Improve Your Coarse Fishing (UK)
Rely on maggots late on – Any Dyson
Feeding maggots throughout but fishing them only in the last hour is the way to an impressive net of spring carp, says Andy Dyson
HAVE you noticed that you’ll often get spells when the fish seem to be crawling up the line? And then suddenly the bites dry up. Being able to take advantage of those windows of opportunity when the fish switch on to the feed is key because this is when you can bag the majority of your catch. The arrival of these prolific spells may seem purely a matter of chance but Andy Dyson knows that the timing of such events is well and truly in your hands. The Spotted Fin-backed angler relies on one bait to trigger that response and believes that a patient mindset can lead to a golden hour. “Fish can still be reluctant to feed heavily at this time of year but I have found a way to make them settle for a prolonged period. During this spell I can expect to get a bite every chuck,” explained Andy. So what is the all-important bait? “Maggots!” revealed Andy. “But it’s how you fish them and feed the swim that will ultimately decide whether you make the most of a potential feeding frenzy or completely blow it.”
Analysing the conditions
The first thing you need to do at your swim is to inspect the water clarity. As a simple rule of thumb, the clearer the water, the further out from the bank you should prime the maggot line. “If the water is coloured then I fish the line at 6m. If it has just a tinge then it will be 8m, and when it is really clear I push further out to 10m,” says Andy. “I want this line to be as close to the bank as possible to make feeding easy, but at the same time it needs to be where the fish are going to feel most comfortable.” Depth also needs to be considered. Fishing at the bottom of, or beyond a nearside slope or ledge, is likely to put your hookbait into the deepest part of the lake, where fish are most likely to settle in the cold.
Building the swim
When Andy states that the maggot line is prolific he isn’t exaggerating. Even on the coldest of days he has been known to catch more than 50lb in less than an hour. But an achievement like this is only possible with patience. “You need to spend the majority of your session fishing well away from where you feed your maggots, picking off fish on other tactics and baits from different spots while you wait. “If I am fishing for five hours I fish elsewhere for four of those and only go on the maggot line for the final hour. “The aim is to build up the confidence of the fish, lulling them into a false sense of security that any bait can be taken without fear of being hooked. By the final hour they are so confident they’ll have dropped their guard and it can be a bite every chuck.”
Andy feeds 30 maggots every 10 minutes. This is done by feeding 15 grubs and then the same number again a split second later. “Any small fish up in the water are kept occupied by the first lot and the second batch will make it to the bottom where the bigger fish will arrive later. When I am cupping bait I tip in half the contents, count to 10 and then dispatch the rest so that I get the same effect as if I am throwing them in by hand.” It can be tempting to try this line before the final hour. And the chances are it will yield an occasional carp or F1. But rushing into it could spook the shoal before they’ve built their confidence and you can kiss goodbye to that late flurry, cautions Andy. Once you start fishing the line, continue to feed it in the same manner, increasing it slightly if silver fish are still a problem and decreasing it if you are foul-hooking F1s and carp that have become over-excited.
Differing presentation
F1s can be extremely unpredictable in their feeding behaviour. “At times they are so ravenous that they will smash a bait, no matter how unnatural the presentation is, yet at other times they are incredibly cautious and will only take a hookbait if it falls at the same pace as every other maggot,” said Andy. To make sure he is prepared for both scenarios Andy sets up two rigs. The first has a 4x12 float with a bulk of shot 18in up from the hooklength and two small droppers below. It is aimed at getting the bait down to the deck quickly. When the fish are finicky he switches to a 4x10 version and strings No.11 shot down the line, drastically slowing the fall of the hookbait. Although most bites come when the hookbait is either on the bottom or very close to it, Andy believes the fish watch the bait fall and if anything looks out of place, it will be ignored. The way the fish are feeding can change in an instant, and it is often a case of rotating both rigs to keep bites coming in the final stages. “Catching well in winter isn’t down to chance. Hold your nerve and ignore the maggot line for hours and you’ll build a sweat late on when the rest are struggling.”