Improve Your Coarse Fishing (UK)
Top four shallow baits
The England International reveals her top offerings for up- in- the- water action
FISHING shallow is arguably the busiest style going – you constantly have to work the rig to keep the hookbait active, while at the same time using a catapult to fire in feed at a rapid pace. Any break in the routine and the fish will most likely lose interest and drift off. As well as staying active, bait choice plays
a key part in successful shallow fishing. The side tray of any top angler will contain several bait options. And it’s certainly not a lucky dip when they make their choice.
England international Kayleigh Smith knows a thing or two about this tactic. She relies on four baits that all come into play at one point or another.
“Raining in the bait without any thought about what you are feeding is going to have a negative impact on your catches,” explained the Preston Innovations star.
“You need to take into account several factors before making your decision and, if you get it right, you’ll have the carp queuing up.”
1 Groundbait slop
Making a cloud of bait spread out just beneath the surface has numerous advantages and works especially well for F1s.
“Feeding a groundbait slop colours the water and makes it difficult for the fish to detect the pole waving over their heads. The additional flavour and scent also sends the fish into a frenzy,” said Kayleigh.
This works particularly well when you are catching in the top 18in of water because the deeper you go the more the cloud disperses.
It has a solid track record at venues where fish have been recently stocked although it is still worth trying at fisheries where the shoals are established.
“The F1s in Benny’s Lake at Lindholme Lakes ( near Doncaster) have been in there for over five years and they still go mad whenever slop is fed.
“If you are fishing a venue where every trick in the book has been tried, give this a whirl as it could catch out some of the biggest F1s that can be really cagey.”
Kayleigh has a four- step sequence to ensure the desired consistency in her slop ( see right).
2 Pellets
One of the biggest assets of pellets is the noise they make on entering the water. Fish know that this unmissable racket means food, and quickly come flocking towards the source of the disturbance.
“You don’t need to fire in many pellets each time. I ping in around 10 every 30 seconds or so. The best time to use them is when the fish are sat a little deeper and I find them most effective if I am getting bites between 2ft and 3ft.
“This is because they are a fairly heavy bait and sink through the top layer really quickly. Pellets are also great on waters with lots of small nuisance fish as they will struggle to take them because of how hard they are,” she adds.
Kayleigh uses a banded 6mm bait as hookbait and feeds 4mm pellets. That said, she will switch to loosefeeding 6mms if she feels the need to make a little more noise or is trying to attract a bigger stamp of fish.
3 Casters
If you are fishing a venue where a mixed bag is on the cards then casters should play a big part in your approach.
Carp, F1s, ide, chub and skimmers will all readily take them and you’ll be kept guessing as to what will end up in the net next. They also sink slowly which makes them ideal when quality fish are sat in the top 18in of water.
“The fish will have plenty of time to eat them up because of the slow fall. If the fish are getting plenty of food shallow then they will happily remain there. It makes them quicker to catch because the hookbait takes less time to reach the depth where it will be taken,” said Kayleigh. Casters don’t make much noise upon impact so more are needed each time you feed. Kayleigh piles in around three quarters of a pouch every 30 seconds and this additional bait creates a little more hubbub.
She is also very particular when it comes to her hookbait. All her casters are covered in water but a handful are kept separate on the side of her tray.
“If casters aren’t kept in water they turn dark brown and float. I use a floating banded caster as the hookbait though. The weight of the hook makes it sink but the buoyancy of the bait encourages it to drop at a really slow pace.”
4 Maggots
There are days when you will be bagging at pace and this is when maggots come into play.
Caster hookbaits get smashed each time you land a fish and constantly having to put on a fresh one each time you ship in can be time consuming, especially when you are catching one a bung!
“A banded maggot hookbait is more durable and you can catch up to five quality fish before you need to change it. I usually feed casters and when a maggot is placed in the middle of them, it stands out and is attacked quickly.”
Maggots and casters make a slightly different noise upon breaking the surface and, on occasions, Kayleigh changes to feeding maggots for a period.
“The acoustics of how the bait hits the water definitely has an impact on your catch rate. If you’ve been feeding casters and suddenly have a lull in sport switching to maggots will often tempt fish that have otherwise figured out what’s going on into having a go.”