Bait Guide | Experimenting with bait
One of the greatest things about fishing is that there are no hard and fast rules.
Lots of guidelines have been drawn up by top anglers to help everyone else put more fish in the net, but from time to time it pays to break away from expert advice and try your own thing.
Experimenting with bait is a great way of livening things up and you’ll be amazed at how much difference it can make to give the fish something they have never tasted before.
Take a look at the five different bait experiments we’ve tried and give them a go to help you bag up this summer.
1. Liquid cocktail
There are dozens of liquid flavours on tackle shop shelves but have you ever considered combining a couple to make a deadly cocktail?
IYCF has tried various combinations and have had success mixing Dynamite Baits Sweet Tiger Liquid Carp Food with Robin Red. The concoction creates a strange aroma but when used as a bait glug it certainly seems to appeal to the fish.
2. Paste wrap
In coloured water it is essential you do all you can to make your hookbait stand out to the fish. Using a bright offering can score but if that still doesn’t do the trick then it is time to add extra flavour.
A great way of doing this is wrapping pellets around your hookbait after being dampened in a liquid coating. The scent will leak off at a slow rate as the pellets break down, creating an unmissable hookbait that will prove irresistible to big fish.
3. Coloured corn
Sweetcorn is a deadly bait for a wide variety of species but when you have fed a big bed of it how do you get them to hoover up your hookbait first?
Using colourful flavours and dyes could be the answer. Place a handful of corn into different coloured liquids and allow them to stand for a few hours. During this time the colour will change slightly and it will also add flavour that will ooze off once in the water.
4. Crushed boilies
How do we pick out the biggest fish in our favourite venues? Smaller offerings such as micros pellets and maggots are easily snatched by silvers and little carp but add boilies to your armoury and you’ll have a better chance of ruling out these fish. Mix your favourite groundbait in the standard fashion and take several handfuls of 10mm or 12mm boilies. Use your hands to crush them before introducing them to the groundbait. This added content will be too big for the smaller fish to swallow and that will leave a decent meal. Cup it in the margins and you’ll soon see swirls erupt.
5. Dusted pellets
Commercials face much angling pressure and you need to give the fish a reason to feed in your swim as opposed to those next door. When fishing margins or close to the far bank of a snake lake, a cloudy attraction will help you to catch. Dampen a couple of pints of micro pellets in the usual fashion and then tip on around a quarter of a bag of dry groundbait before blending it all together. Feed small nuggets of bait and the groundbait will break off and create a cloud that will linger for long periods.
Rig Guide | Barbel Pellet Feeder Rig
Pellets are without a doubt the most popular barbel bait, catching a huge number of fish across the UK throughout the year. But they are not necessarily the easiest of baits to hook or feed, being hard and sinking slowly.
This simple rig has evolved to make fishing these baits easy, keeping the feed pellets next to the hookbait and using a feeder to introduce a trail of bait.
Barbel are strong fighters and will tire themselves out, especially in the summer months, so it is important to land them quickly, hence the need for strong hooks and line.
Try to match the weight of the feeder to the strength of the current. You do not want the feeder to move once it has reached the riverbed, although use the lightest the feeder you can to make less disturbance.
If you are new to barbel fishing then this is the ideal rig. It makes one of the best barbel baits very easy to introduce exactly where you want. Get hold of a few pre-drilled 10mm pellets to use on the hair and, for feed, choose 3mm-4mm pellets and ensure that these can escape easily through the holes on the feeder.
How to tie a barbel pellet rig
1) Carefully enlarge the holes in the feeder so that the 4mm feed pellets can exit easily. Use a knife or a pair of scissors
2) Thread the feeder and the buffer bead on to the mainline. This should be stronger than the hooklength to break if the rig is snagged
3) Tie the rig swivel on to the end of the mainline using a four-turn grinner knot and pull the buffer bead over the end of the swivel
4) Tie a small overhand loop in the end of an 80cm length of the Zig Link to start the hooklength
5) Use a 10-turn knotless knot to tie on the hook. The hair should be long enough to leave a 5mm gap between bait and the bend of the hook
6) Thread a Rig Sleeve on to the hooklength. Tie the hooklength to the rig swivel using a four-turn grinner knot and pull it over the swivel The hooklength should be about 60cm
Rig Guide | How to tie a margin stalking rig
In the warmer months, you will find carp in the edge whatever size of lake you are fishing, assuming you stay quiet and employ an element of stealth of course.
Catching carp in close is preferable for many reasons. You can observe how they are feeding and bait up accordingly, rig placement is much easier than trying to land your hookbait on a small patch of gravel at 100 yards, and few sights are more exciting than watching a big carp pick up your hookbait and hook itself.
This rig offers excellent hooking properties. The large inline lead and short hooklink mean that a fish will come into contact with the full weight of the lead almost instantly.
Most anglers fish a boilie hookbait in conjunction with a PVA bag of pellets. If you want to fool warier carp try using a pellet hookbait instead as this will blend in perfectly with the free offerings.
So you don’t have to drill a pellet so that it can hair rigged, simply use a bait band instead. This will enable you to attach a fresh hookbait in seconds.
A) Fish the hookbait in a hair-rigged bait band
B) You’ll need to keep a hooked fish away from any marginal snag so a strong hook of at least size 8 is essential
C) A blob of tungsten putty keeps the hooklink pinned to deck and reduces the chance of a carp coming into contact with it and spooking
D) The lead is set up drop- off style. This means the leader runs over the outside of the lead as opposed to through the centre. When a fish picks up the rig, the swivel pulls out of the base and the lead will fall away. It’s important to lose the lead if you’re fishing close to snags such as reeds or overhanging branches
E) A heavy inline lead of at least 4oz offers excellent hooking properties
F) Use a leader such as leadcore or tubing to protect your mainline from any marginal hazards
Rig Guide | How to tie a Running Rig for carp fishing
Semi-fixed bolt rigs, such as lead clips and helicopter set-ups, are predominantly used by carp anglers.
Running rigs have fallen out of fashion, but they should have a place in every angler’s armoury, especially when targeting pressured carp used to dealing with more common presentations on a daily basis.
