Hi Lurcher,
I think it's partly down to confidence and knowledge of the fishery. I was told many moons ago to think like a fish, where would you be if you were a fish, and it did work.
Add to that a lot of successful matchman aren't afraid of going against the grain (nearly said norm
) and will fish alternative methods if the going is tough.
If you ever get the chance to watch one of the names they will literally work their peg for the duration of the match, feeding different lines and keep it up, something that a lot of us start off with but rarely maintain. They will switch between baited areas, change rigs and tactics, and chop and change baits until they find the fish.
How many times have you caught a few fish from a certain area or with a certain rig and felt uncomfortable or even reluctant about switching elsewhere when the bites dry up? I know I have.
In stillwaters when you've tried everything and still not had a bite or fish, is the swim empty or are the fish just not feeding? Do you risk 'balling in' a load of groundbait laced with attractants to the grumble of those around you in the hope that it'll switch your peg on or do you leave it and bat it out? Sometimes, in fact many a time, this method has paid off for me but I must say it has also caused alot of annoyance from others. A few years ago the standard was five balls in straight after the shout followed by another every 20-30 minutes. If groundbait is not allowed, use pinkies or maggots laced with attractants or flavours. My favourite is vanilla escence from the baking shelves in the supermarkets.
On rivers when there's nothing doing I used to find that a staedy stream of maggots fired up to the top of my swim used to work. The trick then was to anticipate where they would eventually reach the bottom and fish there. If the current was too strong or the water too deep and they would be caried on into the swim below, I use a bait dropper or very large swim feeder with slots cut into the sides rather than holes.
This allows the maggots to be washed out quickly. Cast this in five, six or seven times in succession, weight it so that it sinks quickly, once it hits the bottom it's empty, bring it back in, out again and then use another rod with either a float set to trundle the bottom or a samll bomb with a quiver tip and look for the bites.
I'm not a great believer in 'factorX' as I know fish can detect scents but I find it hard to believe that they can be that sensitive.
Dave