Improve Your Coarse Fishing (UK)
Andy Lewis
They’re notoriously finicky and one wrong move can spell disaster. Thankfully, Andy Lewis has the solution
Crack the crucian feed code
CRUCIANS are without doubt among the most fickle of coarse species you’re likely to face.
One single mistake can send a whole session crashing down, with the fish unwilling to return after the mishap.
One of the biggest errors that too many anglers often make is feeding their peg completely the wrong way.
Piling in handfuls of bait will work a treat for greedy commons and mirrors that will hoover up every morsel, but crucians have different and more subtle eating habits.
They are much more particular, almost analysing the bait that has been put before them before selectively and slowly getting their heads down.
“If I could give one bit of advice to anglers fishing for crucians it would be to think carefully about what and how much you are feeding,” says big- fish expert Andy Lewis.
“It’s important to remember you are after a species that can be very picky but make the right decisions with your groundbait, loosefeed and hookbait and they will drop their guard.”
Moderate your groundbait
How fish respond to what you have fed will certainly have an impact on your next move.
If you’ve caught fish by baiting up with a particular amount, it makes sense to copy that format once the fish have backed away.
Andy warned that it is easy to get carried away when feeding groundbait, however, and you can quickly lose track of how much has gone in.
To moderate his feed, he has come up with a clever, yet extremely simple, way of feeding.
“Fishing close to the bank near weedbeds scores well at this time of year and feeding by hand is the way forward,” he stated.
“I don’t want every ball of groundbait causing a lot of commotion when it goes in because crucians can spook so easily. I therefore create identically sized nuggets for each top up.
“This is done by using a bait punch to make small balls of bait that plop in. I keep a rough track of how often I feed and use this information to make decisions later in the session,” explained Andy.
“For example, if I feed a nugget every five minutes and don’t catch too well that hour then I know I have fed 12 nuggets.
“If I then step up the feeding to a nugget every three minutes and catch more in the next hour it will tell me that the fish are responding to more bait on the day.”
“Sensitive rigs are essential to help you notice tiny movements on the float”
Keep it fine
Andy’s favourite groundbait mix is an even blend of Dynamite Baits Green and Original Swim Stim.
Mixing it together is the first thing he does on the bank and there is one part of the process he insists is essential.
“It is vital that you riddle your groundbait once it is mixed,” he advised.
“If you leave lots of lumps then you are effectively giving the fish a higher food content and, when it comes to crucians, you can fill them up quickly.
“Using a riddle removes all the lumps and gives you a really fine groundbait that is packed with attractants, but a mouthful won’t leave the fish with a full stomach.”
A couple of handfuls of micro pellets are also added to the mix to give a little variety and a different texture to the final blend.
Shy biters
With the fish settled down and feeding, the ball is firmly in your court to make it count.
Getting the fish to take the hookbait is the first task and expander pellets are Andy’s number one choice.
“I pump them so that they are pretty mushy so that the pellet only just stays in place when it’s hooked on.
“As I have already said, crucians are really picky and a bait that is a fraction too hard or heavy for them will be mouthed briefly and spat back out. Giving them something really soft that breaks apart in their lips will encourage them to swallow it.”
Two batches are made up – the first are in the colour they come out of the bag while the second is given a few squirts of Sensas Strawberry Crazy Bait Juice.
This is mixed in once the expanders have been pumped and instantly sticks.
Having created a hookbait the fish will take doesn’t mean you’ve cracked it – the next step is registering the bite.
Sensitive rigs are essential to help you notice the tiny movements on the float and doctoring the tip is a delicate way of doing just that.
“I use a black marker so that the pencil float tip is in segments of yellow and black.
“It is then shot so that only the top black segment shows but crucian bites can be somewhat erratic.
“The float could go under but more often than not it will rise half a centimetre and having the colour segments helps you spot when these tiny bites occur. “No matter what movement you spot on the float, you should strike because it is probably a crucian engulfing the hookbait.”
Crucians are the masters of outwitting anglers but Andy’s bait and rig tricks will make sure you are never on the back foot when they’re your target.