Temperatures plummeted overnight, not surprisingly the already very cold water froze solid and a tough days sport lay ahead. Although faced with difficult conditions I knew that a thinking angler can prevail. By carefully working out how much and when / when not to feed; a few fish could be teased out for the camera.
I initially fed just three maggots via a mini pole cup, a good starting point and something to gauge the fishes reaction upon. Five minutes came and went biteless! The first feeding decision to make; should I introduce more feed or spend more time trying to tease the fish to bite?
I ALWAYS edge on the side of caution in these conditions; working on the assumption that an angler can always add more feed into the water but cannot take it out again!
The pole float rig fished via a 20 foot long match rod and centre pin set up was put to work. There are no set rules in this situation, an angler follows their gut instinct with regards things to try and in what order to try them. I have bullet pointed a few things that I do to try and tease a fish onto the hook.
I initially fed just three maggots via a mini pole cup, a good starting point and something to gauge the fishes reaction upon. Five minutes came and went biteless! The first feeding decision to make; should I introduce more feed or spend more time trying to tease the fish to bite?
I ALWAYS edge on the side of caution in these conditions; working on the assumption that an angler can always add more feed into the water but cannot take it out again!
The pole float rig fished via a 20 foot long match rod and centre pin set up was put to work. There are no set rules in this situation, an angler follows their gut instinct with regards things to try and in what order to try them. I have bullet pointed a few things that I do to try and tease a fish onto the hook.
- Frequently changing hook bait from red to white maggot.
- Regularly lifting the float rig out of the water and re-laying it back into the water.
- Lifting the float rig vertically out of the water; varying the distance from just three inch to 18 inch.
- Very slowly dragging the float rig across the water; an inch at a time.
- Sitting on my rod and doing nothing whilst pouring a warm drink. This works extremely well after a period of constantly working the bait using the methods above.
Another ten minutes or so passed before my first bite came totally out of the blue whilst implementing the sit on the rod tactic. I hooked into a Carp that duly took me underneath the ice as I reacted slowly to its movements. The momentum of the fish made it difficult to turn without applying more pressure than I would normally feel comfortable implementing. As so often happens in Winter on small size 20 hooks and finicky feeding fish, poor hook ups end up with the barbless hook losing its hold.
Therefore after only fifteen minutes into the session it was all going pear shaped. After teasing just one bite and then losing a hook fish that has now spooked what few very reluctant feeding fish were actually mooching around in the swim. It was time to take a gamble - big style in these conditions!
I fed a tiny nugget of groundbait (the size of a man's thumb nail in diameter) with three more maggots into the original swim (20 foot rod) and also into a new additional swim (14 foot rod). The groundbait was formed so that it sank directly to the bottom, then broke up creating a fizz in the water column that will hopefully attract fish back into the swim. In Winter fish are very finicky with regards to feeding and sometimes back away from groundbait fed into a swim in this manner. Yes, I know contradictory. Groundbait is an attractor yet can also repel fish; welcome to the fine art of fishing!
Therefore after only fifteen minutes into the session it was all going pear shaped. After teasing just one bite and then losing a hook fish that has now spooked what few very reluctant feeding fish were actually mooching around in the swim. It was time to take a gamble - big style in these conditions!
I fed a tiny nugget of groundbait (the size of a man's thumb nail in diameter) with three more maggots into the original swim (20 foot rod) and also into a new additional swim (14 foot rod). The groundbait was formed so that it sank directly to the bottom, then broke up creating a fizz in the water column that will hopefully attract fish back into the swim. In Winter fish are very finicky with regards to feeding and sometimes back away from groundbait fed into a swim in this manner. Yes, I know contradictory. Groundbait is an attractor yet can also repel fish; welcome to the fine art of fishing!
Within five minutes of introducing the groundbait feed into the water this fish that was caught; unfortunately no more bites followed. Not to worry; I now have a backup plan. It was time to explore the fourteen foot rod swim and see if there are any fish in a feeding mood.
The float had barely settled before it dipped slightly. I was willing it to go under but to no avail. Time to tease this fish onto the hook.
The float had barely settled before it dipped slightly. I was willing it to go under but to no avail. Time to tease this fish onto the hook.
I was totally tuned in and ready for this fish, there was no way I was going to make the same mistake as I did with the previous lost Carp. It doesn't matter how cold I was feeling before this fished was hooked, but I can tell you right now that my body temperature was rising fast as the adrenaline pumped through my veins - it might not be sky diving but the buzz a hooked fish gives as kept me hooked on angling for over thirty five years!
Its very important to keep good control of the fish in tight fishing environments like this; in-between ice or near snags or structure. This fish is almost ready to steer towards the landing net. Heart in mouth stuff, will the tiny, fine wire hook hold?
A fine reward for a thinking angler who has carefully thought threw every move during this challenging session.
I fed both swims twice during this period with just three maggots keeping everything very tight with a pole cup. The fish were slowly but surely beginning to respond.
Now it was simply a case of moving between the two swims that I was carefully nurturing by feeding occasional nuggets of groundbait along with three maggots.
Sport was slow but steady with a flurry of Roach sporadically feeding. The majority of the fish had to be teased onto the hook via a combination of lifting the float rig and laying it back into the water.
It was now turning into a very enjoyable session, bites were infrequent and hard earned but that is why angling is called angling rather than catching!
I had fished for five hours, only managing to catch 11 x fish for a total catch of 7lb 7oz.
Nevertheless on a very challenging day through constantly working my rig and thinking through how and when to feed I had created enough fishy interest to generate fifteen bites. That may only be some kind of fishy action every twenty minutes but nonetheless enough to keep an impatient angler like me occupied and engaged with my fishing.
Nevertheless on a very challenging day through constantly working my rig and thinking through how and when to feed I had created enough fishy interest to generate fifteen bites. That may only be some kind of fishy action every twenty minutes but nonetheless enough to keep an impatient angler like me occupied and engaged with my fishing.