Lure Fishing Tips | Beat the weed for perch - Sam Edmonds

Lure fishing at this time of year can have many challenges, mainly the abundance of aquatic vegetation that has to be negotiated without constantly snagging up.

I like to use shallow-diving, floating crankbaits, worked above the weed. Try pausing the retrieve now and then and the lure will float up, allowing you to start working it again. 

A selection of crankbaits

A soft bait, rigged Texas-style, are also worth a go. To add weight, rig it on an offset jighead or with a small bullet weight. Spinnerbaits can also work well, because the hook rides upwards to avoid most snags.  

A Texas rigged creature bait

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.

River Fishing Tips | Roach on hemp with Alex Bates

Few baits are more synonymous with roach than hempseed. 

Whether as feed or on the hook, it’s a must-have with the handy knack of picking out the better stamp of fish.

Match anglers know the value of hemp for bumping up their weight in the closing stages of a competition on rivers, drains and canals, while for the pleasure angler it’s a bait that works from the word go.

There are a few downsides to using hemp, mainly because it can be a faff to get a grain on the hook and that sometimes, for some strange reason, the roach just don’t want to know.

The positives outweigh the negatives, though, and hemp remains a cheap and effective feed to put into groundbait or introduce via a catapult, avoiding nuisance species such as bleak and tiny rudd and dace. 

It’s not just roach that like the stuff either – barbel and chub anglers on big rivers will pile the ‘seed’ in to great effect.

For me, though, hemp remains a bait to use in the final few hours, even on a pleasure session. This week I’ll explain why that is and show how going away from the little-and-often loosefeeding ploy of old works miles better and ensures that every time the float goes under, it’s a stamp roach…

ALL in the timing

For how long can you catch on hemp? Unless you are on a lot of fish and they take hemp from the word go, I plan to concentrate on fishing the seed in the final 90 minutes to an hour of a session, especially on the narrow drains and rivers of the Fens.

Over time, the roach that you’ll be catching on breadpunch or pinkies down the middle of your peg will slowly move across to seek some sanctuary, and you need to be ready to follow them over and keep catching.

If I don’t catch on hemp at first I will go back to fishing my other lines, keep feeding and try again in 20-30 minutes. Traditionally, the last hour, when the light begins to fade, is normally when the hemp line is solid with fish.

Find the depth

A lot of far-bank swims on venues like the Old River Nene at March are on the shallow side, so that makes finding a sensible depth to fish in vital. This is 2ft 6ins, enough water to catch in consistently without spooking the shoal too much. A feature really helps as well, so pegs with a moored boat or some reeds are prime hemp territory. 

If the ideal depth is a good few metres off the far bank I’m not concerned – as long as I am fishing going up the far-bank slope into the shallower water, that’ll do. My advice is to set the rig to 2ft 6ins and then plumb around until you find what you’re looking for.

Clear water best

Roach feed well in coloured water when I’m fishing pinkies, maggots and groundbait, but I find that this isn’t the case with hemp. 

Whether it’s a sight thing I don’t know, but when the river or drain has a lot of colour in it, hemp is never that good. Catch a venue with just a tinge in the water and you’re in business.

When conditions are gin-clear it’s often hemp that can get a few bites when you’re struggling on other baits.

Different feeding

I find that the more hemp that you feed, the less you catch, so you don’t want to be firing it in all day. All this does is pull in even more small fish.

That goes against the classic way of feeding hemp, which used to be a dozen grains fired in over the float every couple of minutes – but if you want that better stamp of roach, you need to keep the catapult on your side tray and not in your hands!

My feeding sees a full 250ml pole pot of hemp go in at the start and I’ll then loosefeed 40 to 50 grains every 10 minutes until I actually begin fishing across on hemp. 

I then feed nothing at all unless I think the roach are backing away down the peg or going further across the swim.

Then, giving them another big pouchful of seed will bring them back to where you want them.

Dripping hemp in little-and-often will still catch, but I find you miss more bites and catch a much smaller size of roach. 

Home-cooked hemp

Tinned hemp is not much use for the hook, so I cook my own by soaking it for a day before cooking the seeds for an hour in a saucepan on the hob. 

However, I also remove a few handfuls to use for the hook just before I finish cooking, as these seeds won’t have split as much.

Tinned hemp is okay for feed, but I like to cook my own as that way I can always be sure of the size and quality of the grains.

This is where so many people struggle and end up vowing never to fish hemp again! The reality is that it is dead easy to hook if your hemp is cooked correctly, and there are two common ways to do it.

Hooking hemp

The first involves punching a hole in the back of the grain and then hooking it as you would a maggot. You can catch several fish on the same grain, making it good for really solid pegs. My prefered method, though, is to push the hook into the split of the grain then move it round so it locks into place but pulls through on the strike. Choose a grain with a small split and it will grip perfectly.

Hemp rigs

Because you are fishing shallow water, pole rigs need to be super-light. My favourite is a 0.1g Sensas Basey, shotted with strung tiny No12 shot across the bottom half of the rig.

The end result is a super slow fall of the hemp, but I only strike when the float buries totally, ignoring any knocks as the rig is settling. In clear water, this slow fall, I am positive, allows the roach to see the hemp, follow it down and take it. 

Lines are equally light, with 0.12mm mainline and a 0.09mm hooklink and a size 19 Hayabusa 128 wide gape hook. Elastic is a solid No4. A light elastic is important, as it will prevent hooked fish being pulled up in the water to splash on the surface, which can in turn spook its mates.

Commercial fishing tips | Catch more beyond your pole line with Cameron Hughes

A common problem in the clearing water of commercial fisheries at this time of year is having a pole line you have been catching well on suddenly die a death.

From regular bites, the swim suddenly appears devoid of life and you’re left scratching your head as to what to do next. Do you feed more aggressively to trigger a response or carry on in the hope that things will return to normal given time?

Both these could work, of course, but for me the answer lies in changing tactics completely and digging out the waggler rod. Casting past that original pole swim into ‘new’ water will always find fish that may have backed off from the disturbance created from catching well on the pole.

It’s not a tactic that will catch lots of fish – I tend to use it more as another option if the pole fades or if I feel that my original catching area needs a rest. It’s definitely an enjoyable way of fishing in the way we used to be before the pole began to rule all.

You can catch carp on the waggler, but it’s for silver fish where the float really comes into its own. Roach and skimmers are famed for backing off the main feed area as a session progresses and they also feed at all depths. This allows the use of a lightly shotted waggler to search the depths and find where the fish are.

My local fishery, Rycroft near Derby, is a typical commercial venue full of silver fish, and I’m currently in the middle of a silver fish series on there where the waggler plays a vital part in my match plan.

