The tactics that could win the Winter League on the Fen drains.
Bigger roach will be key to Winter League glory
CATCHING bigger fish is almost always the key to winning matches whether you’re after carp, bream or roach.
Anglers facing the Fenland drains in this month’s Angling Trust Winter League Final will have that conundrum to sort out.
That’s because among the mass of small roach in these narrow fisheries there are plenty of quality fish, plus a few surprises in the shape of perch, skimmers and hybrids, that can boost your final weight.
According to Sensas Mark One’s Ray Malle, fishing bigger baits in a positive fashion is the way to win with these larger fish.
You’ll still catch your fair share of small roach, but the odds of getting plenty of 6oz-plus fish are more in your favour.
“You need to fish in such a way that you’re getting a bite every drop in while giving yourself every chance of catching those big roach,” said Ray.
“For me that means a heavy rig approach, fished well overdepth with big baits and very positive feeding of groundbait.”
DISTANCE TO FISH
“The aim is to catch a fish a chuck, even in harder sections, and if you fish at 13m you’ll only catch half as much as you would by fishing shorter,” Ray said.
“I fish just over the near shelf into deep water at around 5m so I have to drop a couple of sections and then swing the fish in.”
REVERSE STRET PEGGING
“Many drains ‘flow’ so you’re running the float through all the time. This is normally the best way to catch the bigger roach.
The problem with this is that when fished well overdepth, the float will drag under repeatedly,” Ray explained.
“My approach is like reverse stret pegging, in that I only run the float through by a few inches at a time and more often than not stop it completely over the groundbait.
“The olivette sits an inch off bottom with 6ins of line and the droppers on the deck. This creates an L-shape in the rig and leads to very positive bites.
“I drop the rig in, let it settle, hold the float still for five seconds or so, then let it run a couple of inches before holding again, then repeat the process.”
CHANGING DEPTHS
“Even so, on some days fishing at dead depth and running the float at the full pace will catch better,” Ray said. “If you feel that you’re not catching well enough then make a change.”
SERIOUS BAGGING GEAR
“This is quick fishing and involves a lot of swinging good roach to hand, so you need strong kit,” Ray revealed. “My mainline is 0.13mm to a short 3ins hooklink of 0.12mm Sensas Feeling. I like a short hooklink because that way, I know that my olivette is always above the link. Hook is a size 16 Sensas 3050.
“I also do something different with my elastic,” he continued.
“Fish with it through two pole sections and you’ll waste time trying to swing fish in. Instead, I run a short 10ins length of Orange Hydrolastic through a cut-back No1 section of the top kit. What this does is stretch when a fish is hooked but it bottoms out quickly to let me swing fish in – it works very much like power gum did back in the day when we used to fish in Ireland and Denmark.”
HOOKBAITS
“This is how you will catch the better fish – by offering them a real mouthful!” Ray explained.
“Forget about using a single pinkie. Instead, I’ll fish two or three bronze maggots on the hook, thread one of them up the shank and then nick the others on to the bend.
“This way, you only have to change one bait at a time, speeding things up. You’ll also catch two or three fish on the same bait when they’re having it – and don’t forget to try tares late on in the match.”
WHEN IT WON’T WORK
“Being positive only works when the right stamp of fish are there, so I also have a whip set up,” Ray commented. “If I’m catching only little fish and it becomes
apparent that better roach are thin on the ground, I’ll switch to the whip with pinkie and groundbait the way that Mark is fishing next door.
“This is better for catching numbers so it is important not to become too blinkered and try to make the positive overdepth approach work when it obviously isn’t going to.”
THE SESSION
Ray was into fish from the word go, and while it wasn’t fast and furious, the stamp was of a good size on double maggot.
However, he wasn’t happy as the flow seemed too much for the 3g float. Changing to 4g produced immediate results with a proper bite every run through, pinning the bait 6ins overdepth and inching it over the groundbait. As the flow eased towards the end, he began feeding hemp and tares by hand well upstream to allow them to hit bottom in front of him.
“When the pace slows you can almost drop the rig straight down the hole over the groundbait and get a bite within seconds – this is when you’ll really be bagging,” Ray said.
“This is also the time to try a tare, which is why I begin loose-feeding hemp and tares.”
The end of five busy hours sees Ray heave 30lb of roach plus the odd perch and hybrid on to the bank, and there aren’t many small fish among them either!