive to fish, even though they might not sound like much to us!

There will be a second line at short range, perhaps 5m or 6m out, which I’ll save to fish in the last two hours of the day. 

I’ll only feed here roughly half an hour before I want to fish this line in order to get the maximum impact of feeding maggots in this new area.

‘Canal’ rigs

Other than the odd carp,  most of the fish you’ll catch on maggots will be small enough to land on quite light tackle. 

I recommend a size 18 hook to a hooklink of 0.08mm diameter and a mainline of 0.14mm. Provided your pole elastic is soft enough, there’s little danger of it getting broken by a fish. Shotting is also very delicate, using No11 shot. Space these apart all the way across the rig, so the single dead maggot bait falls very slowly.

Commercial Fishing Tips | Running or inline bomb? - Phil Ringer

More and more anglers fish a bomb running freely on the line. This is much safer because if the line breaks, a hooked fish can pull free of the bomb.

However, an elasticated set-up has advantages, these being that the elastic acts as a shock absorber when playing a fish under the rod tip.

It also makes the rig self-hooking as a carp taking the bait pulls against the elastic. However, many fisheries don’t allow elasticated bombs or feeders so make sure to check the rules first! 

River Fishing Tips | When to swap the bomb to the feeder for chub - Phil Spinks

The feeder comes into play on rivers that are running slightly clear, and bread is an excellent bait for these conditions.

A medium Drennan Cage feeder packed with liquidised bread works well, using breadflake on the hook. 

I search the swim using this approach, having 15 minutes with one cast across to any far-bank trees and then another quarter-of-an-hour closer in where there’s slower water or down the middle of the river.

Generally, if I haven’t had a bite after around 30 minutes, I’ll make my move to the next swim along 

I find legering works best in coloured water or when fishing after dark.

Try using a smelly bait like cheesepaste on a link leger taking a couple of SSG shot, or a very light 10g flat bomb that will be rolled around the bottom by the current before finally settling.

River Fishing Tips | How to empty a swim with Darren Cox

You can’t beat a big old river for a real test of your fishing skills – a river that asks plenty of questions and demands a thorough trawling of the old grey matter to reward you with just a few fish.

But catching well on running water isn’t as difficult as it may first appear.

River fish need to feed every day in order to survive, and that means they can be caught regardless of conditions. You need to work out where in the swim they are and how the fish want the bait presented so they’ll wolf it down.

We call this ‘finding the sweet spot’, a point where your feed meets the fish and where you’ll get 99 per cent of your bites. Working this out can take time, but do it properly and the rest is child’s play. It’s all to do with the pace and depth of the swim and what the riverbed is made of.

Finding the right spot

The bailiff or a local tackle shop will put you on the right swim, ideally with a hard gravel bottom and around 5ft of water to go at. As for pace, a river flowing at the speed of a gentle walk is what you’re after.

There’s no better way of doing this than using the waggler to search the peg. You need a clean bottom of gravel or one that’s snag-free to get the best results, fishing overdepth with the bait laid on the riverbed to slow it down. We call this ‘reverse dragging’. Set the rig 4ins-5ins overdepth so that the bait will drag on the riverbed, making it slower than the pace of the river.

Feeding correctly

Now loosefeed at the top of the swim (directly in front of you). Whether you’re using maggots or hemp, the feed will hit the bottom in one rough area, a point that the fish will move up to and mill around waiting for a free meal – that’s the sweet spot. 

Cast the waggler 10yds or so further down the peg. This means the bait ends up settling just above where the feed has landed, which in turn leads to quicker bites. Fishing in front of or beyond this spot will produce nothing, but for that golden five or six seconds when the bait is run in the right place, the float will keep on going under.

Within the opening hour of a session the fish will quickly show you where the sweet spot is, and you can then adjust how far down the peg you cast to speed things up even faster.

Keep feeding and casting in the same spots and you’re well on the way!

Commercial Fishing Tips | How to bag up close to an aerator - Tommy Pickering

An aerator is a great thing to have in your swim but first check if it has been on overnight.

In my experience, fish don’t like water that’s been churned about. Try to find out if the aerator is attached via a rope or to the bottom of the lake on a chain, as this will dictate how close you can fish to it.

If it is fixed via a chain, any hooked fish are likely to swim into it and they’ll come off the hook – a rope across the lake poses no such dramas.

I tend to nick only a few fish from one spot, casting a metre or so off the aerator then moving to another line well away from it. This gives the fish time to settle back down before I revisit the aerator to catch a few more. If you keep flogging all around the aerator, the carp will soon spook away and you’ll be left with nowhere else to go. 

For more of your fishing questions answered, pick up the magazine each Tuesday and turn to pages 48-49.

Commercial Fishing Tips | Reach for the waggler with Des Shipp

I’ve fished enough rock hard winter matches to know that the pole isn’t the be-all and end-all when it comes to catching enough to put you in the money.

In truth, it can be the worst tactic to pick in clear water despite its superior rig control and bait presentation.

The problem is that the distance you can fish with the pole may not put you on the fish, which back away from disturbance on the bank. What’s more, any pole, even if the top kit is painted grey or white, will cast a shadow that won’t be to the liking of carp and skimmers.

Change to the waggler and it’s a completely different picture. The likelihood of spooking fish has gone, and you can cast around the peg to find a few bites. 

On top of that, the waggler is just a lovely way to fish, one that’s all too often forgotten in favour of the pole or tip. You just need the right conditions and the right peg to put it all into practice!

When to fish it

Obviously, if there are no bites on the pole, the float is your next choice. Cast several metres past where you’ve been on the long pole to see if the fish have backed off a little or have been sat there from the start. 

