coarsefish-torbay

Remember that the whole point of hollow elastics is that they are softer. You will need to use hollow a grade heavier than you would a solid. It should have cushion for smaller fish and have hidden power before bottoming out for bigger fish. When a big fish is close to needing netting, by pumping the tip, as described by Will, you can get hollow elastic to lock when it flattens on the bush. Lifting the tip quickly with some elastic withdrawn, makes a sharp angle over the bush and it is much harder to pull it out again. You can now net the fish on a shorter length of elastic. Takes a bit of practise to get it right and to have the bottle to do it with a carp on the end. Also, make sure you are ready to scoop as soon as the carp surfaces, as it may just go ballistic if you miss! As for Woodlands View, send me a PM closer to the date and I'll get some info for you. Fished it a few times myself, so have a good idea of what to expect, but I can get much more detail from some of the top anglers on there as well.

If you get on with hollow elastics, the Drennan is pretty good and much cheaper than others on the market. I use the green, which is rated at 6-8 for most of my winter commercial fishing. The yellow is the next step up for if you were only fishing for carp. I use a mix of solid and hollow, with the solids being used most of the time. Middy Hi-Viz is pretty much the same elastic as Vespe, I use pink 10-12 for most of my carping for fish to 5lb. If the fish are regularly bigger than that, I would use hollow in the 14-16 size. For silvers, I use No4, usually Preston Slip unless I'm fishing for very small fish, in which case I'd use a No3. If you use winder bungs, you can wrap several inches of extra around the bung. This allows you to take the elastic out and swap it for a different one if you are going to a venue where you need a specific elastic. For example: If you are visiting an out and out carp bagging lake, you might want htree kits all set up with 12 elastic. Then take those bungs out and put in the bungs with No4 on for fishing your local canal, still giving you the option of setting up three rigs.

Certainly maggots should be top of the agenda. Don't be put off by catching small fish, keep feeding and plugging away and the bigger ones will bully the small stuff out. To pick up a bonus fish, also worth trying a fluoro pinkie over the top of loose fed red maggots.

Thanks Ken. Been doing a bit of digging and found the same info as yours above. Might have to fling some lures in the sea... Happy New Year to you, have a good time in India and let's hope you can up your PB! First tonner from CWS would be a real eye opener. BTW, me and Mark went up above Siddapur last time, tales of some big but very elusive fish from there. We only caught cats though.

Hi all, first trip to Sri Lanka in February. Does anyone know anything about the river fishing there? I know they have mahseer; T khudree same as in the Kaveri, but just thought I would see if anyone has fished for them. I'm not after big fish, in fact I will fish much the same as I do in India with bread and pellets looking to catch anything and everything. Probably have a bit of spinning gear with me as well. Thanks for your help

Only glad it became a popular post. Just booked my holiday for 2008; might be my highlight for next year is a Sri Lankan mahseer?

No fishing, work for me :-(

So my highlight of 2008 might be a big chub on a plug! Good to hear the tales so far, and the fact that most seem to involve at least one other person helps to reinforce in my mind that fishing is a social activity. So, in 2008 make sure you go fishing with a friend...

All the best Ginger, will it be grayling or chub?

It is that time of year, when everyone has a round up of their best memories. So what was your fishing highlight of the year? There are several things that stand out for me, including: Watching Alan Scotthorne winning his 5th World title Having a friend from Croatia drive 3 hours to have a pint with me in Hungary at the same event, proving what a great bunch us anglers are Reliving my youth by bouncing along a very rough track on my rented motorcycle with Ken L on the back. Hard to stop the bike pulling a wheely! Have to also say: it was a delight to fish with Ken and proved just how much we can learn from other angling disciplines. He is a master at lure fishing. Best of all has to be fishing a small waterfall, probably never fished before by anyone, halfway up a mountain in India. Catching some mad chub-like fish called Katli on pellets on the waggler. Rod in hand, beautiful pristine countryside, excellent company, hard fighting fish and proof that even in a part of the world where rivers are under severe stress, nature has the ability to impress and even take care of itself as long as we don't interfere too much. Have a peaceful Festive period and look forward to 2008 as a time for new adventures... Steve

Whatever happened to that slim young man with a fine head of hair?

