As the temperatures plummet and the water clears on our favourite commercial venues and snake lakes, fish can become lethargic and unwilling to feed. This is the perfect time to break out the bread and start dobbing, it can turn a peg that looks devoid of fish into a match winning one.
Dobbing is a method that really comes into its own in tough conditions, its a super simple and incredibly cheap way of fishing and anyone can do it, this guide will improve your dobbing skills and see your catch rates soar.
Start off in front
There’s always the temptation to go to straight to the most likely-looking spot for a fast start. But if this spot isn’t straight in front of you, you’ll risk pushing the fish straight out of the swim.
Regardless of whether you're using a pole or the bomb to dob, always start off by fishing straight in front of you, then work left and right. This way you’ll get more goes at the shoal of fish. What tends to happen is, you find a pod of fish and catch a few before bites slow up. This means the shoal has become spooked and has moved. It’s then a case of finding them again. Normally they don’t go far, a metre or two at most.
PICK UP THE PERFECT POLE FOR COMMERCIAL FISHING IN OUR BEST POLES BUYER'S GUIDE.
Depth is crucial
Once you start fishing and find a few fish the first thing you’ll need to do is work out what depth they’re sitting at. At the start, have a quick plumb up of the areas you want to target prior to fishing, just to get an idea of the depth. Once done, mark the depth on the pole and then take 4ins off by moving the float accordingly. This means that when the float settles, you’ll be fishing 4ins off the bottom as a starting point. If you then get indications but no bites, shallow up until you find the depth at which the fish are sitting.
KEEPING WARM IS CRUCIAL TO FISH AT YOUR BEST, CHECK OUT OUR GUIDE TO THE BEST WINTER FISHING HATS.
Bread is king...but try corn too
Bread is the No1 dobbing bait. Its bright white colour in clear water makes it highly visible, and once a piece of punch has been in the water for a minute or so, it becomes very soft and fluffy and is easy for a fish to slurp down with minimal effort. Corn, especially a corn skin, can be a good second choice on some venues, but it’s never quite a match for bread.
IF YOU FANCY CATCHING SOME LARGER CARP THIS WINTER, USE THE BAITS IN THIS GUIDE TO TEMPT THEM.
Simple and delicate rigs
The secret to dobbing bread is to get as slow a fall of your hookbait as possible, so fish a light rig. A 0.2g float is light enough to let the bread waft through the water incredibly slowly. If the float is too heavy, this type of presentation is lost completely, especially for winter f1s. For shotting, a strung bulk of small shot in the bottom half of the rig will ensure that the bread falls super-slowly close to the bottom, exactly where the fish are!
BIG F1'S ARE ALWAYS WILLING TO FEED, OUR WHERE TO FISH GUIDE HAS SOME GREAT VENUES TO CATCH THEM NOW.
Fish a bigger disc for carp
Carp love bread, If it’s all carp you’re after then start off on a 10mm punch, as this big bait will be easy for the fish to see. Carp have big mouths, so a 10mm piece of punch isn’t actually that big! However, if the target is a mixed bag of carp and F1s, then dropping down to an 8mm punch will give you a good middle ground to start the session with, and it will allow you to go bigger if the need arises.
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