Simple Match Fishing Forum

Anyone been out this weekend
I have been working all weekend again

Not me Si........I've been on grandparent duties, been man flued up, but managed to tie a rig or two up for the Chockie Monsters match next week

Took Karen to Borwick Lakes, near Carnforth yesterday. Hard but had a few carp in the end, once the wind dropped a bit. See post on MD's "where you fished today"

Took Karen to Borwick Lakes, near Carnforth yesterday. Hard but had a few carp in the end, once the wind dropped a bit. See post on MD's "where you fished today"

I always think of it like.... 1 fish is better than no fish. Whenever I go somewhere and don't catch anything its a right bad feeling.
Well done

Unlucky for you TK, hope you get better soon dude
I had to go in my shed to get my plastering gear out and it hurts looking at my fishing gear and not been able to use it

I had a match on the Wharfe, I wanted to draw peg 23 but instead drew 22, I was happy with that but I couldn't get any Tench to have a go, the wind was ruining presentation so I set up my tip rod and had 15 mins with that which saw caught me a 1.5lbs Perch. Mr jammy git Mark Douglas drew 23 and had 5 Tench and lost one along with a few Perch to weigh in 15lbs to win the match. He caught them on worm and caster. I weighed 5lbs 2oz to finish 4th and won my section, 6lbs was 2nd which consisted of 2 Bream and good old crocky beat me to 3rd place with 5lbs 7oz.

Am away next week but the following week I'm at Owen Road on a lil knock up there.

The jammy ba*tard lol , AGAIN!
Still you did ok though. I would have been laughing watching mr stuffy landing all those nice tench, thinking "Ahh some things never change"
I bet you told him what you caught your tench on when you was on that peg too didn't you

He asks questions and I give him the answers, I can't tell porkies that's not me. He said after the match "I'm getting into this caster fishing now" lol. It's me that taught him how to fish it but to be fair he did it right on the peg and reaped the rewards. He's a decent enough chap really and I like him, he's just so jammy lol.

[highlight]"I'm getting into this caster fishing now" lol. It's me that taught him how to fish [/highlight].

Come on then Conna...........pen a few words on your caster secrets for all (well me) to share.

I know I could certainly do with a few tips and would welcome your words of wisdom on the subject


ps......well done on the section win

Hi TK,

There's nothing fancy about the way I fish the Caster on the canal at Rolling Mill St or the Wharfe.

Line is Shinobi 0.6 bottom and hook is a Drennan fine pole size 18 which is buried in the caster but always making sure the point has penetrated the side of the Caster. Always starting by cupping about 20 casters in and loose feeding approx 10-12 over the top at 5 min intervals whether bites are coming or not. Always starting about 1" off bottom. If bites are finicky then I will go approx 1" over depth which normally does the trick. My preference in floats for the job are the Preston Chianti 4x14 with a No11 approx 4" from the hook and No 10's above it. I have tried smaller shot in the past but have found no real benefit except it's easier to attach the No 11's. I use a No 5 elastic too and have no real problems landing the 2.5lb Tench that are quite common on the matches. The Roach do seem to prefer the dark casters though as opposed to the lighter ones.

Keeping the feed tight with a pole cup limits pulling the fish from around your peg whereas if you loose feed I feel your going to pull fish into your killing spot from a greater distance. If bites are not coming then cupping some chop worm in over your initial feed should kick start it and either try a bit of worm on the hook, worm with caster or a Red maggot.

A lot of people fish the Caster over depth from the off and remain over depth but on occasions I have caught the fish mid water and they haven't wanted to know near the bottom.

Hi Conna - cheers for taking the time to pen an informative response - thanks.

Interesting the shot so close to the hook.......I'll have to give that a go.

Does your method change much on 'flowing cuts' ie the Shroppy etc rather than a 'static' Walsall canal. Eg do you tend to lay on more when having to hold back on flowing cuts?

Hi TK,

Re the shot being so near the hook, the sooner I see the bite the less chance the fish has of loosing the bait and me missing it or the fish swallowing the hook. If you put the shot further away the fish could play with it for a while if they're being finicky before you see the bite. Also in my opinion the fish is going to pull the move the shot eventually anyway so as I say I'd sooner see the bite sooner rather than later. Some might say that you get a more natural fall of the bait with the shot further away but it's not often you get bites on the drop, not whwere I fish anyway. On a flowing canal I will simply use a slightly heavier rig and hold it back approx half the speed of the tow if at all and I nearly always set the float at depth. Occasionally in the summer when the locks open and it flows fast I have held it back hard and the Roach have a go at it then but they are hard to hit.

Hi Conna
For roach and the curley wyrley I tend to have a 6-8 inch gap between hook and last dropper, sometimes as much as a foot down the track. Appreciate your point of the radius that the fish can move in before any registration, but just got a thing that they like to see the bait fall 'naturally' into the killing zone,, so picking up a few extra bites (????).
I've been using the same hooks as you, but in a 20 and also been trying Mouses PR31s. Always used to bury the hook, but been experimenting more with just hooking like a maggot - something you supposedly only did when they were 'really having it'
To be brutally honest havent noticed a drop off in volume of bites, but hooking ratio has increased, not having to pull the hook thru the shell. Still experimenting tho!
Re the question on depth and flowing cuts, if pulling hard and holding back I didn't want the bait to waft too high off the deck, so I tend to generally go a few inches over, but I daresay your bottom shot being closer to the hook negates some of that. And yes, you need to recognise that you dont always catch on the deck!
Cheers
TK

ps.............anyway else got any thoughts or opinions on the subject that they'd like to share with us?

The only hook i use for caster is a size 16 B511.