SOLID BAG ESSENTIALS
KEV HEWITT is a master of solid PVA bag fishing, and speaking to him, it soon becomes clear that he leaves nothing to chance when using the tactic ....
THERE are many misconceptions about solid PVA bag fishing.
Perhaps the biggest of all is that in order to get it right, the tactic requires some sort of surgical precision that’s out of the reach of normal anglers. But after five minutes of talking to ‘master of the art’ Kev Hewitt, it becomes painfully clear that it’s a commonsense approach any of us can replicate.
We visited the England international at Hinders of Swindon, which he manages, and in between dispensing advice to customers he talked us through a tactic he knows inside out.
Some of it may surprise even the most experienced PVA-bag flinger...
WHEN TO USE THEM
“Contrary to popular belief, PVA bags work all year round,” Kev said. “In winter they’re especially good, as carp don’t want to eat a lot and that little trap is plenty. It’s also great for getting quick bites. So, if you see a fish show, chuck a bag out straight away and you’ve got every chance it’ll be taken. “I wouldn’t use them when it’s really weedy though. Quite often you see people say ‘chuck a solid bag into weed’ but it’s not something I’m comfortable with. I’ve caught a few this way, but the presentation is too random for me. “If you’re chucking into silkweed, the bag will go in and the weed will fold over the top and make it really hard for the carp to find the bait. If it’s really light weed, not a problem at all. “Silt is fine too. If it’s really soft silt it could sink into it a bit, but I would just recast more regularly to get a fresh bag out there.”
PERFECT MIX
One area where many anglers struggle is on the subject of what ingredients to put into a solid bag. But, says Kev, this needn’t be the case. “The mix I use is really simple – it’s 75 per cent Mini Combo pellets and 25 per cent Salmon Fry Crumb. I always use 2mm or smaller pellets because they compact the PVA bag down nice and solid, making it more aerodynamic and accurate to cast. “I give it a few squirts of CC Moore’s Pacific Tuna Booster Spray, which is really fishy and works well with pellets. “A lot of people make the mistake of using too many powdered ingredients, and if you test a PVA bag when it breaks down, the powdered ingredients just float up. I like the pile to stay compact on the bottom. The hookbait is almost irrelevant. “As long as you’ve got a small balanced hookbait the fish is almost sucking it up by accident. My preference is for a size
7 E-S-P Gripper with a single grain of plastic corn, because that size of hook is the perfect weight to slowly sink the corn. I mount the corn lengthways and the eye of the hook sits on the deck and the corn pops up above. The hook is actually buried in the pellets, so the fish can’t see the hook or the hooklink. A short hooklink of about four inches means the carp can’t move without setting the hook.”
WATCH YOUR BUOYANCY
Kev likes to tie quite a few solid bags up – complete with leaders – in advance of a session. This has a number of advantages but can also have a few surprising side-effetcs, as he explained.
“The longer you leave them, the more they compact down. But, if you use a pop-up inside there, the air gets sucked out of it and the pop-up actually goes harder and gains buoyancy, so it won’t be balanced. That’s why I use plastic corn, because it doesn’t ever change buoyancy. If you’re tying bags fresh, however, you can use pop-ups.”
DON’T DROP THE LEAD
Another surprising revelation from Kev came in the form of his lead arrangement. “I don’t fish my inline leads ‘drop-off’ style, even on weedy waters,” he said. “If a fish dives into weed, the weed gathers around the lead, so you’re not putting pressure on the hookhold. There is