Q I get lots of swirls and liners around my rig in the margins, and sometimes I foul-hook fish (which usually come off). What am I doing wrong?
Peter Church, Stretford
Steve says: Catching margin fish can be incredibly tricky at times, particularly when you can see them but they won’t take your hookbait.
When you see a swirl down the edge it’s quite often a fish leaving the peg because it has spooked, rather than it being a fish feeding on the loose offerings.
If you can see fish swirling around your float, though, there are a few things you can do to catch them.
First, try using a heavier than normal float – even if it’s only 12ins deep I’d want to use a float taking at least 0.3g. Something like an MW Margin Diamond is brilliant for this type of fishing.
A bigger float helps to give your hookbait more stability. If you use a light rig for edge fishing and there are big fish feeding in the swim then quite often you’ll find your hookbait is wafted around all over the place. This, in turn, leads to lots of foul-hookers and spooked fish.
A heavy float helps to keep your hookbait on the bottom exactly where you want it.
On the subject of hookbaits, quite often when edge fishing big is best. So if I am fishing dead maggots I’ll put 8-10 on a size 12 XS spade end hook. A big hookbait stands out and tends to produce a response when all else fails.
Another little tip if possible is to try to get your float tight to the bank if depth allows. There’s nothing worse for line bites and foul-hookers than carp swimming bankside of your float.
Getting your float tight to the bank also allows you try and hide the pole over the bank. If the water is shallow, a pole-tip waving about will also spook fish.
For this reason, when edge fishing, I like to use a long line between pole float and pole-tip. This way I can keep the tip nice and high and away from the fish.