This range has to be comfortable enough to loosefeed over, and you also need the right wind to fish the float properly. Blowing over your back is ideal while a side wind, as long as it isn’t too strong, will do as well. You want to be able to cast, sink the line and have the float stay put for up to five minutes. If this isn’t happening, it might be a day for fishing the feeder or bomb.

Terminal tackle

I use 3lb Sinking Feeder Mono as mainline attached to a 20cm hooklink of 0.12mm Accu Power and a size 16 SFL-B hook. This balanced kit will easily land big carp and skimmers. 

If the rod is too stiff, you’ll bump fish off and casting becomes awkward and inaccurate. I go for a classic match-style 13ft rod, the Supera, with a casting weight of 3g-10g. This isn’t cosmetic guff and is a useful guideline to help you get the most out of your fishing!

Fish overdepth

Owing to the lack of close control on the waggler, the rig is left to fish on its own, as it were, and you need to avoid any chance of the float being pushed through the swim by the wind or tow on the water. 

Fishing overdepth is therefore a must. I start four inches over and see how it goes. This may increase to eight inches if the wind is bad. Another tip is to add more depth if you are missing bites. This gives the carp and skimmers more time to get hold of the bait before a bite is registered on the float tip.

Getting twitchy

Once I’ve cast out it’s not just a matter of leaving the float alone until it goes under. 

Skimmers like a bait that’s being twitched along the bottom so, as you would on the feeder or if lifting and dropping on the pole, I’ll wait a few minutes and then move the bait. 

This is dead easy to do and involves flicking the rod tip towards me as if I were sinking the line. 

Watch the float come back to the surface and be ready to strike, as a bite should be pretty swift in coming.

What waggler?

I carry three types with me and all are loaded. This does away with clunky bulk locking shots and makes for smoother and more accurate casting through any wind.

In ideal conditions, an insert waggler is perfect but when it is blowing, a bodied or straight float comes into play – a 2.5AAA to 3.5AAA loading in old money is about right for most casts.

These are locked on the line with No8 Stotz, two above the float and four below, as these are easier to move than split shot. The remaining weight in the rig it taken up by a couple of No8 shot which are evenly spread down the line and a tiny quick-change swivel. 

This lets me change hooklinks from unbanded to banded in a matter of seconds and also cuts down on spin-ups on the hooklink.

Feeds and baits

Skimmers love pellets and corn just as much as groundbait and maggots, so to give myself the chance of catching them and bonus carp, I err on the ‘commercial’ side with regard to the bait tray. Corn is brilliant in winter, easy to see and super soft. Sonubaits F1 Corn makes up my hookbait and loosefeed.

I fish a single piece on the hook but vary the size on each cast, from big to small, to see if it makes a difference.

Feeding is via the catapult at the rate of a dozen grains every cast – don’t worry when the feed spreads out before it lands as this is another great plus point for the waggler.

Because it’s not super-accurate, it will draw fish in from a wider area and also give you plenty of different spots to cast to, knowing that some corn will have landed there.

Sonu’s 4mm Pro Feed Pellets are my second feed but these are only introduced from time to time. 

They pack a bit of a fishy smell to get the fish interested and also allow me to switch over to fishing a banded 4mm or 6mm pellet on the hook if I feel a change is required.

‘Spodding’ ground bait

Should your venue respond to groundbait you’ll have to use it. You can fire in small balls with a catapult but I find this a bit of a faff. I prefer to have a large cage feeder on a separate rod and use this as carp anglers would a spod, filling the feeder with crumb and casting several times to get a bed down at the start. 

It looks weird, but it works!

Lure Fishing Tips | Busting the jig jargon with Mat Woods

There are lots of ways to present jigs and for those who aren’t familiar with the jargon surrounding the subject, here is what each phrase means in terms of presentation…

Texas Rigging

Using a specially offset hook, you rig the bait so the hook isn’t exposed and fix a small bullet weight on the line with a float stop to create a ‘jighead-style’ profile. Great in weed, snags or in clear water where the fish have wised up to traditional jigging techniques.

Carolina Rigging

Using the same offset hook rigging technique as for the Texas rig, this offers the lure on a hooklength boom that is a few feet away from a running bullet weight. A glass bead by the hooklength swivel creates a ticking noise with the weight that sparks an aggressive response from perch.

Jigging

A normal jighead gets threaded into the lure to leave the hookpoint totally exposed. It’s the purest form of jigging. Matching your lure size to the hook size is really important.

Drop Shotting

This offers a weight at the end of the line, with a hook tied directly to the line above it. It means the bait won’t contact the lakebed, so you can work your lure up in the water. Great in very cold conditions.

River Fishing Tips | Pinkie and groundbait for coloured water roach with Josh Newman

Bread has been the go-to bait for winter roach on the drains and small waters of East Anglia for decades – so much so that the alternative for a netful of fish, groundbait and pinkie, has become a little redundant.

However, if you put your faith entirely in bread you can, at times, be going down the wrong route entirely. Times when the river is heavily coloured and has a bit of pace on it, or where thousands of smaller roach are present, are just perfect for a pinkie attack. It will speed up your fishing no end and always beat the bread men.

Take the Welland in Spalding, where I am today. This is a typical town centre river that’s been well coloured for months after all of the rain we had before Christmas.

Bread has grabbed the headlines for 50lb nets of roach but groundbait and pinkie is, in my opinion, equally as good, if not better, when the river is running and you need to keep the fish pinned down in one place.

For that reason, I’ve left the punch crumb and breadpunches at home and with a few kilos of groundbait and pints of pinkies, I’m itching to get cracking and get stuck into those plump ‘stamp’ roach that have made this river a must-fish over the last few weeks!

