bagging up

[Tony Osborne]

i fish a "paddling pool" 3ft all the way across but stuffed with tench and carp.how do i bag up on this water? i catch about half a dozen fish when everyone else pull 100lb of fish! do i use groundbait? what baits should i use? help!!

 

[Stephen Shaw]

For tench I use the same method almost where ever i fish, A light wagler, 2 to 2AAA (Use the lightest float you can for the position you need to fish) all the shot up top except one small no. 4 or 6 about 4" from the hook, set so this shot is just off or just touching the bottom, Make shure the float is shotted right down so that only the tip shows ( I quite often use the longer tips 3" to 4" long), Look for features, Weed beds, fish as close in to them as you can, Reeds, same again. Tench love the margins in the summer, so try in close. most of my best fish have been hooked under the rod tip quite often in less than a foot of water
Best baits corn fished on a size 10 or 14, Bread moulded hard on to a 10 or 8 ( but leave the tip of the hook exposed) bread balls sometimes work well
As for grounbait, very rearly, just loose feed corn, or small bread balls, a small amount per cast, depending on how the fish are feeding
Only use ground bait if the fish are not responding, but only in small amounts
For groundbait try this Soak and mulch bread, add bran to stiffen just enough to get it to go where you want it, add some hemp if you like, but beware, tench can become pre-occupied in it.

 

[gary magee]

Tony I fish a water remarkably similar to the one you fish. what i do is dispense with the float altogether and fish a pole to any surface feature you have or if you havn’t any fish the longest pole length you can comfortably get away with. This method works best with the pole between your legs and with it resting on a polerest. Depending on the size of the fish your lake holds your elastic should be at least a size up from the one you normally use. Position the rest so your pole tip is about 8 inchs above the surface and set your line length so your bait is originally at half depth. lines should be at least be 1lb heavier than your usual set up and hooks no smaller than a 12.if theres a slight wind position a shot just above the surface(this can also act as bite indicator). now the make or break part the feeding:
start by feeding a good pouch full every 30 secs or so maggots are best but if your bothered by nuisance try pellet or finely cubed luncheon meat. Bites will consist of alsorts of knocks and rattles ignore these and only react to good solid pulls and your elastic being pulled. the strike should not be upwards but backwards, this is acomplished by pulling your pole back at least 3 sections this not only sets the hook but pulls the fish out of the feeding area so you can play it in the normal way without disturbing your swim. If after a while the fish become a bit finicky and are feeding but ignoring your hook bait try upping the feeding for a couple of minutes (say every 15 secs) then stop abruptly this will cause the fish to suddenly panic creating competition in your swim and increase your chances of a bite.
the advantages of this method over a more conventional float set up in shallow water is that you do not have to wait for your float to settle and you are a lot less likely to strike at false bites plus fish in shallow water can be very wary of floats in their midsts .if you experience a lot of foal hooking using this method try shallowing up an don’t be afraid to come practically up to the surface.
I hope this method is as successful for you as it is for me.