Short Session Pays Off

      Whilst on work experience at Nash Tackle, it came upon me to try and get a couple of nights in at the weekend. I managed to get onto a small syndicate, we had prebaited a few days prior our session. Sure of the weather turning sour I decided I was going to go ahead with it to get in a couple more winter carp(a really stretched out winter at that).

      After messing about trying to get to Go Outdoors to pick up some butane canisters, I battled the car filled streets during rush hour.

      I got up to the gate of the small intimate syndicate and got all the gear to the chosen swim, littered with snags and on the back of the 0-1 degree winds which were tearing up the bank.

 

      The rods which are the New H-Gun Dwarfs in 9ft 3lb were already prepared and put out onto 2 spots, one snaggy margin to the left on a small chod rig and the right one to the opposite margin a rod length off, as you could see fallen branches, a small solid bag of 1mm Velocity Baits The M&M's pellet was soon put out, I feel this is a good winter tactic specially when tipped off with a small pink 10mm popup.. One colour of hook bait that I love dearly.

      After eventually after getting the Titan AS sorted and rock solid(you could crash a double decker into it!) I was about to set my bed chair up and my far margin rod ripped off. After thinking I'd hooked a tench, a lovely winter coloured common lay in the folds of my landing net. As I had never even set foot onto this syndicate since Thursday evening, I got a snap of the small common. This lake barely gets fished and you can tell by what the fish had excreted on the mat, naturals, possibly the reason why she went for the small bag of micros.

Small Common, What A Cracking Fish, The Pressure is Now Off!

      A quick trip to Maccy D's whilst one of the lads Josh looked after my gear, I had devoured it all before it had even touched the box.. Literally. I lay thinking of what may occur. The wind decided to pick up and a small trickle of rain starts as it got dark very slowly, a quick check to make sure the small hyperloops clutches are loose and its time to hit the hay, hopefully being woken by the distinguishing sound of a siren bellowing through my receiver.

      The night drew on the rain carried on pouring and I was away with the fairies. As I'm a light sleeper, at around 4:30, I am woken to the sound of my left rod going into complete meltdown! I stumble out from the Titan and hook into a beautiful 10lb common, the choddy was the last rod I had expected to rip off but I am happy that both tactics had worked.

Nice Dumpy Common, She Was Hungry! I Look Half Asleep(ha!)

      The rods had been in since I had hooked the last fish the previous afternoon so they had time to settle, another fish on the tally has given me an extra buzz, specially as I have never fished this lake before let's see what happens the rest of the day.

      The chod rig was something different at the same time something I'm going to use a bit more than I have, I was told 10mm popups were a good tactic for quick bites. The chod rig is my normal way of tying it, inherited from Alan Blair seeing how he ties it, with a small 10mm Yellow Pineapple popup. It looks good and with the micro ring swivel it balances it well. This rig was under armed under a tree hanging over the water about 10yards, this was a one off rod thinking that some disturbance earlier on may spook the fish away from this margin, this rod to my surprise took off at 4:30am producing the biggest fish of the session so far.

      After waking up at 10:45/11:00 which is after the earlier bite time, the right rod was put out, albeit a bit tight to the far margin snag, a fresh bag was out to where I had the first fish, the left rod was also recast and is set.

      Usually when I fish chod rigs, I cast or underarm it to the spot, as soon as the lead hits the water, I feel it down and release my finger off the line and let it sing among its own weight, if I tight lined to it, any weed or snags on the bottom may ruin that rod altogether, I feel more confident when it flutters to the bottom no matter how fast or slow.

      The weather is looking really rubbish, I looked out of my brolly this morning and no snow until Josh came round and said that there was a load of snow behind me.. And how right he was.

      After a quick recast tighter to the far margin snag, I dotted some bait over the top. The rod was cast tighter to the far margins too see if I can draw a fish out from the snag, I had the clutch tight to stop any fish plow right through the branches. At around 11:30am, I had a strong reaction on the right rod, I lifted into the fish and the line was grating on fallen debris, with my fingers crossed hoping the fish would be released, the fish came free. After a stronger fight the fish was in the fold of the net and soon photographed and slipped back.

Another Common to Finish the Trip Off Nicely, Happy Days.

