Paul Garner

At this time of year, when the nights get longer and colder and the water temperature starts to plummet you really do need to think about switching over from pellets to more natural baits such as maggots. 

Steady trickle

Pellets although fantastic in the summer become less effective in cold water and difficult for the fish to digest and pass so introducing too many can be detrimental as they will simply lay in your swim and spook the fish. Maggots however, fed on a little-and-often basis will attract all fish, not just carp into your swim and if any do find themselves wriggling around on the bottom will soon bury within the lake bed, so by keeping a steady trickle falling through the water column will soon activate your swim and produce lots of bites.

Feeding tactics

I prefer fresh red maggots in the winter, as opposed to whites in summer and for a five hour match/session would take at least three pints. Feeding these really does depend on the weather conditions and how many fish you have in the swim as on some days feeding a few through a pot and concentrating the feeding zone to a tight area can be best, yet on others catapulting a wider spread will work. A good winter tactic is to start a session on the feeder, hopefully pick up a couple of early carp whilst feeding maggots accurately on the pole line. I usually start by catapulting maggots, which will drag a few fish in from further afield before concentrating my feed more accurately with a small feed pot as the session progresses. 

Working it out

For today’s practice session I’ve come to Tyler’s Common in Essex which is a typical carp dominated commercial where matches are held on a regular basis, and have chosen to fish Willow Lake which is stuffed full of carp in the 2-5lb bracket. As it’s a practice session I’m not going to cast a feeder rod out as I need to work out just how quick I can get the 13m pole line working as this will give me a good idea when best to switch in the next match.

Keeping it steady

The rig I’m using is simply a 4×10 float shotted with a bulk of three No10’s around eighteen inches from the hook along with two No11 droppers. Mainline is Cenex 0.16mm Hybrid Power Mono connected to a short 0.12mm Hybrid Power hook length which has a Sphere size 18 hook finishing the rig off.  As it’s really windy I have chosen to add two tiny back shot above the float, spread out and not too close to the tip of the float as this will allow me to hold the float in position and up in the water in the gusty wind. As for elastic I’ve scaled this back to balance up with the delicate rig and have chosen Stretch 7 yellow. This works perfectly with my Sphere Zero-G PT+ pole and by adding a Flat Butt Pole Protector helps even more in keeping the pole steady in the high wind. 

Laying it in

The wind is really gusty, cold and strong today so I have chosen a swim, one that I have never fished before with the wind off my back. It’s really shallow, just two and a half feet at 13m so I’m guessing that the fish will be reluctant to come really close in, in fact I might have to venture even further out. It’s important to keep lifting and laying the rig out so that the bait slowly falls through the water mimicking the freebies that I’m catapulting in every thirty seconds or so. It’s taken around fifteen minutes to start getting bites, albeit from silver fish and a further fifteen to connect with the first carp but the constant firing of half a dozen maggots is working its magic. Ninety minutes in and it’s a carp a cast proving that when the water cools down feeding little and often is the key in unlocking a swim. 

Get on the maggot

There are lots of other anglers around the lake, most are using two rods, alarms and probably boilies or pellets and in the whole of my four hour session I haven’t seen another fish caught! Time to get on the maggots I think!

Loss of concentration

One thing I did notice and wasn’t surprised at was the owner bought me down a cup of coffee around two hours in and having had a brief chat and not fed during this period the fish had drifted off taking a good fifteen minutes to get them back and feeding confidently. 

Positive routine

Although today hasn’t been under match conditions I’m guessing that I could have put together a really big weight if it was a match, proof that by getting into a routine, feeding small amounts of bait on a regular basis and having faith that the fish will turn up is so important if you want to get the best from every session. 

 Alex Reynolds

Alex' Tackle

Sphäre Zero-G PT+

Sphere Flat Butt Pole Protector

Stretch 7 Yellow Elastic

Cenex 0.12mm/0.16mm Hybrid Power Mono

4×10 Float

No10/11 Shot

Size 18 Sphere Barbless Hook

Alex' Köder

Rote Maden

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Pondwood Fishery in Berkshire is fast becoming one of my favourite venues, not only because it’s been very kind to me in the matches recently, but being unable to fish my local canals this winter, the Snake Lake here is about as close as it gets to where I love to fish. The only difference is that instead of scratching around in the cold for a few bites on a canal, this lake is full of fish and even on the cruellest of days, a decent net of fish is almost guaranteed. 

