The Coach Match ace Mark Pollard shows you how to fish down the edge
THIS WEEK: Tweak your margin approach and catch more carp
THERE are many different bait approaches for fishing down the margins, but Mark Pollard considers only one to be an absolute banker.
The Matrix and Dynamite Baits-backed star loves nothing more than to bag up down the edge at this time of year, and has put together countless big bags on dead maggot hookbaits over a bed of groundbait.
This is a widely used tactic, but Mark is convinced that the tweaks he makes to it make all the difference. This week he comes clean with his deadly secrets.
FEEDING THE MARGINS
“The groundbait mix needs to have plenty of flavour in it to draw the fish in and keep them grubbing around. I use a 50/50 blend of Dynamite Baits Green Swim Stim and Marine Halibut.
“I also add plenty of dampened micro pellets. Small baits encourage fish to stay in the swim but there is no doubt they will always take maggots if they’re put
in front of them. “It’s best to use dead maggots because they just sit there and will always be on show whenever the carp turn up.
“I only include a tiny pinch of maggots in my groundbait as I want the fish to come in and take my hookbait in an instant. If there are lots of maggots it will take longer to get a bite, as fish will be busy mopping up the freebies.
“Feed a couple of big pots half-an-hour before you go down the edge and then top up with a small nugget via a small pole cup after every fish.”
FISH TIGHT TO THE BANK
“I see so many people that are supposedly fishing the margins with their float several feet away from the bank.
“This will mean you are fishing in deeper water than you want to be, and it will inevitably lead to line bites and foul-hooked fish.
“I like to pin my float tight to the bank. This means the fish can’t get around the back of the rig and brush their bodies up against it to cause false indications.
“The only time the float will then go under is when the hookbait is sucked up.
“I always look for between 1ft and 2ft when plumbing the margins and will search around my swim until I find a spot that has that depth.
“If you fish in water any deeper than that you will experience a lot of line bites and foul-hook lots more fish.”
TAKE NO PRISONERS
“There is every chance you will hook numerous double-figure fish in the margins so you need to have the terminal tackle on to beat their powerful runs.
“I use 0.20mm mainline to an 0.18mm hooklength and a size 14 Matrix Carp Bagger hook. This is baited with five dead red maggots – a large hookbait that is clearly visible to the fish will help you get more bites.
“My float is a 0.2g MP6 with a thick, buoyant tip that will only fully submerge when I get a genuine bite.
“The last part of the jigsaw is the elastic. A grade 12 or 14 is best, as it has enough power to beat big fish but is also soft enough to allow fish to quickly motor out of the catch zone without any risk of losing them.”