Groundbait menu

Four types of groundbait make up my mix and they all have different jobs. My base is Sensas Gros Gardons and Super Canal Black to which I add half a bag of Sensas Black River to make the mix stickier and heavier. The final ingredient is 250ml of PV1 Binder, which acts as the cement in the mix.

Pinkies can soon break a ball of groundbait up so I don’t add loads to the mix, beginning with 150ml of them and the same amount of hemp across all the groundbait I’ve mixed. You want just enough in there so you can see a few when a ball is made.

When pinkies rule

Bread will work 90 per cent of the time at Spalding but if the river is more coloured than normal and flowing harder, groundbait is better to keep the fish exactly where I want them. What’s more, I’m confident of catching those better fish in among the tiddlers.

Pinkie as a hookbait is vital, as maggots are just too selective and mean a longer wait for bites. It has to be bright fluoro pinkies on the hook and enough of them are crammed into the groundbait to get the roach hunting about. 

This hookbait also allows you to catch several fish on the same bait and means that if you miss a bite, you only need to drop back in and get fishing again. With bread, you’d need to bait up again.

Opening feed & ‘top up’

Two large balls go in at the start, and I will only feed groundbait from this point. Loosefeeding is pointless, as it will only push the fish down the peg and pull in a smaller stamp of roach too.

Faced with a lot of fish, you need to keep topping up regularly to ensure that the stamp of roach is right. This can mean potting in another big ball every 20 minutes.

When to feed again is decided by when the bites slow right down, the size of fish drops away or if the river flows in the opposite direction, which can happen on the Welland at times!

This re-feed is one large ball but I will also feed a smaller, richer ball packed with pinkies on occasion. This is when I have fed a big ball and caught a few but feel more bait is needed. Adding a big ball so soon is too much but a smaller ball full of pinkies is enough to get the fish back to where I want them.

Changing depths

I will plumb each rig up to fish at dead depth, but you won’t catch all day like this. Sometimes the fish will want the pinkies presented an inch or two overdepth while on others, fishing off bottom can work best. 

My advice is to try both and see which works better. A good pointer for this is if you are catching roach with the hook down their throats. If so, this tells me that I need to come shallower to lip-hook them each time.

Three rigs

The Welland can flow hard one minute and stand still the next, so you need to be ready with a range of rigs. 

Three will generally cover pinkie fishing – the main float is a 0.6g rugby ball-shaped pattern but I also have a 1g float in the same shape for when the flow picks up and an old school Image Pole Stick of 0.5g for when the river is flowing hard. This works like a mini stick float and I prefer it to a flat float as it still lets me run the bait down the peg.

Terminal tackle is the same on all rigs, made up of 0.14mm Sensas Feeling mainline to a 6ins hooklink of 0.10mm Feeling and a size 18 Hayabusa 157 hook for double pinkie, my preferred hookbait.

Shotting on the two rugby ball rigs is a straight bulk of No8 shot and a single dropper of the same size. Only on the Pole Stick does this alter, with a bulk and four or five droppers, so I can waft the bait around when holding back.

Elastic choice is a little different, though, and is based around the size of roach I am catching. It’s a No8 Slip set soft. That sounds a bit ‘agricultural’ but is ideal for swinging in 4oz roach that you’d have to net if using a No5, for example. Little things like this make a big difference when speed is the key.

River Fishing Tips | Tame the Severn on float and feeder with Kelvin Tallett

We are all guilty of falling into lazy habits with our fishing, simply setting up one rod and waiting for a bite – but when targeting winter chub and barbel on the river this isn’t always the right way to go.

It’s very rare that you can lob out a feeder and catch steadily all day, as you can in summer, but by alternating between the feeder and the float you can stay one step ahead of the fish, and catch a lot more in the process.

I discovered this during a recent session on the River Severn at Arley, Worcestershire, where regularly changing my tactics resulted in a cracking bag. 

Meaty Maggots

The only bait I took with me was a gallon of bronze maggots, with a few reds mixed in. I know that these are great for winter chub and barbel – the key to success would be to discover the right tactic for the day in question.

I’m a big fan of boosting my maggot hookbaits, and one of my favourite additives is Bait-Tech’s Sizzling Spicy Sausage glug. After riddling the maggots off, I’ll add a decent spoonful of flavouring to every few pints of grubs, before tying them up and leaving them in a bag overnight.

This gives the flavouring time to soak into the bait, but the biggest advantage, I find, of doing this is that it makes the maggots wriggle more in the cold, which in turn makes them more enticing to the fish. Although not everyone is convinced by glugs and additives, in my experience they really do work, so I would recommend giving them a go.

Starting on the Stick

I arrived at the river to find it running a foot above normal level with a decent colour. Combined with mild and overcast weather, I was hopeful of a few bites.

I sat in a typical Severn swim – long and open, with 500 yards of river visible downstream.

A hundred yards down the peg the riverbed shallowed slightly, and it’s an area where I knew the fish love to sit in summer. In the colder months, though, they move into the deeper water, which is where I would be focusing my attack today.

Setting up a stick float, a Bolo float and a maggot feeder, I started on the stick just to get a feel for things, feeding two half-pouches of maggots every run down. 

You may be wondering why I didn’t just feed one big pouch, but feeding smaller amounts more regularly keeps a steady stream of bait flowing through the peg. This really gets the fish competing.

After an hour’s fishing I hadn’t received a bite, which was slightly unusual, but I wasn’t too worried – I simply reached for the feeder rod instead.

Feeder Success

Five quick casts put a bit of bait down in a specific area of the swim, and 20 minutes later the tip bounced round and I was into a hard-fighting fish.

