Improve Your Coarse Fishing (UK)
Treasure islands
Island margins are great features and Dynamite Baits’ Bradley Gibbons has devised a simple way to get the most out of them
ISLANDS are well documented as being great angling features, and in this feature I’m going to detail my approach which enables you to fish two lines in one.
Although I am fishing a ‘ mud line’, because the island in front of me has a steep drop off, I have the best of both worlds on one line. This makes it ideal for targeting both carp and F1s for the chance of a great mixed bag.
Of course, not all islands are like this but, if you have a steep drop off, fishing in the manner I’m going to suggest can be incredibly effective. When it’s warm, the fish will want to be in the shallowest water they can find. That is as close to the island as possible, where it is around 10in deep. However, if I were to target this spot for F1s with light rigs, the chances are that I will hook a carp and get smashed up.
To prevent this, I set up a separate rig to fish just off the island, where the water falls away to around 6ft. As the two lines are so close together, I can fish them very simply and effectively but, due to the difference in depths, they don’t affect each other.
Two in one
To kickstart my two- in- one principle, I start by cupping in a sloppy groundbait of Dynamite Baits’ F1 Sweet Milled Expander. This is a light and fluffy product that hangs in the water for a long time when over-wetted.
I drop it in from a height of 60cm on to the shallow 10in shelf. Then when the carp come in – you will know when they do as you’ll see their backs out of the water – they will kick up the groundbait and inevitably a great deal of it will fall into the deep water, just off the island. This means that as well as feeding the carp you are also priming and feeding your F1 line.
With one simple introduction of slop, you have two highly effective lines in a tight area.
The deeper water is also a great holding area for fish because, being so steep, it’s where a lot of natural food gathers. This means carp and F1s are never too far away. The other beauty of fishing an area like this is that although you are fishing shallow, because the two lines are so close, you can better manage both swims.
In open water it is almost impossible to fish two separate shallow lines, because you can’t keep both going effectively. With a swim like this, however, one lot of loosefeed complements the other. To keep the F1s in the deeper water interested, I catapult in a few 4mm pellets just short of the island. These drift to the bottom and work well with the cloud created by carp kicking up the groundbait.
LINE ONE: The shallow rig
The first line for today’s session at Royal Berkshire Fisheries, near Windsor, is where the water level has come up, so I’m almost fishing on top of the island.
The rig for this line starts with a 14 to 17 Dual Core elastic. This is soft on the strike, but powers up quickly as the fight continues. Even though I’m looking to catch carp here, I will of course hook the odd F1 too, so I don’t want to bump them off. If I fished a heavier elastic, any hooked fish would splash on the top and spook the others in the swim. With a lighter, more forgiving elastic, they tend to swim out of the peg instead.
The mainline and hooklink are both 0.20mm, the weak point of the rig being the hooklink knot. If I get snagged, this should break first and I’ll get most of my rig back.
My float is an MVR Series 5 0.3g inline. I have cut 1.5in off the stem so it presents better in shallow water. I like an inline float as they are more robust and there is no fear of pulling out the float’s body.
These floats also have a thick, hi- viz stem, which stands out well against the shadowy island margins.
The hook is a size 14 on a 4in hook-link, which is set to fish at dead depth.
The dominant aspect of my pole set- up is the long lash – the length of line between pole tip and float. This is usually around 24in to 30in. This enables me to keep the pole well away from the float, so it doesn’t spook any fish feeding in the shallow water.
Because carp are kicking up the groundbait and silt etc, I use a high- viz hookbait so that it stands out in all this chaos!
My first choice is a pre- drilled 8mm Robin Red Pellet. Being bright red and having a distinct spicy taste and flavour, carp adore them.
My second hookbait choice is Dynamite Baits’ new Wowsers. These are a hi- viz wafting hookbait in 7mm and 9mm sizes. Without a hook, they will float but, for the 7mms, attach them to a size 16 or 14 hook and they become critically-balanced, creating a very responsive hookbait, perfect for wary carp.
My first choice is a white ES- Z as they stand out well in any water clarities. As an alternative, because the water is coloured at the moment, the purple ES- Ps are also extremely good as they also stand out brilliantly.
LINE TWO: Deep F1 line
Literally inches away from the shallow line, is my deep F1 line. You could approach this with a conventional rig but, as it is summer and F1s are notorious for being finicky, I find that a jigga float is the way to go. As the mainline runs vertically through the centre of the float, you are able to fish all levels while bossing the hookbait because you control its descent.
The float I use is an MVR Jigga. These are preloaded and I then add four No. 8s just above the 3in hooklink.
The mainline is again 0.20mm. This is used not for its strength, but its stiffness, so that I can better lift and drop it through the water. The hooklink is 0.15mm as I’m targeting F1s, to a size 16 hook. The hookbait is a Swim Stim F1 Sweet 6mm banded pellet.
Over the top I fire a few pellets to keep the F1s interested, and then it is just a case of alternating between the two lines throughout the day, catching one or two from each.
By using these two simple rigs and a straightforward bait menu, I can effectively fish a very shallow line and a deeper swim with incredible ease. It also permits very different presentations to keep the fish coming. What could be easier?
“I can effectively fish a very shallow line and a deeper swim with incredible ease”