Babelfish

Hi Steve, After looking at some old pictures of a Wingham fish-in the bank sticks used are much taller than mine. Please can you provide me 6 for 3 rods? If as you say these are essential for not spooking the large Bream on the lake, I think I should use the ones you recommend. Mine have about a 2 ft drop, but the ones in the pictures look more like 4ft! Kind regards Ben

Good point Andy, but in such tiny amounts, I dont think so. I have inadvertantly eaten the stuff (when trying to take the cap off!) and it did me no harm I guess if they ingested enough it would, but I dont think we should worry about a bit of glue, especially when leaving a hook or worse is what we should concentrate on avoiding most IMO. Ben

Good question and one I have spent a little time thinking about. I use superglue to stick pellets onto a hair and have had good success, but my thoughts on it was confirmed as ok when a very well kown barbel angler also used the same tackic and has done for years, and has exceptional success on the same employed method.

We just need the SW winds to kick in for a good while and all will be well!

I have bought some small 15gm inline method feeders, to use with my Barbel rods, I can easily chuck out to 25-40 yrds using these as I have done on the Trent. From a sporting angle I would love to use the barbel rods for tench & bream as I dont want to just haul in the fish on heavy gear. It looks like I will take everything, so I can be advised on the day! Ben

Hi Budgie, I have a mixture of carp rods (2.25lb - 2.75lb) and Barbel rods (1.5lb & 1.75lb) and a JW Avon (1.25lb) I was thinking of using the 2 Barbel rods for the method/feeder work (although limited by the casting distance) and the JW for the float work I intend to do during the day. I thought that the carp rods would be to excessive for the tench and while I can cast to the horizon on them, I have heard that close quarters fishing is the way to go, so feel the barbel rods will offer more sport with the tinka's. I think I will take 1 carp rod for spodding/feature finding work so I can then use small feeders on the barbel rods. Really looking forward to this trip! Ben

Hi Budgie, Any help on how to target the Tench would be great, especially feeding tactics, bait and rigs. Best Ben.

Guys, I was wondering if you could give me some help on getting into the tench there. Would a good carpet of groundbait be the right tactic? Plus, are there any restrictions on baits? With such a large piece of water I cant decide what to take or how to attack it. Any advice on getting into the tench, both day and night would be helpful. Was thinking float fishing in the day with 2 sleeper rods and 3 out at night. p.s - This is on the assumption that I get a spot! Cheers Ben

Thanks for the update Steve, hopefully hear from you on Tuesday with some good news!

Cooking up your own hemp

If you go to a good animal feed store and buy hemp you can cook it up yourself and this saves a huge amount of money. Another good additive is chilli paste and garlic paste from a supermarket, which can be added to hemp and maggots to good effect.

Float fishing on a river for Barbel and Chub is the ultimate!

Found you! Hope to see you at the fish-in

D day is here! Hopefully I will get picked to enjoy the fun!!

Hello Irene, The simplest way of doing this is the attach a swivel to your mainline and then use a loop 2 loop method of attaching the hook to nylon to the eye of the swivel. If you search on the net there will be plenty of diagrams showing you this in pictures as well. Good luck, Ben

Hi, if selected for this adventure, I will certainly need some local help as it looks like a very big peice of water! 3 days camping and fishing, bring it!

What is Vitalin?

Tench love rooting around on the bottom looking for food in the silt/weed. If I were you I would use a groundbait with hemp and caster added and for hookbait use either a cocktail of worm and sweetcorn, worm and caster or the latter on their own. Also never forget that maggot will work on their day to. Good luck on upping your PB.

I dont see why Lugworm would not work, mussels work well for both carp and chub and they are certainly not a 'natural' bait. The problem I see is in the frozen part as they just become limp and not very presentable. If you were to use live lug then I think you could be onto a winner as they do ooze a lot of smell and I have caught a lot of sea fish on them and they must home in on the smell of the lug. Going to Eastbourne this weekend and I am now inspired to pick some up and take them tench/carp fishing on the bank holiday monday!

Good luck with the Zig Rig. This is the perfect time of year to use this rig as the water surface warms the top layers attract the carp up from the bottom.

Hi Paul, The first thing that springs to mind is the Zig Rig. This is a great rig for carp cruising in the upper water layers when the temps are on the rise. As long as you use a boyant bait (fluro pop up or even a piece of cloloured cork!) you will catch. Alter the length of the hooklink to the depth you see them cruising at. The only problem is the depth (30ft), but this can be overcome by placing the hooklink (20ft) in a bucket before casting. There is lots of advice on the net if you type in Zig Rigs. Good luck. Babel.

Sounds like dream fishing to me! Cant wait, and hopefully I make the cut

Hi Steve, Please could you count me in for the AN fish in at Wigham. Kind regards Ben

Hi, Also just joined. I live in SE London and enjoy all types of fishing! Coarse, Sea and even the odd dabble with a fly rod. Cheers Babel.