Tactic of the Week
Match star Rob Wootton reveals his big springtime floatfishing secret
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Match ace Rob Wootton reveals his spring waggler tricks
MOST commercials tend to be dominated by two techniques – the pole and the feeder/bomb.
But is it worth dusting down your wagglers and fishing with this more traditional tactic? You bet, says top commercial angler and England regular Rob Wootton.
“The great thing about the waggler is that it allows you to floatfish that area of ‘dead’ water between where you’d fish the pole and where you’d cast the feeder,” said the Leicester angler.
“And it works brilliantly in early spring. Carp will be starting to venture closer to the bank, but many of them will feel happiest just out of pole range. That’s where the waggler comes in!
“By fishing just beyond pole range, you can still accurately loosefeed particles, but the bigger carp are often much less wary in this area and much more amenable to picking up anglers’ baits with confidence, especially during the middle part of the day.
“Also, as it is early in the season, the water is still relatively cool and clear, so fish often won’t tolerate a pole waving above their heads. This is where the waggler pays dividends”
ROB’S FLOAT TACKLE
This was a half-way house between standard silver fish float gear and beefed-up commercial carp tackle, with a 13ft rod, 5lb mainline, 0.12mm hooklength and size 16 hook.
The all-important float was a 3.5g loaded insert waggler. Rob prefers loaded floats because he finds they cast more accurately and there are no bulky shot squeezed around the base. Rob uses an insert waggler so he can fish as delicately as possible, but if there is a lot of wind or undertow, he will swap to a straight waggler for better stability and visibility.
He leaves a 3ins gap between the locking shot. This enables the float to collapse more easily on the strike, and also gives the fish a little more line to take the bait before encountering any
resistance from the float.
To shot the float so the tip was only just showing, Rob spaced five No10s equally down the line, while a small micro swivel joined the mainline to the hooklink. The swivel prevents line twist when using double baits.
CAST CONSISTENTLY
Rob started today’s session by squeezing an SSG shot on to his hook and plumbing the depth so that the float was set around 3ins overdepth.
He then placed his mainline into the reel’s line clip. As long as he cast towards a permanent far-bank marker, the rig would land in the same place every time. Assuming he hit the clip on the cast, the rig would naturally straighten, to avoid tangles.
Casters are a brilliant feed at this time of year for all species, but carp will start to dominate as the day progresses, and for hookbait, you can’t beat double red maggot right now, said Rob. “I use maggots on the hook because they are soft and juicy, so the fish tend to hold on to them for a few seconds longer to give you more time to see the bite and strike – a vital edge when fishing a waggler.”
Sweetcorn is another good hookbait, as it is durable and withstands repeated casting.
“I loosefeed around 10 casters every couple of minutes, while I will catapult out a couple of corn kernels every five or six,” he continued.
“I find the corn is better for holding the big fish, plus it also gives me an alternative hookbait if I’m getting ‘bitted out’ on maggot.”
As expected after a cold night, the day started slowly – but Rob’s swim became more and more active with every hour that passed until he was almost getting a bite a chuck. Each and every one was
from a quality fish!