Steve shows you how to fool more carp in the margins

“To avoid line bites I like to feed, then lower my hookbait in on top”

MARGIN fishing can be fantastic but, as you’re finding out, it can also be extremely annoying, especially when you can see carp on the bait but can’t catch them!

In fact, getting fish into the peg is often not the hard part. Getting them settled and catching them without foul hooking or line bites is the real trick, and on some days this just doesn’t quite happen. It could be down to the depth of the peg, how you’re feeding, or a bit of both.

Are they feeding fish?

Sometimes when you see a big swirl in the edge it’s actually from a carp leaving the swim rather than one feeding on the bait. Carp in the edges can be spooky and will sometimes swirl off even though your rig isn’t in the water! However, if you can see tails coming up and breaking the surface, these will be feeding fish. Get everything right, and they’re catchable.

Find the right depth

The perfect summer edge peg should be 12ins-18in deep against the bank. If you have to fish away from the edge to find the right depth there’s an increased likelihood of line bites and foul hookers. Also, if the water is too shallow the carp won’t necessarily feed confidently and will be very difficult to catch.

Use any cover you have

Water clarity can play a part, especially in 12ins of water. If this is the case, cover can be key. Today’s session at Barby Banks has been a brilliant example of this. I started off fishing in the open in just 12ins of water but the carp wouldn’t settle. I could see them coming in, but they were spooking due to the water being slightly clear and the lack of cover.

By moving down the bank to an overhanging grass tuft I transformed the peg and went from struggling to getting a proper carp bite every drop in!

The beauty of cover is that it allows me to hide the pole from the fish. A pole waving about over the top of carp in shallow water will spook them so, if possible, I always try to hide the pole by keeping it bankside or by using cover.

Feeding – pot or by hand?

Feeding is next, and there are two ways to feed in the edges – by hand or pot. If I’m fishing close I like to feed by hand because it gives me more options in terms of when I feed – in other words, I can feed while playing a fish and keep the swim constantly topped up.

That said, sometimes carp won’t feed confidently close to my platform and to get them to settle or to find the right depth I’ll have to fish long, which rules out feeding by hand. It’s then all about potting bait in to keep the carp in the swim.

Potting can be either in the form of a big pot or a smaller, Kinder-type version. Big potting is something I do when I’m looking to catch a lot of fish, whereas I use a small pole-mounted pot when I’m setting a trap to catch one fish at a time.

Always use big rigs

I try not to ever feed on top of the float, because this can result in line bites and spooked fish. Instead, I like to feed, then lower my hookbait in on top.

This is where a heavy float can be important, because it’s vital that you keep your hookbait in the optimum position – on top of those loose offerings.

Use too light a float and, once there are a couple of big carp feeding in the swim, they can waft the hookbait and rig out of the way.

For margin fishing I like to use an MW Margin float in 0.3g to 0.5g sizes to get the stability I need when fishing for big carp in shallow water. Shotting pattern is a tightly strung bulk with the bottom shot 4ins from the hook. This shotting helps keep the rig in place and stops the hookbait from being pushed out of position by the feeding fish.

A 4ins hooklength is important because it allows me to get the shot close to the hookbait without putting them on the hooklength itself, which could damage it.

Give them a big hookbait

Finally, let’s look at hookbaits. Target baits can be very effective in the edge.

For instance, if I’m feeding dead maggots and micro pellets or groundbait I’ll fish a big bunch of dead maggots on the hook. I’m talking about 8 to 10 maggots on a size 12 Guru XS Spade hook.

A big bait just seems to catch the eye of feeding carp and results in quicker bites.

I sometimes think it can take big carp too long to find a smaller hookbait that doesn’t stand out a little bit amid the loose offerings.