A good barbel was netted shortly after that, and over the next half-hour I put two more barbel in the net, the bigger of which was a clonking fish close to 10lb.

Following this burst of activity, the swim went through a 30-minute lull and I suspected that the fish had dropped downstream. 

I responded to this change by picking up my rod with a Bolo float attached. With this set-up I was able to follow the shoal as it moved gradually further down the peg.

Bolo Bagging

After feeding a few more pouches of bait I swung the Bolo out, and shortly after that the float tip plunged beneath the surface.

Another barbel was the culprit, and over the final hour it was followed by one more of its mates, as well as a bonus chub.

Eventually the fish backed off further and further downstream and it became increasingly difficult to keep in touch, so we decided to call it a day.

Had I not set up the Bolo rig the action would have come to a much swifter conclusion, and I would have gone home having caught just a few early fish on the feeder.

Pulling out the keepnet, I reckon I had around 30lb, all taken in just over three hours’ fishing. I’m sure that without the choice of tactics, my final tally would have been around half that weight, whereas by switching between the float and feeder I was able to stay in touch with the shoal.

There’s no doubt that you will still catch by just setting up a single rod, but next time you go out on the river make the effort to give yourself a few options – it could just result in a session you won’t forget in a hurry!

Kelvin’s Tackle

Rods: 13ft Daiwa RS Power Waggler, 12ft/13ft Daiwa RS Power Feeder 

Reels: Daiwa TDR 3012 

Line: DH Angling Pro Float 6lb, DH Angling Pro Feeder 8lb 

Hooks: Drennan Wide Gape size 12

Floats: DH number 2 Heavy Base stick 8x4, DH number 2 Bolo 4g 

Feeder: 60g Nisa Block End

River Fishing Tips | Get the best from trotting a stick float with Darren Cox

There are few more enjoyable ways of tackling a river than the stick float, running the rig way down the peg, then watching that tiny domed float top bury as the strike is met by the jag of a big roach or dace.

Good as the pole is, it is a tactic that limits how much of the swim you can cover. A rod and line with a stick, though, opens up so much more water, while retaining the same degree of control and presentation to coax regular bites.

However, it’s not a case of setting up one rod to get the job done. The key to catching well on a river with the stick is to make constant changes until you find exactly how the fish want the bait presenting.

That makes stick fishing a busy way to set about a river swim, and a very enjoyable one too.

When the stick float is better

When there’s pace on the river, I think that to catch roach and dace with a moving bait you need to slow things down to a speed where the fish will take the bait confidently. 

It’s all about trial and error – running the rig at full pace, then checking it to a standstill. Next I will release it, then ease the float through at half pace and so on.

I’ll regularly move the shot on the line to make the bait behave differently.

However, there are right and wrong conditions to fish the stick in.

Generally speaking, an upstream wind or no breeze at all is bang on, whereas a downstreamer will make controlling the rig and keeping the line behind the float very difficult.

How far out to fish

I’d always fish in the main depth of the river and aim to find a flat spot of an even depth to get a good run through. I plumb up using a big heavy plummet and locate the depth both in front of me and well down the peg. That way I’ll know of any depth changes where I may need to slow the bait down to prevent it being dragged under.

Distance is also governed by the pace, because although more fish will be in the main flow, you won’t be able to fish as effectively here. Instead, I’d pick a line where the pace is slower and where the fish can feed properly. A bit of a compromise is needed. You’re better off not fishing where the majority of the fish are with a bad presentation, and instead going for a ‘good’ line and catching what you can with better presentation.

Shotting

By having two different shotting patterns I can achieve very different levels of presentation. The middle-of-the-road rig and the lighter stick have shirt button-style patterns of No8 shot grouped together in pairs and evenly-spread from halfway down the rig, tapering off to single No8 droppers on the hooklink. This gives the bait a slower fall through the peg and means that when I hold the float back in the flow, the bait will rise off the bottom a few inches.

On the heavier rig, I use a bulk of No4 shot a couple of feet from the hook to make up around 80 per cent of the shotting capacity. The remainder consists of No8 droppers. This is a much more positive rig to get the bait straight to where the fish are, and is ideal for days when a lot of fish are in the peg and you don’t have to search for them.

Dead depth or overdepth?

Traditionally, the stick float is fished to just trundle along the riverbed at full pace, but because I want to slow the bait down, I can actually fish overdepth by quite some way as long as I keep the float controlled as it runs down the river.

I set my lighter sticks six inches overdepth and cast the rig in so the bait is downstream of the float.

I then constantly vary the speed at which the float runs. Being in direct control, I can ensure that the rig is never pulled under.

Float sizes

I’ll rig up three floats of different sizes and work out which one is best for the conditions. My sticks are hand-made by my friend Nick Sutton and take No4 shot, seven in the case of the ‘No 7’ float. 

My rule of thumb is to use a No4 shot for every foot of depth, so in a 7ft deep swim I use a No 7 stick as my ‘middle-of-the-road’ rig. I can then go either way with a heavier or a lighter rig to find which one gives the best presentation.

At the start I will cast out the middle-of-the road rig without a bait on to see whether the rig is hitting bottom or not, if I can control it and hold it back, and how the float tip reacts when run at full pace – is there enough buoyancy in the rig or not? From these findings I will select a heavier stick, perhaps taking nine or 10 No4s, and a lighter one taking just three or four shot.

Commercial Fishing Tips | Bread punch for winter carp with Lee Thornton

CARP and F1s are known to stop feeding for much of the winter. Yet a single piece of punched bread can produce the goods consistently, especially in matches, where the fish tend to move around less owing to angling pressure on the bank.

