1. there’s more to life than carp......especially in winter.
there’s more to life than carp......especially in winter.
The lifting of the keepnet followed by the realisation of the weight
and then the mass flapping of the fish as they leave the water…
it’s the point of a day’s fishing that every angler loves. A part
of the ritual of fishing in this country that most of us will have
savoured since first ever wetting a line, and the moment when you finally
get to see the fruits of a day’s work laid out in front of you.
Coming at the end of a session, the ‘keepnet moment’ is all about
satisfaction. Sometimes it’s overwhelming, at other times less so, but
seeing what you’ve achieved for the effort you’ve put in is always a special
part of the day.
However, when it comes to true satisfaction, there’s one colour that rules
over most others. Although a good weight of carp’s a great sight, it’s a mass
flashing of silver that’s the most exciting hue a keepnet can hold. So, being
all about giving you maximum angling satisfaction here at Commercial
Angler, we got together two of the best silver-fish baggers in the country
to share their methods for putting together a net of fish that will bring a
smile to anyone’s face.

2. With a heavy fog over the main Lambsdown Lake at the chosen venue of
Meadowlands Fishery near Coventry, Darren’s first decision to make is which peg
he should fish. From recent match results he knows the general area where the
roach and skimmers are being caught, but with the temperatures having been all
over the place in recent days, depth will be a key factor.
In the end he plumps for the lake’s Peg 21. This offers him an underwater
topography that sees a gradual slope from left to right, deepening up as it goes.
“I’d expect the roach to be in the shallower water to my left with the skimmers
slightly deeper in the water to my right,” he tells us.
With his peg sorted and kit ready it’s groundbait time. “Groundbait
is so important for getting the fish feeding,” continues Darren as he
breaks out the mixing drill, “following a thorough riddling of the mix
to remove lumps and give it a light fluffy texture. I favour a sweet
fishmeal mix that will attract the skimmers, which includes Bait-Tech
Kult and Sonubaits Supercrush F1, plus a touch of darker mix to
encourage the fish to feed more confidently over it.”
With the mix ready it’s time to feed the swims, of which Darren
has four in mind – three on pole and one on feeder.
“To start off I’ll be on the feeder at around 22 metes in around
eight feet of water,” explains Darren. “The reason for this is that I think that’s
where the fish will be to begin with. The majority of them will be towards the
middle of the lake due to the cold water and I need to tap into that area, drawing
the fish out with feed and getting them moving around.”
Darren’s approach to the feeder is little and often. Employing a small, 12g cage
feeder on a running setup, he fills it with the groundbait loaded with dead red
maggots and chopped worm.
“The small cage introduces a plume of small particles to the water with the
maggots and worms giving them sinking bait pieces to follow down and feed
over,” says Darren as he casts. “I’ve added 10g of extra lead so that it sinks fast,
getting my hook bait down to the bottom as quickly as possible.”
On the size 18 hook, which sits at the end of a 2ft 0.10mm hook link, Darren
uses double dead maggot, casting this out with a loaded feeder every few minutes
or so, or following every bite.
DARREN COX
FEEDER
Rod: Garbolino 10ft Super G
Bomb with glass tip
Reel: Shimano Technium 2500
Main line: 4lb Preston
Innovations Reflo Power Max
Hook: Size 18 Kamasan B911
Hooklength: 0.10mm Garbo Line
DARREN’S KIT
POLE
Pole: Garbolino G-MAX M1
Floats: Garbolino DC12H
Hook: Size 18 Kamasan B911
Hooklength: Garbo Line
0.10mm and 0.09mm
The feeder flies
out every few
minutes

3. After around an hour on the tip catching
mainly roach and perch with the odd small
skimmer, Darren is confident that a move to
the pole will now find plenty of fish in his
already primed swims.
“At the start of the session I fed my three
pole lines: one to my left at 11.5 metres in
around six feet of water, another to my right
at 13 metres in slightly deeper water and then
one at the same angle as the 13m swim but at
14.5 metres,” says Darren as he ships out to
the 13m line. His left-hand line is his roach
swim, due to the depth, and was fed with
a single ball of groundbait laced with dead
maggots and chopped worms. He’s also been
loose feeding casters over the top in a pouch
of eight to 10 every five minutes or so.
