RINGER TO THE RESCUE Steve has all the tricks for catching on the mudline
THE TERM ‘mudline’ refers to fishing across to the far bank in very shallow water on snake lakes.
The key part to catching from here is the depth – you need to be fishing in between 8ins and 18ins of water, with 12ins-14ins the optimum depth. This will normally be close to or up against the muddy bank of the lake, hence the name mudline.
As the water warms, carp and F1s will move into this shallow water to feed and seek sanctuary. On some days, it’s possible to catch from here from start to finish. But there’s definitely a right and a wrong way to approach a mudline!
Find the right depth
The reason that depth’s so important is that once things warm up, if the water’s too deep line bites and foul-hooked fish can become a nightmare – carp and F1s won’t want to feed on the bottom unless the lake is very shallow.
The first thing to do is plumb your peg properly and try to find the right depth to fish at. This should be as tight to the bank as possible because this stops fish from being on both sides of your float, which can cause problems with those line bites and foul-hookers.
Pick the right tackle
There’s no room for light floats, because once you get a lot of fish feeding in 12ins of water your float will get wafted around. My choice is a 0.3g Guru MW AR, which gives me the stability I’m looking for.
Line choice for 1lb-8lb fish is 0.17mm N-Gauge, with a 4ins hooklength of 0.14mm Pure Fluorocarbon. A short hooklength is important because I don’t have to put shot on it, which could cause damage. I’m still able to put shot close enough to the hook to keep the stability I need.
Hook choice is a size 16 Guru F1 Pellet, which suits a variety of baits from 6mm cubes of meat to three dead maggots. Shotting pattern is a tight bulk of No9s set 4ins from the hook.
Carp can sometimes be very wary of the pole being waved over their heads. If this happens, I like to fish a long line between pole-tip and pole float, around 18ins-24ins. The only downside to this is that it can
cause missed bites.
To combat this I use a string of No9 back shot spaced at 4ins intervals above the float. This means I have to keep the pole high off the water and stay tight to the float to stop it being pulled under. By keeping the pole high with a long line I’ll still miss very few bites.
Mudline baits
Bait really depends on the venue you’re fishing. At Barby Banks, where I am today, 6mm cubes of meat are brilliant in the shallow water and I prefer to feed 6mm cubes on their own.
If the carp are a bit spooky then I’ll feed a bit of riddled meat with the cubes to try and put a bit of a cloud in the water.
Once the carp arrive, I’ll cut the riddled meat out and just feed cubes because riddled, sloppy meat can lead to line bites and foul-hookers.
Other baits that can work well are pellets, especially when fed as sloppy micros with an expander or grain of corn over the top. Dead maggots and groundbait are good too.
Feed, then drop in
All the feeding is done with a medium Guru pole pot. If there are a lot of fish in the swim, though, I’ll consider upping this to a large pot. I like to empty the pot then lower the float on top once I’m confident the bait is on or very close to the bottom. Feeding on top of the float can cause foul-hookers.
If I can see fish, I’ll go in and try to catch one before I feed. If I connect, I feed before shipping back with the fish on, setting the trap again ready to go back in once the fish has been landed. This is a great way of catching a few quick fish.
With hookbaits, I’ll always match the hatch, so today I’m fishing a 6mm meat cube on the hook. If there are lots of F1s in the peg, and missed bites are a problem, half a cube is a great change bait.
Other hookbaits that work well are three dead red maggots, a single expander or a piece of sweetcorn.
Lifting and dropping
If there are a lot of fish about, keep lifting and dropping the rig in place. The commotion from large numbers of fish in shallow water can push the hookbait out of position so it’s important to lift and dropping the rig to keep the bait in place.