It’ll work just as well, though, if not better, on a pleasure session – so for a bit of practice and to show the benefits of time spent on the float, I’m tackling the Carp Lake, home to some big old roach and plenty of chunky skimmers.

Why fish the float? 

It’s an enjoyable way to fish that works when the going gets tough and the fish show signs of shoaling up towards the middle of the lake, which is always beyond pole range. The fish are there and catchable, but you need to find a way to get to them. The waggler is the only sensible option, and I use it as an ‘occasional’ tactic to rest the pole or search around if things show signs of slowing down. 

I may only catch half-a-dozen fish on it, but they tend to be a bit bigger on the float. At the end of the day, these are fish that I probably wouldn’t have caught if I’d stayed on the pole.

The right distance

You can cast a waggler as far as you like, but going too far will mean you struggle to feed accurately. I always loosefeed on the waggler for commercial roach and skimmers and want the feed to spread slightly but not too far. 

A distance of 20m-25m, wind depending, is about right. This is far enough away from the pole line for you to catch any fish that have backed away.

Always loose feed

Groundbait can work if you are catching lots of skimmers and bream but a waggler allows you tofish through the water to get bites at all levels – so loosefeeding is the best course. Maggots are good when things are really hard but if it’s still relatively mild I’ll always go for casters, which will catch the quality fish.

I’m also quite aggressive with the amount I feed, typically 40 casters at a time to create a reasonable-sized catching area to cast around in – but this can change quite quickly if I am not catching as well as I’d like. If bites are slow in coming, cutting back on the feed will come into play, so let the fish tell you how much bait they want!

Top hookbaits are single or double caster, but I would always start on a single red maggot to get a few bites and work out exactly what’s in the swim before I make the change to caster.

Casting about

Because of that slight spread of loosefeed, the cast doesn’t need to be in the same spot every time, but it makes sense to return to the same area if you are catching. By all means drop the odd chuck slightly past this or off to one side. 

As to how long to wait before casting again, I’m quite active so I will cast, let the rig settle and wait 30 seconds. If there’s no bite, I’ll twitch the float around a yard, wait another 30 seconds and then wind in. 

Ideally, I should get an indication just as the bait settles or shortly afterwards – the only time I would leave the float in for longer is if I was catching bream and skimmers on the bottom and not roach.

River fishing tips - Make a chub cake with Paul Garner

Buoyant ‘cake’ is a brilliant bait for chub, and also makes a great surface bait in the summer months. You can incorporate just about any ingredients or flavours that you want, making it a very adaptable hook offering.

1. Crack four large eggs into a bowl and add a teaspoonful of Scopex flavour.

2. Slowly add some Scopex Squid boilie mix to the eggs, stirring vigorously as you go.

3. Stop when a thick runny soup is produced and pour the mix into a greased and foil-lined baking tray.

4. Bake in the oven at 160°C for about 30 minutes. Take it out when the surface begins to brown.

5. Let the cake cool down naturally then cut it into bait-sized pieces. Use it fresh, and freeze any surplus. 

Commercial fishing tips | Bomb out a maggot feeder in the cold with Dan Hull

Think feeder for carp on commercial fisheries and most anglers will instantly reach for the Method... and who can blame them?

The effectiveness of this type of feeder is well known, and it works superbly in winter for putting a hookbait just inches away from a small dollop of feed.

Are you missing a trick, though, by automatically choosing the Method? As the water cools, the appetite of carp and F1s for pellets diminishes and maggots begin to play more of a part in our plans, especially when fishing the pole – so why should the same not apply to feeder fishing?

To introduce maggots through a feeder there really is only one choice... the maggot feeder. This is better-known for catching chub and roach on rivers, but the maggot feeder can be devastating for commercial carp when they’re not interested in larger helpings of feed.

Maggots are the ultimate trigger bait to get fish feeding, and are so often what we turn to for getting a bite when all else fails. They also catch everything that swims and so aren’t as selective as pellets. This is handy on cold days, when anything gracing the landing net is more than welcome.

Feeder choices

Classic-style maggot feeders aren’t really designed for longer casts on commercial carp waters so you’re better off picking up a newer design that is more streamlined and will cast a long way with ease.

I use a Middy Carp Bomb Feeders, which has a loading in the base and a slimline shape to hel with consistent, accurate casts. My ploy is to begin with a bigger feeder to get bait into the peg but then scale down to a smaller model once I begin to get bites. This will give the carp just enough freebies to keep them in the swim without filling them up.

Not just maggots!

I don’t put only maggots in the feeder. In addition there are fluoro pinkies in the mix to give the fish something a bit different and to also provide me with an alternative hookbait if I’m struggling for a bite. 

The ratio is 60:40 red maggots to pinkies, with single maggot or double pinkie my main hookbait – although double maggot will come into play if the fishing is good.

Have more options

It’s convenient to have just one line to keep fishing and building up all day, but this limits your chances of catching well – if I were fishing the pole I’d have two or three spots to feed and fish, so I don’t see why it should be any different on the feeder.

That means a line on a long cast of say 40m and then a second one at around 20m, depending on the depth of the lake you are fishing. So long as these two lines put you in the maximum depth on the lake, you’re in business.

Pack the feeder

Maggots will soon wriggle out of a feeder, so I take a bit more time to fully pack them in on each cast to stop this happening. 

They’ll have no problem getting out once the feeder hits bottom and provided you are using a small Carp Bomb Feeder, there’s no need to worry about introducing too much feed. 

Accuracy is vital so you don’t end up with a spread of bait over too wide an area. ‘Keep things tight’ is the motto here, so if the feeder doesn’t land where you want it to, wind in and cast again.

Bite times

The fish will tell you how long to leave the feeder in before casting again, but as the water cools this time will lengthen, and up to a 20-minute wait might be needed.

That’s as long as I would wait, but I would begin by casting every 10 minutes to keep a reasonably regular amount of maggots going in. Then, when I begin catching, I can change this according to how fast I am getting an indication.

Tackle bits and bobs

Although my lines are reasonably strong, made up of 0.20mm M-Tech Carp Commercial mainline to a hooklink of 0.16mm Lo-Viz, the hook is very small to suit fishing with single maggots.

A size 20 KM-4 is small but very strong, and will land big carp easily while getting you more bites in clearing water.

When it comes to hooklink length, this too varies. On some days the fish will sit well off the feed or follow the bait down as it falls before taking it, meaning a long link is better.

On others they’ll be on the feeder immediately with a fast bite, which is where a short link catches better.