On the 13m line three balls of the same mix
went in along with a handful of prepared,
6mm expander pellets, while on the 14.5m
line it’s three balls of groundbait loaded with
4mm hard pellets.
“The 13m line with the most bait options
in is my gauge of what’s about and feeding,”
explains Darren. “From there I’ll work out
what I should be feeding and how I should be
fishing and it should deliver the bulk of my
catch. The 14m line is for the skimmers and
I’ll leave this for as long as possible.”
For today’s fishing Darren’s employing two
pole rigs; one light for the roach, the other
slightly heavier for skimmer. As the fish are
feeding right on the bottom both are bulked
three-quarters of the way down, with three
droppers to give a steady fall where the fish
are looking for the bait.
This is all held under a slim-bodied
Garbolino DC12H float (0.35g for the roach
and 1g for the skimmers) using a size 18 hook
with 0.09mm hooklength for the roach and
0.10mm for the skimmers.
“The roach are taking the caster just as it hits
the bottom,” says Darren, as he strikes into
another fish. “A good trick, which is working
today, is to flick your rig out to give more of
a fall through the water. The better fish hang
back and will dart in when they see the bait
falling.”
On the two skimmer lines Darren fishes an
expander on the hook, this time lowering
the rig down into the water and lifting it at
intervals, which is usually met by a positive
bite and a workout for the No6 elastic.
“The fish are a bit cagey today; once one or
two are caught they back off, so I’m moving
from line to line much more than I normally
would,” reveals Darren. “Although they’re still
feeding pretty well, especially the roach, so
there’s every chance of a good weight by the
end.”
This is a free-running setup using a small cage feeder with extra lead
to get it down quick. A section of the main line is knotted into two
loops below the feeder to work as an anti-tangle boom, stopping the
2ft long hook link tangling on the cast. The feeder is stopped from
coming over the loops and the hook link by a large float stop.
DARREN’S FEEDER RIG
By rotating his lines Darren
caught steadily all day.
Roach to a good size and
small skimmers made up
the bulk of a near 20lb net,
with a couple of quality
perch thrown in. The most
productive line was his
shorter roach swim and
although Darren found the
fish on the feeder, it was
the pole that delivered the
most fish on the day.
THE RESULT
The pole was the
winning tactic
on the day

4. SIMON FRYFishing in the same area of the main lake at Meadowlands as Darren, Simon opts
to fish just two pegs away on Peg 19, as again this is one of the swims that’s been
producing good weights in recent silver-fish matches. However, Simon’s gone for
a deeper swim than Darren in the hope of finding more skimmers.
“It’s about five feet at around six metres here and at 14 metres I’ll be fishing at
over nine feet,” Simon tells us after a good plumb around. “I’ll start off on the
feeder, though, while I wait for the pole lines to develop.”
Feeding exactly the same groundbait mix as Darren, Simon feeds his 6m line
with a single ball before feeding casters over the top. At 14 metres, though, it’s all
about pellets, with a single ball of groundbait loaded with them cupped in.
“I’ll let them develop now and fish the feeder at around 30 metres to see what’s
about and feeding,” explains Simon.His approach to the feeder sees him load a medium-
sized, open-ended feeder with groundbait laced with
dead maggots and pellets. The holes on the feeder are
taped up, with Simon simply looking to lay down an
initial bed of feed, so wanting to get the feeder to the
deck before anything comes out.
“I’m looking to be a bit more frugal with my feed so I’ll make a few casts with
the open-end and then sit on it until I get a bite,” he says. “For this to work it’s
important to compact the groundbait properly in the feeder. Too gently and you’ll
have bait coming out as soon as it hits the surface and on the way down. Too
much and if you get an early bite you’re in danger of spreading a trail of bait all
over the place as you play a fish in. The ideal is for the bait to fall out just as it hits
the bottom.