Fool wary fish
The main difference between a running rig and other lead arrangements is that the mainline can slide through the weight as soon as a carp picks up the hookbait.
This movement will be transmitted instantly to your bite alarm, providing excellent bite registration. In winter, when fish feed much more sluggishly, a semi-fixed rig can be picked up and ejected without a single bleep on your alarm. A combination of running rigs and switching your alarm’s sensitivity to high, however, will result in even the most finicky bites being registered.
They are also an effective way of fooling carp that have become adept at ejecting the hook when they feel the resistance from a bolt rig. Underwater footage has even shown carp can use the weight to throw the hook out by shaking their head.
A running rig stops them from being able to do this, as the line pulls through and they can’t use the weight as a pivot point.
If you suspect carp are ‘getting away with it', a change to running rigs could be the solution.
Get the best from running rigs
There are two essential factors required for running rigs to work effectively. First, you must use a heavy lead of at least 3oz. If you use too light a lead, the friction of the line pulling through the eye of the swivel will move the lead. A heavy lead will remain in position when the line pulls through the ring, which allows for maximum bite indication and minimum resistance.
Second, you need to use a dedicated run ring or a swivel with a large bore to enable the line to pass through easily.
When to use them
Running rigs are best used on firm lakebeds or shallow silt.
If you cast a heavy lead into very deep silt, it could become completely submerged in the soft debris and prevent the mainline being able to pass through the run ring.
Although running rigs are awesome for tricking wary fish, if they are feeding cautiously don’t be afraid to experiment with hooklink material and length as well.
A 10in-12in fluorocarbon hooklink will be almost impossible for a feeding carp to see, and as it has an element of stiffness it will also remain extended and pushed away from the lead. When the hookbait is picked up, this means the movement is instantly transmitted to the bite alarm.
Other ways to improve bite indication and keep resistance to a minimum is to point the rod directly at the spot you’re fishing and use as light a bobbin as possible.
How to make a running rig
1) Thread the running ring and buffer sleeve on to your mainline or leader
2) Attach a swivel to the end of your mainline or leader
3) Push the swivel into the base of the buffer sleeve
4) Insert lead into running ring until the eye of the swivel is level with the hole
5) Push the peg into the hole to fix the lead in place
Fishing Bait Guide | Best bait to use on the bomb
In March 2012 UK temperatures were recorded as high as 23ºC – yet roll forward a year and the average for the same month was a bitter two degrees.
If nothing else, it goes to show that the weather is highly unpredictable at this time of year and that you’ll need a tactic with the potential to score during an unexpected heatwave, or when you need to de-ice your car before a session.
There’s one obvious choice that comes to mind for many seasoned anglers, and that is the bomb.
Whether you are patiently waiting for the odd bite with a single bait or using your catapult to feed over the top, this approach will serve you well.
Marukyu’s Chris Telling relies on the bomb more than anything else during this erratic period. But it’s not as simple as chucking out and hoping for the best.
“I will always use the bomb at this time of year. The weather on the day and the species I am after will dictate the bait I use,” explained Chris.
“Over the years I have tried pretty much everything I can get my hands on in the tackle shop but I have whittled it down to five baits that have all earned a place in my armoury.”
1. Meat
“Luncheon meat rarely
gets used until it really warms up, but as a single cylinder on a hair rig it can be deadly.
Chop a block of tinned meat into slices around 2cm thick and punch out cylindrical hookbaits. This is my first-choice bait when I am confident of hooking big carp in cold water. I dye it yellow. Big carp have seen every trick in the book but the added colour is likely to be something they haven’t come across and will lead to them falling for the trap. Place a few handfuls of punched meat into a food bag, add a glug of your chosen additive, blow air into the bag, seal it, shake it and place it in the fridge overnight.”
2. Boilies
“On days when I know it’s going to be a waiting game, I will use a pop-up boilie on the hook. Unlike bread, it won’t disintegrate over time and will stay in its original form underwater for an absolute age. If I am chucking to an area where I know fish are living, I will leave the bait in place until the tip goes round, even if that takes half an hour or more to happen.
Experimenting with the size and colour of the pop-up is key, and each day will be different. Take a range of baits in sizes between 6mm and 10mm, with white, orange and bright yellow all very effective colours. When the tip goes round, you can expect a lump to be attached!”
3. Pellets
“Pellets are unbeatable if it turns into T-shirt weather in the coming weeks. Use a banded 6mm for F1s or an 8mm for carp but never put the catapult down. Fire four or five pellets over the top every couple of minutes, recasting frequently to make a little noise that draws fish in. Most anglers use brown pellets that are available in every tackle shop, but switching to another colour such as red can help put more fish in the net when the going gets tough. Pellets really are the ultimate warm weather bomb bait and I’ve put some of my most memorable catches together when it has been warmer than average at this time of year.”
4.Sweetcorn
“This is probably the most versatile bait of the lot as it can be used when it is cold or warm. When the temperatures are low I will simply hair-rig two grains and cast out and look for signs on my tip. If it doesn’t nudge at all, it tells me there are no fish in the area and I will then recast to a different spot around 15 minutes later.When it gets warmer, I will get the catapult out and fire a few grains of corn over the top every now and then. This works especially well in shallow and clear water. A couple of tins are enough for a session and the noise of the bait impacting draws fish in, when they can’t miss the bright yellow kernels.”
5. Bread
“Fish don’t always sit on the bottom, and when I feel they have risen off the deck I will turn to white bread. Use a punch to take three small cylinders from a slice and hair-rig them. Make sure you use quite a long hair, as bread expands underwater. Bread is really buoyant so it will pop up off the deck. How long your hooklength is will dictate how far off the bottom it comes. I start with a foot-long version in open water. If I am not getting any bites I will step up to as long as 4ft in deep pegs.
Give your bread an extra edge by spraying on a generous dose of Marukyu Choco Cream. This has a distinctive smell and definitely helps attract extra bites on tough days.”
Fishing Bait Guide | Know you particles
Particle baits really come into their own as the weather starts to warm up and will often produce better results than fishing over boilies.
Particles are extremely versatile. You can fish over a large spodded carpet of them or set marginal traps with just a couple of handfuls.