Canal fishing tips | Winter tips for a mixed bag of fish

When you’re faced with a lot of fish to catch in your swim, surely you’ll need an equally large amount of bait to feed and keep what’s in front of you happy?

Well, that’s not entirely the case. As winter draws near, I’ve found that less is more. By using a more frugal feeding strategy, I can catch quicker, better-quality fish into the bargain. It’s all to do with giving the fish little choice as to what they eat.

If you pop your hookbait in among a continual stream of feed or several large balls of groundbait it’ll take the fish longer to find what’s on the hook compared to if they have only a minimal amount of bait to get stuck into.

Feeding regularly also seems to pull in more small fish, so if we’re talking quality, almost starving them on to the hook is best.

So, after bagging a load of rudd on the waggler early on in my session on the Stainforth & Keadby Canal at Wykewell it was time to have a look on the pole for some big fish – we’re talking skimmers, big roach, perch and perhaps even a tench – all for the price of just a few balls of groundbait and some chopped worm, casters and dead red maggots!

Getting the feeding right

We’re talking minimal feed, but how much goes in at the start?

My peg is always home to lots of fish at this time of year so I don’t need to ladle the bait in to pull those skimmers and roach into the swim.

Instead, two large balls of groundbait are ample. To these I’ll add a little finely-chopped worm, a few casters and some dead maggots.

From this point I will top up either when the bites fade or I begin to catch small silver fish or little perch.

This extra feed takes the form of a nugget of groundbait around the size of a large walnut, nothing more and nothing less. Feed more and those fish become harder to catch because there’s more choice for them to eat.

This way of fishing and feeding also rules out using a catapult to introduce casters, for example, over the top. I want the fish to be feeding on the bottom and over my groundbait to keep everything tidy and to be eating what’s already gone in, which is precisely where my hookbait will be.

In the mix

Groundbait is a simple affair, a 50/50 split of Mainline Match Pro Active and Sweet Marine. The Marine has some fishmeal in it, and although the jury is out with a lot of anglers as to whether skimmers on natural waters really like fishmeal, I’m in the ‘yes’ camp mainly because pleasure anglers on this canal do use pellets and the fish are used to them.

The next job is to be stringent about how many goodies go into the crumb.

Because I want the fish to find my hookbait, I need to limit the options available so we’re talking just a reasonable sprinkling of casters and dead maggots but a good pinch of chopped worm, as this is what skimmers like the most. Fill each ball with too much feed and it’ll take you longer to catch.

Be accurate

Feeding so little, I’m not creating a large area over which to run my rig, in fact, I won’t be running it at all. By having a far-bank marker lined up I know exactly where the groundbait is on the bottom of the canal and, as a result, where to lower my rig in and hold it still.

This catches the better fish on the canal, whereas I find that putting any movement into the rig only results in a small fish.

To keep everything tight, a relatively short length of line between pole and float is a must – no more than a metre.

Where to fish

Big fish on canals do like to live in the deepest water down the middle, but they’re also partial to moving slightly up the far-bank slope where you’ll find less in the way of weed or potential snags, so this is where I’d base my attack.

In my peg, this is around 13m out, a nice comfortable distance to fish and essentially where the main depth begins to shallow up from the middle, going perhaps a metre up the slope. I’m aiming to find around 8ft of water.

Big hookbaits, big fish

There’s little point in trying to catch quality fish with the wrong hookbaits, so this means maggots and pinkies are off the bait list. Instead, double caster is unbeatable, especially for big roach, while skimmers love a head section of dendra worm around a couple of centimetres long.

To further cut down on the chances of a small fish taking the bait I lower my rig directly down on to the feed. Laying it in to one side runs too much of a risk of a tiny rudd grabbing the bait.

Winning rig

To try and avoid small-fish trouble, a sensible float is needed to get the bait down fast so for 8ft of water, a 0.8g or 4x18 Perfect Gloucester is just the job.

This is set three to four inches overdepth to keep everything still over the feed and is shotted with a bulk of shot set about 2ft from the hook and then two No10 droppers between this and the hooklink.

The droppers will give the bait a slow fall close to the bottom and, therefore, the chance of a big rudd or even a skimmer sitting off bottom grabbing it.

The rest of the rig is balanced stuff, light enough to get bites but with enough steel to land a tench or bream.

That means 0.13mm Guru N-Gauge mainline to an 0.09mm hooklink, a size 18 Pole Special hook and a No6 solid elastic.

Match fishing tips | Switch to braid and catch more silvers on the feeder

Stillwater feeder fishing has never been more popular! It’s not just for big bream and carp either. Large bags of silver fish cal also be taken on a feeder, which really comes into its own when you need to fish beyond the range of pole or float.

However, missing bites from roach and skimmer bream can be a nightmare on the feeder, especially if you’re using stretchy monofilament as your mainline.

Preston Innovations man Mick Vials, a member of the England Feeder squad, has a simple solution… use braid on the reel instead of mono. Over to Mick…

Why use braid?

“The best thing about using braid is its lack of stretch, so that even the tiniest movement at the hook will register and give you something to strike at.

“If a roach or bream picks up the hookbait and gives a tentative bite when using mono your tip might not move because of the stretch in the mainline. A bite on braid should see a gentle lift of the rod, and with any luck the fish will be on. Don’t strike hard, and use a fine quivertip.

“Braid also has a much lower diameter than mono. That means you can cast much more easily – it cuts through the air and any wind with no problems at all.

“I use 0.1mm Preston Innovations Absolute Feeder Braid for my feeder work for silvers, coupled with a few feet of shockleader of 8-10lb mono.

“This shockleader aids casting and landing fish as it has a little stretch, but it’s not long enough to adversely affect the rig’s sensitivity.”

My feeder rig

“The rig is simplicity itself. I slide a link swivel on to the shockleader and twist the last 6ins to form a 3ins loop which I then secure with a figure-of-eight knot. A small loop is then tied at the end of the large twisted loop and the hooklength attached to that.

“Finally, I fix a No8 Stotz against the twisted loop and attach my feeder to the link swivel to form a ‘boom’ – a length of line that sits away from the feeder to reduce the chance of tangles and line damage. It’s important that the long twisted loop hangs slightly below the feeder, as in the photo.”

Carp fishing tips | How to accurately cast every time!

Increasingly these days, carp anglers quantify the distances they are fishing at in ‘wraps’, rather than in the traditional units of feet, metres or yards.

This obsessive attention to accuracy can be pivotal to success. The last thing you want is to bait up a promising-looking spot out in the pond, then cast your baited rigs 10 yards past it. 

The way to make sure that your freebies and baited rig are sitting side by side is by using short poles known as distance sticks. 

