Roach to hand - My way.

Its something we've almost all done at some point in our angling lives. Its also something I'm willing to bet a lot of people have struggled with, missed bites, poor bite indication etc.

As I always say, simple changes can bring large differences. Lets go over my rigs for up in the water silver fishing.

First of all, float choice is key. Forget everything you know about pole fishing. The way I see it, finesse goes out the window with this method, the most important areas of this type of fishing is Hooking into them, Tangle free approach and speed. Nothing else really matters. Float choice is a simple choice really, I don't want anything to heavy, but I want a slight bolt effect, so a commercial margin float would be ideal.

This is my choice - NG Margin HD.

The float is durable, which is key. It'll also only show a bite when its a proper one! You don't want to be in and out all day long, its stupid. Like I say, its simple.

Line choice for me is the ever popular Middy Fluorocarbon, keep to something that suites the situation size wise, but for me on most naturals or commercials around the 4lb mark will land anything.

Shotting patterns I like to keep simple to0, using a .4g float for most of my work, which takes 7 x no.8s to take down half the orange, I string 4 out and keep a bulk below my float so it cocks straight away, this is important as a lot of bites are on the drop. This may seem a bit heavy handed, but it'll pay using the larger float.

Hook choice, now you may think this is a little odd, but remember finesse has no place here, so I keep it large, I wouldn't hesitate in using single red on a size 16 If they were havin' it properly. Simple B911 or Silverfish pellet is my choice.

 

Putting the right rig onto the right top kit

 

This is almost as important as remembering to put the hook on!

 

First, make sure you make your rig around 7ft deep. I'm going to use my experience as an example here. In general, the most productive areas for roach fishing I've found are in the top third of the body of the water. The lake which I generally fish up in the water is 6-7ft deep on my line so i'm looking at 1-2ft deep. I'd then look to add another 4ft on top of my rig, this is what'll get the fish to your hand, so it wants to end up being around a foot short than your top kit (So it allows for the elastic to come out slightly). Elastic itself isn't overly important as long as its soft, I do prefer to use the low solids though. 4-8 etc.  If you wish to take the excess line from above the float and fish as normal but still get the to hand benefit you can fish a slightly lighter elastic so in theory it'll come out further and thus still getting to hand.

 

In general I start with a double 4 solid elastic. You have to use your own self judgement in order to decide what elastic to use, but double 4 is a good starter, the next move higher would probably be 11h for me.

 

Introducing the rig into the water is easy, I tend to stick to an over head flick (As with a rod)

 

So line is in a perfectly straight line and drops naturally.

 

As you see by my picture, its very shallow in the margin, but after the shelf it drops to 6ft. The benefit of the extra line comes to show in the clear water because your pole isn't visible.

 

Benefits come into play with experimenting with different feeding patterns. I like, all be it a bit of blatant OCD, introducing the same amount of bait as shot on the line. I like to think this makes a difference because when i'd like to hold back on the feed, but keep the fish interested, I can then reintroduce my rig and it sounds similar to me introducing freebees. The key here is to not have patients. Constant change is good. Albeit your still catching but if you get into perch, i'd recommend you need to change something, I'd go shallower. You can always tell perch bites as they are fast and you will mostly likely miss them. But obviously, not all perch are a bad thing. Check this specimen I had out whilst doing this article.

 

 

 

As long as you commit, you'll catch, it couldn't be simpler...

 

You put in,...

You wait for a positive bite.

You swing the quarry in!

 

Its a method I like to describe as fishing as a youngster with a bit more knowledge. If your wondering what baits I tend to use, I stick to absolute basics, so maggots really. May introduce slow sinking pellets but I really just want to keep introducing the same bait into the swim in regular intervals at least 4 times a minute.

As with other methods, there is simple changes you can make to maximise the amount of fish you catch. Another simple tip, is to always feed in the same couple of feet, but fish others.

As below, I'll look to feed in the red circle and fish inside the green circle, beware - silvers will often push out larger fish such as carp, so make sure if you go with the outer circle often, that you have the right set up. You have the best of both worlds using the twin circle though, you have a heavily fed area and a sparse area. (Notice the difference in the surface movement on the water at the bottom of the red circle? That's where it starts to get deeper).