The luck of the draw. 

Although this is a snake lake, one thing that is slightly different to others is it does have a few bridges crossing it, which create a number of, what’s known as end pegs throughout its length. These are the ones to pick out of the hat on match days, but even if you do, you still have to get the best out of them to win. I’ve been fortunate to pick a couple of end pegs of late and on both occasions have won the matches, the first being on a very windy day when the extra margin to my left produced 68lb and on the other occasion 52lb came my way fishing to the far bank. 

Target the far margin

As you can imagine, the far bank is the area to target as a large proportion of the fish move here to get away from the disturbance we make when setting up. If conditions allow then expander pellets over micros just off the shelf will be the best method and that’s what I’m going to be doing throughout this short practice session. 

Distinguishing between liners and proper bites

Feeding accurately and placing the rig over the top at anything from ten to fourteen metres means that the pole rules here and I’m using my trusted Sphere Zero-G Power Partner. This is teamed up with Xitan Micobore 1.9mm Pink Elastic which has a rating of 7-9, ideal for the average size of fish here, around 12oz but easily capable of controlling the odd bigger carp that is likely to be hooked. The rig I’m using is relatively simple and consists of a short .3g rugby ball shape float, one that has a relatively thick high-viz tip for easily distinguishing between liners and proper bites. This is connected to Cenex 0.16mm Hybrid Power Mono, the six-inch hooklink is Cenex 0.11mm Fluoro Carbon and on the business end is a barbless size 18 hook. I like to use a number of Micro Soft Shot to cock the float as these can be adjusted if needed, yet the most consistent arrangement here is to place six number ten’s, an inch apart on the lower half of the rig, one being placed on the hooklink as this straightens out the loop-to-poop knot used to attach it. I’ve also attached two number eights, three inches above the float, the reason for the back shot is they cut out any surface drift allowing me to keep the float directly above the pole tip and connect with the bites with the slightest of pole lift.  

Heavy plummet

Fishing the float and presenting your bait in a swim perfectly would just not be possible without the use of a plummet and when pole fishing its best to use a heavy one as you can feel the plummet hit bottom and adjust the float accordingly. Making a mental note of the depth, even making a mark on the pole, is important as to keep the fish coming throughout the session I will need to adjust the depth constantly, yet the marker allows me to return to dead-depth instantly without having to plumb-up again. 

Constant adjustments

Bait today is simple, 2mm micros that will be fed through a small feed pot and 4mm expanders for the hook which were prepared last night, along with some liquidised corn as back-up. To start with I’m going to introduce around twenty micros and within seconds I’m into my first fish, a carp around a pound. More follow but getting the best out of the swim is all about feeding, when to increase or reduce the amount of micros. There are no set rules here, as every day is different but like today, if you start foul hooking fish it’s because the fish have come up in the water, so when this happens its best to cut back on the feed and if it continues then adjusting the shotting can help but better still you need to take a few inches of the depth and offer the hookbait higher up in the water. This may mean fewer bites, but the ones you get from then on should be proper ones. Foul-hookers need to be avoided at all costs as they simply ruin not just the swim but often the rig as well as eating into the time you have on the bank. 

Plenty of bites

Today’s three hour session has been a little frustrating at times, as I’ve experienced far too many foul hooked fish yet by constantly adjusting the rig, the depth the bait is presented, as well as how I have fed has kept the fish coming. 

A frosty start followed by a bright morning is never going to be easy, but by heading to a well stocked commercial and picking the right swim usually means plenty of bites.

John Brownlie

John's Tackle

Sphäre Zero-G Power Partner

Xitan Microbore 1.9mm Pink Pole Elastic

Cenex 0.16mm Hybrid Power Mono 

Cenex 0.11mm Fluoro Carbon

.3g Pole Float

Size 18 Barbless Hook

Johns Köder

2mm Mikro-Kugeln

4mm Expander Pellets 

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