FISH ‘THROUGH THE WATER’ TO STAY IN TOUCH WITH WINTER F1s
Correct depth is vital, says Adam Swain
IT’S tricky enough to pin down F1s in high summer, let alone when the water is clearing and temperatures are on the slide.
When that happens it’s the angler who really thinks about their fishing who consistently gets the best results.
I’m not talking about swapping methods or baits. Instead I’m focusing on something as seemingly minor as a slight alteration in the depth I’m fishing at to keep in touch with the fish and to keep the pole elastic streaming out.
By far the best way to achieve this is to fish what’s known as ‘through the water’ with the hookbait falling slowly down amid loosefeed to give you the best chance to catch F1s at a range of depths. By fishing this way you will find the optimum depth to concentrate on as the day goes by, where the fish are happiest to sit.
This could be 12ins off the bottom, it could be half-depth or, strange as it may seem, perhaps only 2ft deep in an 8ft deep swim. Constantly changing the depths, sometimes by as little as just 6ins, can throw the switch and lead to a fish a chuck.
To put it into practice, I’m fishing the Kingfisher Lake at Westwood Lakes. This is full of F1s but is also home to a mix of quality silver fish too, and at 6ft deep on the long pole line it offers enough depth for me to play about with depth changes to find where those finicky F1s are going to be!
MULTIPLE RIGS
It’s no good setting up just one rig and sliding the float about all over the place as the day goes on. This means you’re never sure where your starting depth is and you can soon lose track and waste valuable time.
Instead, I have four rigs good to go, taking in one for fishing on the bottom, one at half-depth, one at 3ft deep and one at 2ft deep.
That way, if I need to make a change, all I need to do is pick the top kit up. There’s no sliding the float up and down the line at all.
Each rig is shotted the same way, basically having all the shot strung evenly from around half-depth down to the hooklink to achieve that slow fall of the hookbait.
SHOTTING
The Chianti takes five No10 shot, so I sit one under the float to act as a cocker and the rest are spread from the hooklink upwards at two-inch intervals – and this fromula is never altered.
For the on-the-deck rig, this changes to No9 shot, once more spaced 2ins apart.
STARTING OFF
I’ll begin fishing on the bottom with the 4x14 rig, and catapult in those 20 or so maggots every time I drop the float back in.
The rig is laid in to one side, and once the bait has settled I’ll give it 20 seconds and then lift the rig out, feed and lay it back in. It’s important to drop the rig in as soon as you’ve fed, so that the bait is in among the loose offerings.
CHANGING DEPTHS
It’s easy to know when to change, as you will get the odd foul-hooked fish or begin missing bites from F1s swimming into the rig above the hookbait.
When this happens I’ll change to the half-depth rig and keep up with the feeding and laying the rig in process.
Again, if I am still missing bites it will be time to pick up the 3ft-deep rig and so on until I find where the fish are and start hooking every bite.
However, be aware that the fish can drop back down in the water again, so if the bites stop, go deeper to see if the F1s are there. It can also pay to flick the rig out past the pole-tip in case any fish have backed away and are feeding on the overspill from the catapulted maggots. Another trick is to lay the rig into the water in the opposite direction to what you have been doing.