If your struggling to hit the bites, experiment with the strikes, Ive often found that simply pulling the top kit back will often hook the slower bites.

Give it a go, its a good fun day and could win you that hard section or the hard days match!

Nathan @ Fish4thought.

P for pressure

Well, not been able to go fishing for the next few weeks is a killer. But i'm left tinkering with my old bits n bobs which still remain in my fishing office (The attic).


It's done me a bit of a favour really, ive started to play with old rigs i used to fish with and i think its about time for a come back on one or two of them. They're mostly aimed at commercial type carp waters, lakes that see a lot of pressure etc and normally have riggy fish.

So here it is, we all know that dog biscuit is a winning method on the top. We all know that pop ups are good on the deck, so why not combine it somehow? Something i used to good effect was a popped up dog biscuit at a certain small 'runs' water in ranskill, Lake side fisheries to be exact. Its not something im often into, but ill go to these sort of venues in the winter for a run or two, after all im only human.

You all know i like my simple rigs, but i also like to experiment a lot, if it works i dont change it, if i can make a rig simpler with less components and still catch i will, its all about saving time and money for me, just like it is for most anglers. So its no surprise i experiment which certain things you can find in 90% of the UK's house holds.

The number 1 rule for me in bait, and especially bait for pressured fish is giving them something different but with something they are accustomed to. A classic would be a snowman type set up - giving the same bait they enjoy, but giving it a different balance. We all know this is an absolute brilliant rig and to be fair is probably one of my favourite bait strategies for the larger carp i target.

So onto the rig,

Often, when using a soft bait (especially one that absorbs water) i tend not to pierce the bait, and dont go straight for the traditional hair rig, meaning more often than not i like to use floss, However....I've used a variant in the past. Something pretty much the same but a little different, going back to what i mentioned before, changing the balance.

Imagine a material that is thin enough to manipulate but stronger than floss and doesn't weaken under water. This is something along the lines of which i use. Its actually used for flower arranging.

 This really is a good material for certain things within my fishing. Its very supple, almost like lead, but without the toxins.

Anyway on to the rig!

I start by cutting a bit of the material off, 3 inches or so and wrapping it around my bait.

Then pull the two peices together and twist till tight.

Then, cut off and insert the nub end into the biscuit. I sometimes put rig ring in side the wire before i tie it off but more often that not i just leave it like this as i dont really see any need.

This is what you end up with. All we need to do know is attach it. A light knot is all that is required nothing to sophisticated.

 Something i will advise that you do is instead of cutting the tag end of melt it down and thumb in into the biscuit and wire. This just stops the hair from sliding up and down.

Once your sorted, just simply attach the hook with your prefered method. Keeping within the simple approach i just opt for the Knotless knot.

This is the finished rig. If your a bit dubious about it check it out before you shout your mouth off. It might just shut you up. If your wondering about the wire, which you probably are. The wire will be covered by the dog biscuit within 3 minutes. The wire is permanently attached to the hair, however if your not confident in retrieving this i suggest you tie it to a rig ring as i previously mentioned.

As i mention above, it doesnt take long at all for the wire to get covered. This is what the biscuit looks like after a 2 minute soak.

Once you get confident in using this stuff, it really is a good tool to have to change things around. The benefits to this and not the floss is that its much more durable. The biscuit will be on the hair long after the floss had cut through it. It adds a different feel on the deck, the hook remains on the deck but the hair gently floats with the biscuit about 5 mm above the hook, it really is a brilliant rig.


It doesn't just end there, be open minded and remember that small changes make a big difference.

Best ever method made for fishing..

I've got the best bait and methods to catching carp - FACT.

You wondering what it is?

You can have a whole host of the time proven baits out there with the best gear, but does it honestly catch you more fish? Does the bait give you the right spot at the right time for the only big fish in the lake? NO. Does a bait find a clear spot on the lake bed which is blind to the eye? NO. You do, your capabilities do this for you and your confidence lets you leave it there for a few days.

Im not saying that you can go and buy any bait and any tackle and expect to catch carp if your confident. What i am saying is thinking positively will 100% catch you more fish than thinking negatively. 

So, by now your probably thinking that who goes fishing and doesn't think positively and that your not going to chuck a bait in if your not at least thinking 'this should give me a bite'.

