Marc Wilson had a cracking session recently, landing more than 80lb of bream and big roach on the pole from a natural water.
“I was fishing a small ‘knock-up’ at Harlesthorpe Dam, Chesterfield, with my mates from work.
“It’s a gorgeous fishery where there are two lakes. We were on the bigger of the two, a water filled with a mixture of silverfish and some quality carp.
“My peg had a set of lily pads around 12.5m out, which was the place I decided to target.
“Kicking off, I fed two large and hard ‘tennis balls’ of groundbait and 2mm pellets, which I mixed 50/50. On my first drop-in I had a skimmer of around 1lb 8oz, so I felt it’d be a good day!
“Another three followed, but I got the sense that there were fish in the swim that needed refocusing on my bait, so I introduced another ball of feed.
“A few quality bream came to the net and, from there, I realised that a small top-up of feed every put-in was the best way to keep them coming. So, each cast, I fed with a medium Kinder pot of my groundbait and pellet mix, which kept the fish interested throughout the session.
“However, it wasn’t as simple as dropping in a bit of feed and fishing over it. If I didn’t have a bite 30 seconds after lowering the rig in, it was a case of lifting and dropping the float or fishing slightly past my bait to buy an extra bite. That’s why I fished at 12.5m, as I had an extra bit of pole behind me to search the swim, should I need to. I also alternated my hookbaits between double maggot and single corn.
“The biggest bream I caught weighed 5lb, and I had a few quality roach as well.
“My catch was enough to win our match, and was testament to the effectiveness of fishing one line in the right area and adapting my approach throughout the day to keep fish coming. Varying my feed, as well as my presentation, certainly paid off!”
THE BEST FISHING POLES WILL HELP YOU PRESENT YOUR RIG PERFECTLY!
