Improve Your Coarse Fishing (UK)
Commercials with variety – Lee Kerry
Man-made venues where you’ve no idea what you’ll catch next are on the up, and Lee Kerry shows how to fish them
IF YOU could browse through the orders that fish farmers received this year and compare them to a decade ago you’d notice some major differences. Commercials were obsessed with carp and F1s 10 years ago, buying ton upon ton to keep their waters in top form for visitors. Fast-forward 10 years and both still play a vital part in the stocking policy of almost every fishery, but breeders are also working hard to ship huge numbers of other species. The days where anglers were happy to act in an almost robotic nature and catch identically-sized and shaped fish every drop are on the wane. Many now demand a variety to keep them on their toes. In order to keep their customers happy venue bosses have had a major rethink of their stocking policies, introducing thousands of roach, ide, tench, bream, chub and even barbel to provide that element of surprise. England international and Preston Innovations-backed Lee Kerry has fished all over the country and when quizzed about his favourite fisheries, it’s apparent that they all have one factor in common. “I love fisheries where you put the rig in and you have no idea what is going to take the bait next,” confirmed Lee. “The days of anglers enjoying catching a carp or F1 every time the float goes under are gone. There is now a huge demand for waters that have half a dozen species or more.”
Peg selection
No matter which season it is, you will always find pegs that are real hotspots for carp and F1s. Unless you turn up early, you won’t stand a chance of getting on these ‘fliers’ and will have to settle for second best. But when it comes to silverfish it is a completely different story. “You can catch silvers from pretty much every peg on a venue that holds a decent stock of them. When I turn up at a fishery I like to select a peg that gives me plenty of water to attack. That means ignoring the swims where large sections of the area are inaccessible because of a big snag or something similar,” he said. Once Lee has plonked down his seatbox for the day it is time to work out exactly where he wants to fish. As always, he keeps things simple and attacks three spots, using a different style of feeding in each. “The first place I look to fish towards is any cover because this is where the fish will naturally be sat when you start. This could be towards an island or even a snag that comes into open water from the margins. I will trickle in around 10 maggots each time I ship out,” he explained. “My second spot is on an angle into open water and I will feed tiny nuggets of groundbait with a few maggots. This is often where the skimmers turn up. Last is the short pole line. I loosefeed 20 maggots by hand every couple of minutes. This is often the most prolific line and it is impossible to guess what you’ll catch next.”
“Use a balanced set-up and you can land pretty much anything you hook”
Balanced rigs
It is often straightforward picking the rigs when just one species is on the agenda because you will know roughly what size of fish you will battle with each time. But when one bite could be from a small roach and the next from a double-figure carp, things get a little trickier. “If you use a balanced set-up and make sure that all of your terminal tackle complements each other then you can land pretty much anything you hook,” he stated. “A soft elastic is very important when using light lines and hooks. I use a solid No.6 in open water and a No.8 when close to snags where the biggest fish are likely to be sat. I always use a Preston Innovations Pulla Bung so that I can strip elastic when playing them to increase the tension,” he said. “A 0.13mm Preston Innovations Powerline to an 0.10mm hooklength and a size 18 PR 412 hook is up to the job, with a 4x10 F1 Maggot pole float that is well dotted down the ideal tool to spot every bite.” When it comes to bait, two or three pints of maggots and a bag of Sonubaits 50:50 Method and Paste groundbait is all you need.
Silver secrets
Lee has put together mixed bags at dozens of waters but one of his favourite places for such action is Lindholme Lakes near Doncaster, South Yorkshire. No matter where you live in the country, you are likely to be aware of its ability to produce 100lb-plus nets of carp and F1s, but its silverfish prowess is less well known. “Almost all of the lakes have a big head of silvers but Bonsai is probably the jewel in the crown. It is stuffed with roach, skimmers, ide, chub, barbel, tench, F1s and carp. All these species are stocked in good numbers. It really is the perfect place for a session where you will struggle to guess what will take the bait next.” Setting up on a peg with plenty of space in front of the IYCF cameras, Lee cupped in a few nuggets of groundbait into open water at 12m to his right and then shipped over close to the island with a single maggot on the hook. Within minutes the elastic was out and a small roach hooked. A couple more came before something more substantial was on, with a 2lb F1 eventually subdued. All the while, he had been flicking maggots by hand on the short pole line but wanted to give the fish time to settle due to its close proximity to the bank. Rotating between the island swim and the long open water zone kept bites coming for an hour, with roach, skimmers, F1s and an occasional ide going into the net. A switch to the short line saw the float bury immediately and a 4lb carp was soon charging around the swim. As predicted, the balanced set-up made sure it was soon in the net. A few small chub and a solitary tench were bagged taking the species count up to seven in four hours sport. “I haven’t gone more than a couple of minutes without a bite today and even when the quality fish have backed away, I’ve had plenty of roach in front of me to keep me busy while I wait. This is what got me into fishing in the first place – the sheer unpredictability of it. “Commercials are now so much more than carp-only waters and there is no doubt this is leading to their appeal growing even more,” concluded Lee.