How do you manufacture your own confidence if you going through a dry spell?

So, this is where planning comes into it. A lot of the last few years has been spent on hard day ticket waters. I don't like to follow the pack and i dont particularly enjoy fishing for smaller carp anymore, its nothing personal to anybody but i like to keep my targets at a single fish or a group of large fish. While doing this planning and confidence really come into their own.

Obviously to plan a campaign on a water you need to know what resides in there, fish stock, weed, size all - the boring stuff but most of all you need to think like a carp. I don't care what anyone says; Fish are frequently doing a similar run. Fish are caught in the same spot year after year and getting to know these sort of facts is critical for self confidence let alone for planning a campaign.

So you've found a couple of spots, but your still blanking and you feel like a right useless twat. Whats the situation? Why is this so bad? You have just learned what times and areas are non productive. No matter what don't just stand still and let the time pass. You have to make the most of the time your out there and if you want the big girls then you seriously need to pull your finger out. A lot of people say i'm just lucky with the fish that i have caught but i've put so much work into every water ive fished i reckon i know 99% of the bottom on most of my waters. Its not luck at all, its planning and preparation.

So what next?

This is something i used to do DAILY. I used to do a certain circuit every 2 hours if i hadn't had a sign.

 The following swims are marked out in swims. The far two are where i constantly had seen fish, but more often than not they used to bath in the sun and often were not interested in feeding - this isnt to say i never caught from here!

Dont get me wrong, i only fished like this when it was difficult - but it brought results!

The swims were fished every day by me, all three. I used to give it 1 or 2 hours on each and if i hadn't a sign i used to feed and move. Not a massive amount of bait, possible 2 kilo with the stick. Just something to keep them in the area. The smaller section was probably my most productive area on the lake, responsible for 17 carp. 5 x 30's 2 x 40's and 5 x upper 20's with the rest being made up buy smaller carp. The baiting campaign, planning and the over all method of how i targeted this water gave me a lot of confidence. I knew that at some point i would get on the fish.

I'm guess people are thinking 'well im not a full time fisherman etc etc and all the negativity jargon that 50% of people come out with. Neither was i - Evening and mornings...

The point i'm trying to make is dont just turn up with the new bait someone has just invented in there shed and is going to be a masterpiece (Dont even get me started on that) and expect to bag up. Some venues take some real effort to drain results from. Look back at my time at clumber, take a guess how many fish i caught roughly from 280 sessions......89 fish. I did blank, but i turned it around and got it back in my favour. People always say you learn something everytime you go fishing, but this doesnt mean when you blank you need to change any of your tackle - has it ever come into your head that it might just be the wrong time of the day?

The bottom line is:

Planning = Positivity = Confidence = Results.

My close in and Margin rig.

Probably the most effect a rig and line has going through a swim is when it is fished close in and under your feet.

You lot have probably seen endless methods and rigs for targeting close in carp but I tend to stick to just one.

Here it is...

I use a leader sleeve or a rubber in line insert. I like to use this instead of the buffer type stopper bead because with that set up you require some bolt stops such as beads and when im looking to pin everything down i want extra putty on the last 4 metres so i'm not looking for any further obstructions for the lead if my line snaps far from the knot in the lead core. This is the main reason i look to this type of set up. It easily turns into a running rig once you have a run, but the fact is it takes a little pressure to get that lead moving. Note, i have chopped the swivel off and goes directly to the lead, you can squeeze  the swivel so it makes the eye shallow but i prefer it like this. Id top this off with around 1.8 - 2.5m of Leadcore at least, if im fishing very close in then i'd happily have leadcore running through the eyes on the rod.

All to complicated!

Do you ever wonder if people are just over complicating things? 

We all know that to sell the magazines and Jargon that we have to move forward, but for some reason some of the things i hear are taking carp fishing a step back to move the profits forwards. I'm seeing rigs that we just do not need and can be done a hell of a lot simpler with less hassle and probably works a hell of a lot better.

Just look at some of the rigs you see in the mags and simplify it in your head, and i reckon you'd improve it.

I've seen this particular rig i just don't like, i think it goes back to the days off the old method feeders - These.