Quick plug for my site. Selling DVDs direct to the public, you can pay by Paypal, cheque in the post, or credit card on the site or phone. Five titles from Will and one from Neil ready next week (10th Dec). www.v2vangling.co.uk All new footage shot specifically for our DVDs in late 2006 to date. These are not old video footage transferred to DVD. The DVDs utilise the format by allowing you to jump chapters and even link direct to relevant websites when viewed on a computer. Packed with information, at least 75 minutes long, rig diagrams in graphic form, underwater bait sequences, split screen views of floats and angler reactions, too much to take in in one viewing. And, you can always talk to the makers on Angler's Net www.v2vangling.co.uk

Usually look for the fish to hook themselves against the weight of the feeder on rivers. Probably not so likely on the Weaver, I suspect it is a slow river? Nowadays it is more usual to fish the feeder in a loop. Slide a quick change swivel onto the main line, double the line over to make a 6" long loop with the swivel inside. At the end of the loop, tie off another two small loops, the last of which your hooklength will attach to. You should end up with a hooklength,attached loop to loop to a half inch loop, another half inch loop (those two little loops help the hooklength to not tangle back over the mainline), a 5" loop with a free-running swivel inside, then the mainline. Put any feeder onto the clip swivel and you're away. Because the feeder is fixed inside that loop, if you break your mainline a fish may end up towing the feeder around. A more fish-safe method is to assemble the loops as before, but slide the swivel up the mainline rather than put it in the loop. Once the rig is tied, you can slide the swivel back down onto the outside of the big loop. Squash the swivel so it has a diamond shape to it such that it will not easily slide over the knots at either end of the big loop. This will be sufficient to hook a fish as the feeder hits the knot, but it may still be possible for the swivel to pull over the knot under a lot of pressure, thus making it slightly more safe.

Welcome aboard! Highway Farm is nice and easy to fish, but a very steep walk back up from the ponds. Wood Farm near Charmouth is standard commercial fare with decent quality fish. Also worth trying free stretch of River Frome at Wareham (40 mins drive from Bridport) for big roach and dace. Deano in Purbeck Angling Centre (tel 01929 550770) is right by the river in the middle of town. Ask in West Bay Watersports, tel 01308 421800, they have tickets for some local waters.

Well worth checking out some of the Indian guys, as your cash will help where it's needed most. Difficult to make sure you're not dealing with a rip-off merchant, but I can totally recommend Otter Reserves in the North. Google them and then talk to Vinay. In the South, go to Indian Angler as Ken suggested and get hold of outrigorsandeep. He runs Outrigor tours and is the most helpful and unselfish guy in Bangalore. Both of those mentioned are fully into conservation, whereas many only pay lip service at best and would sell their granny for 10 rupees. If in doubt, drop me an email to: stevenbobbie@yahoo.co.uk I have a large contact network in India, so can get details on the group you intend to go with.

Only reason for the comment about not lasting was: You get what you pay for. I'm sure a reel costing £100 will stay smooth for longer than one that costs £50. But sometimes a bargain crops up, let's hope these reels, either Shakespeare or Shimano or whatever, stand the test of time...

Seen one used by one of Shakespeare's sponsored anglers. It looks very good and is a very reasonable price for the package. All those spare spools, the drag is nice and smooth, good wide spools help casting and you get both single and double handles. Only thing I would have a reservation about is how long it will last...

Interesting thread. First, I am a match angler, so make of that what you will. I have match fished most of my life, but was bought up the old fashioned way to catch fish from a variety of venues, including catching carp in the era before hair rigs. As a photojournalist, I have worked with most of the current 'top' anglers and have also worked with many specialist anglers. Without a doubt, a good angler is a good angler whatever discipline they follow. On these 'easy' waters, I have no doubt that anglers like Will Raison would catch something like ten times the weight of an average angler 90% of the time. That suggests, for me, that these venues are not fish filled, drop your rig in and bag up venues. Quality anglers will catch much more on these venues. Of course, every dog has his day, but there is no such thing as a venue where anyone can catch as much as one of these stars unless it's an exceptional day. If you fished one of the waters I fish on a regular basis, like Stafford Moor or Viaduct, waters with a reputation as bag-up waters, you would soon see that the difference between those who get it right, and those who think it is easy fishing can be measured in several tens of pounds over the course of a five hour match.

Hi John, Flat floats are not just for holding back and keeping a bait still. It might be worth using one to run through at half speed. I know some French anglers who use big Cralusso's for trotting on rod and line for barbel because you can run them through in heavy water, and then stop them by changing the angle of the mainline.

Well there's a result for advice from a forum then!

Hi Andrew, Don't know that one, can you tell me where it is? If so, I should be able to get some more info.

