River Fishing with maggots.

[ollyaaa]

Hi everyone,

 

Currently I'm fishing an area of the upper servern that is barely, if ever, fished. In my 20 years of living here I can't recall anyone going down to this stretch (I can see it out of my bedroom window). The reason I mention this is because 1) it's relevant to my question 2) It may explain my persistance in fishing this area.

 

I have spent 30+ hours fishing the same peg, and have never caught anything. Now this may seem to suggest there are no fish there, but I'm certain there is. A couple of months back, I had a minnow every chuck (surely this suggests the water can sustain bigger species) which really got on my nerves. No matter what hook size/number of maggots I decided to use, I'd still get em. This has subsided now, but I'm still losing my bait within minutes of the hook being in the water.

 

Basically, I'm using an closed feeder with a feeder rod. Once I've cast, the rod tip will bend round quite significantly, It'll even violently shake from time to time, but when I either strike (very rare) or leave it in the hope of the fish hooking itself I get NOTHING! Upon inspection, my hookbait has almost always been 'sucked' and the maggots are just a hollow skin. It drives me mad.

 

How do the fish know how to 'outsmart' me on a stretch that has never been subject to angling pressure?!

 

Also, I found a crayfish arm (and half a cray fish in the water) on my hook yesterday! I actually thought I was snagged so gave it a good pull and it looks like I musta hook a cray. Could my rod activity be explained by crayfish?

 

I'm dying to catch SOMETHING from this area, I've never managed it, and after all this time I cant give in!

 

 

Sorry, very long winded, any advice/comments would be great.

 

PS the river has a large tree thats fallen in the middle, this creates one side thats very deep and fast, It has a deep pool connected to it with loads of over hanging willow (looks PERFECT for fish) and the other side the current travels round the tree back up the river. It ranges in depth from 1ft to about 10ft in the rapids.

 

Cheers!

[Chris Plumb]

Have you tried trotting?

 

 

C.

[1Ray]

small fish... try to cast into deeper water.

[Kappa]

Have you tried trotting?

 

 

C.

 

Or other baits? Worms, bread, corn, meat etc etc?

 

Rich

[ollyaaa]

Thanks for the response.

 

I have sort of tried trotting. ITs not something I've ever done before so I'm ont really sure how to do it. The problem I was experiencing was the un even depth, the float would sink and then pop right back up over various parts of the swim. If I set the hook under depth, would this still encourage a bite? Or does it have to drag along the bottom?

 

I have only tried maggot at this particular site, maybe I should try something new? I just can't imagine catching anything using sweetcorn! (for example).

 

My main area of confusion though, is how my rod tip bends right down, and then 'pings' back up without anything attached the the hook .Confusing to say the least!

 

Cheers guys

[Anderoo]

The slow, steady pull is a typical crayfish bite. While the weather is still autumnal, I would definitely swap the leger for a float and try trotting. The crays will hammer anything hard on the bottom. The sucked maggots, on the other hand, are from fish, but without catching them it's impossible to say whether they're from nuisance minnows or 'proper' fish!

 

Minnows can give quite violent bites, despite their tiny size, so you never know.

 

How to trot is worth a whole book, and there are plenty on here who are far better at it than me, but it is basically just allowing your float - which has to be a proper river float like a stick/avon/loafer/etc. attached top and bottom with float rubbers - to travel downstream. It is best to slow its progress slightly so it travels slightly slower than the surface current. The flow near the bottom is much slower than on the surface, and just letting the float zip downstream unhindered will drag the bait along too quickly and look unnatural. It's easier to 'hold back' with a centrepin, but with care it can be done with a fixed spool reel.

 

It's best to try to get your bait (to start with, anyway) as close to the bottom as you can without it snagging. If you don't have much weight near the hook it is possible with practice to hold back hard where you know there's a bit of weed or a bit of shallower water, and ease it over back into deeper water. If not, just fish shallower.

 

It is usually best to start off by regularly feeding maggots for 20 minutes or so before fishing, and then regularly while fishing. Doing this often brings fish up in the water anyway.

 

Once we've had a couple of frosts, it might be worth trying the leger again, as the crays will have slowed right down and the minnows will mostly disappear...

 

Good luck, let us know how you get on

[gozzer]

Thanks for the response.

My main area of confusion though, is how my rod tip bends right down, and then 'pings' back up without anything attached the the hook .Confusing to say the least!

 

Cheers guys

 

This sounds to me like it could be the feeder holding bottom, then as the pressure builds on the line it comes free and your rod "pings" straight.

 

John.