      After this quick reaction, another pre-tied solid bag was cast just off the snag, again with tight line to make sure I don't get towed into the snag.

      The rig that was inside the solid bags, 3inches of 15lb Silt Missing link, a size 10 Nash Fang Gaper hook and a shrink tube kicker. The reason why I use this set up is its all fined down and something to hook the fish quickly, luckily I use my solids with drop off inline leads, on this occasion the lead had dropped off allowing me to prise the fish out of the snag, dropping the lead in a snag is a must every time as you want to land 100% of fish you hook, also where the bags had been tied up 3-4 days before the session, the oils from the small pellet ha soaked into the PVA, the tell tale sign that had brought this idea to mind was the fact that there was a flat spot breaking the water, leaving the bags submersed in the pellet may be a good thing, another thing for me to look out for, if there is another flat spot possibly with the introduction of some oil into the bag may give away when I may get a bite.

      It just shows I love fishing to snags even if there is the element of unpredictability of what's down there, going in blind sometimes pays off specially using solid bags, providing you don't land on, debris your presentation will be really good. After hooking two fish in the same snag, it shows on lakes you don't know it's worth a try. I think that them 2 fish were just laid up and I happened to present a rig under their noses.

 

      I am happy with this result from a lake I have never seen since Thursday(21st March) after trickling a few baits in to get them on the munch.  

      The day drew on an it was time to head for home and have some much needed rest and relaxation, a nice curry and a few ciders won't go a miss!

Here I Am Clutching the Last Fish on a 9ft 3lb Dwarf, Look At the Snags
At the Back of the Pic, Glad She Came Free!

Thanks for reading

Ross.

Follow me on twitter on - @Rosst93

A Slight Disaster!



After driving for 27 miles (14 to the lake & 13 to the next venue) I finally found a lake I can settle on, the late I went to originally was frozen over, so then I drove to a trusted venue to find all the lakes were free of ice. The sun is out and there's not a breath of wind, well put it this way I'm sat outside in a t-shirt... Maybe spring is finally here?

The First Rig That Went Out.

           I find myself sat on Becks Lake, I have fished this lake hard in the past having some good results, the biggest I have had from this specific lake was 22lb, a nice long lean common. As the suns out and it's bright, I put out a small Nash Zig Critter tied up in a way that will be explained in a minute, the left rod had been put to a small break in the reeds on an underused day ticket method, a popup maggot rig. The reason that I put the left rod down in that gap is because I saw some tell-tale signs of fish as I was having a wonder around.  

The Zig Critter Rig, Explained Further Down.

If the fish begin to switch on I have a small air dry bag of around half a kilo of Velocity Baits ZUB-O boilies in 16mm, hopefully helping to combat the volume of bream in this specific lake. There is an increasing volume of bird life on this lake and they have made it a nightmare keeping baits on the bottom, let’s just hope they don't come across my zig.  

The zig rig I have put out is sitting at around 7ft which is about a foot or so below the surface, I will slowly draw it down to find a good level. An hour or so had passed, the rods were reeled in and the barrow albeit with a flat tire was loaded and it was on the move, I moved I to a swim where there was a light warm breeze hopefully moving the fish into the marginal bay on my left hand side. I have caught plenty of fish from these margins in the past so hopefully there's something patrolling.  



The Rods In The Second Swim, Laying On The Deck.

I get into the swim and one rod is straight out my favoured pop-up rig with a 10mm Velocity Baits Pink Shellfish pop-up and a small mesh stick of the White V-Cloud Ground bait. This rig was dispatched to my left hand side, just into the entrance of the marginal bay. My second rod still with a zig attached was cast 20 yards into open water to my right hand side. No bank sticks were set up just the rods laying on the deck with a loose clutch was all that was needed.  

After seeing some movement to the reeds to my right I left the rods out another half an hour to see if anything moved to got on the feed but nothing happened.  

Soon after the rods were brought In and hooked onto the rod rings it was a move to swim number three, again a swim I have most faith in as it is one very unsuspecting swim with a small marginal set of reeds. One rod was put in the margins, this time the same pop-up rig with 2 grains of Enterprise corn and a small mesh bag of the V-Cloud dipped into the NV-R Glug. As I was sat up by the trees, I put the bank sticks into the ground and turned on the receiver, after all I don't have supersonic hearing to hear a clutch ticking ha-ha.           

