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.
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!
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.
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.