TOP CATCHES
FREDDIE SANDFORD – 15lb BAG OF DACE
Your pre-lockdown catches
“IF YOU’VE ever watched dace feed in clear water, you’ll know just how smart they are. The speed at which they will take and then reject a maggot is remarkable, and you wouldn’t believe how many fish take your bait and spit it back out without your float so much as quivering!
“For that reason, I’ve always tried to keep my tackle as sensitive as possible when targeting dace, to stop them detecting anything unusual. But on a trip to Nottingham’s famous River Trent last year, that thinking was completely turned on its head.
“It was a hot morning in late July when I arrived on the Nottingham Federation of Anglers stretch at Clifton Bridge with my Angling Times colleagues Ian Jones and Chris Haydon, in the hope of catching a nice bag of silverfish.
“The river was running at a typical low and clear summer level, and after having a quick chat with the bailiffs I was advised to try a peg roughly below some powerlines that had been producing in recent matches.
“Although floatfishing is the typical way to catch dace, I was told that the peg had good form on the feeder, so this is what I went with.
“A simple running rig with a 50g large Kamasan Blackcap that just held bottom, 2ft of 0.13mm line and a size 16 Drennan Wide Gape hook was my chosen set-up – pretty stout silverfish tackle in my book, but as the Trent is home to big barbel, perch and chub, I wanted a chance of landing any bonus fish.
“Filling the feeder 50/50 with hemp and maggots, I lobbed it slightly upstream, felt it down to the bottom and paid out a bow in the line to help it settle. Just minutes later the rod-tip began to bounce, but my strike was met with thin air.
“Slightly confused, I repeated the process, and yet again I missed a bite. After a few more casts I finally connected with a dace of around 6oz, but something wasn’t right. There were lots of fish in the peg, but I simply couldn’t hook them. Time for a change.
“The dace were clearly taking my hookbait but my strike wasn’t quick enough to hook them, so I decided to make adjustments to my rig to hopefully cause the fish to hook themselves.
“First, I shortened my hooklength to around 10 inches and tied on a larger size 14 Super Spade. I then slid a float stop above my feeder to prevent it from running freely on the line, creating a bolt rig.
“After casting out, I left as little of a bow in the line as I could to keep me in more direct contact with the feeder, and it wasn’t long before the tip began to jag.
“This time my strike was met with a firm, thumping resistance, and I was now hitting most of my bites. Alongside a procession of quality dace, I also banked plenty of perch as well as the occasional roach.
“After a few hours I lifted my net to reveal a sparkling 15lb bag that I was really pleased with. Most importantly, though, I’d learned that sometimes being positive with the tackle and rig you use can make a real difference, even with delicate feeders like dace. No doubt it will help me fool more of these crafty fish in the future.”
“Just minutes later the rod-tip began to bounce, but my strike was met with thin air.”