The reason a hookbait sat on its own works is simple to understand. During the colder months carp do not need to eat much at all. Being cold-blooded creatures, they do not use anywhere near the amount of energy that they do in the warmer months to get through the day.

As a result, these carp become conditioned to move away from any feed being introduced or a bait that is stationary on the bottom. I’m not quite sure whether a reluctance to feed is a response to avoid being caught or not, but I have a hunch this is most likely the reason.

Therefore, a single attractive hookbait can outscore all other methods, and bread is a timeless classic to stick on the hook to get your fair share of fish.

It’s not easy, though. Bread fishing does seem to have got more difficult over the years. Fish which get caught on it regularly will do everything they can to avoid making the same mistake again.

As a result, every aspect of your approach and set-up becomes crucial to success.

Fish a long line

A long line between the float and pole-tip lets me keep the tip well away from any fish, reducing the chance of spooking. A low-profile Ghost top kit along with that length of line gives me flexibility in the rig to change depths quickly or to swing the rig past the pole-tip. I do, though, prefer two sizeable back shot on this to stabilise everything.

Location 

Now we move on to the single most important aspect of bread fishing. A feature where the fish can back off to – be this a bridge, a floating island, the far bank, reed beds, aerators or trees – is the perfect starting point, so long as there’s around 3ft of water. This is the depth carp and F1s commonly like to have over their backs in winter to feel comfortable. 

That said, I do set up two rigs, one for fishing 2ft 6ins to 3ft deep and another that can be fished with a good length of line above the float, set 6ins to a foot off bottom in the deepest area of the peg. 

Catching a few extra fish in these deep areas has won me several matches over the years, basically by fishing in a part of the peg with no obvious cover or any good reason for fish to congregate there. 

Explore the swim

It’s important not to spend too long in areas that do not quickly deliver indications of fish. When you catch on bread, I don’t believe it’s common to catch just one carp. You are targeting a shoal of fish, which means there are a few in the area. Even if a proper bite is not forthcoming, areas where you get small indications and movements on the float are most likely to produce a positive bite. 

Depth is important too. I’ve already said that 3ft is a good starting point, but you need to be at precisely the same depth as the fish to give yourself the best chance of a bite. Carp will not follow a piece of bread deeper or shallower from where they are comfortable. It’s the angler who adjusts the rig if no indications are forthcoming that catches the most fish. 

When starting a session, I give each area two or three minutes to see if I can get indications. If not, I move around the peg a metre at a time and when I think I’ve located a shoal of fish, that’s the time to start altering the depth.

Rest each area

I have found in the last couple of seasons that once I’ve found a spot with some carp, it pays to not keep going into the same area every time. 

I don’t think that this is because the fish have ‘wised up’. It’s more that the milder winters we are having means that even though the fish are still in a non-feeding mood, water that is a degree or two warmer makes them more inclined to move around or swim out of the peg than if it were colder and they were more lethargic.

It’s quite difficult to do this if you only have one area in a swim where it is possible to get bites, but definitely try resting the catching area regularly, even if it does mean fishing where it seems there is little to no chance of a bite. 

This ploy can actually produce more fish in the longer run.

Floats and shotting

I like to use a traditional 4x12 commercial-style float with a long teardrop shape and a 1.5mm thick plastic bristle and carbon stem for my bread fishing. 

The carbon stem keeps in touch perfectly with a single bulk of shot, which is more often than not fixed just beneath the float. This stem also produces less resistance than a wire stem as it naturally supports less weight. 

The 1.5mm bristle allows the rig to hold the bread hookbait without being overly buoyant or, conversely, too sensitive – which would result in it being pulled under the surface. 

Shotting beneath the float is made up of a bulk of two or three tiny No12 shot (the number used depends on how shallow the fish are). The name of the game is to achieve a really slow fall of the hookbait that will grab the carp’s attention.

Terminal Tackle

Mainline is Middy Lo-Viz 0.18mm, a line I use for every rig in summer or winter as it is one less thing to worry about. Hooklengths are made up of 0.10mm or 0.12mm Lo-Viz with a size 16 6313 hook.

Elastic choice is important, and although the carp can be big, it is best to fish with as soft an elastic as the size of fish will allow. This helps to keep disturbance in the peg to a minimum. For F1s this means the 6-9 Orange Middy Reactacore and for carp the 9-12 Cerise-coloured version.

Staying on the subject of elastics, it is worth noting that in low temperatures, solids will out-perform hollows due to the elastic not reacting the same.

If you are doing a lot of winter fishing it is definitely worth having some top kits with solid elastic rigged up as a back-up!

Plumbing up

Plumbing up is crucial, mainly to make sure that the water you are fishing is not too shallow. Very rarely will fish sit in shallow water when it is cold and clear, so making sure at least 2ft and preferably 3ft is available is paramount.

Plumbing up also helps you to locate fish. Many times in winter, because of how tightly the shoal sits, fish can be hit with the rig, and this can happen in really unexpected places in the swim. So use this information to help you locate some carp

Commercial Fishing Tips | Winter roach with Tom Edwards

Going for commercial fishery carp in the depths of January is the ultimate angling gamble. A combination of clear, cold water, changing air pressure and low temperatures often means that even if there are a few fish in front of you, the likelihood is that they might not feed.

That means several hours spent bored witless waiting for a bite out of the blue. It does little to fire the enthusiasm for a return trip, but there is another way to get the best out of fishing in the cold – and that’s setting your sights a little lower for small fish.

Roach, rudd and skimmers might not put up much of a fight compared to a big mirror or common, but they can be relied on to save a blank and can give you a surprisingly good day’s sport.