This Mix I Use With Confidence when Trying to Get A
Quick Bite. Also A Good Winter Mix.

I’m just quickly going to explain how to tie my zig critter rig for the up and coming months. 

 

           Unlike the other zig bugs, the new critters don't have a hook through them; this allows you to tie the Critter on hair rig style with a multitude of sizes and patterns of hooks to choose from. As you may see you can just half blood knot them onto the line but this restricts the critters "natural movement". I allow the natural movement by tying them in an unusual but affective way.  

           Rather than half-blood knot the critter on the line, I thread a piece of NXT Zig Flo through the small ring on the critter then tie a small loop, this allows the critter to move under its own weight or without the whole zig having to move.


           I then tie a 12 turn knot less knot onto a size 10 Nash Fang Twister hook; this is so it goes down to the small knot on the created loop. I then thread on a small piece of clear shrink tubing, this is slid down over the knot, and this should be so that the critter still has full movement. This is the steamed down straight opening up the gape of the hook.  

           I use a big hook like this as the bug will rotate and fly into the fishes mouth, hooking the fish hard and allowing a stronger hook hold compared to a small hook, again you can lower the hook size but this is down to personal preference.



Some of the Components For The Zig Rig.

           Using a critter is different to using foam as you want to keep it looking and moving natural. To finish the rig I thread on a hook link kicker to propel it away from the lead and then perform a 7 turn half-blood knot onto a small swivel. When I fish zigs, starting from around 2ft below the surface in the warmer water and then making my way down 1ft at a time is the best way of searching out the water, for example, the lake I'm fishing is 14ft deep, I start at 12ft and then work my way down, providing that I had enough critters, I’d have one at each depth tied up and change them every hour to an hour and a half, especially if I intend on staying static. alternatively to give you a good chance, the adjustable zig would be a better option, starting with a zig tied up at 6ft, and then rising it 6ft would get you 12ft, then take it down a foot at a time or alternatively, start at the bottom and raise it a foot, this way is a much better way as you are keeping disturbance to a minimum. The New Zig Critters are perfect and natural looking hook bait... let's see how I get on this Spring/Summer on this presentation! 





Please Click the Picture to Enlarge It To See The Method!



It appears to me that this warm weather and low pressure hasn't stimulated the fish in any way, which I thought they'd at least be having a zig or two. I just hope that this weather is here to stay(touch wood!) and that I can finally start putting some fish on the bank, with no fish to show I feel that there was nothing wrong with my rigs and that the weather had a point of confusion to the activity of the fish.  

Next week I am on work experience with a few lads from college so I will try and keep you updated with any fishing I am doing over the seven weeks, let’s just hope I can bag one or two whilst I'm away.

 

Thank You For Reading!

 

Ross

 

Follow Me on Twitter - @Rosst93

 

 

 

 

 

Question and Answers Featuring Ian Russell.

A Lovely Looking Common There Ian!

            This time I have the pleasure of questioning Ian Russell from Avid about his fishing and what he does to put fish on the bank. This will hopefully benefit you, the reader and myself on what we can do to get the best of being on the bank, let’s be honest here, none of us like walking away without having caught a fish, but it’s one of anglings learning curves after all.  Before I start, Ian is someone who has helped me and provided information and tips on how to put fish on the bank. Back in 2008 I got chosen for what was the Korda Carp Clinic; I met Ian at Farlows in Buckinghamshire and fished for a 24 hour session. From that session I managed my first ever 20lb carp at 22lb 8oz, I still remember it to this very day. Onto the questions!

(Q.) Many anglers have their own way of approaching lakes, when you turn up a lake, be it a new lake or somewhere you fish all the time, what sort of process do you go through in order to get on the fish?

Firstly i would have researched the lake as much as is possible ie: Bailiffs info, friends info and of course website info. But all that aside you cannot beat having eyes on the water. So a good look around until you see signs of carp then set up... A swim with no Carp in is no good to any of us...

(Q.) I have followed your angling for many years now and I see you put some stunning fish on the bank. What is the most key thing any angler should do when their on the bank to help maximise their chances where ever they are fishing?

