Posted by Keith on January 31, 2010 under Carp and Coarse Fishing, Help and Tips | 
Feature Finding
As I said earlier on in the Blog….I would at some point cover aspects of feature finding and it’s obvious benefits. I’m hoping when the weather breaks a little to put together a video on the topic, but for now here’s a few pointers on the subject.
Feature finding is absolutely crucial to any anglers armoury of skills.
With this ability you will be able to locate individual features and take a look at the bottom of the venue without taking a swim!
This is my marker set up. As you can see there is a large stainless ring which allows the line to move freely through.
This is connected to a swivel and then the lead. In between is a cork ball which helps to keep the whole thing above any silt or weed, this can be made longer to cope with heavy weed or silt.
We then have another cork ball which acts as a buffer and bouyancy aid for the above float.
Below are some crude drawings I have done which should help to make this method clear and obvious to its benefits.
This as far as I am concerned about the best way to get an idea of the swim in front of you.
Start with a cast to one side...slowly pull back and then wind. Then start the process again around 180 degrees of the swim.
Start with a cast to the left of your swim. Use common sense and dont cast into the next guys swim though! Follow up the cast by feeling the lead down to the bottom, you should feel it touch the bottom.This is done by touching your finger onto the reel spool as the lead is about to hit the water and gently lifting the rod on a tight line.
If it hits softly it could be silt or weed. If it hits with a bump its probably on gravel. The next step will tell you exactly. First pay line out a foot at a time till you see the float. Count the pay outs and you’ll get the depth in that spot. Once done start retrieving line till you conect with the lead. Now gently at right angles to the lead pull back the lead level to the water and bank.
You should now clearly feel the make up of the bottom. Continue doing this process from left to right with around a 2-3m difference each time. This should give you an idea of any underwater differences.
Here you can see that the lead and marker float has landed in weed.
The rod will pull round gently and possibly be difficult to move depending on the density of the weed.
If the weed is light it will feel very similar to silt where the lead comes back okay back is much harder to retrieve than on clear bottom.
In most cases at the end of the retrieve the rig will have some weed on it. You can then see what your up against.
The only other time in which the tip will show this kind of gently pull round is when the lead is coming up a slope or bar. This will feel ‘free’ at the top of the slope though and not as difficult to retrieve.
Here we can see that the lead is struggling to come up a slope which may well be a plateau or bar.
These areas are typically well renowned feeding areas for carp. Presenting a bait on top of a bar or on either side of the drop off can result in good fishing. Especially if the wind is blowing onto one of these bars.
As above we spoke about the lead feeling harder to retrieve all of a sudden. This will obviously become less difficult the closer the lead becomes to the top of the bar. Beware though that these areas can harbour weeds, snags and sharp stones which can cut you off!
In this picture we can see the effect of the lead coming down a slope.
This time the rod will bounce back towards you quickly and feel ‘light’ to retrieve. Again after this its worth paying out line to gauge the difference in the depth.
This could be a great place for a bait.
Our final drawing covers the effect of gravel on the rod tip.
Here you can see that there is an obvious area of gravel which the lead will pass over.
The rod tip will show the effect of the gravel by bouncing around.
You will feel it spring back very easily and quickly with a tapping sensation coming through the rod. This is possibly the easiest of all the ‘feelings’ to locate.
This will most likely be a great area in which to place a bait as well.
It may well show up an area which has been recently cleaned by feeding fish.
Taken from Nuts about Carp
Tight Lines
Keith
Posted by Keith on January 29, 2010 under Carp and Coarse Fishing, Help and Tips |
The Cat-o-Copter Rig
Right, so we’ve reached the last in our series of running water rigs for Wels Catfish…..this week it’s the turn of a trusty favourite and very well used rig known as the Cat-o-Copter rig.
The cat-o-copter rig allows a live bait to be suspended well above a snag, weeds or just clear of the bottom for what ever reason.
This rig is very popular amongst big river anglers on venues such as the Rio Ebro in Spain.
You will need to fish this rig in a beach caster style format with the rod positioned in an upright position and placed into a very sturdy butt stand that is well anchored to the ground.
Position a Poly ball pop up onto the main line followed by a bead, heavy duty strong swivel and then another bead, Poly Ball and lastly one more bead.
Now tie on a strong swivel to the end of the mainline. To this you will need to attach a weak link from which to anchor the whole rig to the bottom with a heavy lead. I would use about 6lb line and you will need to vary the weight according to the strength of current.
My good friend Stuart Andrews with a plump Moggy taken on a Cat-o-copter rig
The principal behind this is that as soon as a cat picks up the suspended hook bait it can swim away and your weak link will snap, this leaves you in direct contact with the fish and no trailing lead to be concerned about!
The only other thing left to do with the rig is to tie on a good strong hooklength material and hook to the inline helicopter style swivel.
To stop the whole thing sliding up the line straight to the surface or to fix it at a specific depth you will need to tie a sliding stop knot above the whole rig.
Tight lines
Keith
Posted by Keith on January 22, 2010 under Carp and Coarse Fishing, Help and Tips |
Inline suspender Rig for running water
Ok, so far we have discussed a couple of rigs for use in a majority of still water situations for Wels Catfish…..This week I am going to discuss the use of an inline rig which will aid us in the presentation of a live bait in a running water situation.
Using a running lead loop and lead clip to the weight.
The inline setup will aid us in many ways especially in the way that it tends to avoid tangles associated with using previous rigs we have talked about.
As with the other rigs we have mentioned before, the weight should be positioned on the line first using a good quality free running lead link clip which makes as little resistance as possible.
This is highly important when fishing for Wels Catfish, as they have a good habit of dropping any bait that they feel the least bit of resistance from.