Another advantage is that the small items of food will hold fish over your baited area for longer than a bed of boilies.
Maize
Used heavily on the Continent, maize is often overlooked by anglers in the UK. But do so at your peril! Maize is a fantastic bait and can be used as free offerings and as a hookbait.
Not only is it visually attractive to fish but it’s also packed with attractive natural sugars and contains high levels of energy-boosting carbohydrates.
Because it’s so cheap, maize is an excellent choice if you’re planning on embarking on a prebaiting campaign and you don’t want to spend a small fortune on boilies.
preparation
Soak: 24 hours
boil: 30 minutes
Partiblend
Partiblend is a mixture of different particles including millet, dari, buckwheat, hemp, linseed, groats and tares. This combination of small, oily, spicy and sweet attractors provide the fish with different-sized baits and releases a milky cloud of attraction.
Unlike other particles, Partiblend doesn’t need soaking beforehand – just cover well with water and as soon as the water boils it is ready to go.
preparation
Soak: no need to soak
boil: 30 minutes
Maple peas
If you’re looking for a bait that carp adore and that no-one else will be using, maple peas tick all the boxes.
They were hugely popular in the 1980s but have fallen out of vogue in more recent times, and for no apparent reason. If your venue sees a lot of bright baits such as sweetcorn, maple peas could be just the ticket when it comes to fooling the more cautious specimens.
preparation
Soak: 12 hours
simmer: 30 minutes
Hemp
Hemp is one of the most popular particle baits, especially in spod mixes. Being so small it will hold fish in your swim for a long time while they hoover up the grains.
Hemp can be purchased as a natural seed which has to be soaked and boiled at home, or ready-prepared in jars or tins.
PVA-friendly hemp is also available – lethal with fake corn on the hair.
preparation
Soak: 12 hours
boil: boil until split
Tiger nuts
If you told a group of top big-carp anglers they could use only the one hookbait, tiger nuts would undoubtedly come high on their list.
They are highly selective, as most other species won’t touch them. It is best to use them sparingly, though, and there’s no need to pile in kilos at a time. Two tigers on the hair over a couple of handfuls of freebies is more than enough to tempt a bite or two.
preparation
Soak: 24 hours
boil: 30 minutes
Beginners guide to carp fishing hook types
Together, these four main hook types will cover every carp-angling situation you’re likely to encounter. Learn their strengths to ensure you pick the right one for the task in hand
Chod hook
The major element of this hook is the pronounced out-turned eye, which makes this pattern perfect for use with stiff materials such as fluorocarbons.
Although such materials have improved in recent years, fluorocarbons and monfilaments were traditionally found to weaken considerably when tied to an in-turned eye with a knotless knot.
These days, chod rigs are all the rage and these hooks are the only sensible choice for such a presentation.
Long shank
Long and thin, these hooks are perfectly suited for use with bottom baits.
If you are fishing with particle baits such as sweetcorn or tiger nuts, then these hooks are the perfect accompaniment, yet are rarely used by anglers these days.
The long shank can push your bait too far away from the point of the hook, but trapping the hair on the bend with a piece of tubing will eliminate this problem.
Curved shank
Whereas the other hooks on this page have a straight backbone, these hooks are curved in the shank.
Popular in the fly-fishing world, carp anglers realised their potential many years ago and they are now a common sight at most carp waters. The curved shank is considered to make these hooks harder for the fish to eject.
Some more advanced set-ups, such as the KD rig, rely on the hooking mechanics of curved-shank hooks.
wide gape
Perhaps the most classic looking carp pattern, a wide-gape hook is a good
all-rounder. They are great for use with bottom baits but come into their own with buoyant baits, either in the form of pop-ups or on the surface. In the latter scenario, wide-gape hooks are chosen due to their high strength-to-size ratio.
The large gape (the distance between the point and the shank) improves the chances of the hook catching hold as the fish expels your hookbait.
Fishing Rig Guide | Roach Helicopter Feeder Rig
Britain’s favourite species can be caught on a wide range of different tactics, from float fishing to the Method feeder.
One of the most effective tactics, especially in winter, is a helicopter feeder combined with maggots for feed and hookbait. This rig works in both stillwaters and rivers and creates a concentration of bait with the hookbait in the centre. With a heavy enough feeder, the rig produces a bolt-effect that means most fish, even shy-biters, are efficiently hooked.
Regular, accurate recasting is essential because the only bait introduced will be through the feeder. Fresh white maggots are the only bait required and recast every 30 minutes to give the feeder time to empty.
Because the feeder is quite heavy, do not be tempted to use a light mainline. Stick to a breaking strain of at least 6lb to avoid cracking off on the cast. The hooklength also does not have to be too thin. With such a short hooklength, a slightly thicker diameter line helps to reduce tangles, thanks to its stiffness.
1) Cut a 30cm length of the Powerline to form the hooklength. This can be between 0.11mm and 0.15mm in diameter
2) Tie on the hook using a spade-end knot, but pass the line through the eye first. This kicks the hook at an angle that improves hooking
3) Tie the Mini Rig Swivel to the other end of the hooklength. The hooklength should have a finished length of 10cm to 15cm
4) Trap the hooklength swivel between a pair of Gripper Stops. The hooklength should be just above the feeder when the rig is complete
5) Tie on the feeder using a four-turn grinner knot. A feeder weighing a minimum of 30g creates a good bolt-effect for better hooking
Fishing Rig Guide | safe pike leger rig
While it’s always nice to watch a float, there are lots of days when legering is a much more efficient way of deadbaiting for pike.
Perhaps the fish can only be caught at range, or the wind is so bad that floats are difficult to see. Even fishing several swims with very different depths can mean that legering is the better option.
Whatever the reason, using strong tackle that enables the hooks to be straightened before the line breaks is a must, especially in snaggy swims.
Another important consideration is to protect the line above the leger weight. Often because of the weight of the bait, the trace will land in a coiled heap above the weight, which can lead to pike picking up the line in their mouths with the risk of a bite-off.
To combat this, an uptrace above the weight should be incorporated into the rig. An uptrace is simple to create, and can even be bought ready-made if you prefer. Combining strong line, wire and an uptrace will ensure that your rigs are safe and enable you to enjoy trouble-free piking.
