Anyone else just catching skimmers??

[BigDave29]

Afternoon ladies, gentlemen and anything else that happens to read!
I had an afternoon to myself last Thursday after a trip to the dentist so went to the local pond for a bit, all i took with me was a 13ft waggler setup and half a pint of red and white maggots. In 5 hours of fishing all i caught, except a bit of sunburn on the forearms, was a handful of skimmers and plenty more that escaped when about 2ft from the net! Now, the water is pretty deep, at least 8 or 9 ft, but all over the water the bigger fish were cruising around the surface so after 30 of 40 mins fishing the bottom and not getting a nibble i decided just to fish about 2ft under the surface and let the float wander with the current but didn't get any of the bigger fish. any tips for this Thursdays trip??

ALSO. . . when does everyone else strike? i've noticed that my float tip bobs a bit then slips under only to pop back up immediatley, should i be trying to strike as soon as it goes or wait for it stay under the water???

 

[Super ted]

This has happened to me a lot lately...they are basically sunbathing after that bloody freezing winter we just had- charging their batteries so to speak. When this is happening 9 times out of 10 you will spend more time getting frustrated than catching anything!! Can you fish in the evening til sunset? You will have a much better chance of bigger stuff then? As the sun comes off the water directly is the best time....the golden hour!
However, at least your catching something, so you can't be doing too much wrong. Quick dips on the float tend to be smaller greedier fish nipping the bait to check for resistance or line bites. Try to get more confident bites by loose feeding more regular and recasting over the top when fishing shallow. Sometimes works.....but that's fishing isn't it? [}]

Best of luck.

 

[Super ted]

Just re read your post....half a pint for 5 hours is probably not enough at this time of year to feed off small fish and encourage better bites! I would want at least two pints. If you need to make it cheap use a loaf of liquidised bread to make a cloud and keep flicking walnut sized lumps out with a pinch of maggot over the top followed by the rig. Keep that rhythm going and you should find some better fish later on in the session. Try bread punch or flake every few casts to pick out better ones too.

Hope this helps...

 

[BigDave29]

Cheers for that Super Ted, i'm going tomorrow evening with my mate so i think i'll take some ground bait and get in a rhythm of flickin out a lump of groundbait (golf ball sized??) followed by 5 or 6 maggots and then a double maggot hook, and just repeat that every 3-5 mins. Hows that sound??

This better work now!! haha

 

[delk]

Originally posted by Super ted

Just re read your post....half a pint for 5 hours is probably not enough at this time of year to feed off small fish and encourage better bites! I would want at least two pints. If you need to make it cheap use a loaf of liquidised bread to make a cloud and keep flicking walnut sized lumps out with a pinch of maggot over the top followed by the rig. Keep that rhythm going and you should find some better fish later on in the session. Try bread punch or flake every few casts to pick out better ones too.

Hope this helps...

well said i was going to say the same []