bart4real

Regarding margin fishing for carp, this seems to be an area that many people are having difficulty with, judging by the amount of emails I receive about it. First of all, ignore the advice which advotes marging poles and heavy elastic. Most of the problem with carp in the margins is to do with foul hooked fish and there is a way to avoid this but 18 & 20 elastics are not the answer. The set up should be based on not applying too much pressure and it is better to fish with number 12 elastics set soft. Avoid striking at bites and just lift slowly when the float goes down. The feeding is the most important aspect and it pays to feed very little and very often. Don't use pole pots because it condenses the feeding area and results in too many fish in one place and increases the risks of foul hooking. It is better to spay the bait with a catapult, either maggots or casters. When you set you depth, start with the bait just touching the bottom and then be prepared to shallow up to fish around half depth if you start to miss bites. Carp have to up-end to feed and they accept a bait more readily presented at or near the depth they are swimming. Bites are usually more positve too but as soon as the fish is hooked, lower the pole to ease the pressure on the fish and it will stop running. By applying more pressure the fish will keep pulling against it and you risk being bottmed out. With a number 12 elastic this rarely happens if you go about it in this fashion. I tend to fish corn or single caster on the hook and hook sizes are usually around 18 or 16. It is no good fishing with bigger hook baits than what you are feeding because carp tend to ignore baits which stand out after a while and again, the risks of foul hooking is increased because they are feeding in the peg while avoiding the hook bait. There is nothing complicated about this approach but if you want to do weights over a ton, then you better start to think about the way fish feed. Listening to people who have a vested interest in selling margin poles is not going to put that magical 'ton' barrier within reach. It is better to fish with single caster because when the carp arrive they push out the smaller fish and feed more confidently on smaller baits

Regarding margin fishing for carp, this seems to be an area that many people are having difficulty with, judging by the amount of emails I receive about it. First of all, ignore the advice which advotes marging poles and heavy elastic. Most of the problem with carp in the margins is to do with foul hooked fish and there is a way to avoid this but 18 & 20 elastics are not the answer. The set up should be based on not applying too much pressure and it is better to fish with number 12 elastics set soft. Avoid striking at bites and just lift slowly when the float goes down. The feeding is the most important aspect and it pays to feed very little and very often. Don't use pole pots because it condenses the feeding area and results in too many fish in one place and increases the risks of foul hooking. It is better to spay the bait with a catapult, either maggots or casters. When you set you depth, start with the bait just touching the bottom and then be prepared to shallow up to fish around half depth if you start to miss bites. Carp have to up-end to feed and they accept a bait more readily presented at or near the depth they are swimming. Bites are usually more positve too but as soon as the fish is hooked, lower the pole to ease the pressure on the fish and it will stop running. By applying more pressure the fish will keep pulling against it and you risk being bottmed out. With a number 12 elastic this rarely happens if you go about it in this fashion. I tend to fish corn or single caster on the hook and hook sizes are usually around 18 or 16. It is no good fishing with bigger hook baits than what you are feeding because carp tend to ignore baits which stand out after a while and again, the risks of foul hooking is increased because they are feeding in the peg while avoiding the hook bait. There is nothing complicated about this approach but if you want to do weights over a ton, then you better start to think about the way fish feed. Listening to people who have a vested interest in selling margin poles is not going to put that magical 'ton' barrier within reach. It is better to fish with single caster because when the carp arrive they push out the smaller fish and feed more confidently on smaller baits

I have spent some time reading the threads associated with Gray's feature at Seven Oaks and I can assure you that every attempt was made to safe guard the fish. The keepnets used were both Keenets Carp mesh nets and there were two of them available if more fish were caught. The one in use was 12 feet long with a width of around 6 feet at the base. However, I feel that some of the concern about fish welfare is being misplaced and misdirected towards the wrong type of angler here. I would much prefer to see a maximum hook size being enforced at every fishery due to the damage to the carp's mouths that this creates. Keepnets are safe and so are hooks if used correctly. Anglers are using hooks in excess of size 8 at the fishery which only allows size 14s. The problems with this is that anglers are fishing method feeders - 'Bolt rigs' and striking very hard at runs. In my opinion, this is where the damage is being caused as the majority of damage is from tearing hooks out on the strike!

I have spent some time reading the threads associated with Gray's feature at Seven Oaks and I can assure you that every attempt was made to safe guard the fish. The keepnets used were both Keenets Carp mesh nets and there were two of them available if more fish were caught. The one in use was 12 feet long with a width of around 6 feet at the base. However, I feel that some of the concern about fish welfare is being misplaced and misdirected towards the wrong type of angler here. I would much prefer to see a maximum hook size being enforced at every fishery due to the damage to the carp's mouths that this creates. Keepnets are safe and so are hooks if used correctly. Anglers are using hooks in excess of size 8 at the fishery which only allows size 14s. The problems with this is that anglers are fishing method feeders - 'Bolt rigs' and striking very hard at runs. In my opinion, this is where the damage is being caused as the majority of damage is from tearing hooks out on the strike!

20 metre floating poles? Whatever next? It will never replace real ability. To be honest, it seems to be the year of the gimmick. At most venues, this method is banned and I am concerned that the company which markets this product is promoting methods which represent the negative side of angling. I accept that there will be a few comments from those who consider that this method requires a degree of skill but to most of us- it does not.

20 metre floating poles? Whatever next? It will never replace real ability. To be honest, it seems to be the year of the gimmick. At most venues, this method is banned and I am concerned that the company which markets this product is promoting methods which represent the negative side of angling. I accept that there will be a few comments from those who consider that this method requires a degree of skill but to most of us- it does not.