1) A 90cm length of wire makes the uptrace. Heat the last 3cm until it glows orange-hot, making it easier to twist
2) Bend the last 3cm over 180° and thread through swivel. Pass through the loop to lock the wire in place
3) Use a Twiddlin’ Stick through the eye of the swivel to form tight turns in the wire, locking it in position
4) The finished wire twist should look like this. Alternatively, you could crimp the wire in place
5) Thread a Swivel Cover on to the wire and pull it over the end of the swivel. This helps to prevent tangles
6) Thread an XL Buffer Bead on to the end of the wire, with the bulbous end pointing downwards to the free end
7) Attach Cross-lock Swivel to the wire via the Twiddlin’ method. Pull the XL Buffer Bead on to the swivel
8) Attach Flat Pear Lead to an XL Run Ring and slide ring on to the uptrace. The ring should clear uptrace swivel
9) Attach a two-hook semi-barbless trace of your chosen hook size to the Cross-lock Swivel on the uptrace
10) Tie the swivel on the top of the uptrace to the mainline braid using a doubled-over four-turn grinner knot
Fishing Bait Guide | How to pop-up your peperami
Peperami has to rate as one of the best alternative winter hookbaits. It’s durable, cheap and highly attractive and you should always have a stick or two of ‘rami’ in your bag during a winter session.
To make it more attractive, turn it into a pop-up so it stands off the bottom and in the carp’s eye line.
1) Cut a 1in chunk of Peperami and leave the outer skin intact
2) Remove centre of the Peperami with a bait corer or meat punch
3) Insert a cylindrical cork plug so it fits snugly
4) Cut off the excess cork plug so that it is flush to the bait
5) Hair rig the hookbait and place a small split shot underneath
Fishing Bait Guide | Best winter fishing baits
Struggling to catch this winter? Then maybe you aren't using the right baits while out on the bank fishing. Don't worry though as we are about to point you in the right direction when it comes to using the best winter baits when out fishing that are guaranteed to help you catch more. Check them out below.
Make a corn-aligner
Everyone has heard of the mag-aligner rig. But have you ever tried a corn-aligner? This clever little set-up uses a piece of fake corn over the eye of the hook rather than a maggot and is great when fished over a spod mix of hemp and corn or with a small PVA stick.
The rig can be fished with just the single grain of fake corn over the eye of the hook or with a grain of real corn on the hook too. here is how to make one for yourself...
1) Tie a short braided hooklink to your hook using a grinner knot
2) Pierce fake corn with a gated baiting needle from thin end
3) Attach the end of your hooklink to the needle and thread the corn down towards the hook
4) Position the corn over the hook. It should sit so that the eye of the hook is in the middle of the corn
Coat your maggots for added attraction
Maggots are attractive in their own right, but you can make them even more irresistible by flavouring them. A good way to do this is to give them a dunk in a liquid glug before dropping them into your chosen powder.
Krill powder is hard to beat but don’t be afraid to think outside of the box and try things such as Angel Delight from the supermarket. Dip the maggots into the dry powder just before you cast.
Add some hi-viz to your PVA bag
A hi-viz pop-up cast out with a small mesh PVA bag of pellets is a classic winter offering. But if you want to increase the chances of carp being drawn towards your trap, crush a couple of pop-ups and add them to your PVA bag. As well as the increased visual attraction, this will make the mix much more active as the small buoyant flecks will float up in the water and pull carp from up in the water down towards your hookbait.
Fishing rig guide | Helicopter Rigs
The helicopter rig gets its name from the rotational movement of the hooklink around the leader when the rig is cast out.
This spinning motion gives the set-up excellent anti-tangle properties because the hooklink is stretched out and cannot wrap itself around the leader.
Having the lead weight on the end of the line makes the presentation aerodynamic and is therefore a great choice when long casts are required. By adjusting the position of the top bead, you can also ensure that your hooklink is presented effectively over almost any type of lakebed.
How to make a helicopter arrangement
1) Thread on a helicopter sleeve and then splice or tie a quick change clip on to the end of your leader. Attach your chosen lead to the clip
2) Thread a small bead, your hooklink, a small section of 0.75mm silicone tubing and a second small bead on to the leader
3) Wet with saliva and push top bead over the tubing. To ensure the rig is safe, the bead should be lose enough to be pushed off in the event of a crack off
4) If you’re are fishing over thick silt, push the silicone tubing and top bead a few inches up the leader to allow the hooklink to settle on top of the silt
GREAT RIGS TO FISH ON A HELICOPTER PRESENTATION
THE CHOD RIG
This is a pop-up rig comprising a short, stiff hooklink. Setting the top bead at the depth of the weed or silt prevents the hookbait from becoming masked.
BOTTOM BAIT RIG
There’s often no need to use anything more complicated than a straightforward bottom bait rig. A hooklength length of 8in is reccomended.
FAKE CORN RIG
This set-up is perfect for fishing over a bed of corn and hemp or on its own with just a PVA bag of small pellets. Hair-rig the baits so that are tight to the hook.
Fishing Rig Guide | River perch rig
Legering is often seen as a lazy tactic. The perception is that the baited rig is cast out, the rod placed on the rest and it’s then a matter of hoping for the best. But Rob’s leger tactics are much more active. He is constantly working the rig to try and gain a response from any hungry predators.
“Perch will always choose to attack a bait that is wriggling and that explains why worms work so well for them.
“At this time of year there is likely to be a lot of debris on the bottom as a result of the trees dropping their leaves, and your hookbait can easily get lost among all of this.
“In order to make sure the hookbait stands out, I like to twitch it along the bottom at regular intervals. If I don’t get any indications within a couple of minutes, I will twitch the rig a couple of inches.
“You’d be surprised how many bites come immediately after doing it. It proves that more often not there are perch sat in the swim but they might not even be able to see your hookbait.”
A heavy feeder on the bottom is difficult to twitch and will look unnatural and spook fish when it suddenly jolts, so Rob prefers to use a link leger. If that isn’t possible in the conditions he will use the smallest maggot feeder that will continue to hold the bottom.
