missing bites!!!!!!!1

[Babar]

Ive been fishing recently on the oymill pond at barnsley. Iwas fishing on bread and catmeat. my mate was catching loads of fish however i kept missin bites. could this be because th tip of my quiver rod was more sensitive than his????? :confused: :confused:

[Andy Macfarlane]

If you have ensured you are both using identical set-ups bar the tip, it is feasible the fish are hooking themselves on your friends stiffer tip.

I used a fairly softish quiver last year and couldn't hit 2 Roach out of every 10 bites, solid or not. The tip would pull round and I would lean in...nothing.

I was fairly sure the sloppy tip had much to do with it and used an overly heavy tip. Much better hit rate.

It doesn't take long to swap rigs. Try both and see if the hookup rate is any different.

It may just be your friend "has it". Sometimes there is no visible difference in anything you do but 1 of you is bagging up.

Maybe he has a more efficient strike. Who knows?...try everything till you get it right. Success doesn't usually come by sitting wondering if things could have worked.

[Babar]

i nipped down again today ad found that changing my hook from a 12 to a 10 helped a bit but apart from that i missed loads again. When i walked around the pond however alot of people seemed to be having problems hitting bites??????????????

i tried a stiffer tip today and no change. me and my mate bot think our striking is near as damn it the same. But still HELP!!!!!!!

[Andy Macfarlane]

Try shortening the hooklength until you actually hit fish. Last year we also had many missed bites on an 18 inch hooklength. We dropped the length bit by bit until we ended up on a 4 inch length!! The hook itself could be a problem. It may be that the gape simply isn't suited to the bait. When using say sweetcorn, make sure the gape is large enough so that the hook can be fully rotated round the inside of the corn with nothing but the barb showing slightly. If the eye is showing the fish may reject the bait. If the barb is concealed you may just be striking the bait from the fishes mouth.

I found the Drennan Star Point Boilie hooks to be excellent for hooking up corn and the hit rate is pretty good too. Size 12 is about right.

The feeder rig may also not be helping. I find a feeder/paternoster rig is too solid to the quiver tip and the fish can feel the resistance immediately. I changed to a free running leger rig incorporating a John Roberts run ring and left the tip quite slack. The fish would feel nothing after a few taps at the bait and suddenly the tip would arc round with the fish already hooked. The 1 to 2 seconds or so without any resistance made all the difference.

See what happens. All we can do is try and eliminate the problems.

[Babar]

Thanky, im going again in about 30mins so ill let you know how i do tonight.

[Steve Randles]

Water resisitance can also play a crucial part in how you connect with fish.

 

Rule of thumb: Strike vertically if fishing in deep water, strike horizontally in shallow. In both of the above you dont have to break the "surface tension" of the water as much as if you stike the other way.

 

There can also be a dead zone whilst your picking up the rod where virtually no line is being picked up at all for a split second, which can make all the difference to shy or quick biting fish. Try a differnt rod set-up/and or angle of rod to eliminate as much of this as possible.

 

Finally, are there any weed beds between your peg and your baited area? Your main line could be impeded by this as it sinks...

[RUDD]

I am going to put my reputation on the line!!!!!!

They are line bites

If it were winter I would try and hit every tap on the tip.

At this time of year sit on your hands and only hit steady pulls or wrap rounds.

If you keep missing bites put on a straight lead and try shortening your casts.

Many top carp anglers and matchmen use this trick.

They call it fishing for line bites.

If you get line bites you know there are fish between you and your rig.

Cast 5 feet short each time until you find the spot they are feeding.

[Babar]

i went dn again today and the stiffer tip really worked a treat. This time i wasn,t hitting the taps and when the tip was pulling round 9 out of 10 fish hooked themselves.

 

Thankyou very much!!

[dogfish]

It sounds like with the stiffer tip the fish were hooking themselves.Glad you have sorted it.

Sometime it can pay to slacken off and the fish then seem to take more confidently.This works on rivers and anglers such as then late RW and Peter Stone etc. used to fish for roach with a big bow in the line and this certainly seems to result in more positive bites.Sadly,or thankfully,according to your personal view fish do not obey the rules.What works now may not ij afew day's time.I prefer it that way

Tight lines.

[Andy Macfarlane]

quote:

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i went dn again today and the stiffer tip really worked a treat. This time i wasn,t hitting the taps and when the tip was pulling round 9 out of 10 fish hooked themselves

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I,m glad something I suggested actually came up trumps. Makes me feel like I know what I,m talking about for a change....lol.