Lee Kerry Commercial silvers
Lee Kerry shows how to bag up on a commercial near you
One of my favourite ways of getting out on a cold winter day is going on a commercial fishery with a good stock of silver fish.
High stocking levels give you an almost guaranteed day’s sport, and carp don’t tend to be too much of a nuisance either! So, as December fast approaches, let’s take a look at some of my top tips for this type of fishing…
KEEP IT LIGHT
As we all know, super-light tackle isn’t something we normally associate with commercial fisheries – but as the water temperatures fall, the fish change their feeding habits and competition for food is no longer a priority.
As a result, the way that the fish feed changes completely. It means that everything needs to become more critically balanced all the way through from your pole to your rig.
Starting at the top, you need a super-soft elastic. The fish in cold water are naturally much more lethargic, so they apply less pressure as they try to swim off.
That means that your elastic has to be soft enough to easily guide the fish out of your peg. This is even more applicable in shallow water, as a strike can easily bring the fish to the surface and make a commotion.
As a rule, I always go as light as possible with elastics, and I spend most of the winter using original Slip solid in either a No3 or a No5 in deeper water. This definitely gives me more fish by the end of the match.
FINE FLOATS
The next consideration is the float to use, and the new F1 Fine is my No1 choice for nearly all of my winter fishing for silver fish or F1s. This float has a 1.2mm diameter hollow bristle, which is visible but highly sensitive too. Again, lightness comes into play because you definitely get more bites using a lighter float.
I won’t hesitate to use the 4x10 size if conditions allow, but the slim nature of these floats means that you can use the bigger sizes if the need arises.
TERMINAL TACKLE
Mainline will always be 0.12mm Accu Power for durability and balance too, with hooklengths at 0.08mm for roach or 0.10mm for skimmers. When it comes to hooks there is only one choice – SFL-B, which is an incredibly light, but strong, barbless hook. This is usually a size 16 or 18 for maggot fishing, changing to a size 14 if soft pellets are required.
BAIT CHOICES
If I had to take just one bait for winter silver fish it would be maggots. It’s a bait that I can rely on for bites in even the coldest of conditions, and all fish eat them, which means I can use them to target everything in the peg. Reds are the main colour, with a few whites mixed in as a change bait if required.
The key to this bait, as always, is in the feeding. Because everything eats them, maggots become a bait that is easy to read. The golden rule is to start off feeding steadily with around five to 10 maggots at a time. You can then begin to read the bites from there.
For example, if bites are coming regularly from small fish you can be confident about upping the feed to ensure there is enough bait to satisfy all the fish in your peg, including the better ones. You can’t always do that with other baits, because you can’t be sure what is being eaten and what isn’t.
BACK-UP OPTION
Pellets are my second option for a day on the silver fish. This wasn’t always the case, but with so many venues holding huge heads of skimmers that spend the warmer months being fed on pellets, it seems only ‘natural’ now to feed them the same bait in winter.
For pellet work you have to be far more cautious. Softened 2mm pellets are the basis of the feed, with 4mm and 6mm expanders prepared for hookbaits. You don’t have to feed tiny amounts as you would for F1s, and I’ll introduce 50 or so pellets to create a better bed of bait for a fish that feeds differently to F1s.
Using a Cad pot to introduce the bait keeps it tight, but don’t get caught in the trap of feeding every cast just because you have a pot on the end of the pole.
Let the fish tell you when to top up the swim!
SHOTTING PATTERNS
As with all my fishing, I like to keep shotting patterns simple to help me read the rig consistently so that I can learn what is happening in the peg.
For the maggot line I like to have small shot, such as No11s or No10s, spread out over the bottom half of the rig, usually spaced 10cm apart above the 15cm hooklength. This gives a consistent fall of the rig, keeping the line tight so that you can read the bites as the bait falls.
For pellet fishing it’s different, as you are not looking to catch any fish on the drop. Instead, the shot can be 3cm apart and either No10s or No9s, just above the hooklength. This means you get positive bites and, amazingly, have very few missed bites when using pellets!
“I can rely on maggots for bites in even the coldest of conditions”
DISTANCES
Generally speaking, I always look to adopt a two-distance approach. A longer line is primarily based around catching skimmers and bigger fish, so this will be the pellet line. It’s also one that you can top up and feed with a pot, so you don’t always have to be fishing it.
This leaves a shorter line for maggot fishing, which is often done via loosefeed and pulls in a mix of fish sizes that will be happier to feed closer in.
That means you can keep this line going easily if you want to try the longer line for a spell.