So here we are, you generally thread this line an in line lead, so it is a safe rig, but what would you say would be wrong with using this method feeder? (If you use it properly like designed). One thing i identified and a lot of other people did to is the fact that you cant guarantee to have the hook bait on the right side of the feeder (Facing up - Instead of on the deck). This was a real issue in the match fishing world, so they took a step FORWARD, and designed an in line flat feeder or a feeder which only had weight on one side. This IS innovation and this is FORWARD thinking. 

The rig i'm suggesting is moving backwards is a similar sort of set up. Its not a feeder but a lead and i feel it sort of gone with the same design floor as the original method feeder.

Now don't get me wrong, im all for rig innovation and im not knocking the guy that's done the article. Its just unfortunate that i've come a cross this and i find it a perfect example of over rigging and under thinking. 

Lets say you cast this out, how sure are you it wont turn and lang on the under side of the rig? Yeah i hear what your probably saying about the extra buoyancy of the pop up but i still don't feel it. This will not catch you anymore fish than a simple drop off heli rig with a short tail, in fact it'd probably be better!#

So this brings me to this conclusion then, I use probably 5 types of rigs for all my bottom and pop up fishing, here is the break down (Fished on either Mono or Braid.)

Starting from left to right,

We have the Chod, this simple rig is probably accountable for 50% of the larger carp i have caught, I think the biggest i've had on this is 41lb. Ideal for distance fishing and searching the depths of the old plane bottomed lakes.

Next in we have the typical Arma or Fang type curved shank hook. I use these on the short hook links mostly. 

Next is just the regular wide gaped hook, plain old tied on but this time with a bit of shrink tubing and a simple loop in the hair going round the hook. I use this type of set up of smooth braids as it tends to absorb water and make the point heavier than just using a rig ring.  

Next in we have the old faithful, the plane Jane of carp rigs, the knotless knot plain and simple. Use this for probably 90% of my bottom fishing. 

Last but not least is the long shank set up. With the rig ring on the shank, offers great capability and hooking. I don't use the rig ring for another other than bait alignment and making the hook point heavier. I use this method mainly for snowman type set ups or if i wish to fish a long hair. This rig has landed me some big carp to 49lb.

Obviously the above would be in Mono or Braid and in several different colours, but the point is there. Simple rigs do still work.

Dont get blinkered by the mags and dont stare into that tunnel to long!

Estate Lakes

Where the obesion with Estates started. 

All through my carping career i've never been into "runs" waters or any fads that often go about in the mags etc. Ive always just had one interest and thats just to catch the fish im going for! I like the difficult aspect of fishing estates and old pits. Its got so much more accomplishment than any other type of fishing, mainly because if you dont know the carp, then your not going to catch 'em! It really is as simple as that.

In general, carp stocks in these type of venues tend to below with most of the resident carp being quite old, and with the exception of a couple of pounds either way do not tend to change in weight over the years. In the waters that I have fished, a similar trend seams to have emerged with respect to the weights of the carp, the average weight tends to be around the 28b mark with a handful of mid to upper doubles and a handful of mid to upper twenties with one or two pushing through into the 40's and even further in some cases. I am not saying that all small pits and estate lakes conform exactly, and can come up with a number of examples that quite obviously do not conform, however in my experience on the lakes that I have fished this is the case. The lakes also tend to be mixed fisheries with other species including roach, Bream, rudd, pike, tench and some very big perch.

History - Whilst the small pits tend to have been created by extraction of gravel, clay or sand; estate lakes tend to have been created for other purposes and by different means. Rather than digging a lake, estate lakes were usually created by damming off a stream, brook or river that runs through the estate, and is the reason a number of these waters have an inlet and an outlet. The majority of these type of waters will have a deep channel running through the centre where the original stream bed ran. These waters were created for a number of purposes, sometimes as a water supply, but often just as an ornamental lake, sometimes for his lordship to take guests fishing, usually for pike, or in order to attract ducks and geese to the estate for shooting. Lazy summer days were often spent floating around the lake in a boat, and is the reason why a number of estate lakes will have an old decrepit boathouse. Redmire Pool is probably the most famous example of a lake created by damming of a stream.

