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Cat rig?


Common 40

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Hope that helped Common.Good luck and let us all know how you get on.If there is anything I can do to help with leechs etc just ask.

 

Steve if you have a particular water in mind foor your try for cats just let me know the same details as Common did and I will make a few sugestions.Or if its just general cat info just say.

And thats my "non indicative opinion"!

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ok cheers, http://www.docklowpools.co.uk/

 

im fishing here for a week in august the cat lake is 'major bill' not sure of fishery rules, i wouldnt be happy using live baits, other than worms etc. i live 3 hours from the place and never fished there before so i dont really know much about it, but would like to catch one of the cats from there. hope this is of use thanks.

steve.

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Right Leeches. Medicinal leeches are great cat bait. The cats seem to be attracted to them more by the intense vibrations they give off whilst swimming on the hook rather than anything else. I don’t think they actually like eating them as they spit them out pretty quickly once taking them! Due to this quick strike and in some cases semi fixed rigs are the order of the day.

 

Leeches are strong long lasting bait that not only last a long time on the hook but also can be stored quite easily. I have found they are best stored in a container with damp cotton wool and kept in the fridge. Their biggest advantage is that nothing, absolutely nothing! else will take them! There are three main problems though. They are quite expensive, can tangle around the hook length and try to burrow into soft bottoms. As far as expense goes you don’t need many of them. I always stock up whilst in Germany as I buy them at a well known catfish water called Schnackensee. I get enough here to last me for the relatively short UK cat season. There is a company in Wales that will also sell you them mail order. I don’t have their details, as it is many years since Ive used them but a few minutes on the Net should throw up some details. The problems of using them are easily overcome by the choice of rig.

 

SOFTBOTTOMRIG.JPG

 

The rig shown is a standard one used by may cat anglers. I like to use a split shot (tungsten putty will do) to pin the rig down. And pin it down is the important thing here as you don’t want it wafting around all over the place as it will result in tangles. Some anglers cover the whole hook length in rig tube to avoid tangles but Ive not found this to be needed if you get the balance between all the rig components right. With you being limited to using a size 6 hook be careful not to let the polyball mask the hook. You may need to use the following variation depending on the size of leeches you get.

 

SMALLHOOKRIG.jpg

 

This will allow the use of a bigger polyball if needed. Attach the poly ball by using a “hair” of light elastic slightly shorter than the diameter of the ball. Easiest to hair rig the ball on after baiting up.

 

Although important with all cat rigs it is of paramount importance to keep your hook point ultra sharp when using leeches as bait. The cats don’t hang on to them long and soon spit them out! Also when baiting up (always nick the leech through the thicker mouth end as it will stay alive much longer) an ultra sharp hook will not slide.

 

Just because they are not massive bait (I would normally use two for the size of fish you are expecting) don’t fall in to the trap of thinking they only catch small cats. Below is a picture of a treble figure fish taken by one of my customers. When he booked up with me he was not keen on using live bait so I made sure I ordered in some leeches and set him up with these instead. He didn’t catch as many as his mate who accompanied him, who was using my normal live bait approach but never the less-

 

saonetreble.jpg

 

Well I hope that is of some interest to you and if there is anything your not sure of please ask and I will see if I can help. :)

And thats my "non indicative opinion"!

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You can fish a similar rig as above for using Lobs as cat bait. Either use a real fishmeal pop up or one of the foam ones and soak it in some fish glugs for a while and either hair rig the worms or put them directly onto the hook and pop up to whatever distance. (As a basic rule of thumb, days they should be deeper and nighters shallower.) Alternatively you could fish them using a float about 18" deep.

 

There are plenty of good alternatives to liveys and deadbaits.

 

Use some a couple of big (25mm+) Halibut pellets, a tin of luncheon meat, a couple of outsize boilies, a piece of liver, squid. All of these catch cats.

 

I think it's Biopharm that sells the leeces, from memory, they are about £6 each but can be reused.

 

Goodluck with getting your worm pulled

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Sorry Steve forgive me I meant to reply to you seperately and forgot! Not a problem if your not ok with the use of live baits.On a lot of the continental waters you would struggle without using them but the majority of UK waters it isnt a major problem.Shame though cause they are a great bait!

 

Are you happy enough about tackle choice and the likes or is it just some specific hints on baits and methods you are after? Ive not fished the water you are going to but will look at the site and Im sure I can offer some general pointers that might help.

And thats my "non indicative opinion"!

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