Steve Ringer
Steve reveals some deadly new edges which will get you bagging on the pellet waggler this weekend
Brilliant edges to get you more bites on the pellet waggler
PICK THE FLOAT TO MATCH THE WATER 1
There are lots of pellet wagglers on the tackle shop shelves – from traditional-style, long cast balsa floats to the more modern, stubby, foam or clear plastic floats, all tailored to the distance you want to fish at.
The larger floats I use when fishing big, open water fisheries like Boddington and Earlswood, for example, where I want to fish at longer ranges and sometimes deeper in the water column.
The stubby floats – which I like to call ‘stealth’ wagglers – are better suited to smaller commercials, shorter casts, and fishing later in the season when you want to fool wary carp that have had a lot of floats and pellets thrown at them.
Right now these are the ones I’m using the most.
ANTI-TWIST HOOKLENGTHS 2
My hooklength is attached via a loop-to-loop knot to a micro swivel which is tied to the end of my mainline to prevent line twist when reeling in.
On the topic of hooklengths, for carp in the 2lb-10lb bracket I will opt for 18ins of 0.17mm Guru N-Gauge to a size 18 Pellet Waggler hook.
The hook is tied on using the knotless knot so I can have a small bait band sitting just off the back of the bend of the hook for my hard pellet hookbaits.
DEPTH TO START AT 3
On small waters I start with the rig set at least 18ins to 2ft deep with a view to coming higher in the water later in the session. I always like to start deeper, as that way I get a better impression of what’s happening below the surface.
On big waters like Boddington I will start even deeper. As a guide, if I’m fishing in, say, 9ft of water I will kick off fishing 4ft-5ft deep.
I’ve always been a big believer in starting deep and then looking to shallow up as the match progresses – this way I find I can cover a lot more water.
By starting deeper, even if the fish are sitting higher, you will still know about it, as you’ll either get bites on the drop or, alternatively, indications that are telling you to come shallow. If you start with a short hooklength, though, and the fish are sitting down in the water,
you’ll never know they are there.
GO LIGHTER WITH MAINLINES 4
Foam wagglers are relatively light, so trying to cast them on 8lb mainline and getting good presentation won’t happen.
Instead I fish 5lb Guru Pulse mainline, light and low diameter, making long, accurate casting effortless.
For big loaded floats, though, I step my mainline up to 8lb Pulse as the float itself has plenty of weight for accurate casting. Also, a lot of my big loaded float work is done at venues like Boddington, where big weights are on the cards and my mainline has to be able to take a constant hammering.
TIE A RIG WHICH DOESN’T TANGLE 5
If I’m using the unloaded, foam floats I always use purposebuilt adaptors to shot them, as this means you don’t have to put shot on light mainline which could potentially damage it.
The Guru adaptors I use take the float down to the perfect level without having to mess around.
Rather than put the adaptor straight on to the line I use a pellet waggler snap link swivel that allows me to change float size mid-session. should I need to switch to a bigger float to reach the fish.
To keep the waggler in place I use two small line stops below the float and one above it. These cushion against the force of the cast.
The advantage of using line stops is that they don’t damage the line and they give me the freedom to chop and change the depth throughout the session without fear of damaging the line.
CATCH MORE ON THE PELLET WAG continued KEEP FEEDING... 6
Without doubt the secret to pellet waggler success lies in the feeding. After all, you can have the best floats and set-up, but if you can’t pull any number of carp into the swim you aren’t going to catch any!
I always like to kick off feeding on a little and often basis, say 4-6 pellets, virtually constantly.
This means I’m making a constant noise on the surface of the water and it’s this that helps to pull fish into the swim.
Carp on most commercials are tuned into the noise of bait hitting the water, and feeding little and often takes advantage of this fact.
If I start to get a good response to this initial feeding I will look to up the number of pellets I feed to try and pull even more fish into the swim!
...AND CASTING! 7
Keeping busy is key when fishing the pellet waggler. I like to try and get into a rhythm of cast, feed, twitch the float into the feed, feed again, and then repeat.
When fishing a big float a bit later in the year, most bites tend to come on the splash. At the moment, though, it’s the twitch that tends to do the damage as it causes the hookbait to rise and fall in the water – a movement which carp at times find irresistible.
To twitch the float, all I do is give the reel handle a quick turn. Bites then tend to come just as the float comes back up.
TRY FISHING TO COVER 8
One of my favourite uses for the foam wagglers is fishing to far-bank cover such as reeds. Carp tend to feed very high in the water against cover, which makes the foam wagglers the perfect choice for fishing from 8ins-12ins deep.
It’s important that you start by fishing away from the cover, say a metre or two off it, catch a few fish, and then move closer to the cover as the need arises.
Sometimes this type of peg can be snaggy, so hooking carp a metre or two off makes them a lot easier to land – why make things difficult for yourself early in the session when you don’t have too?
Of course, once the carp start to grow wary you will have to go into the ‘lion’s den’ but by this time you will already have a few fish in the net.
FEATHER IT IN 9
Perhaps the most important bit of advice I can give when pellet waggler fishing is to feather the float into the water. In case you are unsure what I mean by ‘feathering’, basically it’s the act of putting your finger gently on to the spool before the float lands, so that it slows down in flight and lands with a much more graceful ‘plop’.
Feathering also separates the float and the hookbait in flight so you get what I call a ‘double plop’ as the float and hook pellet land separately.
This is deadly, as the carp then hear what they think is two pellets landing on the surface – when they investigate, though, there is just one, which they home straight in on!
USE THE RIGHT BAITS 10
Pellet waggler fishing is about feeding and fishing with pellets on the hook.
To start I will always ‘match the hatch’ and feed the same type of pellets I’m fishing on the hair.
However, I will also carry a few different shades of hard pellets, normally light and dark. I’ve always found that when the water is clear, a light-coloured hookbait tends to produce more bites, whereas when it’s coloured a dark pellet does the business.
The secret is, if you think there are carp in the swim and you aren’t catching them, be prepared to vary your hookbait.
SWITCH TO A WAFTER 11
One of the best pellet waggler hookbaits I’ve used in recent months has been a wafter-type bait.
It sinks ever so slowly under the weight of the hook, so your hookbait spends more time in the ‘bite zone’. For example an 8mm Ringers Pellet Wafter just sinks under the weight of a size 14 Guru Super MWG hook.
If in doubt, drop the baited rig into a tub of water on your side tray before casting. This way you can check that the bait is just sinking under the weight of the hook, and neither floating nor sinking like a stone.
GO PAST YOUR FEED 12
A mistake I believe a lot of anglers make when fishing the pellet waggler is to always fish right on top of their feed.
Yes, this will catch fish but it also means you potentially miss out on a lot more.
When I fish the pellet waggler I would say I catch at least 50 per cent of my fish off the back of my feed, often up to 5m past.
I’m convinced that a lot of carp sit off the back of the feed and then dart into the loose offerings to feed. By casting past the loosefeed I can then pick these fish off.
Better still, it actually gives me two bites of the cherry. I will cast past the feed and then, if no bite comes, I simply feed and twitch the float into the loose offerings.
“I would say I catch at least 50 per cent of my fish off the back of my feed”