In all honesty mate literally keep your eyes and ears open and just use the tactics that you have most belief and confidence in . And never I mean never sit and be lazy, if fish are showing elsewhere and you can move onto them, then do so and fast before someone else does and you end up taking his pictures for him...

A Nice Mirror.

(Q.) I know a few people that have a “go anywhere rig” do you have one that you’d happily place on any lake you go to, or do you do something different, why?

I do have go anywhere Rigs but tend to address each situation as it arises. For although we all have one or two in mind it’s obvious that one rig will never suit all situations

(Q.) As some people may see from my previous blogs and most definitely my most recent blog, I love fishing over beds of bait, it keeps the fish in the area and gives you a good chance of holding more than one fish in front of you, is there any scenario that you wouldn’t put out a good bed of bait, why?

Yes mate the times I would not commit to a bed of bait would be on short trips or on a trip when I intend to keep moving , you see to fish over bait is a brilliant tactic it also makes anglers stay in an area where the fish aren’t in the hope that they will turn up

(Q.) I’ve really enjoyed my angling over the past few years; my highlight has to be banking a 23lb 10oz Mirror off the surface, days into spring. What is your highlight over the past year or so?

My Highlight has to be the capture of Spike from the Manor in Oxford at 44lb... You see I had always fished linear in a working situation and at last decided I would venture up on my time and try to nab a biggie ... And last November on a flat and calm night I caught good old Spike .... Awesome...

(Q.) One of my pet hates is bait boats, I don’t really feel the need to use one, as many anglers go, do you have any pet hates that really winds you up when you’re on the bank?

Yes I have >> Fulltime anglers ... You see although I fish for a job I rarely get more than a couple of nights of non-working fishing a month so realistically I get as much Me time as you do . So when I turn up to see full-timers rotating swims and spending months doing so, I feel it does not give the rest of us who actually have jobs a fair chance on the lake.. Get a Life. Get a Job....

What A Fish!

(Q.) Some of the more complicated rigs have managed to be taken out of my rig case; I stick to simple bottom bait presentations or pop-up presentations. Do you think using a complicated rig overcomplicates carp angling in general?

Yes a complicated rig I believe just confuses the Angler more than the Carp. If you have followed my angling you will know that I believe a Carp is a Carp not a scientist so it does not need a rig with lots of jangley bits hanging off of it to be successful....

(Q.) The Key for quick bites and consistent bites on a high stocked lakes is accuracy and correct bait placement. Little and often feeding is also another one. To get a good run of fish throughout a session for example at Thorpe Lea, how do you go about keeping a good stream of bites going throughout the day?

Just keep on topping the swim up it’s as simple as that. I see so many anglers spod all their bait out on arrival and after a couple of quick fish it all stops and they wonder why... Keep it little and often and they will keep coming..

(Q.) If there was one lake you would go back and fish again, which lake would it be and why?

I get to fish so many lakes, sometimes 2 or 3 different ones each week and to be fair they are all lovely places in their own rights but if I had to visit one Fishery all the time it would be Linear in Oxford . The amount of lakes and the variety it offers is incredible...

A Good Seperation From the Bend of the
Hook to the Hookbait is One of Ians Preferred
Tactics.

(Q.) I have seen in recent years you have caught a good number of fish of different sizes, what is your favourite pattern of hook that you have a lot of trust in?

As earlier stated no one rig can cover all situations... However for most of the situations I find myself in I will use a longshank hook with a line aligner set up and a re-set ring on the shank...

(Q.) What is your favourite rig presentation to use wherever you fish?

See question above ^

(Q.) Each angler has a personal preference on baits, whether it is particles or boilies, which is your preference that has caught fish for you?

If you want to be consistent with larger Carp either Boillies or Tiger Nuts ... They love em...

(Q.) What is the one main thing that you get out of angling?

I get so much pleasure from my angling and realise that I am a truly lucky chap to have the job I’m in... Thank you Avid....

            Ian, it has been a pleasure having you on this Q&A session, being an angler that has taught me the ropes early on and putting them into good affect, thanks for taking the time to complete the questions, all the best in your angling.

Thank You for Reading!

Ross

Follow Me On Twitter - @Rosst93

Alternatively, get  across to www.catch-and-release1.com and have a look at a few top class anglers and have a look at my angling profile to see a bit about what I do and what I get up to!