Scaling down tackle and changing from pellets and corn to maggots on the bait menu will not only catch these silver fish though – F1s and even the occasional carp will move in to investigate what those roach are getting so excited about.

That all adds up to the potential for a lovely mixed bag. Don’t think that the roach you catch will be tiny, either. Often, on commercials, they are chunky things that will soon see you put a weight together.

In matches on my local Lake Ross fishery, 15lb of roach added to a handful of carp and F1s can see you picking up a few quid. Get it all right and the fishing will be a bite-a-chuck, interrupted by that exciting moment when the elastic pulls out of the pole that little bit more from a big fish.

Bites are the name of the game here and there’s nothing better for keeping the cold and boredom at bay than seeing the float go under on every single drop-in!

Pole or waggler

There’s nothing to stop you from catching on the float, but I find that it’s a little too inaccurate to give you a bite a chuck, so the pole has to be the winner.

You’ll not catch really short though, even in mild weather. Coloured water and a comfortable 13m distance is perfect to keep the roach happy and hunting about for your hookbait.

Don’t wait too long

The key to this type of feeding is to have your hookbait among the maggots dropping through the water so, in theory, you get a bite just as the rig settles. So I don’t leave the float sat there once it has cocked. The chances of a bite are far less than if the single maggot on the hook is falling.

When the rig has settled, I’ll wait 30 seconds before lifting it out and laying it back in again over the loosefeed, and this is the pattern the day will follow. It’s a busy way to fish but it keeps the cold out and it’s much better than willing a quivertip to go round!

Strung shotting

In clearer water, I’m convinced that fish watch a hookbait fall and then drop down to take it, so you need to make the bait behave in such a way that they’re given enough time to make up their mind. A bulked shotting pattern on the rig is out of the question – a spread of shot in the bottom third of the rig allows the bait to fall slowly past the roach.

The fewer shot you can use the better, so the float needs to be light. In perfect conditions, a 4x12 Preston Innovations F1 Maggot is ideal and takes six or seven No10 shot spaced a few centimetres apart from the hooklink upwards. By laying the rig in sideways and keeping the line tight to the float, the bait will fall slowly and you can read every indication from a fish.

Light rigs are a must

Although there’s the chance of hooking a carp, I’ll ride my luck and fish light because I know this will get me more bites in the long run. Even then, you’d be amazed what you can land with light gear provided it is balanced and you take your time.

Mainline thickness is not so important and 0.16mm Frenzee FXT Loaded is fine, but what’s closer to the fish is key, so a 6ins hooklink of 0.10mm Silstar Match Team and a size 20 Drennan Silverfish Pellet hook are just the job. 

Matched to a light hollow elastic (I use Frenzee’s Stretch in the green 6–8 grade) I’ll not bump many roach and still have enough in reserve to land a carp or an F1.

Bait choice

I find casters too selective when I’m fishing for bites, even though they are a brilliant roach bait – so it has to be maggots. 

A single red grub on the hook will get the fastest bites, but there’s no harm in trying a double from time to time for a better fish. Maggots are also the only thing I feed, but I introduce them into the swim in two very different ways…

Start with a pot

Ideally, I want to loosefeed maggots, but that’s a little too gung-ho to begin with. 

Until I can work out how many roach are in front of me and how well they are feeding, I’ll feed with a small pot on the pole, trickling in 20 or so maggots on each drop-in.

If there are lots of bites, then the catapult comes out and the same 20 maggots are fired in each time. These spread over a wider area and give me more chance of attracting a carp or F1 as opposed to using the pot.

Commercial Fishing Tips | Use the right pole elastic and land every fish!

Shock-absorbing elastic is a must for polefishing because the right elastic will mean you end up with far more fish in the net.

But there are so many elastics on the market that making the right choice can be difficult. This week Preston Innovations and England man Des Shipp helps you choose the right elastic on commercial fisheries… every time.

No8:

This is the softest elastic I would use on a commercial and would be my first choice when I know there is a variety of fish sizes in the lake, ranging from roach, small perch and skimmers, to F1s and carp of a few pounds.

The beauty of this elastic is that I know I won’t bump small silvers on the strike, while I still have a good chance of landing bigger fish with a little time and patience.

No10:

F1s are a popular target on commercials and my first-choice elastic for these fish, which can weigh 4lb-plus, is No10 hollow. This species fights all the way to the net and they also love heading for any underwater snags when first hooked, so you need an elastic with a bit of power, but that’s still soft enough to avoid bumping them on the strike.

No12:

When there’s a good chance of landing a carp or two along with F1s, then I’ll go one step further and use a No 12 hollow elastic. 

This elastic is great for open-water carp in winter when they don’t fight as hard as they do in summer and you need to fish relatively fine tackle for them. A strong elastic might result in bumped fish at this time of year.

No14:

This is my favourite elastic for catching carp that weigh more than 5lb and also for fishing against bankside vegetation. 

I won’t use it so much at this time of year when most carp tend to be out in open water, but like all hollow elastics, it will stretch a long way while still boasting lots of power. 

Specimen Fishing Tips | Five rigs to try in 2020 with Dai Gribble

YOU need to have full confidence in the rigs you use. Big fish are generally thin on the ground – that’s one of the main reasons why they are big, and on occasions you can be waiting days or even weeks for a bite. You don’t want to slip up now!

In such circumstances you will be more focused if you believe you are using the right rig for the job. Here are five rigs that I use a lot and can recommend without hesitation.

1: Helicopter Rig

This rig has a short hooklink that spins around the mainline. It is my first choice for stillwater feeder fishing as it very rarely tangles and is very efficient at turning bites into hooked fish. Invariably the mainline is under slight tension due to undertow caused by wind, and this makes it difficult for fish to eject a bait once they have taken it.

