Empty your lake on just a top kit! – Steve Ringer

There’s no easier way to fish the pole than with just the top kit at close range – no shipping out is needed, there are no tangles and you can feed by hand. However, for me there’s another reason why using just a few metres of pole is a winner.

When fished late in the session a top kit can catch some massive carp, fish that are moving from open water into the margins.

By fishing like this you can ambush those carp before they get to the shallow water and, for a short spell, absolutely empty the lake from just yards out!

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It may seem at first glance that you’re fishing too close in to catch anything of any size, let alone do it regularly, but fish associate this short-range area with their feeding routine.

If you think about it, how many anglers throw unused bait in here at the end of the day? Fish cotton on to this free and easy meal very quickly!

Fishing a top kit is not a method to use all day, however, but early and late it can produce surprisingly well, and for very little effort on your part. Much depends on the depth you have and the contours of the lake.

Find the right spot and you’re in business…here’s four tips to fishing in tight.

All in the timing

A top kit works best in the first half-hour and then the final hour of the session. Two or three fish early doors here is a good result, but I’d normally plan on that final hour as prime catching time.

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Find the depth

How far out and how deep do you fish? Look for 3ft or more, in the main body of water or on the marginal slope. You may need to add a short No4 section, or even a full section if required.

Keep feeding

I’ll throw in three or four 6mm pellets or pieces of corn or meat every drop in and keep feeding even when I’m not fishing it, so the top kit swim will be primed for that final golden hour.

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Stable floats

A bodied float like the Guru Wire Pinger is incredibly stable. In 3ft or 4ft, a 0.2g float will be fine, upwards of 6ft it might be 0.4g. Shotting is just a strung bulk above the hooklength.

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