The Flying Tench

It has!

I've just changed my name as I was getting bored with the old one, so thought I'd check it has worked.

Thanks for the advice. My biggest problems with bumping have been with double caster - what hook size to people use for that? Re nicking the maggot crossways, what exactly are you saying? It's hard to see why it would reduce the issue of bumping - I think that's what you're saying, but thought I'd check. What about the issue of barbless hooks? With very small hooks, common sense (to me) would say that barbless hooks would lose fish, but is that what people find?

The magazine articles and books by matchmen always recommend small hooks, 20 or smaller for single maggot, but in my experience I 'bump' fish if I use small hooks - I'm talking about trotting on rivers, mainly. In a couple of recent sessions I've been fishing double caster on size 18 barbless for roach, which I'd have thought is what the books would advise, but I've lost some good fish, and have moved up to a size 16, which I'm sure matchmen would say is far too big. I've also tried in the past the advice I've read to 'put on smaller hooks till you get bites', but I've never found it worked. What is other people's experience?

Yes, you can use it like a running ledger rig. Personally, when I try anything new I like to do it where I'm almost certain to catch SOMETHING just to give me confidence in the technique, so I'd start off in some fairly slack water where I thought there were loads of small roach or perch. I'm told that too many anglers use block-end feeders, and we ought to gravitate to the open-ended type, but for me the best way to start is a block-end with maggots. Leeds, you're asking loads of questions, but it would be a help to know a bit more to try and give helpful answers. Which is your local river, and is it fast or slow? Are you a beginner at angling, or have you maybe done a fair bit but are just new to lure fishing and feeder fishing? Another point is that for heavy feeder fishing, or where you need to cast a distance, you really need a proper feeder rod, but for fishing with quite a light feeder close in you can cope OK with a light quiver-tip rod.

Steve, presumably you mean throw in the contents of any OPENED packets. Martin, this Alka Seltzer idea - it's not a wind-up is it? How can it drive a deadbait crazy!?

I normally find spinning in clear water works well, but there have been a couple of times recently when the water was gin clear and shallow, and the fish weren't impressed by my lures. About a month ago I saw a shoal of chub, and I could see them very clearly come and examine my plastic jigs and mepps spinners, and they just turned away. Then today I had a couple of grayling taken by pike within half an hour, so the pike must have been quite active, but the water again was very clear and shallow, and I had no luck with a plug. Is there any particular advice anyone has about spinning in these conditions?

Stewart, I've had a quick look at your diary, and it certainly looks interesting, so thanks, but no-one, yourself included, has answered the question about where you'd fish given the weather of the last few days - particularly the issue of which species need SETTLED weather. I fished for grayling today, and there was no shortage of bites or fish, though pike snaffled my best two fish, showing that these pike were not bothered by the fact that the weather hadn't been settled!

And Jan has caught 20 pike on fluoro and not had one bite-off - I'm amazed, could that be because it's a bit harder than mono?

Leeds, I used to try spinning when I was in my teens, and I never caught anything and got quite disheartened. It sounds to me as if you've got a lot of factors stacked against you - the leaves, the cold, not knowing where the fish are. What happened was almost inevitable on a first trip, but the key is to make contact with someone local who goes lure fishing. Have you asked in your local tackle shop? Sometimes people are very willing to help young people, but unfortunately not everyone goes lure fishing. I'm not an expert, but I can remember what it was like when I never caught anything. In my experience, the easiest place to start is a canal in summer for perch. At this time of year I'm a bit stuck to know what to suggest unless you can make contact with someone local who's a lure angler. You could start a new thread giving the name of your river and asking if anyone on anglers net knows it - you might pick up some info.

Peter's a very experienced lure angler, while I'm not, but here's my view. You will unquestionably need longer forceps as soon as possible, but I've got to say that I went spinning quite a few times when I started lure angling before I caught a pike. If you can buy or borrow longer forceps so well and good, but if you go with your existing ones tomorrow, well, I guess there's a slight risk, but not a very big one. In my view the biggest problem is unlikely to be the forceps. The fact is, if you're on your own when you catch your first pike it's a fairly frightening moment when you come to take the hooks out! It's much worse if you're fishing with a lure or deadbait trace with two sets of trebles. One lot of trebles gets caught in the landing-net mesh. You spend an age getting that out. Then you look the beast in the eye and gingerly try and get its mouth open to see where the other treble is. Then it suddenly thrashes with its tail and nearly frightens the life out of you, and you despair and wonder what on earth you can do! Then, with luck, the hook somehow comes out and you go home and re-read the books on unhooking pike, and next time it's ever so much easier - at least that's what I found. I admit there's a slight risk, but there's a bigger risk you won't catch anything. I imagine you're dying to get out. I'd go, but maybe don't make it a long trip, use small lures with just one treble. And definitely get an experienced person to go with you when you can, not least because they'll know where the hotspots are, and you're more likely to catch! Incidently, I expect you realise that fish are more likely to take a lure in warm or at least mild weather. Actually I shouldn't have said any of that 'cos I'm a vicar, and tomorrow's Sunday morning! All the best, anyway.

Are you saying you don't have any forceps at all, or they're not specially long? How long are they? If I were you, as long as there are a reasonable number of perch around, I'd start with quite a small lure, such as a Mepps number 2. That way you're most likely to catch something. In my view you need a pair of forceps for any kind of fishing, but they don't need to be specially long ones for a first trip where you're most likely to catch perch.

