Improve Your Coarse Fishing (UK)
Carp Q&A
QWhen would you use a bottom bait on the hair instead of a pop-up hookbait? Matt Richards, via email
JAKE WILDBORE: The spot that I am fishing and the time of year will determine the type of hookbait I use. I tend to fish pop-ups during the spring and when I am fishing over bottom debris, weed and so on. I feel they work best at that time of year and Q I really struggle tying chod rigs and can’t get the hooklink to curve properly. Have you got any tips to make it easier? Jeff O’Brien, Kent
LUKE VALLORY: This can be tricky, but there are a few things that you can do to make it easier. Firstly, use a stiff material of at least 20lb, if possible 25lb. The stiffness will make it easier to create that curve and retain it too. Once you have made the rig, run the material through your fingers, rubbing it to warm it up. This will not only straighten it, but also loosen it for you to put the curve in. You can use the chod or rig bins to hold over a kettle too, as they keep the curve and the steam sets it. over a littered bottom. When there is detritus on the lakebed, it is hard to present a bottom bait effectively. When the spot is hard and clean and I feel the fish are eating a lot of bait, then I would use a bottom bait. When the fish are hungry and looking to eat lots of food, particularly during the summer months, they can also be very wary, so a subtle bottom bait presentation is the perfect offering.
QIf you’d had a few bleeps on your alarm but a proper take didn’t develop, how long would you wait before recasting? Mark Fuller, via email DAN WILDBORE If you are getting lots of aggressive liners and they don’t develop into a bite, it is quite often because the fish are closer in than where you are fishing. However, I remember on Christchurch Lake, I was getting savage liners for three hours before I actually got the bite. It is about reading the situation and if you think something is wrong, re-do the rod. That is why I try and eliminate any doubt. I fish a rig that doesn’t tangle and even attach a PVA bag to it, just to make sure I know nothing is wrong out there and I can wait for a take. Q What is the best way to put PVA foam on the hook? Mine always comes off as soon as the rig hits the surface of the water. Jason Anderson, Bolton
BEN HAMILTON: This will happen if you don’t lick the foam for long enough. I simply hook the foam through the centre and lick one side, pressing it against the other to cover the hook. Hold it there for 10 seconds and let go. By the time you cast out the foam should have a good grip on the hook and withstand the impact of it landing in the water. Q Why do some hooks have eyes that face inwards and others that face outwards? Mark Whittaker, via email MARCUS HOWARTH: This is often down to rig and hooklink material. An out-turned eye is mainly used for stiff materials, a chod or stiff hinge, as the stiff hooklink kicks away from the eye. An in-turned eye works well on a bottom bait with a softer hooklink material that makes it slightly more aggressive. Q What is the best tool for baiting up with boilies at ranges to 50 yards? Should I use a Spomb or a throwing stick? Ian Cotton, via email
JOHN CLARIDGE: This all depends on the way in which you want to fish with the bait and the spot you are angling to. If I’m fishing to a spot, then I prefer to use a Spomb. It deposits the bait more accurately and you are trying to achieve a tight bed of bait. If you are fishing to a zone, then a throwing stick or catapult will give you a better spread of bait. In this situation, you don’t want the bait to be tightly grouped, so a throwing stick will enable bait to be widely spread.