PLAN A – DOBBING TO THE FAR BANK
MY starting tactic is to dob a big piece of breadpunch into gaps in the far-bank sedges to try and find out where the bulk of the fish are. it’s worth finding out where the weights have been caught from in previous matches so you can work out which ‘side’ of the peg is the best.
For example, if you are on peg 50 and pegs 45 or 46 have been catching in the last few weeks, fishing down towards these pegs will give you the best chance of regular bites compared to the other side that’s out of form.
i will still kick off fishing the ‘bad side’ to see if a carp or two is at home but if not, i’ll move along the bank to the extremity of the other side to a full 16m. if you don’t get a bite from one hole in the bank, chances are you won’t get one at all, so you can abandon this spot completely.
all being well you should identify holes where a few fish are. Make a mental note of these, as they’ll be the areas to fish when plan B comes into play.
the dobbing will eventually finish down to the end of the other side of the swim and should give you a guide as to where the carp are in the peg.
My dobbing kit is dead simple, made up of a 4x12 MaP isF2 float with all but two of the shot under the float, and fished 6ins off the bottom. Hooks are a size 14 Kamasan B911 with 0.18mm mainline, a 0.12mm hooklink of MaP Power Optex and a 6-9 grade pink twin Core elastic.
i try to find around 2ft of water to fish in, ideally close to any sedge cover. if a spot has overhanging sedges, the water here will be too deep to fish effectively.
Hookbait is a 10mm piece of Warburton’s toastie in the orange bag. Each hole will be fished for 10 minutes maximum without a bite before moving. if i catch, though, i’ll stay here until the swim goes totally dead.