How to tie a running link leger rig
1) Thread the large bore running ring and clip on to your mainline
2) This is then followed by the angled buffer bead
3) Tie the swivel supplied with the Running Rig Kit to the mainline
4) Thread the anti-tangle sleeve on to your hooklink and tie to swivel
5) Push the anti-tangle sleeve over the eye of the swivel
6) Tie on a Korum Xpert Specialist hook using a palomar knot
7) Pass a loop of line through the clip on the base of the running ring
8) Pinch a couple of SSG shot onto the line to form the link leger
Fishing Rig Guide | The Dropshot Rig
The drop shot rig is perhaps the easiest way to start lure fishing for perch. It is equally effective used on a wide variety of venues and for perch of all sizes.
With an easily interchangeable weight attached below the lure, you can be sure that you are always fishing close to the bottom, and can instantly adjust the depth of the lure simply by moving the position of the weight.
Best fished on a slow, hesitant, retrieve with plenty of pauses and small twitches, a drop shot enables you to cover the water thoroughly and at different speeds – ideal when water temperature is low and the perch will be hugging the bottom. Try it on your local canal, river, or lake, in fact anywhere that perch are to be found.
For best results combine this rig with light braid of around 10lb. The lack of stretch in braid will give much improved bite indication, and enable you to feel every pebble and strand of weed on the bottom. Combine this with soft lures ranging from 3cm to 9cm.
1) Tie the drop shot hook to the centre of a 1.5m length of 6lb fluorocarbon using a Palomar knot
2) Tie the top end of the fluorocarbon leader to the mainline braid using a double four-turn water knot
3) Attach the drop shot weight to the bottom of the fluorocarbon leader and adjust the position to set the depth
4) The lure can be hooked in several ways. For maximum movement, hook it through the nose like this
Fishing bait guide | Fishing for carp with corn
With carp queuing up down the margins, Phil Reynolds was determined to make the most of the final hour of his session.
Piling in the bait throughout the day had led to his tray being almost empty, but a few scraps could still be found in the bottom of his corn tub.
Tails that looked bigger than anything he had landed suddenly began to show in the shallow water and, in a desperate bid to catch the owner of one, he latched on several scraps of the supermarket offering that remained.
In went the rig, and moments later the float rocketed under, the elastic shot out and it was game on. Minutes later a giant 15lb mirror was nestled in the bottom of the net.
“That day at Willow Marsh Fishery a couple of years ago put me on to a tactic that has caught me so many big fish since, and I have to confess
I stumbled on it by accident,” explained Phil.
“I used the skins of a few grains of corn that I could find and I did it again several times that session and banked numerous other double- figure lumps in a short period.
“Since then I have used corn skins as a hookbait almost every time I have been to a commercial and there is no doubt it has helped me pick out bigger fish.”
HOW TO HOOK CORN SKINS
1) Take a grain of sweetcorn and squeeze out all the pulp from the middle
2) Once the pulp has been discarded, hook the remaining skin
3) Place five or six skins on the hook to create an easily visible bait with minimal food content
Fishing bait guide | How much to feed when fishing
After location, what bait to use when fishing and how much to introduce must rank as the biggest conundrums facing the angler. For most coarse fishing there is always a trade-off between using enough bait to attract and entice the fish into feeding confidently and not overfeeding and ruining your chances of catching.
A good place to start in trying to shed some light on this question is to look at how much food fish need to consume to survive and grow. This question in itself is not straightforward. As fish are cold-blooded animals their metabolic rate will vary in relation to water temperature. The colder the water the less calories fish need to consume, the opposite of most warm-blooded animals. At the optimal temperature, with all other factors being equal, fish can consume around 2% of their body weight in food per day. For a 10lb carp this equates to just over three ounces of food per day. This is at a temperature in the mid-twenties centigrade, something that is rarely seen in the UK, except in shallow ponds.
Each species has a slightly different optimum temperature for food consumption, with cold-water species being significantly lower than those that prefer warmer conditions. For all species, though, food consumption falls away rapidly as the temperature drops. In winter fish will need only a fraction of this optimum amount.
As water temperature decreases the time it takes for food to pass through the gut also increases. From as little as a few hours in the summer, gut passage time can extend to several days in winter.
This has a knock-on effect, as fish will only eat when they are hungry and this is partially controlled by the fullness of their gut.
In the controlled environment of a fish farm, where environmental conditions and stocking density of the ponds is known with a degree of accuracy, it is possible to control the amount of food applied to maximise the growth of the fish while also minimising waste. The chances are that when fishing your local river or pool there is no way that you are going to know exactly how many fish are in your peg and if they happen to have fed prior to your arrival. This makes estimating the amount of bait you are going to need virtually impossible, although we can use a few rules of thumb to remove some of the guesswork.
The first thing to bear in mind is that fish have very acute senses which enable them to determine what is edible and its location with a great degree of accuracy. A carp, for instance, can easily find a grain of sweetcorn on the bottom. Most fish will also have a clear memory of eating bait in the past. Rather than having a ‘five-second memory’, most fish have a very good recollection of their environment, the food within it and what is edible. Thirdly, fish will be stimulated to feed by the behaviour of their shoal-mates, so once one fish begins to feed, the others are likely to follow suit.
So it makes much more sense to introduce bait sparingly to begin with and build-up the swim as more fish arrive, or as the food is consumed. Underwater filming tells us two things; often the hookbait is one of the last baits to be eaten and that fish are messy eaters, often spreading out bait as they wash it around the swim. The old adage of feeding to your bites, and topping up after each fish, makes good sense.
Attempting to estimate how many fish are in your peg is very difficult, but it is likely to be several times the number that you manage to catch. Should you then feed as if there were more fish in your peg? Often the answer is no, as these fish are likely to be the ones that are feeding less confidently, either because they are timid, or have eaten recently elsewhere.
In small enclosed venues, limiting the amount you feed is also eminently sensible as bait can lead to the water quality being affected, whether it is eaten or not.
Bait, whether it is maggots, groundbait, boilies, or any other, will introduce extra nutrients to the water. All nutrients will be broken down by bacteria, which will proliferate where there is an excess of waste.
