10 steps to perfect preparation – Kristian Jones

YOU glance out of the window and the weather’s awful. Your heart insists you still go fishing but your brain tells you the more sensible thing to do would be to stay indoors! We’ve all been there. But when Kristian Jones is faced with this scenario he opts for a compromise. “At this time of year there are days when the weather just gets the better of you,” he admitted. “When this happens I set my mind to preparing my tackle so that the next time I am able to go fishing I have everything in place to make it the perfect session.” This month the Bag’em Matchbaits and Tri-Cast-backed angler reveals 10 essential preparation tips to get your tackle ready for your next commercial fishery foray...

1 SCALE DOWN YOUR RIGS

“No matter which commercial you fish, the water is guaranteed to have become clear. This is because fewer fish are feeding on the deck and the mud isn’t being stirred up. “As a result, it’s easier for the fish to see your rig so lighter hooks and lines are essential. When fishing for F1s and silvers I scale down my hooklengths to as light as 0.09mm. This may sound under-gunned, but fish fight a lot less in winter. “When it comes to hooks I use a size 16 Guru LWG for banded pellets or a size 18 or 20 Guru F1 Pellet for straight-hooking expanders or maggots.”

TURN TO 2 A SLIMMER FLOAT

“A lot of anglers completely overhaul their floats in winter but I stick to a very similar style. “I like using fairly slim line floats all year round for F1s to help spot sensitive bites, but in winter I step back to an even slimmer pattern. “My first choice in the summer months is an RW Flexi Carp Dink, and in winter I rely on an RW F1 Winter Dink which has a slimmer body and tip while still having essentially the same shape.”

3 SWITCH TO SMALLER SHOT

“F1s sit at various depths in winter so it is important to make your hookbait fall slowly. “In summer all my rigs are shotted with No.8s but in winter I switch to No.11s. Although I will still use the same weight of float, lighter shotting enables me to spread them along the rig if needed and this makes the hookbait fall really slowly. “I’ve lost count of the number of big F1s that have taken my hookbait before it has even touched the bottom, and I would have missed out on these if I hadn’t used small shot.”

4 USE LIGHTER ELASTICS

“Fish will take the hookbait much more tentatively and if your elastic is too heavy you will bump them on the strike. “They will also fight a lot less than in summer so you don’t need as much power to steer them towards the net. “Preston Innovations 10 Dura Hollo and 11H are my first choices in summer for F1s, but come winter this is replaced with 8 Dura Hollo.”

5 ADD DEPTH MARKERS

“If you visit your favourite fishery and catch at a certain depth then you can guarantee you will get bites at that exact depth next time you visit. “For example, if you fish a snake lake and find that fishing in 3ft of water leads to lots of bites then mark on your top kit the successful depth with Tipp-Ex. “Next time you get on the bank, set the rig to that depth and then plumb carefully around your swim to find a spot with that exact amount of water.”

6 REDUCE YOUR CUP SIZE

“Fish eat a lot less in winter so you need to reduce the amount of bait you are putting in. “The vast majority of anglers already try to do this but are still putting in more than they need. “Visit your local tackle shop and buy the smallest pole pots they have on offer. This will discipline you to feed one pinch of bait at a time.”

7 PUMP SOME PELLETS

“Expander pellets are one of my favourite hookbaits in winter and you can save time by preparing them at home. “A whole bag of expanders could last you all year and a small handful comprising 250 pellets is all you need for a day. “Place them in a food bag and add a tiny amount of water to cover them. Tie the food bag to tighten all the contents in one corner, place in the fridge and within a few hours they’ll be ready for use. This process can be done two or three days before you actually intend to use them.”

8 GET YOUR ELBOW TAPED

“Accuracy is vital when pole fishing in winter. All the feed you introduce needs to be kept tight, or you risk spreading fish all over the swim. “I always pick a far-bank marker such as a tree or bush and ship out towards it, but then I need to know when to stop shipping. “Always have a roll of insulating tape in your kit and place a small strip on the pole section where your elbow should sit. “This will make sure your rig doesn’t fall a foot short, which in turn would put your hookbait in a different depth of water away from the feed.”

9 USE BRISTLE GREASE

“If you had half of the float bristle showing in summer then you would see almost every single bite. “But at this time of year a bite can be registered with nothing more than a tiny tremor on the float bristle. It is important to dot it right down in order to spot these indications. Using a touch of bristle grease aids this process. The grease enables you to shot the float to the point where it has just about technically sunk but the grease keeps the final few millimetres on show. “This leads to less resistance when a fish takes the bait, and more positive bites.”

10 TIE SOME BREAD RIGS

“Pellets and maggots dominate for F1s in summer and while they are equally important in winter, bread is also worth using. “A bread disc is hooked before you ship to the far bank of a snake lake or close to an island. It is then a matter of lifting and dropping close to any cover to try and get fish to take the highly visible bait on the drop. “I use a specialised 4x10 RW Dobber rig with all the shot directly under the float except for two tiny No.13s down the line to keep tension in the line. “This makes the hookbait fall very slowly and increases the amount of time that lethargic carp or F1 have to snap it up.”