Tactics for tomorrow

[Stewie74]

Winter League match tomorrow, on Rook lake at Rookery Waters, near Cambridge.

Spoke to the fishery manager in the week, who kindly gave me the lowdown on the lake, baits etc. It’s a silvers match (carp count 1lb only), there’s a good stock of roach/Rudd/skimmers/bream, no F1s at all.

Based on the info I have, ive decided on a short pole line (5-7m)and a longer pole line(10-11m), with Groundbait and maggot long, and Groundbait and caster/chopped worm short.

I also plan to have either a bomb and bread line, a Groundbait/maggot/caster feeder line, or a maggot feeder line at 20-25m, again based on the tips Ive received

My question is around 1st hour tactics.

When I’ve fed the pole lines( probably 2swims at each distance, 4 in total) would you fish those straight away, or fish the bomb/feeder line first whilst the feed hopefully attracts some lovely silvers into the swims?

Also, would you go with bomb and bread, Groundbait and maggot/caster feeder, or straight maggot feeder?

thanks in advance

Stewie

 

[JLK]

Id feed two lines at 13m 5m apart. If you have neighbour's on the next peg. Watch them plumb up and see what line they pick. If they go 13m. Go 14.5m. you want to have the long lines to yourself.
Left line with a few micros cad potted in. Right line with 3 firm balls of 70/30 black leam/crushed expander g bait with a smattering pinkies, casters, micros in.
Id leave this for 1hr before having a look at it.
I don't know what the depth is like in the edges but I would start short down my edges on a top kit plus one and try to find 3/4ft as close to the bank as I could with worm over micros on one side and maggot/pinkie over a bit of my leam mix on the other side while feeding a pinkie/caster line at 9m in front but at 2 o'clock.
If you can't find that depth close to the bank, find the nearest ledge and fish at the bottom of that as your short lines.

Id start close and move out aiming to catch from the off for an hour on these short lines.

Then I'd look at my long lines after an hour. Feeding of these would be with a cad pot on the long lines if catching and I'd rotate between the two lines nicking a few fish off each. Ring the changes with your hook baits. Caster, worm, pinkies, expander pellet, maggot.

I personally prefer to keep feeding micros negatively on the left line and feed a firm slop mix of my leam mix over the right with a few casters and pinkies in. This is gently eased in as you want the slop to sink quickly so it clouds down but breaks up properly about 3ft from the deck, creating a nice cloud on its way to the bottom.
Skimmers tend to sit quite a bit off the deck and I find that feeding like this forces them to go down onto your feed.
The rest of up to you. Good luck

 

[Stewie74]

Thanks JLK, I’ve only got a 13m pole so longer than that is not an option unfortunately.

 

[JLK]

Do you have a waggler rod?
If so take one with you so you can chuck a waggler past your 13 limit as Skimmer's can and will hang off your feed area.
Also you might be better off feeding long lines a meter shorter, so you can fish a meter either side and past your feed. Forgot to add. I feed dead pinkies in my gbait and take live for feeding the 9m line as I use that line for Roach. Long lines for skimmers.

 

[Stewie74]

Do you have a waggler rod?
If so take one with you so you can chuck a waggler past your 13 limit as Skimmer's can and will hang off your feed area.
Also you might be better off feeding long lines a meter shorter, so you can fish a meter either side and past your feed. Forgot to add. I feed dead pinkies in my gbait and take live for feeding the 9m line as I use that line for Roach. Long lines for skimmers.

No, I don’t.

ive only been fishing properly for a couple of months, and tomorrow is my second ever match.

trying to keep things as simple as possible for now.

so bomb and bread or feeder?

 

[Maesknoll]

No, I don’t.

ive only been fishing properly for a couple of months, and tomorrow is my second ever match.

trying to keep things as simple as possible for now.

so bomb and bread or feeder?

I wouldn’t be fishing bomb and bread in a silvers match. Cage feeder with the same GB and feed as the pole lines.

 

[Stewie74]

I wouldn’t be fishing bomb and bread in a silvers match. Cage feeder with the same GB and feed as the pole lines.

Thanks @Maesknoll , that’s great

 

[G0zzer2]

If in doubt feed one pole line with maggot and go on it, feeding every three or four minutes no more than 10 maggots. If nothing has happened after 15 minutes go on the feeder. If nothing after 20 minutes then go back to the original pole line and take it from there.

I would on no account try to feed four pole lines at the start - you'll confuse not only yourself but the fish as well. Fish have fins, and will swim to your baited area if they are hungry!

13 metres is more than long enough, and the forecast is for stiff winds, so you'll probably struggle on a lot of the swims at 13 metres anyway. You'll almost certainly be more comfortable fishing a shorter pole line. The deep water is in front of the designated platforms, as they were dug deeper here to accommodate keepnets.

Good luck. I may see you, as I'm on the other lakes tomorrow.

 

[Stewie74]

If in doubt feed one pole line with maggot and go on it, feeding every three or four minutes no more than 10 maggots. If nothing has happened after 15 minutes go on the feeder. If nothing after 20 minutes then go back to the original pole line and take it from there.

I would on no account try to feed four pole lines at the start - you'll confuse not only yourself but the fish as well. Fish have fins, and will swim to your baited area if they are hungry!

13 metres is more than long enough, and the forecast is for stiff winds, so you'll probably struggle on a lot of the swims at 13 metres anyway. You'll almost certainly be more comfortable fishing a shorter pole line. The deep water is in front of the designated platforms, as they were dug deeper here to accommodate keepnets.

Good luck. I may see you, as I'm on the other lakes tomorrow.

Many thanks, duly noted.

Badly worded in my OP, I meant initially feeding either the long or short pole swims, not all 4 at the same time.

I’ll see what the wind is like in my peg, if it’s a crosswind I’ll stick with the short lines and go from there.

Appreciate the comments, and good luck in your match.

You’ll recognise me easily enough, I’ll be the one who is clearly making it up as he’s going along

 

[emmaemma]

good luck Stewie..

 

[The Landlord]

As Gozzer has said, don't give yourself too many options, you're head will be battered.

 

[Stewie74]

good luck Stewie..

Thanks, looking forward to it

As Gozzer has said, don't give yourself too many options, you're head will be battered.

yep, I’m going to go with 2 short lines and Groundbait cage feeder to start with, will keep the long lines in my pocket depending on the weather and how plan A goes.

 

[Jimpanzee]

How did you get on Stewie?

 

[Stewie74]

Just posted it in ‘Where you fished today’