Improve Your Coarse Fishing (UK)
Braid beats shy-biters – Mick Vials
The non-stretch line will help you see every bite, says Mick Vials
IT’S frustrating enough when the tip goes round and you miss a bite but those levels of annoyance step up a notch when you reel in a mangled hookbait having not even noticed a twitch of the tip. When this happens you will almost certainly be fishing for silver species, with shy-biting roach, perch and bream failing to give anything to strike at despite intercepting your bait. But there is a very simple solution to this incredibly irritating problem and that is switching from a standard monofilament mainline to braid on your reel. Braid has many qualities that will drastically increase the number of fish that end up in your net and Preston Innovations-backed natural water expert Mick Vials wouldn’t dare target silvers on the feeder without it.
Top attributes
“The best thing about using braid is its lack of stretch. If a roach or bream picks up the hookbait and gives a tentative bite when using mono, your tip might not move because of the stretch in the mainline. “Braid doesn’t have any stretch so even the tiniest movement at the business end will register and give you something to strike at. “It also has a thinner diameter which means you can cast much easier because it cuts through the air and any wind with no problems at all.” Mick has used various types of braid over his career but has extensively tested the new Preston Innovations Absolute Feeder Braid in recent months and tends to use the 0.10mm version when fishing for mixed nets of silvers. If there is one essential accessory you need when fishing with braid it is a pair of sharp scissors. You might be able to bite through mono with your teeth when making rig adjustments but the strength of braid means you have no chance of doing that! And, frankly, you shouldn’t even try!
“Braid has a thinner diameter to cast easier through the air and any wind”
Read the water
One question that Mick is often asked is how he feeds a swim when using an open end feeder. Although how much he piles in varies with each session, he does follow two simple rules of thumb to give him an idea of how positive he needs to be with the loosefeed. “On large, deep waters the fish seem to have a tendency to patrol and you need to stop them in their tracks and hold them for a long period. “You can do this by feeding a large bed of bait at the beginning, casting around 10 times with a bigger feeder to put down a carpet before switching to a small version for fishing. “The fish act a little differently on shallow waters and hold up in the same areas so I take a much more cautious approach and don’t create a big bed of bait. “I simply start with the smaller feeder and gradually build up how much bait is there as the day goes on. If you put in too much loosefeed the fish could become preoccupied and it will take longer to get a bite.” When it comes to groundbait choice Mick has two firm favourites – Sonubaits 50/50 Green for bigger bream in warm conditions, switching to F1 Green when roach and smaller skimmers are on the agenda. Timing how long it takes to get a bite will help you work out how often you need to cast
Hookbait choices
Matching the size of your hookbait to the stamp of fish you expect to catch is often a wise decision although Mick has a number one favourite to start on no matter what he is targeting. “I always start the session with maggots because they gives me a great indication as to what is in the swim. If I get no bites then I might have to add a little more bait as it tells me nothing is present. I do the same if small roach are attacking the bait as it tells me no bigger bream are around. Once the bigger fish turn up I use a more noticeable bait such as worm or corn to get quicker bites. I also have full confidence that I will see every single indication thanks to braid.”