UNLOCKING THE DAY-TICKET CODE
LANCE BARTON has had an exceptional year on some of the country’s trickiest day-ticket waters, including Christchurch and Sandhurst. Here he reveals the approach and tactics he’s used...
ON MOST busy day-ticket waters, the biggest challenge you’ll face is getting on to the fish in the first place, or at least getting in a swim with access to the area where the fish are showing.
This isn’t always a huge problem if you’ve got plenty of spare time on your hands, and can afford to pick and choose when you fish, but for most of us that simply isn’t the case.
Getting started...
So, presuming that I’ve arrived at a venue to find the ‘going area’ stitched up, the first thing I’ll do is bag a swim that’s as close to the fish as possible.
Once I’ve watched the lake for a while and assessed how many fish there might be in front of me, I then decide on how to fish it. If they’re not there in numbers, then all I try to do is nick a bite to begin with. Often, this’ll mean just fishing with single hookbaits, or over just a small amount of bait. It’s all too easy to kill a swim stone dead by overloading it with bait.
If I’ve got a few nights ahead of me, I’ll speak to the lads in the ‘going’ swims and see how long they’re staying. If they’re off the next day, I’ll perhaps do a night fishing singles somewhere else on the lake, before moving into the best areas when they become free.
However, if a ‘new’ weather front is forecast, then it’s well worth thinking ahead and trying to second-guess where the fish are likely to end up. Being the first in the new area can bring spectacular results.
Rigs of choice
Once I’ve managed to locate the bulk of the ‘shows’, I’ll investigate further with a bare lead. Ideally I’m looking for firm spots close to weed, or ‘dirty’ areas, where the fish often feel safer.
If I manage to find these and I get a clean pull on the lead, I’ll fish a D-rig with a wafter hookbait every time. I’m a huge fan of the movement that this set-up affords to the bait, especially when you form the ‘‘D nice and big and mount the wafter on a ring swivel. That, combined with the stiffness of the hooklink material, makes it very hard for the fish to deal with, plus the rig always resets if it has been blown around or rejected. Touch wood, I’ve never not lost a fish using this rig.
If a light layer of silkweed is present, however, then I’ll reach for a Ronnie rig. I know it’s used a lot these days, but its hooking efficiency is pretty remarkable.
Helicopter heaven
I’ve played around with countless rigs down the years, but always end up going back to helicopter set-ups with stiff boom sections. It’s easier to get a good presentation with these than with any other rigs because you can move the bead up the leader to suit the lakebed.
By using the C-Clip system, I can also drop the lead if need be, which is a massive help when fishing weedy lakes.
The fish find it hard to use the lead to eject the rig with helicopters, unlike with some other set-ups, because they don’t have a solid ‘pivot point’ to work against.
Bait ‘differently’
When it comes to loosefeeding, I try to base my approach on what other people are doing, so to speak. For example, I turned up on Sandhurst in the spring and the only bites were coming to singles. I went the other way and put out quite a bit of bait, and it worked brilliantly. Conversely, if everyone is filling it in, I’ll tread lightly.
Bait attraction on busy day-ticket waters is paramount. I want as much scent pumping out of the spot as possible, and baits like pellets, boilies, crumb, powders and liquids leak off a crazy amount of attraction, even if the main, larger loosefeed items have gone.
I also sometimes like to wash my hookbaits out to trick the fish into eating them without fear, but other than that everything goes in fresh.
Resting the swim
Generally, I like to put two or three rods close together, and bait up tightly over the top. However, if I’m catching well I’ll Spomb the bait out a bit wider, but only when I know there are a lot of fish about.
When they are really having it, then I’ll always fish a ‘match the hatch’ hookbait. I sometimes use a sight tipper if the fish are feeding tight on the spot, just to get me quicker bites, but a lot of people use bright hookbaits these days, to the point that they have become a little bit obvious to the carp in many waters.
Resting the swim, especially after getting the bait out, can be a great idea. The fish can have a feed and ghost around the spot, without bumping into lines. A lot of people bait up in the evening and put their rods straight out, but I often put my bait out in the afternoon and the rods five hours later, and I’m sure this has helped me to get some really quick bites.
Putting it into practice
I applied these bait tactics during two sessions at Sandhurst, which is a
highly-pressured day-ticket venue holding some exceptional carp. I ended up catching 10 fish on each trip, the biggest being a 37lb 7oz mirror. It was early in the year and there wasn’t loads coming out, so by putting myself on the fish and doing something different to the others, I had a right result.
Later in the spring I moved onto Christchurch, on the busy Linch Hill complex. I kept an open mind from the start, but noticed that everyone else seemed to have a lead around, find a spot, put 10 Spombs of bait out and then cast their rigs in. As a result, on my first trip I went in with singles on top of showing fish, and did well.
Christchurch is a busy water, and the lads on there were convinced that the fish were actively looking for lines, and I can believe that. I also think that the fish often feed on bait that has been on the lakebed a while which is why, when I did fish over bait, I ‘washed it out’ to give the impression that it’d been there a while.
When I was sure the fish were feeding well over my bait, I introduced a mix with ramped-up attraction, all the while keeping my lines well pinned down and my eyes open for signs of activity. As a rule, I won’t put out more bait unless I’ve had a bite or seen shows over my spots, but as the session progressed, the bites became more regular… and the fish were getting bigger too.
A dream ending…
Late one morning I received a bite out the blue from a big common known as the Baby Perch at over 43lb, and I went on to add a couple of thirty-pounders to that day’s tally!
The following morning, just as it was getting light, I netted a deep bodied carp called the Adidas fish at over 39lb, and a few hours later after a truly mental fight I banked the Perch, one of the lake’s really old commons, at just under 40lb.
It was just a mental session and, later that day, I was chatting to a lad called Robbie about some of the remaining stock in the lake, and we mentioned Single Scale. I jokingly said that I was going to catch it before I had to go.
It can’t have been more than about 15 minutes later when I got another bite. Straight away we could see it was a big mirror and before long – yes, you’ve guessed it – Single Scale was in the net. At 44lb 12oz, it was a new pb for me and the perfect way to end my session.
The fish in Christchurch, like elsewhere, also liked a floater. It’s amazing how little they get fished for in this way on the more busy day-ticket waters, yet when it’s hot and sunny it’s the perfect way to rest your main swim and keep the lines out of the water, building the fish’s confidence for the evening ahead. On one day I took five fish to over 38lb off the top, which just goes to show what sort of rewards are on offer, provided you’re willing to put in the effort.
And that’s the name of the game on busy day-ticket waters. Put in the effort, and dare to do things a little bit different to the other anglers.
It’s the simple recipe for success.
“WHEN I DID FISH OVER BAIT, I ‘WASHED IT OUT’ FIRST TO GIVE THE IMPRESSION THAT IT’D BEEN THERE A WHILE...”