Quite often in clay areas, lakes were created by the construction of a mansion. Bricks and tiles for the mansion would often be hand made using the clay in the ground and the bigger the mansion, the bigger the lake as more excavation of clay was necessary. Similar lakes were also created by small independent brick companies, and even now, years after the demise of these businesses, evidence of this still exists in the way of broken bricks and tiles in the earth around the lake.

The lakes tend to be quite old and therefore very mature, some to the extreme where anglers who are not used to waters of this nature would class them as being too overgrown. To me this is part of their beauty and attraction. It is in these estate lakes and brick pits that I have gained most of my fishing experience, and despite their small size the very nature of them can make for some difficult and interesting fishing.

Firstly are the fish that patrol around most of the lake. These fish tend to follow a set pattern over a 24 hour period, and although it is easier to follow the carp around these patrol routes during the spring and summer months, I also believe that some fish continue the pattern throughout the year, only changing if forced to do so by movement of natural food sources. Throughout the patrol route taken by the carp will be regular feeding areas and as a rule of thumb feeding fish can often be found in these areas during the early morning and at around dusk.

The second category of fish are those that can be classified as being 'residential', these are fish that tend to stay in one area of the lake, and in comparison to those that follow a regular patrol route, there are far fewer in this category. Residential carp are most often found near to features in the lake, and in particular snags. As with patrolling carp, these residential carp also have favoured feeding areas and times, but these tend to be far less reliable than that of patrolling carp. Quite often the recognised best swim on the lake will be where feeding areas of the patrolling and residential carp over lap.

By working out patrol routes, feeding areas and locating residential fish, your catch rate can improve dramatically on such waters.

To increase you chances even more it is important to spend time feature finding. Now obviously you are not going to be trying to find gravel bars in a small silty estate lake as you would on a gravel pit, however there are numerous other features that can be found. These can also be divided into two categories, visible features and hidden features.

Visible features are those that can be seen such as snags, Lilly pads, reeds and in clear water weed and shallow areas. Unlike the small pits I have fished, most of the estate lakes have murky, coloured water making sub surface features difficult to see, with Redmire Pool a complete exception to the rule being very clear and weedy.

Some of the hidden features to look for are hard areas in amongst the silt, gravel patches, snags, marginal drop off's and concentrated areas of natural food such as blood worm or water mussels. Always smell you bait when you bring it in and if it stinks of rotten silt particularly if it has not been there long don't fish that spot. I've never caught whilst fishing over smelly silty areas.

I have found that this understanding of fish movement coupled with the knowledge of both visible and hidden features with in a lake has enabled me to fish far more productively than the angler that believes due to the size of the water fish must pass over his bait and soon enough one will find it too irresistible. This does happen but not often enough for me and I am grateful that there are anglers who are happy to sit and wait.

Incidently, I have never weather conditions found to make anywhere near as much of a difference as it does on larger waters, although temperature, strong winds and rain fall do obviously have an effect on feeding patterns.

Because of the low membership figures on a lot of these waters I often find myself in the fortunate position of being the only person at the venue which therefore allows me to move around the lake unhindered by other anglers, this gives me the perfect opportunity to move around just ahead of the fish and set my traps.

It is not always possible to fish in this idyllic manor due to the presence of other anglers and when I am in a situation where there are a few other people on the lake or in my favoured swims I will use this opportunity to get to know a swim or an area of a lake better.

I will still fish in the same way as that way at least I can be confident in something even if it is not the particular area I am in. More importantly, it has paid dividends. I have discovered new feeding areas in parts of the lake that I have tended to ignore in the past.

To conclude, I would recommend anyone who intends fishing these types of venues to get to know the pattern of the carp's movements around the lake, find the features and watch for feeding areas, particularly at common feeding times such as first light and dusk. Feed the margins and keep an eye on them. Don't be afraid to try something different, and don't be worry about sticking to winning formulas.

Talk to people and find out what they have caught, where from, what method and what bait they used. Some won't tell you, some will, and other will tell you but not the truth, its up to you do decide which information to take on board and which to discard.

Angling with an angle.

Just a quickie folks...

If your looking to get a nice angle from your hook without using skrink, try this little quick tip.

Tie your knotless knot as usual, but then just thread the eye a third time and knot at the same time....

It'll take it from this...

To this, without any hassle:)