STEVE RINGER: STILLWATER SECRETS
SLAP THE RIG
Once I see a carp on one of my spots I actually stop feeding and then slap my rig in three times, tight to the rushes, to try and catch that fish.
On the third slap I let the rig sit. The theory is that repeatedly slapping the rig into the water in this manner mimics the sound of pellets hitting the water.
The fish will come to investigate the noise, expecting there to be food present, but by stopping feeding and slapping the rig in the only pellet falling through the water will be my hookbait.
If I don’t get a response to the first set of three slaps then I’ll simply repeat the process, up to a maximum of 10 times.
If I still don’t get any indications and I can no longer see the fish I simply move to a different spot and try again.
This is the beauty of having two or three spots, because I can just rotate them to keep my catch rate ticking over.
It’s worth mentioning that for the swims I’m not fishing I keep feeding little and often to try and pull fish in. It’s only the swim I’m fishing that I don’t feed.
I have found that the closer you can get your hook pellet to land to the rushes when slapping, the more bites you will get.
The carp love the cover the rushes give them, so they are more often than not reluctant to come out into open water.
BAITS TO TRY
Bait-wise there are lots of different baits that can be used for shallow fishing, from casters and maggots right through to meat. These can be venue-specific, as some work better than others on some waters.
Today I’m at Guru Makins fishery, where I’ve always found pellets take some beating.
In terms of size, it’s a toss-up between 4mm and 6mm Green Swim Stim (the fishery pellets at Makins), but taking into account the average size of fish is from 2lb to 5lb I always opt for 6mm baits.
As far as quantity goes, a pint and a half of pellets is normally plenty, as shallow fishing on lakes like this isn’t about lashing loads of pellets in.
TWO HOOKBAITS
As far as hookbaits go then I really only bother with two when fishing pellets shallow. The first is a 6mm hard pellet, which ‘matches the hatch’ so to speak.
After all, I’m feeding hard 6mm pellets, the carp are eating the same, so it therefore makes sense to fish a 6mm pellet hookbait.
Carp can be incredibly picky at times, and I really believe when they are being a bit iffy that fishing and feeding the same pellet makes a big difference. That said, sometimes it can all
be about noise, and for this reason I also always have a few 8mm pellets with me, purely for use on the hook.
The idea is that an 8mm pellet is a lot bigger than a 6mm, and when slapped in it makes a much bigger, fish-attracting ‘plop’.
Sometimes this simple ruse can bring a few extra bites late on in a session, when the fishing is starting to slow up. Small things can make all the difference!