In turn, algae can bloom where there are high levels of simple nutrients, which again can lead to poor conditions for fish. While we sometimes think of uneaten bait as being the most polluting, it can in fact be bait that has been broken down, but not absorbed, as it has passed through the gut of the fish which has the biggest short-term effect on the environment.
So, ironically, introducing too much bait can lead to poor water quality, which can adversely affect the appetite of coarse fish. This is why many fisheries limit the amount or type of bait that can be used, especially during the summer months when the stressors on the environment can be particularly acute. While the type of bait used can have an effect, often it is the amount of bait that is much more important to limit.
Fishing bait guide | Dobbing bread for carp
'Dobbing' for bread in the depths of winter is probably one of the best ways to keep the carp biting when everyone else around you may be struggling. We asked three times Fish O’Mania champion Jamie Hughes about some of his best dobbing tips that will give you a fighting chance of catching a carp at this time of year.
“On the face of it, lifting and dropping your rig all day sounds incredibly simple but there is much more to dobbing than that,” explained Jamie.
“You need to build up a strategy and make decisions on several factors. Make the wrong choices and you could be sat on a huge shoal of fish and still suffer a blank. “Get things right, though, and you could have over 100lb when the odds are well and truly stacked against you.”
Swim choice
Picking the correct location is imperative if you want to succeed in winter. A large proportion of pegs on your favourite commercial will be devoid of life, with the fish holding up in a select few spots.
These swims are likely to have a number of features that will make them an obvious choice when you first arrive on the bank.
“If a peg has plenty of cover then there is every chance it will be full of fish. Overhanging trees, big beds of rushes or other snags offer sanctuary from bad weather. The cover they provide could make the water very slightly warmer which the fish will be able to detect.
“On snake lakes where every peg looks the same, it is important to gain information from local experts and match results to learn where the fish have been showing,” he advised.
Jamie always starts to dob close to the cover, but won’t hesitate to enthusiastically investigate open water spots.
“I pay close attention to where nearby anglers are fishing. If they tip some bait in open water and catch a few fish, I will have a look at a similar area in my peg.
“I won’t feed a thing as adding bait might catch you a few quick fish but they soon get full and back away. I simply lift and drop the rig regularly over the area trying to nail the hookbait right in front of them, which is usually enough to convince them to suck it in.”
Depth decisions
One of the first duties when you first set up your pole is to plumb the depth.
Understanding the contours beneath the surface can be key but this is one style of pole fishing where Jamie prefers to leave the plummet in his box.
“No matter how subtle you are, dropping a plummet into the middle of a shoal of carp can instantly spook them.
“I prefer to have a rough guess at what the depth will be. If you speak to the fishery owner they will be able to help you build a picture up of what is going on underwater.”
The depth at which you set the rig depends entirely on how much water you think you have in front of you but enabling the bait to sit off the deck works wonders.
“Big carp don’t sit firmly on the bottom in winter because this is often where the coldest water sinks too.
“More often than not they are just off it in a slightly warmer layer. If I have 2ft of water I will try and get my hookbait 6in off the bottom, and a foot off if it’s 3ft-6ft.
“That said, it is all about trial and error and shallowing up or going a few inches deeper can make a massive difference and help you locate fish that won’t budge from where they are sat.”
Bread the best bait
You want to give the fish every opportunity to spot your hookbait and then suck it in so your offering must have two important qualities.
Firstly, it must be bright and visual so that is stands out like a sore thumb. Secondly, it needs to be light so that it sinks slowly. Bread is the ideal solution and is Jamie’s first choice every time.
“A punched disc of bread offers everything you want. I use a 7mm disc as it falls through the water at the ideal rate. Give it a gentle squeeze to remove air and stop it from floating,” he added.
A loaf that is fluffy yet has fairly thick slices works best and Jamie uses Warburtons Toastie.
On the move
If you start dobbing and fail to get any bites don’t be downhearted. The fish could be sat a metre away and their sluggish nature means they won’t budge.
In order to cover every inch of his swim, Jamie has come up with a routine that makes sure he keeps the bites coming.
“I will lay the rig in on its side so that the hookbait falls in a natural arc and then give it 30 seconds. If I don’t get any bites I will lift the rig out and drop it in the same spot again.
“If that still doesn’t work, I will drop the rig in somewhere else, either next to another snag or a gap in the reeds. No matter how small a feature is, it is worth investigating. On snake lakes I will simply move a metre away and try again, repeating the process.”
By exploring dozens of different areas and constantly adjusting depth, Jamie rarely fails when dobbing.
“You wouldn’t think it would be possible to catch 100lb of fish without feeding, but a few slices of bread is all you need to bag up in freezing conditions.”
Beginners guide to feeder fishing
Guru’s match ace lifts the lid on the little tricks that give him the edge when fishing the feeder whether you are a beginner or and experienced pro these tips are well worth a try on UK stillwaters.
Always use fishmeal
Using the right groundbait is essential when open-end feeder fishing on stillwaters. In my eyes, no matter what time of year it is, you need a fishmeal-based groundbait mix. In winter, however, I use a toned-down sweet fishmeal- style mix.
Mainline Match Super Fine Pole Mix has a fishmeal base with the sweet addition of Cell – an additive that bream and skimmers adore. The groundbait is very fine and has an attractive texture, with the key fishmeal and sweet ingredients that attract and hold fish.
Cast further in the cold
When the temperature drops, fish on big open-water lakes naturally move further out. It’s not always the easiest and most comfortable way of fishing, but making the effort to fish further out will pay off when the temperature drops.
Fish move into deeper water, and often huddle in the deepest areas of large lakes in the winter.
At Furzton Lake, Milton Keynes, where we’re fishing today, you can often catch fish easily at 30m-40m. However, after the cold spell I’ve had to venture out to 50m to start getting bites.
Be prepared to step-up your tackle and go that extra distance to find the fish.
Start with small baits
For me, this time of the year is all about getting bites. If you can start catching smaller fish and getting bites early in a session, you can work towards building your swim and target bigger fish later when they move in to see what’s going on. This often means starting on lighter terminal tackle with smaller baits.