Hi M, sounds to me like you were fishing too deep. I set up my pellet wags like this: Slide the waggler onto the line, mounted on a silicone float adaptor. Double over the last 12" of line and tie with a figure eight knot to make a 6" loop. Tie a smaller loop at the end of the 6" loop, the hooklength will be attached to this. The locking shot for the waggler go onto the double up line (the 6" loop), preferably 1SSG below the float (closer to the hooklength) and 1 or 2 SSG above the float. These act as a brake when the float hits the water and by having a slightly heavier weight behind the float, it helps to lessen tangles. Hooklength is 6" of 0.20, I use Sensas Feeling, which is pretty accurate in diameter and has a breaking strain of around 8lb. Mainline is 5lb Maxima, but due to the stretch in the Maxima and the lack of stretch in the Feeling, the hooklength will break before the mainline in the event of a fish finding a snag or an over exuberant strike! With the float rig set up like this, you can fish anywhere from 12" to 18" deep by sliding the float and locking shot up and down the loop. All of this assumes you use unloaded floats, which are about 6" long. I cut down some of my floats, to give me floats of 4", allowing me to fish even shallower. Personally, I think polystyrene floats are far superior to balsa ones. They pop up a lot quicker. I have a few of the original ones made by Topper Haskins, but he no longer makes them, as he has retired. Dave Brittain is making some now, but like many small-time float makers, he can't keep up with demand! Try not to feed too much. Half a dozen (count them) 8mm pellets every cast is plenty to pull the fish. Once they arrive, cut back to three or four pellets to make the fish compete. I feel 1 pint of pellets per hour is usual, but always carry double that in case I have to feed more to pull the fish. If the fish get iffy, you can try feeding a dozen pellets, three times in quick succession (burst feeding), then cast three or four times without feeding. I try to get into a rhythm of; feed, cast, feed, pull the float back a foot, reel in and repeat. The whole process should take about one minute. It is hard work to fish the method well. My catapult is over my left knee, with the pouch hanging down and open. After casting, or while playing a fish, I can pick up a few pellets and drop them into the pouch without looking, using my left hand. I hold the rod in the right, if you are left handed, just reverse the instructions. While playing fish, I feed at least twice, to keep the fish in the swim interested and get the next one lined up. With the reel's anti-reverse on and the clutch set, I can hold the rod down low to the water and use the left hand to swing the catapult up until I can grab the tag of the cup with the fingers of my right hand. Pushing the frame away from me, with my left hand, I am always in control of the rod, but can still feed while playing the fish. It is a vital part of the method and will take some practise. My rod is a Maver Reactorlite Number One; one of the softest match rods on the market. It helps to stop hook pulls, especially close to the net. I have landed carp to 15lbs on it, and usually pretty quickly, although the important thing is to get them into the net. Sometimes carp take 10-15 minutes to land, despite what you might read in magazines. Make sure they end up in the net. Hope that helps, although it can be difficult to follow without pictures. Might be a good idea to watch one of the better anglers near to you. And remember that some fisheries can fish quite differently. As an example, Stafford Moor fishes better if you feed quite sparingly, in fact pretty much as I've described above, while Viaduct often needs the feed to be blasted in heavier. Good luck

If the farmer didn't have permission to dig the second lake, he will not only have potential trouble from the council, the Environment Agency will undoubtedly find out about it and be on his case too. I would suggest he needs to get the place legalised...

A few more things to think about before you can fully get to grips with the problem. How deep is the lake? On shallow lakes, carp tear off a lot quicker and harder than on deeper lakes. Are the fish commons or mirrors? Commons tend to fight much harder than mirrors. Are there any snags around? Hook pulls are usually caused by; 1. the fish being foulhooked, 2. the hook not being thick enough for the strength of line/elastic you're using. I'm quite happy fishing for carp using a soft number 10/12 elastic in the summer, step down to a 8/10 in the winter. I'm usually fishing further out than 6m, probably more like 11-13m, where you can swing the pole around and the fish don't run off quite so hard. Don't try to bully the fish in, keep the pole tip low to the water, or even under the water a little, you will feel when the pressure starts to relax, then you can ship back slowly. It is not a race to land the fish as quick as possible, you should enjoy the fight, even in a match. If the elastic has bottomed out, try angling the pole slightly to one side, the fish should kite around, instead of just running straight. If it is running straight, it's probably foulhooked and will likely come off anyway. I would step up the elastic by one more grade, but make sure it is set very soft. Use at least 0.16mm diameter line, straight through to the hook, which should be a thick, strong type like the Drennan Barbless Carp Feeder. Try to fish further out/along the bank, so you have at least 9m of pole over the water. If you have to fish shorter, have sections ready to add on to go out to 9/11/13m. If you are determined to have a day's silver fish fishing, use 0.12mm line to a number 8 elastic with a hook like a Kamasan B510. Still expect to have to add sections to land a carp, but at this time of year, you'll be lucky to land carp much over 5lb generally. Good luck, Darren...

I take it you're somewhere near Ashby De La Zouch? Only thing I would suggest is: if the water gets very little pressure, try baiting several likely areas with hempseed, then creep around them in turn looking for signs of feeding fish. If you throw the feed in the margins, under branches etc, you should see bubbles, swirls and other disturbance if fish are present and feeding. Best bait option in this situation will be a whole lobworm, or bunch of dendro's. Natural baits will catch much better than boilies if the fish haven't seen boilies before.