Kayleigh Smith

10 top worm tips for silverfish

F THERE is one thing I have learned during my career it is that the fine margins are what separate a good angler from a great one.

Anglers of both standards will have a very similar set- up but nine times out of 10, the same one will fare best.

ITiny tweaks are the game changers and often the difference between scraping a few bites together and bagging a bulging net.

England international and Preston Innovations- backed Kayleigh Smith is among the elite and at this time of year she loves fishing for commercial silvers.

If there was one bait she wouldn’t be without in that scenario it is worms. Over the years she has fine- tuned her approach to make it even more deadly.

This month she reveals 10 cracking edges that will make a massive difference to your catches when using worms.

“Worms are quite a heavy bait and sink quickly. With that in mind, they are best fished on the deck using a shotting pattern that gets the hookbait down quickly.

There’s no point making the hookbait fall as slow as possible when your target fish are on the deck.

“I use a bulk of shot 18in from the hook with two smaller shot spread 6in apart just below.

“My favourite float is a Preston Innovations F1 Pellet as it has a reasonably thick tip that makes sure the rig remains anchored, no matter how much the worm is dancing around on the deck.

“When after a mixed bag of silvers on commercials, I use grade 7 Dura Slip elastic and 0.13mm mainline to a 0.10mm hooklength and a size 16 or 18 hook.”

“Big perch love worms. They are a predatory species and instinctively strike at things that move. A bed of chopped worm will attract them and while they’ll eat some of it, they often sit over the top, almost guarding it. It often takes a sudden movement of the hookbait to tempt them into snapping it up so I agitate it every 30 seconds. This could be a slight lift of the float, dragging it one way briefly or laying in the rig again. Vary how you manoeuvre it to prevent the fish wising up to what is going on.”

“No matter whether my bigger doses of feed are introduced loose or in groundbait, I rely on frequent, tiny top- ups.

“These often come in the form of ‘ marbles’ of groundbait and go in after every three fish on average. This makes sure the bed of feed remains intact, giving the fish something to graze on at all times. Each tiny marble may contain a thumbnail of worm and a couple of dead maggots. It doesn’t sound much but it’s enough to hold a shoal in winter.”

“It is important to consider what you expect to catch before deciding what size of hookbait to use.

“If I want big perch or skimmers then a whole worm will help to avoid the attention of smaller fish. When mixed bags are expected and I want to catch everything that swims, half a worm does the job.

“Finally, a tiny pea- sized piece of worm, which is basically just the head, is a brilliant hookbait when loosefeeding maggots. I often throw maggots 5m out to catch roach but use the same on the hook and tiny redfins attack the bait quickly.

“A tiny piece of worm is much tougher, making it harder for the juvenile fish to eat and therefore leaving it in place for the bigger fish to investigate.”

“Worms may all look similar but I usually carry two different types. The most commonly used and my first choice are dendrobaenas. They release lots of juices when cut up, making them ideal for both loosefeed and hookbait. They aren’t the most active of baits, however, and if I want to make my hookbait stand out, I nip a red worm on to the hook. They wriggle a lot and if a fish is grazing over a bed of chopped worms, this is likely to be the first thing they’ll spot and gobble up.”

“There are days when worms don’t work instantly. Instead of gambling, I’ll feed a swim to my right or left that includes worms and then another directly in front of me with other baits.

“The fish can take time to switch on to the amino acids in the worms and until they do, other offerings can be more effective. I’ll keep topping up and trying the swim with worms and once that kicks into life, I also introduce worms on the other spot. At that point I’d feel confident of a solid response and almost instant bites on worms.”