2: Flatbed Method

No rig presents a bait better than the flatbed Method feeder, as the hooklink is completely buried within groundbait and this groundbait draws fish directly to the hookbait. It is ideal for fishing inert baits such as pellets, corn and boilies. Try different liquids in the groundbait and use Sonubaits Lava Rocks to draw fish to the feeder.

3: Korum Running Rig

I use this rig for nearly all my barbel fishing with both leads and feeders. The rig casts really well without tangling, thanks to the clever design which pushes the feeder or lead away from the hooklink. I always use hooklinks with a loop, as the quick-change swivel allows you to change them in seconds by sliding the tapered sleeve off.

4: Simple link leger

Very often simple is best, and rigs don’t come much simpler than this – a leger bead with a piece of line with shot attached, stopped by a couple of float stops and the hook tied direct to the mainline. By adding or removing SSG or AAA shot it is really easy to get the perfect presentation for the swim you are fishing, making this rig perfect for much of my chub and perch fishing.

5: Bolt rig for eels

One of the biggest challenges facing the eel angler is avoiding deep hooking while at the same time not missing runs. When eels are feeding on small baits such as maggots the bolt rig is the solution. A small, strong hook baited with
a bunch of maggots on a 3ins braided hooklink combined with a 2oz inline lead has served me very well, with few dropped runs and every eel I landed hooked perfectly in the bottom lip. 

Commercial Fishing Tips | Hybrid feeder tips with Steve Ringer

There are actually five sizes of Hybrid feeder, and the ones I use the most are Mini, Medium and Large.

Mini Hybrid

This is my winter feeder for venues like Barston, where I’m casting about trying to find a group of fish – ‘dobbing with a feeder’ I call it. I can cast a 30g Hybrid a long way with very little splash on impact, and I’m convinced this makes a big difference when the water is cold and clear. I also carry the Mini Hybrid in 18g and 24g versions for shorter-range work. 

Medium Hybrid

This is for ‘standard’ work in both 32g and 42g. The 42g version is used for long-range work, as when launched it really will go the distance because it’s relatively small and compact. 

Large Hybrid

These get the most use, and I carry them in 28g, 45g and 60g. The 28g Large is my favourite summer feeder when I want to feed a bit of bait on venues like Barston and Larford. It’s heavy enough to get the distance, but not so heavy that it will sink into any soft silt that might be present. The 45g Large is my feeder for Boddington, where even in winter a big feeder produces more bites. I can only assume the carp find it easier to home in on a larger amount of bait, even in the cold. 

The 45g of weight is needed to get the distance, as 100m casts aren’t unusual on there in the cold. 

I also carry the 60g Large Hybrid for punching into a big wind with a 14ft rod.

How to load a hybrid feeder

Load the body of the Hybrid feeder with your mix – pellets, groundbait or a combination of the two.

Compress the feed with your finger. The tighter it’s packed, the slower it will break down.

Place your hookbait – here a pink wafter – in the centre of the feed already in the Hybrid.

Add more feed to make an aerodynamic load and you’re all ready to cast.

Baits for the Hybrid

Over the years the Hybrid feeder has become synonymous with pellets – anglers don’t realise it can be used with both pellets and groundbait, or even a mix of the two. I regularly use a Hybrid with groundbait when fishing for bream or skimmers.

FOR MORE GREAT TIPS FROM STEVE, PICK UP THE MAGAZINE OUT EVERY TUESDAY.

Commercial Fishing Tips | Get your groundbait right for winter silvers with Adam Wakelin

Read many a typical match report and you’ll see anglers say ‘I put in six balls of groundbait on the long pole line’.

This is only telling half the story, though, because it raises a lot of questions if you really want to get down to the nitty gritty.

For example, what was the groundbait? What colour was it? How big were the balls? What was in them? The answers to these can be wide-ranging depending on the venue, the head of fish, water colour and temperature – and that’s just for starters.

Groundbait is essential for silver fish at any time of year but in winter it’s vitally important to use it correctly. Getting it wrong can wreck a swim before it has a chance to get going, so this week I’m taking a look at how throwing in a few balls for roach and skimmers can vary so much…

Ball it in!

The best way to get a lot of bait into a swim fast is to throw in several large balls, known as ‘balling in’. You’ll see this a lot on big, deep, natural venues where small fish are the target. A massive hit kicks the swim off quickly, but the big decision to make is how many balls to throw in.

There’s little point scrimping in this situation so I’d go for 10 or 12 large balls and throw them in on the pole line over an area a metre square. This also makes a lot of noise to pull fish in, but the groundbait has to be on the wet side to hold together and not break up in mid-air.

Loose groundbait

There are times when cupping in groundbait loose and not squeezing it into a ball is better, and this is in very shallow water of 3ft or less. I find that a loose mix gets things underway much faster, as the groundbait is already broken down. It is important the mix is wet, though, so it has the weight to get down quickly and stay put on the bottom without any danger of drifting off.

Adding goodies

Groundbait alone is not enough to keep the fish in the swim, and because you want them to eat the hookbait, you have to add the same into the feed. For me that means dead pinkies and dead maggots and casters where silver fish are concerned. These will be my three main hookbaits.

In the opening balling in of feed there’s next to nothing added, and it all goes into those rich balls that are potted in. 

On a hard day this amount may be just a sprinkling, but on a mild day with colour in the water I’ll pile it in, packing each ball to the maximum. 

Dead pinkies are especially good as they are soft, highly visible and small enough to get the fish really grubbing about.

