Paul Garner

There is some great fishing to be had on my local Kingsbury Water Park, and one of my favourite lakes on the complex is Bodymoor Heath Water; a large mature gravel pit with a good stock of bream. These slabs often feature in matches on the venue, and if you get your tactics right, can be caught through the day, enabling some impressive weights to be put together. This is classic bream fishing at its best, and although sport tends to slow down in the colder months, a considered approach can still catch some lovely fish. 

This is a shallow lake, despite its size, averaging around two metres deep. It is also clear of weed, so the fishing is relatively straightforward and it is possible to fish with quite light balanced gear, which can prove the difference between success and failure when fishing during the middle of the day. Bream being bream, they tend to be found at range, but there is no need to fish at extreme distances along the bank I am fishing today. I will set out to fish two lines, one at 25 metres, the other at 35 metres. Both rods will be clipped up to ensure that I hit the same distance every time. 

To begin with I will prime both lines by making two casts with a large ‘bait up’ feeder filled with caster, dead maggots, a little sweetcorn and a pinch of pellets, topped off with groundbait. This is enough bait to attract the attention of the bream, and get them browsing, without giving them too much to eat, which can make them difficult to catch. 

Waiting Game

Bream fishing can be a waiting game. It may take an hour or two for the fish to arrive, so it pays to be patient. One of the biggest mistakes you can make is to lose confidence and not fish consistently. I use a timer to ensure that I recast regularly and to plan right through my session, as it is easy to lose track of time. Initially, I recast every five minutes for the first hour. This lays down some more bait and will inevitably create a little more spread. In hour two I switch to recasting every ten minutes, as I don’t want to overfeed, especially if I haven’t had any signs of bream in front of me. By hour three I may switch to recasting every 15 minutes, if the bream haven’t appeared. If I am catching though, or getting liners, then I will continue to recast more regularly. 

I am loading my Window feeder with a combination of casters and a little chopped worm. This is sealed with a pinch of my quite sweet fishmeal groundbait. I find the bream like a groundbait that has this sweetness to take the edge off the fishmeal. Because the water is quite clear I don’t want to put too much bait on the bottom. Just enough to attract the fish to my line and hold them a while is my aim. The Window feeder ensures the bait gets to the bottom in the feeder, giving a real focal point for the bream to home-in on. 

I will alternate hookbaits to see if one stands out. Two dead maggots is a good opening gambit. Three pinkies are also very good if the fish are a little finicky. I also have with me some red worms, collected from a muck heap. Whilst this might be an almost forgotten bait, they are absolute gold for bream and will often bring a bite when all else fails. 

Red worms are a brilliant bream bait.

Sink the quiver tip to avoid drag on the line.

The Sphere Medium Feeder is brilliant for this style of fishing.

A big bream falls for the red worm hookbait.

I like to ensure I add the same amount of feed every cast.

Add some casters, before filling the window with a little groundbait.

Cold wind

There is a cold wind blowing down the lake this morning, so I am glad to be tucked slightly back. The positive is that the fish will feed more confidently with a ripple on the water surface. After the first couple of hours without any indications it is easy to lose confidence, but from past experience it is just a case of plugging away. When the bream arrive I will catch them. 

My rig is quite simple, although I have been experimenting with a variation on the traditional paternoster set-up. I have attached the hooklength to a Browning Feeder Connector Swivel, which allows me to change the rig instantly. The swivel is fished helicopter-style, running on the main line with two stoppers set about 12 inches up the line. The feeder is attached via a powergum link, which acts as a cushion for the loaded feeder on the cast. 

My hooklength consists of one metre of 0.13mm, 3.5lb breaking strain fluorocarbon to a size 18 Sphere Match hook. This might sound a little light when big bream are the target, but my gear is very well balanced, thanks to the superb action of the Sphere Medium feeder rod, which absorbs any lunges of the bream. With no snags or weed in front of me it is just a case of taking my time and slowly leading the fish towards the net. 

Fishing with quite fine lines and small hooks can make a massive difference to your catches. If you are getting line bites, but not catching then be prepared to scale down, fish lighter and try a smaller hookbait.

After swapping to a little red worm on the hook the tip of my Sphere feeder rod pulls round confidently and I am into my first bream of the session. From the heavy nods on the rod tip it feels like a good fish, and I am not surprised when a bream of about 7lb pop-ups in front of the net. It is a little bit bigger than the average stamp on this lake; a nice fish indeed. 

The next cast is almost a repeat performance. The feeder settles and shortly after sinking the line the tip pulls round confidently once again. This time the fish feels faster, with less weight to it, and so it proves as a fish of a couple of pounds finds its way into the waiting net. 

And as soon as the fish have appeared they are gone again. Despite ringing the changes that is it for today, with no more bites coming my way. All bream fishing, but especially on gravel pits, can be a game of nerves, but if you stick to your plan the rewards are there to be had.

Tight lines! 

Pat Cuddy

Using the right groundbait can make or break your fishing on rivers, especially when silverfish are the target. What is needed is a mix that acts as a magnet for the fish, concentrating them where it is most efficient to fish, but without filling them up. The key elements are attraction, colour and composition. Get these factors right and you will maximise your catches on each line. 

