Casting to the bubbles

[The Flying Tench]

I can't be the only angler who has sat biteless while carp, bream and tench are sending up bubbles all over the lake. Occasionally I've tried casting over the bubbles, to no avail - but then I haven't tried it very seriously. For example,, I've always had a ledger on, and it might have been more effective free-lining? Strangely, I've never read an article about this approach.

 

Has anyone had any success with this approach? And have you any advice? For example, I wonder if a natural bait such as a worm might be best?

[Norfolkdan]

The only time I have any luck with bubbles coming up, is when you've been feeding a swim during the day/night, and be catching the odd fish. The bubbles come up and they seem too take your bait. Great stuff.

 

However, numerous casts to random bubbles and never had anything. Also found, that some bubbles aren't even caused by fish, but air being released under stones or something, seen it in really clear water

[Bally]

One time, I arrived at the lake and was fishing by 7am. I threw in an initial feed of a couple of handfuls of pellets, the same of hemp and a good handful of flavoured corn, with the flavoured corn as hookbait. (supposedly the 'in' bait) After an hour the bubbles started...... masses of em...... all over my feed. But could I get a bite. I tried moving the tell-tale shot up and down, adjusting the depth of the float. Nothing. Not a twitch. All the time I kept the feed going in on a regular basis, alternating between the pellets and the hemp. Still the bubbles kept coming, so I knew the fish were there. Change bait to banded pellet, nothing. Had a couple of casts with some paste I had made up with some ground pellets, nothing. Opened a tin of Green Giant and BANG! A bite straight away. (well......4 and a half hours after I had started!) That first fish was a 3lb Cruie. Well chuffed. From then on it was a bite a chuck for the rest of the day, Tench and Bream to 6lb plus a couple of other big Cruies. They were still feeding when I had to pack up at sunset.

 

Does this help with your problem? Probably not. All I can suggest is that you keep ringing the changes. Try different baits and keep making rig adjustments until you start getting bites.

 

Also, you wanna get em bubbling away over your feed. So keep either the loose feed going in or filling your feeder on a regular basis. Now that the temperatures a rising I think we can start upping the feed a little.

[Bally]

Sometimes you can work out where a group of fish are going from thier bubbles. The bubbles might start coming up to the left of your swim. A couple of minutes later there might be another cluster of bubbles 3ft to the right of the first batch. Then another load right in front of you. So obviously the fish are swimming left to right. Now is the time to intercept them by throwing in a handful of loose feed and casting maybe ten feet to the right of the last lot of bubbles you saw. Hopefully, they will swim right over your feed and stop for a munch. Then the trick is keeping em there!

[edd]

i fish a lake near me for the tench.i feed pellet,hemp and corn and use lobs as bait everytime the bubbles start i always catch.if i see bubbles coming from a feeding tench and random spots in the lake i try casting past bubbles and bring the float over them and it never works. so dont know why i do it every time

[ayjay]

The Flying Tench:

Strangely, I've never read an article about this approach.

Carp and the Carp Angler - George Sharman

Still-Water Angling - Richard Walker

 

There's probably plenty more, but that's off the top of my head.

[j_s]

On Monday at a commercial I said to my brother look at those bubbles and a swirl, I cast my float to it with bread on the hook and within 5 seconds line was being torn off my reel. Unfortunately it dived straight into some weed and my 8lb Drennan Double Strength snapped even though the drag was set low

I think I may have weakened the line below the knot.

[Leon Roskilly]

If the water is deep, and there is an undertow, the bubbles could be breaking the surface some way from the feeding area.

 

Often bubbles are just gas bubbles rising.

 

Maggots burrowing into the mud and releasing them has fooled many an angler!

 

Tight Lines - leon

[Tony U]

Got to go with the flow on this one I have cast to bubbling (fish?) on many occasions and had zilch on other instances I have bagged up.

I think on occassions fish become preoccupied with natural food sources (bloodworm pea snails etc) and ignore our baits, on other occassions the bubbles are from causes other than fish (see above) and sometimes they will feed on anything put in front of them.

 

[ 04. May 2005, 11:06 AM: Message edited by: Tony U ]

[WickerDave]

On one of my often fished waters it is very rare to see pin bubbles. However, when I have seen them (and they were present before any groundbait/loosefeed) and floatfished luncheonmeat directly over them, I have caught well. The fish responsible have always been decentish carp (less than 10lb).

 

[ 04. May 2005, 12:20 PM: Message edited by: WickerDave ]