They are simple to use too, once you have got the hang of it. 

Once you’ve mastered the art, you’ll wonder how you ever got by without them!

Learn the basics

To begin with you need to use a marker rod, or a bare lead on the end of a braided mainline, to find the potential ‘spot’ that you want to fish to. This could be anything ‘promising’, such as a gravel bar, the edge of a drop-off or a clear spot amid weed. 

Once you’ve found the spot, you need to tighten down gently until you are in direct contact with the lead. Keeping the rod in the typical casting release position, you then need to put the line in the clip on the reel and wind in the lead. 

Next, poke your two distance sticks (you can use banksticks if need be) into the ground 12ft (a rodlength) apart on the bank behind your swim. 

Then, placing the lead next to one of these sticks, feed out line from the reel and move the rod-tip towards the other stick. It’s important not to let the line spill off the spool freely when you’re doing this, but to instead keep it under light tension. Go round the other stick with the mainline, all the while keeping it quite taut, and back round the other stick in a ‘figure-of-eight’ motion. 

Keep doing this until you reach the point where the line is in the clip, all the while keeping a tally of how many ‘wraps’ you have made. It’s then possible, using simple maths, to work out the exact distance that your ‘spot’ is from the bank, and for you to replicate this with your fishing rods, ensuring that you loosefeed, and fish, precisely the same area. 

Build a mental map

Over the course of a season, you can use this method to record a host of your favourite ‘spots’ around a lake. 

In a notepad, jot down details of the distance they are from the bank, and any notable trees or other landmarks on the horizon that they line up with.

By doing so, whenever you turn up at the lake, you’ll be able to land on the money every single time. And you won’t even need to use the marker rod to do so – simply refer to your notes. 

It’s also easy for anglers to share information using this uniform measurement. Some fishery owners and helpful venue regulars will even alert fellow anglers to known hotspots using this ‘code’. 

Marking the line

For all its advantages, using distance sticks can be a time-consuming process, especially if you are casting regularly. That’s where the use of marker elastic comes in.

Essentially, it’s the same as pole elastic, and many carpers choose to use exactly that, as it can be cheaper. Both are absolutely ideal for tying around your mainline without causing damage. 

The resultant knot – which, essentially, is an old-fashioned ‘stop-knot’ – should be tied at the distance you are fishing at, so that you don’t need to weave your line around sticks. Just cast out and wait for the sound of the elastic going through the rod rings to alert you to your desired distance.

Clip up the line and simply aim your next cast at your spot.

How to use distance marker sticks

1) ‘Clip up’ to your desired spot and space your marker sticks a rodlength (12ft) apart.

2) Put the lead at one end. Release line by working it from one stick to the other.

3) A figure-of-eight motion will stop the line slipping off the sticks and prevent tangles.

4) Count off each length (wrap). It is easier if you start at the same end each time.

5) Make a note of how many ‘wraps’ it is to your chosen spot, for future reference.

Perch fishing tips | Top four lures to use for perch success

There are loads of lures that will catch perch, but not all of them are effective all of the time. The key to success is knowing when to use each one to its best advantage. The rule of thumb that I work to is based upon water temperature. The warmer the water, the more positively you can fish with larger lures and faster retrieves. In the depths of winter, the opposite is true. Only the smallest movements are needed, and smaller lures tend to score better. So let’s take a look at some top picks for the months ahead. 

What colour lure to use

Over the years my thoughts on lure colours have changed a lot. They may differ from conventional wisdom but have been proved successful time and time again. 

There is no right or wrong colour, so it’s worth having a few variations. Water temperature and clarity both play their part in deciding on the best colours.

Autumn clear water – I like bright colours at this time of the year. Slime Curd and Headlight are among my favourites.

Autumn murky water – The strong silhouette of a dark lure tends to be best under these conditions. Go for colours like Sangria and Motor oil.

Winter clear water – These are among the toughest conditions to catch in, but brighter colours still tend to win out. I like Official Roach and Bass Orange when the going gets tough. 

Winter murky water – Once again, the strong silhouette of a darker lure tends to be my favourite, and Seaweed and Sweet Plum are stand-out patterns. 

Crankbaits - Best used in October/November

These small hard lures are my favourite way to catch perch, and when the water is still relatively warm they take some beating. 

Use lures in the 6cm-9cm range, as these are ideal for perch, and pay attention to the diving depth of the lure. The bigger the vane on the front of the lure, the deeper it will dive. 

By far the best shape of crankbait for perch is a short, stumpy body that produces a really fast wiggle action. For some reason this drives perch crazy, and in clear water you can watch them pick up on the vibrations and zoom towards the lure from several metres away. 

Perch are often still quite spread out at this time of the year and can take some finding. This is where crankbaits score, because they can be worked quickly through a swim. 

Try fan-casting, covering the water in front of you in a series of casts from left to right. If you don’t have any hits straight away, move on to the next swim. 

Shads - best used in November/December

With the water temperatures dropping away, the perch are often a little less active and will tend to hug the bottom more closely. This calls for a lure that can be fished a little slower and – crucially – closer to the bottom without snagging up. Soft shads are perfect for this job, especially when fished on a weedless rig. 

Lure size is starting to become more important now. Try lures in the 4cm-9cm range, depending upon the size of perch that you are fishing for. 

Rig these on a matching wide gape hook, ranging from a size 1/0 to a 3/0. 

Instead of hooking the lure through the back, thread the hook on sideways for a simple weedless rigging. This will help you avoid the majority of snags, but still gives a clean hook-up when a perch bites down on the lure. 

Drop shot - best used in December/January

With the water temperature now falling quite low and still dropping, the perch are much less active and will often hug the bottom and any features tightly. 

Gone are the days of expecting perch to chase lures – now a bait has to be presented right on their noses to bring a bite. 

This is where drop-shotting really comes into its own, as the weight on the end of the line ensures that the bait is held right in front of the perch for the whole of the retrieve. 

With the lure set at about 30cm off the bottom, it will be impossible for the fish to ignore it. Ever so slowly edge the lure along the bottom, leaving a good 10-second pause before moving it again. Very often bites will come when the bait is static. 

Smaller lures prove their worth at this time of the year. 

Small shads and worms measuring around 4cm-6cm are perfect, even when targeting specimen perch.

Creature baits - Best used in January/February

With conditions now stable but cold, the perch will be amid cover and may only feed for short periods around dawn and dusk. Their natural prey of small fish and invertebrates will be harder to catch, though, so they will be hungry. Once again, a slow approach, close to cover and hard on the bottom, will pay dividends. 

