Bob Nudd Get the best from your peg
Bob Nudd is here to help you target the right areas
ALTHOUGH it’s getting progressively warmer out there, the water in your local commercial will still be on the cold side so you should tailor your approach accordinly.
Less feed, lighter rigs and smaller hooks plus a bit of nous when it comes to deciding where to fish in the swim and when will all stack the odds in your favour and it’s also handy not to get too focused on catching just carp.
Here’s my guide to making the most of your day right now...
OPEN WATER
For consistent bites throughout the day, this part of the swim should be your banker as it offers deep water well away from the bank and a flat bottom around which you can build the peg up. The distance you fish is entirely up to you but a comfortable sensible range is around 11m on the pole or three rodlengths out on the waggler.
However, one top area at this time of year is to fish roughly 6m out, which on most commercial fisheries is at the base of the marginal slope with the shallows levelling out to the maximum depth. This is a golden patrol route for carp that often comes good later in the day but it can also produce good numbers of silverfish
as well.
Should you decide to go for silverfish on that shorter swim, chopped worm and caster makes a superb feed as does caster and a few cubes of meat. Fish a classic light rig with a size 18 hook and keep throwing casters in by hand every 30 seconds as it’s also likely that roach will come off bottom and can be caught much faster than on the deck.
MARGINS
Forget about trying to find really shallow water to fish in. These shallows won’t be as good now as they are in summer and you should be looking for 2-3ft of water which carp will be happy to feed in now.
Particles are the best feed now so we’re talking dead maggots, dampened micro pellets or corn as opposed to groundbait and larger pellets. It’s still sensible to use a big
hookbait with worms or double corn proven winners but there’s not the need to gear up with big hooks and strong lines just yet.
ISLAND
If your venue has an island to fish to then you should definitely consider picking a swim with one in it. Islands are fish-holding magnets whatever time of year it is and should be treated as another margin-type of area.
Ideally, you’re looking for an island within reach of the long pole. However, the Method or pellet feeder and even the waggler in ideal conditions will also catch plenty of fish.
Begin by putting some feed out to the island, either with a pole cup or via several quick casts with the feeder (pellets are hard to beat) and then leave this spot for half an hour as this should be ample time for the fish to find the bait and settle.
FAR BANK
Smaller lakes may offer you the chance to cast across to the far bank or if you are on an end peg, down to the end bank. Both places will be much the same in terms of contours and features, effectively like having a far bank margin only this one will produce fish much earlier than the edge close to your own bank.
Fish will seek this distant area for sanctuary, especially if the bankside is busy and can be caught early in the day before the swim begins to fade. To reach the distance, the feeder is the only sensible method to fish.
A Method will put the hookbait just inches from the pile of feed deposited by the feeder. Dampened micro pellets are wrapped around a light-ish 20g flatbed inline feeder (groundbait can be added to the pellets if you wish) with a banded 6mm hard pellet on the hook.
Cast every few minutes to build up some feed and to make a little noise as the feeder hits the water, which will attarct carp, and cast to the same spot every time for the first couple of hours. As the day wears on, having an odd chuck to the left or right can pick off carp that have begun to back away from the main area.