| Quality fish.
Considering the speed at which the fish were responding to the feed, I fed another line at around eight meters to try to improve the catch rate by not having to ship out thirteen meters to pot in. After about fifteen minutes, it became evident that this line was not as productive as the first, so the decision was taken to concentrate at thirteen meters. The time was now approaching midday and, although I had been catching regularly, I felt there were more fish in the peg than the bites indicated. Every time the pot went out, a quarter full of worm and caster, the float would bury and a roach would grace the landing net, but only two roach were being taken for each pot yet the 'liners' indicated the presence of more or even bigger fish. What was noticeable was that the bites were positive only immediately after the feed was introduced, after which it was a waiting game, usually interrupted by a perch of around an ounce.When the perch put in an appearance, it invariably means that it is time to feed again and I have found this to be true for whatever species targeted or venue at which I fish worm.
It took a while to establish a feeding pattern but, eventually, the roach being caught averaged six to eight ounces.My normal approach to fishing the worm is to introduce the chopped worm with caster but then to dilute the mix with more casters, rather than adding worm. The initial attraction of the worm is short lived, as fish will back off it, eating only the casters in the swim. By introducing more casters, it is possible to catch throughout the day on worm and eventually single caster when the fish become selective.
At around 1.00 pm the fish were approaching the twelve ounce mark but these fish were taken on worm tails of around half an inch long. It seemed pointless to wait for bites when fish of this size could be caught virtually every put in. The only problem with this tactic is that you need to pot in for every second fish which, at thirteen meters, can become tiring over five hours. Another consideration is that although many venues now contain a large population of quality roach, they are seldom caught. They appear to require near perfect presentation to be caught on maggot and caster these days, yet can be caught on relatively heavy gear used for worm fishing by comparison.
By consistent feeding with the pole pot, it was becoming evident that the fish were coming up off the bottom. This usually indicates that there are many fish in the swim and are swimming shallow to compete for the feed. I always prefer to keep the fish down in the water or hard on bottom when fishing the worm, although I accept the fact that other good worm anglers prefer to catch shallow. I think this is an important point because to get the fish down you need to feed larger quantities and more frequently which usually attracts larger species, such as carp, tench and bream. Eventually the larger fish will push out the smaller varieties resulting in bigger match weights.
Sometimes it pays to ignore the little and often feeding approach and continue to pot in, regardless of whether you are getting bites or not, but I must stress that, although this particular methods works very well when worm fishing, it may not be as productive with other baits. The added bonus of using worm is that it catches everything in the swim from gudgeon to double figure carp so the situation rarely arises where certain species are targeted and others are ignored. This means that fish are constantly being put in the keep net and although some may only be half a pound or so in weight, this will eventually boost the overall weight.
Worm fishing has really taken off on the match circuit during the past few years with many anglers now fishing it to the exclusion of all other baits. The approach also has its critics who maintain that it is expensive bait. A kilo of dendrobenaes will cost in the region of between £12.50 to £15.00 and there is absolutely no need to put that amount into the swim in one session, despite the fact that certain anglers have done. Used properly a kilo should last around ten or twelve five-hour matches during the warmer summer months as it should be used as an attractor, while caster should be used as a holding bait.
Caster Hookbaits.
In an attempt to catch some more quality roach, the worm was substituted for caster on the hook, a ploy I normally adopt towards the end of a match when the quality fish have gained confidence by feeding solely on caster for the past few hours.The results can sometimes be startling, often catching the equivalent weight of fish of the past few hours in the last hour.After one or two roach around the eight ounce mark I caught three roach for about four pound in consecutive puts in, but then at 2.00 pm we decided to end the feature.After two and half-hours I had caught an estimated twenty-five pounds plus, consisting of one chub, three skimmers and the remainder being roach from two ounces up to about a pound and a halfThe quantity of bait used was around thirty to forty worms and a pint and a half of caster. I fished on for an hour as the light started to fade and caught very well, ending up with about forty-five pound in three and half-hours.
Giles with a good winter bag
Roach will often feed throughout the year and this is a relatively simplistic approach to putting a weight together while keeping the bait bill in moderation.
Giles Cochrane. |