Texas rigging was developed for catching bass in heavy weed, but it works just as well for perch when the bait needs to be inched along the bottom. The ideal bait is a small rubber ‘creature’, which could be anything from a worm shape to a crayfish. 

The ideal lure has a slim profile allowing it to be rigged weedless, so it can be worked along the bottom without snagging. 

Go for 4cm-6cm lures rigged on a size 4/0 wide-gape hook, and expect bold bites as the perch grab these plastic creatures. 

River fishing tips | Choose the waggler over the pole

As we head towards winter, it’s all too easy to bank on the precision and great presentation offered by the pole. 

By doing so, though, you’re immediately limiting yourself, in my opinion, in terms of flexibility. 

The pole is brilliant for catching in one tight area over your feed, but you can be left wanting for the chance to fish further out or off to one side to see if the fish have moved slightly. With a waggler, you can achieve this in seconds. 

On deep canals such as the ones close to me in South Yorkshire, the waggler becomes a key tactic to have up your sleeve and can sometimes totally outfish the pole in clear water, or when there are a lot of fish to catch quickly.

It’s also a classic and easy method to fish, and one that doesn’t need thousands of pounds’ worth of long pole to achieve. Most of us were brought up fishing the waggler, so it’s nice to be able to leave the pole in the bag and go back to basics.

Why wagglers score

For me there are three reasons to use the float over the pole. First, speed. It’s much quicker to cast out and wind in fish than it is shipping 14m or 16m of pole in and out on a busy bank. 

Seond, in clear water the fish will be much happier without a pole being wafted over their heads... and finally, the waggler gives you the versatility to cast around the peg to seek out fish if bites are few and far between in one spot. The pole cannot do any of these.

Going the distance

If you plan on having a long pole line, make sure there’s enough space between this swim and where you’re fishing the waggler. 

The range you pick must be able to be reached with your loosefeed, so around 18m is good. 

If you have a feature like a boat in front of you, there’s the temptation to cast tight up to it but I wouldn’t –  instead I would make sure there’s a few metres between the float and the boat to let me go further over if the fish back off. 

Try fishing shallow

I know we’re in November, but until the really cold weather hits, I’m a firm believer in still being able to catch off bottom, especially on those big canals. 

Roach, rudd, hybrids and even skimmers will be sat here, but the big question is, how far off bottom do I need to come? 

This can be 2ft off the deck in 9ft of water, and if rudd are present, we could be talking as little as 2ft below the surface. 

It’s something you need to work out as the day goes on. As a rule, I would begin on the bottom and go shallower if bites were coming as the bait was falling, or if I was catching a lot of rudd.

No-tangle waggler rig

The days of big shot around the float base are gone, and this means no more tangles. I’ll use loaded floats, but try and fish as light a loading as possible. For most casts, a 1.5g loaded float is bang on.

My favourite is a loaded fine-tipped peacock insert waggler. This float needs only a moderate strength cast to hit the spot and is stopped by two Guru Line Stops. Down the line are evenly spaced three No9 shot, which leaves just a tiny bit of float showing so that I can easily see any hold-ups on the float from fish picking the bait up on the drop.

Tackle talk

Mainline is robust 0.18mm (5.3lb) Guru Pulse Pro to a Guru ready rig of 0.10mm N-Gauge and a size 18 Pole Special hook – I couldn’t tie them any better myself! The Pole Special is also a fine waggler hook so don’t be put off by the name.

That just leaves rods, and a 12ft through-actioned model will do nicely as there’s not the need for the extra reach of a 13ft or 14ft rod.

Feeding

Loosefeed is the way to go here, but how often the catapult is brought into action can vary. 

To begin with I’ll feed 15 to 20 maggots every third cast. Only if I am having a lot of grief from small fish will I switch to feeding every cast to ensure enough maggots are about to keep the better fish on the hunt.

I could use casters, but I think maggots sink more slowly and give me a better chance of catching on the drop.

Hookbaits

This is single or double maggot – casters are crushed too easily when you miss a bite – and I prefer a bronze or fluoro pink maggot by choice. When using a double maggot I will hook them through the pointed end to leave more hookpoint showing, which I’m positive means more bites turned into fish in the net.

Getting Twitchy

Seldom do I leave the float sat completely still in the peg. My waggler routine is to cast, let the float settle, and if I’ve not had an indication after 30 seconds, give the bait a twitch by turning the reel handle once. After another 30 seconds I’ll wind in and repeat but hopefully, the float will have gone under by this point!

FiVE things you need to know about keeping safe in floodwater.

After being swept with torrential rainfall, many of Britain’s rivers are well above their normal level.

There is still some fantastic fishing on offer, but safety is of paramount importance when tackling a flooded river.

Here are five things you need to know about keeping safe on the bank…

• Check online

Check the river levels to give you an indication of whether the water is rising or dropping, and help you anticipate fluctuating levels. The flood information site is very reliable and updated throughout the day. See www.flood-warning-information.service.gov.uk

• Use a marker

It’s easy to lose track of what the river’s doing through the day, but using a depth marker will alert you to any sudden changes. Some rivers have markers in place, but if you can’t see one a bankstick with strips of marker tape works well.

• sit well back

The last thing you want is to place yourself in a precarious position on the bank, so sit well back from the water’s edge.

• Take a rope

Steep and slippery banks can be a nightmare to get down, and up. Tie a strong rope to a nearby tree or peg it into the top of the bank to help you.

• Wear a lifejacket

Perhaps a little extreme, but a lifejacket can literally be a lifesaver if you do end up in the river. 

Carp Fishing Tips | Top ten tips for stalking big carp!

After a spring and summer of having rigs, marker floats and spods thrown at them from every conceivable angle, carp in day-ticket waters can become wary of visiting the lake’s main features and open water areas favoured by anglers.

One area where they feel far safer is in the margins, especially if these also provide some form of cover, yet very few anglers ever even consider fishing in ‘the edge’. Successful stalking isn’t rocket science, so follow our top tips and you could transform your autumn catches…

1) Bait and rotate

Identify several marginal spots you like the look of and bait them all lightly before visiting them in rotation. It may take the fish several hours to find the traps you’ve set, but before too long you’ll be able to rule out some and concentrate on others. The carp will already have their favoured margin spots – your job is to find them. 

2) Cut out the glare

In order to be able to gauge the depth, the presence of snags and the presence of carp, you’ll need a decent pair of polarising sunglasses - arguably the most important piece of kit for a margin angler. They take the glare off the surface and will help you see what the carp are up to in the swim, which direction they enter and leave it from, and how they are reacting to rigs and any bait introduced.

