Wingham Tips

[Dick Dastardly]

A general point on where to fish, as everyone's talking about location and accuracy - it is not a heavily stocked water and the fish don't need our bait, so piling in the bait is unlikely to bring fish to you. You need to put baits where the fish will be. Rather than trying to attract fish to your baited spot, think about how the fish would move around the swim, around/across/along the features, and aim to put baits in strategic positions and pick them off as they move between those features. The google earth maps really help in this regard, as you can see clearly where the biggest bars and humps are and think, well if a couple of tench want to get from here to there, they'll have to go through this little gap- so I'll put a bait there!

 

In the more open water swims, try looking for any feature where a fish might feed, like a lone gravel hump or up against a weedbed.

 

In general terms - for the tench - in the silt up against the bottom of the bars/humps is usually productive, and also up the slopes (if not too steep) and on top of them too. The silt around the base is often home to bloodworm and the slopes and tops are where the big insects like the caddis, and shrimp and snails, live. When all the nymphs hatch, they crawl up the bars to the shallow water on top, and hatch from there, and the fish feed on them as they make their journey. So if it's warm and loads of insects are hatching, especially the bigger ones, they'll be coming up the bars and into shallow water. If there are clouds of midges, there will be loads of bloodworm in the silt at the bottom. Fishing at different depths gives you the best chance to be in the right place for where the fish are naturally feeding.

 

 

Ah using good old fashioned "watercraft" isn't allowed mate!

[Dick Dastardly]

Eels above 3 lb are a whole different prospect to bootlaces on rods that handle 8 or 9lb Tench well all of a sudden you start having problems getting 3 lb plus eels to the net

 

 

Yup 3lb TC rods are pretty standard among eel specialists.Sounds way OTT ..................untill you hook one that is!

[Dales]

Yup 3lb TC rods are pretty standard among eel specialists.Sounds way OTT ..................untill you hook one that is!

 

I learned the hard way using my Perch and Tench rods, one minute the eel is a few inches from the net and next it's backing up and the rod is fully bent over, then backwards and forwards for an eternity. I move the net forward, the eel backs up and rod bends over again

 

I now pop a few Carp rods in the rod holdall for when I want to try for eels. I had a low 4 last year when fishing for the small Perch and Roach on a 1.25TC Feeder rod, the rod bent to butt and in desperation to land it I ended up leaving the net in the margin and walked back up the bank to get it over the net

[Andrew Burgess]

Feeding after location is the most important thing at Wingham (as indeed it is at most venues!). Sometimes (for Tench) when I fish a swim there where I know where the tench will be feeding I hardly feed at all! just a few pouches of pellet.In this situation I use a large method feeder crammed with a mix that contains brown crumb,fish meal,micro pellet,corn,boilie crumb and a few hook bait samples (normally Pineapple flavored 10mm boilies). To the water I use to mix up I add both the juice from the (tinned) sweetcorn and a good helping of flavouring (Pineapple in this case).

 

The mix is really squeezed on hard and to be honest isn't really meant to work in the accepted "method" style but is simply a massive attractor to my hook bait that's on a 4" hook link. My reasoning is that the tench are in these areas as they are feeding hard on natural food. I don't want to really give them any more food but need to attract them away from the natural food (normally in these areas at the bottom of the bar its bloodworm in the silt) and "encourage" them to my hook bait.No need to attract them/hold them in the area as they are naturally there feeding and to much extra "anglers food" would just reduce the chances of my hook baits being taken.

 

Other areas are poor tench swims in regard to them naturally feeding there but good results can still be had by fishing them in a different (feed wise) way. Anderoo has covered this situation when he discussed places that fish would have to move through (pinch points) in order to travel about the lake. All the info given all ready about this situation I totally agree with.

 

Just piling in a bed of bait (at most times of the year) and waiting very rarely works simply (as once again already mentioned) there is enough natural food,or I should say "so much" natural food that they don't need to "go looking for it"

 

I wont bother offering any advice on the Bream as I'm still none the wiser my self! And despite having had 3lb+ perch I still haven't got round to intentionally targeting them and doubt I could offer any thing more helpful than has all ready been said.

 

Give away my best kept secret away! aghhhhhh

 

I am just the same with Budgie but there a slight difference in my groundbait I used (sorry Budgie) I use a bag of halibut groundbait added to the fish meal and coarse groundbait as well. Add a few 10mm boilies and a few of the 15mm boilies as well.

 

Tackle set up is using a using an shockleader and a very longish sinking tubing as for combating the gravel bars as they are very sharp!

 

Add the open feeder ( A fox large open mesh type - 56grams) via through the swivel eye and then place an korda run rig rubber and an swivel size 8 with an either 6" to 8" inch hooklenght. The hook is the Garner Mugga Size 12 in a slightly longer hair rig to accommodate the 15mm boilie and one of the avid corn stop!

Edited May 4, 2011 by Andrew Burgess

[Dales]

Tackle set up is using a using an shockleader and a very longish sinking tubing as for combating the gravel bars as they are very sharp!

 

Add the open feeder ( A fox large open mesh type - 56grams) via through the swivel eye and then place an korda run rig rubber and an swivel size 8 with an either 6" to 8" inch hooklenght. The hook is the Garner Mugga Size 12 in a slightly longer hair rig to accommodate the 15mm boilie and one of the avid corn stop!

 

That's interesting Andrew, I never use tubing. I guess we all have our own little differences to the way we like to fish and I guess Fish-In guests will have various ideas on rigs and presentation.

[Kappa]

That's interesting Andrew, I never use tubing. I guess we all have our own little differences to the way we like to fish and I guess Fish-In guests will have various ideas on rigs and presentation.

 

Exactly, its been said before that all members fish differently but still catch plenty, hopefully someone will catch 10 bream doing something completely different!

 

Rich

Edited May 4, 2011 by Richard Capper

[Andrew Burgess]

Exactly, its been said before that all members fish differently but still catch plenty, hopefully someone will catch 10 bream doing something completely different!

 

Rich

 

Exactly why I like to change things year after year - and hopefully one day will be doing something right!

[Dales]

Exactly, its been said before that all members fish differently but still catch plenty, hopefully someone will catch 10 bream doing something completely different!

 

Rich

 

It's one of the interesting things about the Fish-in some one may turn up and do something radically different and it may pay off big time.

 

Lets hope some one does get a Bream at the Fish-In.

[Dales]

Exactly why I like to change things year after year - and hopefully one day will be doing something right!

 

Change things year after year, I struggle to get through one day with out making changes

 

I really wish I could tie myself down to one rig, one method and one bait, it would seriously cut down on the amount of gear I lug down to the swim and then end up lugging back to the car unused. All for those just in case situations

[AddictedToScopex]

I really wish I could tie myself down to one rig, one method and one bait,

I am a nightmare for that. Although I often have an idea of what I want to do I always like to have the equipment with me just in case I change my mind or want to take a different approach. I have so many ideas on how I would like to fish and what I want to fish for but I am sure once I get there plans will change. I am now thinking of starting on the pole in the margins for perch and tench on worm and then switching to the feeder on two rods at night but of course all that is subject to my feelings about the swim when I get there.