A nice starting point for skimmers and bream on stillwaters is a size 14 LWGF hook, which is ideal for small pieces of worm or double maggot – baits that get you easy bites. Roach and small skimmers are usually the first fish into the swim and can provide early action.
As the session progresses, however, you’ll see the stamp of fish improve and more quality fish will make an appearance. Once this happens, single these out quickly and effectively by switching to bigger baits such as hair-rigged corn or a dumbell wafter mounted on a stronger size 14 or 16 MGWB hook. Rather than waiting for bites with these big baits early in a session, start smaller and work your way up to using these bigger more selective baits when the fish are feeding.
Fluorocarbon in clear water
Using a fluorocarbon hooklength is a big advantage when fishing the feeder. This material is almost invisible in water, a big advantage when the water becomes clearer and fish become wary in winter.
This material is also stiff, making it less prone to tangling than mono, and ideal when casting a long way on the feeder.
Another key advantage to this material is that it’s heavy, helping to pin down your hooklength. When you’re waiting for bites from big, quality fish, having a static bait pinned to the bottom is the ultimate presentation.
Always take pellets
One bait I wouldn’t go feeder fishing without is pellets. The reason? Simply, fish all over the country see them so often. They are a cheap and easy-to-use bait that fish love to eat. And they make a welcome feed addition to help you bulk out expensive baits such as worms and casters.
I never go skimmer and bream fishing without 2mm Mainline Match Cell Pellets.
Cast accurately
When fishing the feeder, it’s easy to become a touch dismissive about accuracy. But accuracy is more important than ever in winter. These days, tackle is so good it’s very easy to be accurate too. Most reels come with a line clip, which you can use to make sure you hit the same distance every time. It’s then simply a case of picking a far-bank marker and make sure that you’re aiming in the same direction every time.
Looking at this as you release the feeder will really help your accuracy. Once I’ve established the place that I want to fish, I measure how far out this is by using a pair of distance sticks. This gives you the option to set a bed of feed and build a swim at a certain distance, but if you want to try fishing further past the feed area or in front of it, you can.
However, you can always clip up at the same distance by using the sticks. Often, you can steal extra fish later in a session by doing this.
Use braid to spot more bites
Where allowed, using braid is a big advantage for bream and skimmer fishing. First, it’s great for bite magnification, meaning you see more bites and smaller bites are exaggerated. In cool water, fish don’t move as much and take baits with less aggression.
Another great advantage of braid is that it will show up line bites very clearly, enabling you to see when there are fish in the swim. If you’re getting indications but not catching, you’re urged to try different baits or little tricks to tempt a fish into feeding.
Often people say that they’ve had liners but aren’t catching. This shows that the fish are in the swim but you haven’t cracked the right combo of hookbait or feed in the feeder. For me 0.10mm Pulse 8 Braid is the ultimate tool for spotting bites right now. Combined with a shock leader of 8lb Pulse line, you have the perfect stillwater feeder combo.
THE BEST FEEDERS TO USE WHEN FISHING
1) Bait-Up Feeder
Having a feeder to get some bait into the swim is imperative, something bigger than average that will enable you to create a feed area on the bottom. If you were fishing the pole you’d set a bed at the start, so why not do the same on the feeder?
What you put in to start depends on the venue and situation. If you’re expecting big fish, feed particles such as pellets, casters and corn. If the fishing is going to be tricky, take things steady with groundbait containing a few dead maggots, then up the feed content once the fish arrive. Bigger feeders don’t only come into play at the start of a session. A few casts with one during a session can draw fish into the swim, making noise and a cloud if you lightly press in the groundbait.
2) Cage feeder
These beauties are among my favourite feeders. You can do so much with them. They’re super effective in very shallow water when you need the bait to leave the feeder quickly.
By the same token, you can do some great little tricks with them to attract fish – for a start you can alter how hard the bait is packed into them. Lightly packing in feed will see it leave the feeder on impact with the water, making a surface cloud and a column of falling bait.
Packing it in a little harder will leave a trail as the feeder goes down. Squeezing it harder still will see it reach the bottom before releasing the bait.
All these different effects work at different times – ring the changes and try them to see what works on a given day.
3) Open-End Feeders
These have yet another use, protecting and holding the bait in the feeder for longer.
In deeper water, this can be a big advantage, taking the bait down to the bottom before releasing it in a tight, compact area. Even in shallow water, having a more confined feed area with less cloud can have a positive effect. With lots of small fish around, an open-end feeder may take your feed to the bottom with less commotion and trail of groundbait or particles.
Open-end feeders are great when feeding a lot of fine particles that would easily escape from a cage feeder on the way through the water. Finely chopped worms are lethal in an open-end feeder, kept tight and in the key area where you need them on the bottom.
Beginners guide to catching roach
Catching roach can be quite easy considering how packed nation’s river systems are with them. This mean you will likely be able to produce a few bites when the going gets tough. However if you present a single maggot or caster under a light floatfishing set-up then the action is bound to kick off in an instant and keep on going until you decide to pack up for the day.
Catching a bigger roach however is a completely different question and takes a lot more skill, commitment and effort to go out and find them. A 1lb-plus fish would be a special capture but a 2lb giant is something that most believe is reserved for the angling elite.
Matthew Tann disagrees. So here are his best tips to help you catch your best-ever roach.
Where to find roach
Whenever we anglers begin a new campaign we hunt high and low for information on the best venues to help get us off to a flyer.
We will tap into the vast knowledge held by tackle shop owners and online forums, but when big roach are on the agenda you have to do the complete opposite.
“Specimen roach thrive on neglect. If you find a stretch that barely gets any attention at all then there is a good chance it will be home to quality redfins,” said Matt.
“This is a species that doesn’t respond well to pressure once they grow to a large size, so any side streams, feeder waters or areas that haven’t got a good reputation could be ideal.” If your local river is fairly clear and narrow, spend time walking up and down with a pair of polarised sunglasses.
“Just because you don’t see anything the first time doesn’t mean roach don’t live there. It is worth undertaking several exploration trips before you look elsewhere. “When you finally find roach then that spot is worth attention for a long time. Roach are creatures of habit and will continue to revisit the same stretches throughout the seasons.”