3) Watch the wind

It helps to know from which direction the wind will hit the banks of your lake, pushing the carp towards them. Most modern smartphones come with built-in compasses, so if you have one, use it! Carp will often follow a fresh wind, and so should you. Fish living in clear pits find areas of freshly-coloured water irresistible.

4) Keep quiet!

There’s little point prepping spots and then blundering along the bank, scaring the fish into the next county. You have to keep noise to an absolute minimum. Carp can feel vibrations caused by a heavy footfall, so creep about as much as possible. Whenever you can, wear dull clothing… and definitely no white T-shirts!

5) Pin it down

When targeting carp in clear, shallow water it’s vital to pin your end tackle down so it doesn’t spook wary carp feeding in the margins. Try placing your rig in a ‘dummy margin’ and see what aspects of it catch your eye the most. If it stands out to you, it’ll be obvious to pressured carp too. 

Use Tungsten droppers or putty at intervals to keep both the hooklink and the few feet of line above the rig nailed firmly to the deck. 

6) Lower your rigs gently

You’d be surprised at the noise a lead makes when thudding down on the deck, especially if it’s a hard substrate. If you can, lower your rigs into position rather than flicking them out. By doing this it’s also possible to pick out individual carp as they feed right at your feet.

7) Mixed offerings 

Mix up the types and sizes of bait you use to prime spots in the edge. This keeps the carp guessing and gives you loads of hookbait options. Hemp, corn, pellets, tiger nuts and boilies (chopped and whole) are all good, but why not try also meat, paste or chunks of Peperami, introduced by hand or lowered in using a baiting spoon?

8) Gain elevation

If fishery rules allow and you’re confident doing so, climbing trees around the periphery of a lake will massively improve your view of proceedings and allow you to gauge just how many fish are visiting your spots… and how big they are. This can also help you make choices about the best spots on which to position your hookbaits.

9) Use a safe, solid rig

This is not the time to be messing about with fancy rigs and presentations. Inline leads are tailor-made for stalking, and offer the best hooking mechanics. If you set it up ‘drop-off style’ the lead will also be ejected on the take, leaving you in direct contact with the fish, meaning less chance of it snagging up during the fight. 

10) Seek sanctuary

Carp are fond of cover, but fishing for them alongside snags or directly under overhangs is a recipe for disaster, and bad angling practice. Instead, pick a spot to bait up that is at least a few yards away from the obstruction so that you have more than a fighting chance of extracting any fish that you hook. 

River Fishing Tips | How to improve your river catches on the float!

Now is the perfect time to catch a bumper bag of roach and dace, and you can be sure fish in many rivers the length and breadth of the country will be feeding well in readiness for the lean times they know are coming.

And there’s no more enjoyable way to catch them than with a stick or a Bolo float. 

Both really come into their own when there’s a bit of pace on the river, but I fish them in different areas of the venue.

I’ll choose a stick float for close-in work – no more than around three rodlengths out – and a Bolo for further out. 

I’ll start on the Bolo while I  priming the stick float line for later in the session. 

The Bolo is shotted simply, with an olivette at two-thirds depth and a couple of No8 droppers between this and the hook. 

No feed to start with

When I begin fishing the Bolo, I don’t feed anything on this line – I simply run the float through to give me an indication as to what kind of mood the fish are in. 

If the float instantly buries, it generally means I’m in for a good day. However, if I run it through a few times without a touch, this tells me that the fish are in a less obliging mood, telling me I shouldn’t feed very heavily.

If I catch instantly, I’ll then give them some feed on this line, initially several catapult pouches full of hemp followed by regular maggot loosefeed. 

I’ll look to stay on the Bolo for an hour or so while also feeding the closer stick float line with maggots and hempseed. This is where I’ll expect to catch roach later.

On to the stick

A stick float taking around six No4 shot is ideal in many swims, shotted with No6s equally spaced between float and hook, apart from the two bottom shot which are smaller No8s. 

The presentation offered by this stick set-up is much better than you can get with a Bolo and perfect for big, wary roach, which should be feeding after being fed loosefeed for an hour or more.

On the stick, I’ll start by easing the float through so that the hookbait is just tripping bottom, but be prepared to change depth a few inches up or down if bites slow. You can also slow down the rate at which your float travels through the swim for a different presentation. 

Big roach love a hookbait presented slower than the current.

stay in control

It’s important to control the passage of your float through the swim, and the easiest way to do this is to fish with your reel’s
bail-arm open and let line peel from the spool as the current pulls the float through. 

To slow it, dab your middle finger on the front of the spool to prevent line leaving. You can also try actually ‘feeding’ line out with the fingers of your other hand.

Specimen Fishing tips | Keep pellets on your hair with this great trick!

Using small pellets which match your loosefeed is a great tactic for catching big barbel and chub on the rivers right now.

However, it can be a bit of a fiddly way of fishing – but not if you follow my advice! 

I’ve found the best way to keep small pellets on a hair rig is to attach them lasso-style with a grinner knot.

This method works for all but the smallest of pellets, and is a really easy and reliable way of ensuring that a pellet remains on a hair rig – there’s no need for drilling or using hair stops, and it is both quick and easy!

A pellet attached like this will stay on for a number of casts, and often you can recast the same pellet even after landing a fish.

In fact, I once caught five barbel on the same 12mm pellet!

1) Slip a pellet into a loop tied from 15lb Korum Micro Braid using a five-turn grinner knot.

2) Tighten the loop so that it grips the pellet in place. Then trim off the tag end of the braid.

3) Knotless-knot on a hook to match the size of the pellet. It should sit 2mm below the bend.

4) Change the pellet by easing the pellet out of the loop, opened up with a fingernail or your forceps.

Match fishing tips | Top bomb & pellet tricks from record breaker

The bomb and pellet is a devastating summer tactic that really comes into its own in August and September, when the carp have wised up to a feeder approach.

Bournemouth roofer Jack Stamp recently used the tactic to its maximum potential at Somerset’s Viaduct Fishery, where he hauled a staggering 480lb 6oz of carp from peg 126 on Campbell Lake.

Landing fish to double figures, Jack described his day as ‘hectic’, and with 171lb 15oz coming second it’s clear that Jack, who has fished for Carp Team England in the past, is doing something right.

There are several things that Jack does differently to other anglers, and here are a few of his top edges that will help you to stand out from the crowd on this deadly method...

Feed Smaller Baits

“When most people fish the bomb and pellet they simply feed 8mm hard pellets and fish the same on the hook. While this will work at times, I prefer to do things slightly differently.

“My choice of feed is 4mm and 6mm pellets, which are much smaller than what most anglers will think of trying, and it’s the 4mm pellets that are really important in my approach.

