Pole Fishing Tips | Set up to fish the long pole properly - Steve Ringer
WE ALL want to start fishing as soon as we can when arriving at a lake or river, but this rush to get set up can be detrimental for later in the session, especially when fishing the long pole. If you take your time to get organised properly, you’ll be more efficient and catch more fish!
This definitely applies to the long pole, a method that requires as much thought to how your seatbox and pole rollers are set up as it does to the rigs and baits on the other end. Fish with an uneven box that’s set too low down to the ground and it’s hard work.
Likewise, have your pole roller in the wrong position or at the wrong height and unshipping will become a real chore. Worse than that, you could end up breaking your pole. Getting set up properly is a good habit to get into and when done correctly, will allow you to become more machine-like with your fishing, working smoothly with everything in place and to hand.
If you take your time to get organised properly, you’ll be more efficient and catch more fish!
Get level!
Not getting your box level is a recipe for disaster and will give you backache! Make sure your feet are flat on the footplate and sit with your legs slightly to one side, resting the pole across your thighs. Your elbow will then rest on top of the pole.
Not getting your box level is a recipe for disaster and will give you backache!
How many rollers?
On flat banks, I’d use one roller for fishing up to 11m and two past this. If the bank behind you is steep, you can get away with one and use the bank as a second. I like to extend my roller legs fully so my rig is always in the water when shipping.
On flat banks, I’d use one roller for fishing up to 11m and two past this
Side tray height
Fix your side tray too low and you’ll always be reaching for feed or hookbaits, which will put you off balance. I want to simply reach off to one side and pick up bait or a catapult without taking my eyes off the float.
Fix your side tray too low and you’ll always be reaching for feed or hookbaits
Bump bars
These seem a good idea as they leave your hands free to feed. In windy weather they’re great, taking the strain of battling with 13m of pole off your back and also keeping the rig dead still. For pole fishing beginners, they’re a must.
For pole fishing beginners, bump bars are a must.
Commercial Fishing Tips | Catch a big weight of perch with Steve Ringer
Over the last few years, one fish that’s really come to the fore on commercial fisheries up and down the country is the perch.
And I’m not talking about just catching the odd one either because weights in excess of 50lb of perch have been caught on some waters. That’s exceptional fishing in anyone’s book. In fact, big perch have become so important on some lakes that they have acquired their own nickname of MVPs (most valuable perch)!
That’s certainly true in matches when the carp aren’t really feeding and five or six big perch for 10lb-plus can make a big difference at the final whistle, but for pleasure fishing, I think targeting perch can be even more rewarding.
They grow to quite a fair size and can be caught on relatively simple tactics too, so there’s no need for you to break out the specimen-hunting gear to have the chance of netting a 2lb-plus fish!
When the carp aren’t really feeding, five or six big perch for 10lb-plus can make a big difference
Fish the margins
The best place to target perch on commercials is in the margins. They love to patrol the edges, and if your margins have a feature such as an overhanging tree, that’s even better. You want to be fishing in 3ft of water to catch large numbers of perch. In fact, the deeper the edge is, the better it will be.
The best place to target perch on commercials is in the margins
Top perch baits
Worms are a good bait for perch, but once the water temperature drops, maggots and casters are better. Double maggot is a decent-sized hookbait, and when the water is clear fishing one white and one red maggot makes a huge difference. The white maggot definitely gets you more bites.
Double maggot is a decent-sized hookbait
Strike hard!
Big perch have very hard, bony mouths. Setting the hook when perch fishing is key, so I use a slightly heavier elastic, Orange Hydro. You need to strike firmly – a gentle lift won’t cut it! You also need to be patient when the float goes under. Try and wait that extra second before striking.
Setting the hook when perch fishing is key
Feeding tips
Little and often is usually best, but I’ll try and give the fish an hour to settle. Starting feed is 10 to 15 maggots or casters every 90 seconds or so, which I then adjust accordingly once I’ve made the switch. If there are lots of small perch, I’ll up the amount I’m feeding to draw in some bigger ones.
Up the amount of feed to draw in some bigger ones
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
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.
Steve Ringer's guide to fishing for skimmer bream
Feeding loose micros into deep water can be the kiss of death when you’re fishing for F1s and carp, as it leads to lots of line bites and foul-hooked fish.
But for skimmers it’s a very different story. This is a method that I first came across a few years ago after making a trip up to Hayfield Lakes for a silverfish match.
My plan was to target skimmers over groundbait and dead maggots and pinkies. In theory it was a good plan, but despite trying lots of different ways of feeding the swim, after two-and-a-half hours I’d managed just one small skimmer.
With time running out I knew I had to try something different to pull fish into the swim. I’d been told that Kinder potting 2mm micro pellets worked well for the skimmers on there, but I had dismissed it – frankly, feeding loose micros into 10ft of water seemed like madness to me.
But with nothing to lose I decided to give it a go so I quickly attached a Kinder pot and filled it with micros. Two feeds later I had a bite, then another and another, and within 20 minutes I was getting a bite every put-in from small skimmers. The difference was quite simply amazing. I can only think that the micros falling through the water were pulling fish into the swim.
Since that day it’s an approach I’ve used a lot and it’s rarely let me down. Right now, on waters with a silverfish bias, it’s definitely worth trying. I have to admit, it still doesn’t seem right, but it certainly works!
Wetted-down 2mm coarse pellets and expanders for the hookbait
How many pellets?
When it comes to bait it really doesn’t get any simpler - all you need is a pint or so of wetted-down 2mm coarse pellets and a few expanders for the hook.
I always like to prepare my micros the night before, slightly overwetting them so they soak up as much water as possible and expand to their maximum size. In fact, if you have the right micro pellet it’s even possible to use them on the hook!
Coarse pellets are best for this type of fishing as they are light in colour and skimmers can spot them easily as they fall through the water. As I’ve said many times before, I’m convinced that when the water is clear fish feed by sight rather than by smell, so these falling pellets offer a high degree of attraction.
Feeding
Steve starts by sprinkling half a pot of pellets
To kick the swim off I like to feed a quarter of a small 100ml Drennan pot of loose micros.
After the initial feed I like to let the swim settle for at least 30 minutes – I’m not a fan of going straight in when fishing for skimmers as I feel they need time to feel confident enough to feed. When I do decide to have a look, though, I will first load up a small Guru pole pot full of wetted-down micro pellets.
I’ll sprinkle half out straight away and wait for a bite. If I don’t get one within two minutes I’ll sprinkle in the other half of the pellets. I’m totally convinced the reason this method works is bait falling through the water, hence even if I’m not getting bites I like to keep a bit of bait going in.
From this point on I’ll feed to bites, and once I start getting a few fish I will feed again. This is a busier than usual way of feeding for skimmers, but it works, believe me!
Start on an expander
Starting hookbait: A 4mm expander
When it comes to what to fish on the hook I will always start with a 4.5mm Ringers Coolwater Expander. Skimmers love a soft pellet, and an expander stands out well over a bed of micro pellets, giving the skimmers something they can easily home in on.
I also carry a variety of sizes and colours of expander, just so I can mix it up throughout a session. You’ll often find, for example, that you’ll catch well on a standard 4mm expander to begin with and then bites will go a little bit funny, even though there are still fish in your swim.
I think what happens is that the fish get used to feeding on the micros and start to ignore the bigger baits. When this happens I switch to a 3.5mm F1 Light expander pellet to match the feed and keep catching.
My Rig (click to open in full)
Follow my advice for a catch like this..