Clear large river - advice please

[OldTaff]

I’ve recently discovered the joys of fishing the River Medway , on the free stretch between Allington Lock and the town bridges in Maidstone.

As we’ve had minimal rainfall over the last few weeks the river has become much clearer and bites are becoming trickier to get. The stretch I fish is some 25-30 metres wide and runs 10’-12’ deep on the 5m line I’ve been fishing with the whip. I’m on 2.5lb line, size 16 B510 with caster, punched bread or tares as the hook bait.

The fish I do catch are a tidy stamp but I’ve noticed all the bleak, small roach and dace have pretty much disappeared.

What tactics/techniques can the drowners recommend to increase bite rate please?




Thanks

Karl

 

[IanG1]

I would start your session on maggot and scale down your hooklength to a 20 B510 and 010 line to increase bite rate in clear water. Still feed your casters and hemp with a view to a switch when you get fish competing and confidently feeding. Bread punch is normally an instant bait and I would fish it on a separate line from the above and feel your way into the session depending on response.

 

[adriang]

I would start your session on maggot and scale down your hooklength to a 20 B510 and 010 line to increase bite rate in clear water. Still feed your casters and hemp with a view to a switch when you get fish competing and confidently feeding. Bread punch is normally an instant bait and I would fish it on a separate line from the above and feel your way into the session depending on response.

I would do exactly this.

One additional though, is to try a cloudy groundbait, either a slop or very dry mix ( dry might be challenging to hold together depending on distance) fed little and often to see if the cloud draws in the fish. Based on my experience, this will be a bit of a 'death or glory' approach, it's going kill it stone dead or line them up, perhaps something to try midpoint in a session if needed.