You’ll obviously need to gauge the size of weight required to hold bottom by the strength of the rivers flow. If there is a very strong river flow or you are fishing at long range using a boat to place the baits out in the water…then I would suggest the use of a rig otherwise known as the Cat’O'Copter rig. I will go over the tactics and tackle required for this rig next week.
Next up we need to use a buffer bead and follow this with a piece of soft silicone rubber that will gently push over the stiff dumbell tube.
Push the main line through the center of the dumbell stiff tube and out the otherside.
Now tie on an appropriate hook for the livebait. I would suggest a size 1-1/0 would be suitable for a 5-6oz roach bait, which should be lip hooked to ensure good life in the hookbait. Anything bigger will obviously require a much larger hook.
Finally pull the soft tubing over the end of the stiff dumbell. This all helps to stop tangles.
A nice Wels caught by using the inline set up.
As with other rigs, it is possible to again payout as much line as you like to cover a much larger area. This is very helpful in a river situation where by it’s possible that the fish may well be some considerable distance from the position you are fishing from and to.
Please be aware of the current your fishing in and the weight of fish you are likely to come across….It’s no good trying to catch 100lb + catfish in imense flow at 80 yards on standard carp fishing tackle. Your gear will certainly not be up to scratch. For this kind of angling your going to need one of the custom built rods now available for Catfish or even an uptiding style of rod with a good 4-5lb test curve and 9-10 foot in length.
Next week we’ll view another running water rig…..
Tight lines
Keith
Posted by Keith on January 16, 2010 under Carp and Coarse Fishing, Help and Tips |
Suspended worm/leech rig.
Right, to continue our series is another extremely effective part of our catfishing armory.
This rig allows the angler to suspend a bait of either worm or leeches at a varying depth off the bottom.
Much like the other suspender rigs used this requires the use of another dumbell pop up.
First off, place a running lead onto the main line with a good free running ring attached. Follow this up with our trusted friend the buffer bead.
Now push your main line through the center of the dumbell pop up tubing and out the other end.
I would then push on a section of silicone tubing just wide enough to go over the stiff tubing. Now tie on a good strong swivel.
A nice Wels taken on the Suspended Worm/Leech Rig
You can now pull the soft tubing down and partially over the swivel to lock the whole thing in place.
All that is now left to do is Tie on you chosen hook length material and a good strong hook. I would also use a small bait shield on the hook to stop the worms from wriggling off the shank and getting away!
After the cast you can pay out as much line as you like so that the whole set up is fishable at any depth right up to the surface if preferred.
A really usable and effective rig this……it’s caught me many catfish of all different sizes.
Next week we’ll discuss the use of live and dead baits in running water.
Tight Lines
Keith
Posted by keens on January 5, 2010 under Sea Fishing |
Two anglers persistance in the cold weather produced a monster cod to prove they still exist! Previous poor cod seasons have led to questions being asked. Is the water not cold enough? Are the cod numbers simply not what they used to be?
However, over the recent cold spell which have seen over-night temperatures hit -12 at certain shore marks around South and West Wales there have been some good early signs. Double figure cod pushing 18-20lb are being produced from private and charter boats running from Porthcawl to Newport.
Bitterly cold, but with low wind, John Roberts of Maesteg and his skipper friend Ray Evans took Rays private boat out into Camarthen Bay, West Wales.
Aboard the boat Sand Piper John decided to fish a 4″ strip of mackerel presented on a 2/0 Pulley Pennel rig into a drop off of 90ft. It payed off! What John originally thought was a ray of some kind became e
vident that it was not as it started to run, and its weight made it clear that whatever had taken the bait was a fish of some size.
After fighting the fish to the boats side a cod emerged, lip hooked of a staggering 25lb!
With our coldest months yet to come we hope this is a good sign!
Congratulations John!
Posted by Keith on January 4, 2010 under Carp and Coarse Fishing, Help and Tips |
Suspended Live bait rig/Dumbell rig
I’ve had numerous requests from people asking for some rig tips for catching Wels Catfish. Bearing this in mind I have put together a few rig tutorials with regards to this. I’ll publish these over the coming weeks and we’ll discuss their uses.
This rig has accounted for a massive amount of fish from our UK shores to much further afield.
It’s principal setup is very basic and extremely effective. Many people are under the assumption that the Wels is a bottom dweller and only feeds hard on the bottom…..this is a fallacy and nothing could be further from the truth.
This rig uses a small amount of items to achieve maximum catching effect. The Wels will readily take a live bait presented high up in the water, just below the surface in fact.
The suspended rig or Dumbell rig as it is also known is most effective in water of around 8-10 feet+.
A lead of 3-4 oz would be most suitable and placed onto the mainline in a free running format. Next we need to position a free running buffer bead onto the line. 
Next we need to pull the line through our dumbells silicone tubing center and now tie on a good strong swivel.
All that is left to do is tie on our hooklength material……I like to use a heavy monofilament such as amnesia as it is less prone to tangles as braid is.
Now tie on the hook. You will need to use an appropriate hook for the size of fish livebait that you are going to use. A size 1/0, 1 or 2 will be around the required size.
Place the live fish onto the hook via its top lip and then the rig is ready to cast.
Once cast to the appropriate area I then tighten the line until the weight can be felt and the dumbell is tight to the mainline in such a way that if you were to pull any more then the dumbell would disappear under the water.
You now put the rod in the rests and wait. You can pay out some more line if you wish…..this will help the hookbait to cover a larger area.
So, there you have it……our first rig ready for catching one of those elusive monster fish……more to follow in a weeks time.
Tight lines
Keith