Ball size

I’ve already talked about the opening balls being proper two-handed jobs, but any top-up should be much smaller. This is normally a single-handed squeeze to produce something that resembles a sausage. 

Topping up is done to get the fish back to where you want them so the groundbait is just a carrier for the particles, which is what the fish will be hunting for.

Loosefeeding over the top

There are times when groundbait alone isn’t enough to keep catching – firing in loosefeed over the top keeps the swim simmering along nicely. 

Picking up the catapult gives you two bites of the cherry, in that you can get bites over the groundbait but also as the hookbait falls in amid the loosefeed at a range of depths.

How much and how regularly you feed is governed by how many fish are in front of you so, in a solid peg, I may even ‘double pouch’ (fire in two lots every time). But as a rule it’s just the one load and only 10-20 maggots or casters each time. Maggots are good for a range of fish sizes but quality counts in a match, and I’d always go for casters to find a better stamp of roach or skimmer.

What about loosefeeding on its own? If I knew the fish were already there and I didn’t need to add any groundbait at the start, then this would be viable, but I always feel groundbait gives you a quick start and pulls fish in immediately, whereas pinging bait in is more of a slow burner.

Pot in a richer groundbait

The pole pot comes into play once I’ve thrown those big balls in. That’s because the opening hit gets fish into an area, but I then want them to move and concentrate on the spot that I’m going to be putting my rig over. 

Five more balls go in with the pot in the same place, but these are ‘richer’ in that they hold more particles. 

All things being equal, the fish should come to the balling in noise and then find those rich balls and stick around. When they do back off, they won’t go far and it only needs another rich ball potted in to bring them back.

Potting is also advisable on very hard days when bites will be at a premium and you need to wring every last fish out of the peg. 

I will also use a pot as opposed to balling if there are a lot of pike about, as the balling pulls small fish in and the pike follow.

Specimen Fishing Tips | Winter essentials with Dai Gribble

A friend of mine refers to anglers who only fish in the warmer months as ‘solar-powered.’ Such anglers are missing out on some great sport, so here are six tips that will definitely encourage them to make the most of some great opportunities throughout the winter.

Layers of clothing 

Layers enable you to remove clothes easily when walking to your swim or between swims. Getting too hot will mean you sweat, and as soon as you sit down you’ll quickly start to feel cold. I find the most important layer is a long-sleeved Merino wool under layer. I’m not sure why, but these tops are much better than anything else I’ve tried. Add a fleece or two and a windproof top. 

Thermal boots

Nothing is more likely to see you heading for home than frozen feet. There are lots of good waterproof boots available and, combined with thick wool socks, they will keep you comfortable. Avoid polyester socks – they may look similar to wool but they won’t keep you anywhere near as warm.

Hot drinks

A flask or small stove to supply hot drinks will help keep you warm. If I’m fishing on a river I always use a flask, but on stillwaters, where I am likely to move swims less, I prefer a small stove – you can’t beat a freshly brewed mug of Yorkshire tea! I keep things simple by boiling my water in an enamel mug, which saves carrying a separate kettle.

Hat and gloves

The old saying that on a cold day you lose 70 per cent of heat from your head is exaggerated but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t wear a warm hat. I also always take a pair of insulated gloves. I don’t wear them while actually fishing, but they make a huge difference when carrying tackle to my swim and are also great for warming my hands up after handling a cold fish.

The right chair

If I’m fishing close to the car and unlikely to be moving a lot, I take a big padded chair with a high back which keeps my head and neck out of the wind. Thick padding is comfy and really does help keep you warm. If I am roving on a river I take a Korum lightweight chair made from a mesh-type material that doesn’t absorb water. This ensures that if it does rain it will dry quickly, rather than becoming waterlogged, which inevitably results in a damp backside.

Towel

Wet hands will soon become cold hands, so a good-sized towel is essential. Put one in your bag, as it is very easy to take a dirty towel out at the end of a session and forget to put it back – this is an error I have made on more than one occasion! 

Commercial Fishing Tips | Hard pellets for winter carp with Jamie Hughes

When you think of winter pellet fishing an image of fishing small expanders over micros immediately springs to mind.

But while this may be spot-on for catching F1s, for ‘proper’ carp hard pellets are my choice.

These baits are associated with the bagging days of summer, but they can still be effective in winter if you use them correctly.

I think these baits are better suited to commons and mirrors, and a small quantity of 4mm or 6mm baits is all you need for a day’s fishing.

Setting Traps

The way I fish hard pellets is to rotate a few lines on the pole, tapping in just a small amount of 6mm or 4mm baits and holding my rig right over the top.

I’m setting little traps all around my peg and am waiting for the carp to slip up. 

And ‘waiting’ is a key word – you’ve got to be patient at this time of year. You may only get 10 bites, but when they’re from proper fish it’s worth doing.

It’s always worth having a good plumb around to find the different depths of your peg, and you can then try these various areas to find where the fish are sat.

Accuracy is Key

When fishing this way, being accurate is essential, and I will feed almost exclusively with a small pole pot.

Catapults are brilliant in summer, but in winter they spread your bait around a bit too much, and when you’re only feeding tiny amounts this isn’t right.

My rigs reflect this pinpoint approach, and I see no place for strung-out rigs that work through the water.

I opt for heavy floats shotted positively. These are very stable and help to keep my bait firmly in place while I await a bite.

On tackle, I never go too light when fishing for proper carp and wouldn’t go below 0.12mm hooklengths and No8-12 elastics. 

Last Resort Micros

If the fishing is absolutely rock-hard then I’ll reach for micro pellets, as these can scrape out a fish when nothing else can. But this really is a last resort.

Micros bring small silvers into the peg, and when you’re after proper carp this is the last thing you want to happen.