3 kilos is 6lb 9 oz, a full pound above the british record. I normally think of bigger fish coming from warmer climes like France or Spain (eg for carp and barbel) so it's interesting that the perch grow bigger in Sweden.

I reckon one of the most important fishing decisions is where to go on each day, and the weather is obviously a key point. Leaving pressure aside, which I understand is vital for pike, the 2 main things I'm aware of in winter are: a)rising temperature is good settled weather is good. I've particularly been told you need a few days settled weather for roach and pike. At first sight, at least, these are contradictory. For example,I usually fish on Mondays. Looking forward to Monday, tomorrow where I live the temperature is f'cast to be low at 6C. Then Sunday will be 9C. Then Monday 12C, and nice high pressure for pike on all days. From the point of view of a) it should be a brilliant day for most fish, but it won't have been settled, having dropped nastily tomorrow, spoiling the weekend's sport for a few people I fear. So what species would you target a) over the weekend Monday

I'm puzzled by what Argyll is saying about lure fishing. While understanding the problems of wire for live/deadbaiting, I'd always understood that for chasing a lure a wire trace wasn't a problem?

How heavy was it? And do you know what the record for perch is in Sweden? And what is the style of fishing you adopt when the ice comes, Jan? I ask about the weights because it looks so huge! Is it a personal best, or do you get them like that regularly?

Isaac Walton was of the view that Moses was an angler, on dubious grounds it has to be said.

Thanks to Steve and others for the advice. I've re-read Steve's helpful articles, and I've still got one query. What to use for a trace? The place I have in mind has few pike, but I did catch a jack there once. I'd either use thin wire, or more likely braid with a single hook. I've got 28lb braid, but I'm a bit worried that would be too visible for the perch - the water is shallow and moderately clear. I was thinking of getting thinner braid, maybe 8lb - would that be a reasonable compromise? Because of the crays I'd be leaving it for a minute, then winding in a bit. Also, can I buy a video of Steve's Sky programme as I don't have Sky?

Leon, thanks for the articles on predator-prey size ratios. However, I couldn't see that any of them proved the point about the reason for a predator going for a particular size of prey being to do with energy conservation. I can't see how you'd prove that without talking to Mr Pike, but maybe someone's thought of a way! Anyway, it doesn't affect anything because the point is clearly made that bigger predators go for bigger prey, as you say.

I've been thinking about the idea that pike don't chase small baits to preserve energy. Of course, until a pike can talk we'll never know for sure. My slight doubt is because even a sprat would supply far more energy than is needed to chase dozens of fish, and with a wounded fish the pike would have a very high chance of success. I'm not doubting the conclusions, so it's a bit academic really, but I wonder if part of the reason might be that if a pike chases, and even catches, a smaller fish it will scare the shoal and cause it to lose larger fish. Same idea, just a slightly different 'angle'.

I've made a, probably irrational, decision not to live-bait for perch, and I'm wondering what the prospects are with deads. I'm thinking of a weir-pool, so there are the options of letting it wave about in the current or lie on the bottom in a slack. I've heard that perch don't like sea baits, and any baits have to be fresh. Does that mean they have to be caught on the day, or can I catch some and freeze them for future use?

Many thanks for all the advice, but now here's a seasonal query. There are an awful lot of leaves at this time of year, one problem being that they catch on the trebles and give away that the bait's not cosher. How important do you find it to avoid areas with lots of leaves?

I'm learning loads, but here's another query. Leaves. One problem is that they stick to the trebles, and warn the pike the bait's not cosher. But there are leaves nearly everywhere at this time of year. Maybe one just has to try and fish where there aren't too many, but any advice would be appreciated.

Once again interesting stuff, and I'll certainly try sprats more often for static deadbaiting. But I'm a bit surprised on wobbling. I've got more experience of this than static deadbaiting, though I'm sure less than yourself, but in my experience of wobbling a bigger bait means bigger fish. I started with sprats, soon moved up to sardines which I found a bit soft, then tried smelt which were effective but I only got pike up to about 8 lbs, I then tried herring and I've had them up to 14lbs. Admittedly this is all based on a couple of hotspots on the Kennet, and it's been autumn mostly rather than real winter. Wobbling has been successful on the Kennet but hopeless on gravel pits. Doubtless that's partly a confidence thing, as I never really believe I'm going to catch. I've met a couple of people who assure me that if you 'go round a lake' you'll pick up a few pike! The idea is that, on a lake with about 30 pegs, you spend about 5 minutes at each and bingo, you're bound to come across a pike somewhere. I do it for about 8 pegs and convince myself that, if it hasn't worked on them it won't on the others, and go and do something else! After your advice, and a post by Peter W above on spinning, I think I'll spend more time thinking where to fish, particularly going round with a thermometer, and maybe my newly aquired depthometer - though whether I'll have time to map the lake as carefully as you suggest I'm not sure. Thanks, though, for setting my sights in a more interesting direction.

Thanks, both of you. Another query for Leon. Your approach is more scientifically based than that of many anglers, but I suspect much of what you are saying at least doesn't contradict the conventional wisdom. But there is an exception. You seem to be saying you nearly always use sprats, 'cos it doesn't make a lot of difference and they're cheaper! I see the logic, but a lot of deadbait enthusiasts would say there is a 'bait for the day'. Your or anyone else's comments on this would be welcome.