“These really get the fish rooting around on the lakebed, and will hold them in the peg for longer.

“Of course, you can’t feed these as far as larger offerings, but on the day of the match I was only around 20m out, so this wasn’t a problem.

“It’s important to keep the bait going in, and I fed two or three pouches every five minutes and got through around eight pints throughout the day.”

Hookbait

“There are a lot of hookbait options that score on the bomb and pellet, and on the day I did the record I used a pellet wrapped in a paste made up of dampened micro pellets. 

“This helped my hookbait to stand out among the free offerings, and it worked well on the day with around 60 carp averaging around 8lb.”

Tackle and Rigs

“I keep my rigs really simple, and don’t bring much of my big carp fishing knowledge to this aspect of my match fishing. 

“There are some really good fish in Campbell, so I use robust gear, with 8lb Daiwa Sensor mainline, an 0.19mm hooklength and a size 12 KKMB hook.

“A free-running half-ounce bomb completes the set-up. Couldn’t be easier than that!”

River fishing tips | Give your commercial gear a change of scenery on a local river!

Top matchman Andy May is best known for his commercial fishing exploits, but he likes nothing more than spending a few hours roving his local river for chub. 

What’s more, says the former Fish O’Mania champion, you need hardly any extra kit for rivers… and much less of it! 

He uses the same rods, reels, baits and bits of terminal tackle as he does on commercials. A few stick floats and you’re away! So why not take a leaf out of Andy’s book and try something a bit different on your local small river this week? 

Pick the right swims

When you stroll along the bank you’ll come across countless spots that look ideal, but it pays to quickly analyse a number of factors before settling into a swim.

“If you can see the bottom all the way across then it isn’t worthy of your attention. Look for spots where the water appears to deepen off as fish will sit there when it is low and clear,” he says.

“Cover is also important and my favourite swims have lots of overhanging trees that dim the light and give fish more confidence to feed.

“Last but not least, you need a swim that allows you to run a float through it. If it’s choked with weed you won’t be able to manoeuvre a float and that will instantly lower your chances of providing good presentation.”

A few hours roving

To demonstrate how successful his simple roving approach can be, Andy took us to his local River Dane in Cheshire, where he soon found a number of spots that just screamed big fish. A few runs through on the stick float in each was enough to determine whether anything was present.

“The venue isn’t heavily pressured like a commercial so the fish are less cagey and will snap up a bait the instant they see it.”

In less than two hours Andy landed three 4lb-plus chub and a couple of smaller samples, with no more than one fish coming from each swim. “Today has shown how important it is to stay mobile,” he said. “Grab your commercial fishery kit and put it to a completely different use on the rivers this week.”

The kit you need

“If I am out for two hours of river action I will probably end up visiting at least 10 swims,” says Andy. “But I’ll spend less than 15 minutes in each one before moving on. It follows that you need the bare minimum of tackle with you – a rod, landing net and a small bag of terminal tackle and bait.”

A small carryall with a shoulder strap is ideal and will easily hold everything you will require. Andy has five items that he will never leave the house without when heading down the river...

Bait: “Chub and barbel love pellets. I always take a bag of 6mm pellets and feed these little and often. I like my hookbait to stand out from the crowd and use a banded 8mm pellet.”

Polarising sunglasses: “On low and clear rivers, if you look carefully, you will notice fish moving around. I use Wiley X Europe eyewear – they remove surface glare and make spotting chub and barbel a lot easier.”

Hooks and line: “Most small rivers are full of weed and overhanging trees. Give a big fish half a chance and it will snag you up. I use fairly thick wire hooks in sizes 10 and 12 and all my hooklengths are 0.20mm or 0.22mm. Reel line is 6lb or 8lb.”

Rod: “A specialist rod isn’t required – I use my pellet waggler rod for this type of fishing.” 

Floats: “This is the only bit of equipment you might not already own. I carry a few different types of alloy stick float with me to cater for different conditions. 

“Presentation is key to getting bites, and using the correct style of float is important. Floats with a big tip are more buoyant and best in fast water, while those with a bigger body are most effective in slower and deeper swims.”

Barbel fishing tips | Perfect rig for spooky barbel

Here’s a top rig to help you catch more barbel while fishing on the river. Dai Gribble explains why he favours this rig when conditions are difficult and the barbel are easily spooked.

A while back I ran a guided trip with an angler who’d been on the river for four days without a bite.

When I looked at his set-up it was clear he’d been using short hooklengths. We switched to a long, 4ft hooklength with a small pellet hookbait and we caught fish almost immediately.

Long hooklengths don’t spook fish, and keep the hookbait clear of any weed build-up on the mainline.

My running rig incorporates a buffer bead, an anti-tangle sleeve, and a quick-change swivel so I can switch hooklengths very easily.

The hooklink is Avid Carp Captive braid with the last 6ins of coating stripped back. 

This gives the hooklink superb anti-tangle properties, and the flexibility of the section around the hook assists with hooking.

1) Strip back around 6ins of your coated braid hooklink material – I favour Avid Captive. Tie a small overhand loop knot in the end of the stripped braid – this is for your hair rig bait stop.

2) Add your hookbait to the end of the braid and secure with a bait stop, then tie your hook on with a knotless knot. The hair should be just long enough for the bait to hang 3mm below the bend of the hook.

3) Remove around 1m of the coated hooklink from the spool and thread the anti-tangle rig sleeve on to the opposite end from your hook. You can use a baiting needle for this.

4) Tie an overhand loop in the end of the coated braid, attach it to the quick-change link on the running rig, then slide the anti-tangle sleeve over the link. This kicks your hooklength away from lead or feeder. 

Match Fishing Tips | How to catch more on the pellet waggler

The pellet waggler is one of the most exciting ways of catching carp – launching big pencil-shaped floats into open water, blasting big pellets around it and then watching that bulbous orange tip bury before the strike is met with a roaring run of something very big and angry!

It’s also a lot easier on the back and shoulders than, for example, the long pole when presenting a bait shallow to catch carp feeding in the upper layers of the water.

It’s relatively inexpensive to get geared up for a bash on the ‘pellet wag’ with the match rod that’s probably been gathering dust in your shed.

Decisions have to be made elsewhere, of course, and the most important of these is the type of waggler you use. Not all pellet wagglers are made the same and if you look on the tackle shop shelves there’s a great disparity in size, shape, weight and even the materials they are made of. Each one does have a specific job to do.

I carry a range of wagglers for summer fishing but tend to find myself falling back on two very definite types, depending on how shallow the fish are feeding. 

