Surface Fishing, Overdepth Zigs and Plenty of Sunburn!

               

              Just recently I managed to get out on 2 separate sessions using zigs and mixers, not just for catapulting over the top of the zigs but also for a bit of surface fishing as well. For this session I was fishing on Chestnut Pool, a very successful venue especially to go and get more than a fair share of runs. On 2 separate sessions I managed to catch 60 fish as the action gets good. 

Picture Doesn't Do It  Justice, It Resembled a Kettle!

                After a chat with the owner, Pete, he suggested a method which was smashing it up over recent weeks which also proved well for Mark Bartlett in the UK Carp Cup that was hosted on chestnut a couple of weeks ago. I arrived late morning and went in one of the least suspected swims but it was worth it. To start off with I persisted with static zigs and cast them around and adjusted the depths, then I started catapulting mixers over the top, this enticed the fish in the area, when using zigs under the surface it makes it easier to allure fish onto your hook bait suspended in the water.

The Hook Holds With The Zig Alignas, Hooked in the Side of
The Mouth.

                It didn’t take long to hook the first fish as there were eruptions and belting takes like you wouldn’t believe, the fish were being taken on yellow foam which were using the Fox Zig Aligna Kits, these are good for protruding the hook and widening the gape allowing the fish to be hooked better than using a normal setup for a zig rig. Black and yellow foam fished 3 inches under the surface and roughly 6 inches over depth really did help and get a lot of bites. The only thing that can explain how the fish were feeding was a frenzy or even feeding time at the zoo, it didn't take long for a proportion of the fish in this small lake to get on the munch, it made it better seeing the fish feeding and hearing them slurp every last mixer off the surface, every time I turned round there was eruptions and even more fish joining the party and having a feed.

              

 

 

 

              

              Even when the action slowed up and the fish weren’t feeding as menacingly as they were to start, I still managed a good steady flow of action on the single zigs, the one toners weren’t twitchy or even singular bleeps they were one toners of which almost ripped the rods of the rest some were really savage. This is a method of fishing that I haven’t done a lot of to be honest. I then used fake imitation mixers on the surface which were being left behind on the floater gear so I swapped to a Velocity Baits NV-R Pop-up trimmed down to the same shape as the mixers offerings, seconds after casting out, up came a 15lb Mirror to snaffle the hook bait. The NV-R pop-up was trimmed down and a small carving to sit on the shank of a Nash Fang Twister hook. 

Still Yet to Catch a Full Linear, Always The Broken Linears
Grace My Cradle.

                The action carried on and stayed quick pacey, I got the obvious lulls in the session and then the fish were back feeding competitively which is what I found may have got them feeding and taking the zigs and surface baits as they were like hoovers trying to take in as much food as they possibly could. I Started to throw mixers into the margins where the better fish tend to get caught ad prompted by a good friend of mine, I saw some big pairs of lips supping the mixers off the surface of which the picture of the fish at the bottom was the culprit. I had to have a go after all, I still had one rod on the money and fishing and having a go at the bigger fish was always a good option to take.

                For the rigs I used 10lb Nash Zig Flo which is my favoured hook link for zigs, never had any problems with it parting or snapping easy, even when cranking fish in from a distance as with Drayton but with light gear it is good fun to use, then a drop off inline setup with ensured I won’t drop and fish as there’s nothing twisting and turning the hook in the mouth of the fish. Then I opted for yellow and black foam which was coupled with the wide and straight gape of the Nash Fang Twister hook in size 8. This is such a reliable setup and now I see why people are told to lose the lead when they are using zigs it saves hook pulls but I’ll speak for many, not exactly a money saver!           

                 At the end of both sessions I had used 8kg of mixers as I wanted to keep the fish in the area, if I had hooked a decent fish, I’d get it in the net and unhook it and put the rig back out and fire some more mixers, take some pictures and get it back, by which time I’d have another take and be playing another fish. the fish turned up like busses, one fish came a long for a munch then the rest of the fleet showed up, it made it good fun seeing the fish feeding on the surface, mouthing my hook bait and then a big explosion on the surface, the carps way of saying "yep I'm hooked". I have always loved surface fishing hence why I was itching for the summer to come round as its a better way and more fun way of catching fish, specially as they fight a lot harder off the surface as they lose most of there momentum when the take off from the bottom with a lead hooked into its mouth.

A Good Fish Which will Grow Big, It Was Up For A Mixer!

             I think it is safe to say I’m going to try my best to brush up my match skills and enter myself in a couple of competitions next summer and maybe even during the winter, it is something I have wanted to do and after doing some competitions in the past it would be a good experience to see what it is all about, after all, what have I got to lose?


A Pale Fish I Thought Was A Ghostie.

Hope you all stay tuned over the next couple of months as I’m off to Walthamstow for the Velocity Baits social on the weekend of the 12^th of July and then off the lush Puerto Rico, Lake Chira to work with Dave Beecham and Alison Beecham at Carp Gran Canaria, I’ll keep you updated especially as my blog will be held on the Nash Tackle website which is being sorted over the next few weeks! Take it easy and be lucky!

One of the Bigger Ones, 15lb.

Ross.