“When you’re starting up a swim it’s important to try not to spook any fish as it
can ruin your efforts,” he adds. “To help prevent spooking fish on the main line I
use two tungsten line sinkers, positioned above the feeder to pin the line down.”
With a few fish falling to the tactics, taking Simon’s double dead maggot or
single live maggot hook bait on the end of a 2½ft hook link, he changes his
approach. A smaller cage feeder is clipped on and tightly packed with groundbait.
FEEDER
Rod: Garbolino 10ft G-MAX Bomb
with light carbon tip
Reel: Shimano Stradic 3000
Main line: 8lb Shimano
Technium
Hook: Size 16 Kamasan B911 F1
Hooklength: 0.12mm Garbo Line
SIMON’S KIT
POLE
Pole: Garbolino G-MAX M1
Floats: Garbolino DC18 1.5g
(pellet) and DC12H (caster)
Hook: Kamasan B911F1 (size 16
pellet, size 18 caster)
Hooklength: 0.10mm Garbo Line
(pellet) and 0.09mm (caster)
The silvers wereextremely cagey

5. Simon worked hardtoday, rotating lines,gently feeding cagey fishand finally getting into arhythm that saw him takean impressive weight ofnearly 20lb. This camemainly from the 6m linewith some cracking roachand big perch, while the14m line gave a number ofsmall skimmers late on. Thepole was by far the mostproductive method.
THE RESULT
“Swapping to a cage feeder creates a cloud of
bait through the water column, which should
help to draw fish in and down to the bed of
feed I’ve already got going in,” Simon tells us.
Unfortunately, after what seems to be a
positive start, the feeder looks to be a dead
end, so he quickly changes tactics, calling his
pole lines into operation.
Starting off short at 6m, his target is roach,
which are more likely to be in the shallower
water closer in. A quick put-in with single
caster on the hook and a pinch of casters
flicked in by hand reveals that his thinking is
correct and a plump fish is soon in the net.
Simon’s rig for this swim uses a strung-out
shotting pattern to deliver a slower hook-bait
descent through the swim. A few more put-
ins though and it’s clear the fish are on the
bottom, leading Simon to swap to a bulk rig
and get the bait down to them.
With roach bites sometimes being little
more than gentle sighs on the hook, Simon
wants his bite indication to be as sensitive
as possible. To achieve this he uses a slightly
overshotted 0.4g slim-bodied float and then
greases the tip. This sees just a pimple left on
the surface, which dips at the merest touch.
The silvers are cagey today, meaning Simon
is switching lines after just a couple of fish.
“My 14m line is in around nine feet of water
so I’m fishing an olivette rig under a 1.5g
round-bodied DC18 float,” says Simon as he
ships out. “This will get the bait down quickly
to where the skimmers are feeding and give
me good stability and bite indication.”
Almost as soon as the single 6mm expander
and size 16 Kamasan 911 F1 hook hit
the deck the float goes. A quick lift of his
Garbolino M1 pole and a better fish is on, the
doubled-up No4 elastic doing its job well.
“I’ve been experimenting with doubled-up
elastic and found the power delivery is much
smoother. It’s soft on the strike but the more
that comes out, the more power you get,”
smiles Simon as he nets the skimmer.
Much like the roach swim, Simon has a
couple of other fish from the 14m line before
it goes quiet. However, a pinch of pellets
potted in soon has them moving again.
“It’s a bit cat and mouse at the moment and
I’m having to tempt the fish back in with a
few pellets before catching a couple and then
repeating the process,” he says. “The fish are
there, just cagey. As the session progresses I’d
expect them to get more confident and then
we should get into a good catching rhythm.”
When you’re feeder fishing you’re looking for steady, consistent
movements on the tip. Whether that’s a pull or a drop back, if it’s
steady then it’s going to be a fish on the bait. Dings and sharp
knocks will be liners or fish nicking the feeder.
SIMON’S TIP BITE TACTIC
Overshotting thefloat delivered asensitive set-up