Exploring the river will also help you analyse the contours of the riverbed and help you spot potential snags and areas where you could trot a float through.
If you make a mental note, or even take pictures of the clear water conditions with your phone, you will then be able to fish the river effectively even when the water colours up because now you’ll have a good idea of what is going on underwater.
ROACH FISHING TACKLE
Bread and maggot feeders have both accounted for some very impressive roach over the years but for Matthew, you can’t beat the thrill of using a float.
“Trotting a stick float through the swim gives a much more natural presentation, which is crucial. Roach are a very finicky species and will spook at any hint of danger,” he said.
A 15ft rod enables Matthew to trot the float through, enabling it to run before holding it back for a second to vary how the hookbait acts.
Mainline is 3.2lb Drennan Floatfish to a 2lb 8oz hooklength and a size 20 hook. Two or three maggots tend to be the best hookbait, although switching to casters can pay off.
Float choice is important, and a pattern that is sensitive yet remains buoyant in a decent flow is best. Matthew uses a DH Alloy Stem No.1 Shallow Water Stick, and in fairly steady conditions one taking 6xNo.4s is often ample.
When to feed for roach
As a simple rule of thumb, the bigger the fish get, the more bait you have to introduce to satisfy their needs.
But that doesn’t apply to large roach. Lash in the loosefeed and you’ll be on a hiding to nothing, with a blank more than likely.
Give them a large carpet to feed over and they’ll become preoccupied with it, ignoring your hookbait as it runs through the swim.
“Roach absolutely love hemp, and because of that I don’t like to feed too much of it,” cautioned Matt.
“If there is lots of it in your swim they will gorge themselves on that and eat nothing else.
“I feed a small handful of maggots, casters and a few grains of hemp directly in front of me and this will run down the swim and leave a few morsels that act as an attractant to keep the fish in the peg once they arrive.
“I only introduce this amount once every three runs through the swim with the float.”
Wait it out for roach
If you were fishing for chub or pike on a river in winter you would be constantly on the move. You’d spend 10 minutes in each swim and if you gained no response you would up-sticks and look for the next likely spot.
But yet again with big roach, you need to rip up the rulebook and do the opposite. Big roach could be present in the swim from the moment you get there, but that doesn’t mean they’ll play ball straight away.
“I’ve been able to see my rig run right past big roach in clear water and they haven’t moved at all, showing no initial interest in feeding.
“But you can almost frustrate them into having a go and if you keep trotting the float through and putting in a little bait in every now and then you can provoke a response.
“That is why I always give each swim at least an hour. Even if the water is coloured, you should persevere in the swim, especially if it has previous form or you can see the fish.”
It would be a complete lie to say that catching a new personal-best roach from a river is easy, but Matthew’s theories and success rates show that the rewards are definitely there for those willing to put in the groundwork and go the extra mile.
Beginners Guide to fishing leads
Lead choice is one of those areas of fishing that you may think is relatively straightforward. That is until you walk into a tackle shop and are greeted with a wall full of leads of different shapes, sizes, textures and even colours. So which ones should you choose?
The answer to that question will largely depend on which fishing situation you find yourself in.
A lead’s first job is to provide enough weight for you to cast your rig the desired distance. But certain shapes are also better for fishing over different types of lakebeds or casting long ranges. Knowing what type of lakebed you’re fishing over also enables you to choose the best colour or texture of lead to blend in with the surroundings. This is especially useful when targeting pressured carp that are used to dealing with rigs. So here are details of the main types of lead and when to use each one.
Pear Lead
A real all-rounder, these are suited to a range of angling situations. They are easy to cast accurately because their shape keeps them stable in flight.
The large rounded end makes it easier to feel the lead hit the bottom than a lead with a slimmer or pointed end. The dumpy body also means fish will come into contact with the full weight of the lead as soon as they straighten out the hooklink leading to more positive takes.
Casting range: Up to 80 yards
Pros: Casts accurately
Cons: Will bury in silt or weed
Flat pear lead
This flat, condensed version of the pear lead is great for fishing on sloping marginal shelves or on the sides of gravel bars because it won’t roll out of position.
Its large surface area helps it to sit on top of weed or silt, especially lighter 1oz-1.5oz leads, but it is also excellent on firm lakebeds. Like the standard pear lead, it also has excellent hooking properties.
Casting range: Short to medium
Pros: Will remain in position on slopes
Cons: Can’t be cast big distances
Gripper Lead
There’s nothing subtle about these specialist leads. They are designed for fishing in extreme conditions and are more popular with anglers on the Continent fishing large reservoirs than with anglers in the UK. If you are fishing on steep slopes or a powerful river then a gripper lead will help to hold your rig in place.
Casting range: Short range
Pros: Heavy grippers will hold in place on steep slopes and in strong currents
Cons: Not great for casting
Inline lead
Inline leads are the only type you should use when fishing with solid PVA bags. As the hooklink is attached directly to the lead, as soon as a fish picks up the hookbait and straightens out the hooklink they will come into contact with the full weight of the lead. A short hooklink with an inline lead is possibly the best hooking arrangement around. Inlines should be avoided when fishing over deep silt or weed where the hooklink can be left in debris.
Casting range: Up to 80 yards
Pros: Excellent hooking properties
Cons: Can pull hooklink into lakebed debris
Distance leads
Sleek and streamlined, these torpedo-shaped leads are built for distance. If you need to cast distances over 100 yards, these are essential.
Good weight distribution makes them highly stable and accurate in flight. They lend themselves to both lead clip and helicopter presentations. Apart from your terminal rigs, they can also be used as feature-finding tools.
Casting range: 100 yards-plus
Pros: Can be cast big distances
Cons: Will roll down sloping banks
Bottle lead
This retro classic was widely used by big-fish anglers across Europe in the 90s and was considered one of the best shapes ever produced. Avid recently re-released this favourite.
With its elongated shape it is the perfect general purpose profile for a multitude of situations. The new Avid Bottle leads feature a double barrel flexi ring swivel moulded directly into the top of the lead as opposed to being mounted on a brass loop. This improves the lead’s bolt effect properties.
Casting range: Short to medium
Pros: Impressive bolt effect properties
Cons: Can’t be cast really long ranges