Very rarely can you dictate to the fish what depth they will be at by feeding alone, so you have to be prepared to find them!

Regular casting

If I am fishing meat then the whole point is to get a bite in that first foot of the swim, so it goes without saying that a take should come within 10 seconds of the float landing. 

If I don’t get one, I’ll wind in and cast again, and I’ll also cast to the same spot to try and build up an area for the carp to home in.

On very warm days when the fish may be cruising, it can pay to cast to thm – a little like dobbing on the pole, seeing a carp and casting the float just in front of it.

Feeding

I may use meat on the hook but that doesn’t mean that I feed the same thing because carp are so used to pellets. 

I think they are better, and they can be fired out with a catapult further and more accurately and they make a good ‘plop’ as they land. 

I do cube up some meat too and will feed this if I am fishing at shorter ranges or I sense that the fish are very close to the surface , when a feed that sinks slowly will get more of a response. For feed meat I use plain Plumrose meat in 6mm cubes but the feeding will not be excessive – just three or four 8mm pellets or pieces of meat on every cast.

Finding the depth

Although pellets are the main bait for the waggler, meat can be equally good if allowed, and is great for catching fish in the topmost foot or so of the water – so you shouldn’t really be fishing any deeper than this. 

The ‘mugging’ waggler stands out here, fished 2ft deep, but I will go shallower to the minimum-allowed 12ins on most fisheries. 

On the flipside, if this draws a blank, the carp could be sat deeper even on the hottest of days, so changing to the big balsa float and going 4ft deep might just trigger a change.

Float choices

If those carp are feeding a couple of feet deep minimum, pick a classic large waggler.  I use Guru balsa wagglers taking 6g-8g of loading as they are a little steadier in the swim and make a good bit of noise on landing.

However fish are visible close to the surface, a big waggler will be no good and this is where a very different pellet waggler comes into play. These take shot rather than relying on a loading for their casting weight. I call these ‘mugging’ wagglers, designed to pick off carp just under the surface.

They sit up immediately as soon as they land, ready to show a bite, and are also relatively unobtrusive, allowing the bait to fall naturally as soon as it hits the water.  I use either the 2SSG Guru foam pattern or some homemade specials from my mate Warren Martin that take 3SSG of locking shot. They look old and battered but they’re brilliant for this type of fishing!

Carp Fishing tips | Surface fishing tactics for carp

Surface fishing is a tactic that every carp angler should master if they’re to make the most of the summer months, especially is the sun is high in the sky and the chances of a bite using traditional legering tactics are minimal.

However, there’s far more to it than just hooking on a dog biscuit and launching it out into the pond, more in hope than expectation. So, this week I’m going to run you through some little ‘edges’ that I’ve picked up over the past three decades or so that have made a big difference to my floater fishing success. 

1) Feed off the fowl…

Too many anglers avoid surface fishing for carp altogether because of the presence of ducks, gulls, swans and various other feed-robbing birds. 

The trick is to feed them off first, using cheap bread and budget dog biscuits. Once you arrive at the lake, pick a corner from which both the fish and other anglers are absent, then put in the cheap offerings. These will normally fill them up, which leaves you free to surface fish.

 Gulls, in particular, can be a nightmare, and it can take an age for them to have their fill... but feeding them off really will be time well spent. 

2) Get them competing...

By far the most important part of successful surface fishing is to get the carp competing for the loosefeed before you cast out. Patience is key in this respect. You must keep feeding until there are a decent number of carp in the swim, feeding confidently. 

If you’re patient enough, then the fish will gradually become more aggressive as they jostle for pole position for the next free morsel. 

In this state they are far easier to catch and, more importantly, you can catch a number of fish, as opposed to just the odd one. 

3) Slick ’em up!

The dedicated floating hookbaits that I favour are already crammed with oils and powders that ooze attraction, but I l give them a further ‘oiling’ to create a ‘flat spot’ around the hookbait. 

This helps you to see it far more easily, especially with a ripple on. You can use just about any oil but my first choice is CAP Oil, a combination of various high-grade fish oils and a pungent chilli extract. 

As well as increasing the visibility of your hookbait, it also gives your offering a fiery kick, which the carp seem to love. 

4) Start small… 

It was way back in the 1990s that I discovered the power of small floating pellets as loosefeed. Everyone else was using bog standard Chum mixers, and everywhere me and my mates went we caught an incredible number of fish because of those small pellets. 

Everyone still uses large baits in the main, yet they really are missing a trick.

 I use a mixture of 3mm, 6mm and 11mm Krill Floaters, with 80 per cent of the mix being made up of the smaller two sizes. These can work the fish into a frenzy, and the bigger ones are only there to replicate the size of my hookbait, once I’m ready to introduce it. 

5) Fine-tune your end tackle

Thin hooklinks and small hooks will definitely get you more bites than crude terminal tackle, but you still need to use kit that’s strong enough to land the fish you’re targeting. 

If you catch a couple of fish on a size 10 hook with 0.30mm diameter hooklink and they then start wising up, it’s time to drop to a size 12 and 0.25mm line, provided the weed isn’t bad.

Also, I can’t stress enough the difference a sticky-sharp hook makes when surface fishing. 

Hone your hook points and far fewer fish will be able to spit out the hook once they’ve mouthed the bait.

6) Try a bright hookbait

While there’s nothing wrong with using a hookbait that matches the colour and size profile of your freebies, sometimes that leads to problems identifying it among feeding fish, especially at range.

To solve this, try using a bright pop-up. White or yellow ones are perfect, and an added bonus is that they will stay buoyant far longer than a sodden Chum mixer. Trim it right down (don’t worry, you’ll still be able to see it at range) and hair-rig it tight to the back of the hook. Alternatively, you can side-hook it. 

7) Go long, if needs be...

Sometimes the best floater sport can be at medium to long range. This is often because the further out the carp are, the more confident they become and the quicker they lose their inhibitions (as they don’t know they’re being fished for). 

In this situation, spodding your freebies out alongside a big, heavy controller float can be the way to go. 

I carry a few different spods with me, so that I’m covered for any situation I find myself faced with. Being able to fish effectively in areas that many other anglers wouldn’t even try to get a bait to can be a real edge. 

8) Switch to braid

Braided mainline isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but it’s unbeatable for setting the hook on the strike because of its lack of stretch. If a breeze picks up you can ‘mend’ the line far more easily than you could with mono, remaining in direct contact with the float. 

One final tip, which is obvious but still something I see a lot of people doing wrong, is to always cast your float well past where you’ve got the fish feeding, before tweaking it back into the ‘hot zone’. If you cast directly on top of their heads it will ruin all your hard work and send the fish into the next county!