I use a dark mix that the fish are willing to settle over, even when the water is clear. Champions Feeder Black Roach is perfect for this job, having a lovely dark colour and being very attractive to all silverfish, but particularly roach. You might be surprised to learn that I add Champions Choice Canal to the Black Roach to ensure that the balls hit the bottom before breaking up. Remember though, that the continental canals where the Canal mix was developed are much deeper and often have a quite significant flow than our canals, so they are more akin to our slow-flowing rivers and larger drains. 

Follow these simple steps to get the mix just right. 

Andrew ‘Mossy’ Moss

5 – Leave the groundbait to stand for at least ten minutes so that all of the water is absorbed. 

6 – Riddle the groundbait to remove any lumps and to aerate it. Discard any lumps, do not try and force them through the riddle.

7 – That’s about it. You might need to add a tiny amount of extra water with an atomiser through the day to keep the consistency just right.

8 – Add some dead pinkie, finely chopped worm and a few casters as feed to the groundbait. 

The Midlands are criss-crossed by a huge network of canals that stand testament to the Industrial Revolution which began and flourished in this area. Today, the canals are as popular as ever, although it is leisure craft that ply these waters, rather than the working craft they were originally designed for. Most of us probably have a canal within east reach and they can provide some interesting and productive fishing right on our doorstep. 

I tend to specialise in fishing these canals, and have refined my approach to fit the demands of these venues. Make no mistake, they can vary in size, layout, and type of fishing massively, but today I want to look at a tactic that will work on a large number of different venues, with only very minor adaptions. 

I am talking about fishing the long-line, across to any far bank features, and at the base of the far shelf. Here there is often cover for the fish; perhaps overhanging trees, weedbeds, or most likely moored boats. Even in the turbid waters of the canal, these are fish-holding features that need to be targeted. 

Truth be told, I will fish several different lines in a match situation, but fishing across is often the most consistent. Here you will find predominantly silverfish, the size and species depending upon the stretch, but with perch and perhaps bonus fish mixed in. My tactics are designed to give a soft-touch approach, hopefully keeping the bites coming for as long as possible. 

Fishing at around 14 metres with my Xitan Z16 L Advance pole puts on the edge of the far bank moored boats, with the option to push across a little further later on in search of a few more bites. The bank here is piled, so there is less of a distinct shelf, compared to other canals. I have set up a 4×10 float with a wire through body. It is a quite delicate pencil shape that allows me to spot delicate bites. The shotting is spread out no. 10’s with the bait fished on the deck in teh hope of picking up a better stamp of fish. 

I am introducing a tiny pot of groundbait with a pinch of pinkies each put in. The roach prefer a dark-coloured groundbait so I am using the Champion’s Feeder Black Roach, which I mixed at home the day before. In fact, I will keep any leftover groundbait and freeze it, ready for future sessions. I’ve mixed the groundbait so that it is fairly dry, but will get down without breaking up too much. You don’t get through much bait using this frugal approach, the aim is to keep the fish interested without giving them too much to eat and feeding them off. 

Bonus fish are likely to be better roach, perhaps a perch or a bream, but the bulk of the fish will be small silvers. To extract as many of possible it pays to fish relatively light. A 0.07mm hooklength of Cenex Classic mono to a size 22 hook is the order of the day. My rig line is 0.10mm Cenex Classic, and I have a no.3 solid elastic through the top kit. 

It doesn’t take long to start getting bites, but the average size of the fish is quite small. Probably around 20-30 to the pound, but at least the bites are coming regularly. As it is a Saturday there is quite a lot of boat traffic about today, and that means the canal keeps pushing through for a few minutes as the locks are used. I find it pays to stop feeding whilst the canal is flowing hard, as any bait will not end up where I want it. Instead, wait for the pace to die-down and then feed when you can be sure that the bait is staying put. 

The other problem today are leaves on the water surface. It has been quite windy and, as it is autumn, the water surface is covered with them. It is a bit frustrating, but by lowering the rig in as vertically as possible I am able to find small gaps and keep fishing. 

By alternating between maggot and pinkie hookbaits I have kept the bites coming all morning and despite the fish being on the small side have put together a decent catch. Searching around the far bank brought a few extra fish after the main line dried up. In a match situation I would feed several lines and rotate them to keep the fish coming as long as possible, but today it has been interesting just to see how many fish I can catch on the one line. 

A really enjoyable day, with plenty of bites, which just goes to show the quality of fishing on our amazing canal network. Why not give it a try?

Tight lines! 

Mark Roberson

The average stamp of roach on this canal.

Champion’s Feeder Black Roach is my groundbait of choice.

Most of the Midlands canals are a comfortable width. Here I can fish at 14m easily with my Z16 L Advance pole.

Mark’s Tackle

Xitan Z16 L Advance Pole

Cenex 0.10mm Rig Line

Cenex 0.07mm hooklength

Size 22 fine wire hook

4×10 wire stem, pencil float

Mark’s Bait

Champion’s Feeder Black Roach Groundbait

Pint of maggots

Pint of pinkies

Pint of squatts

Hemp

Introduce a tiny pot of groundbait and a few pinkies every put-in.

This year I have managed some great results at Messingham Sands Fishery near Scunthorpe. Winning weights here are normally made up of big, fighting fit carp, which like their grub. The lakes at Messingham are full of fish of all shapes and sizes, so it has been important to find tactics that are selective for the match-winning carp. 

Fortunately, the carp here like their grub, and one way of selecting the carp is to use big baits. Whilst on most fisheries 8mm pellets are about as big as we go, at Messingham the carp love the big 11mm fishery pellets and these are a mainstay of my approach. To get the best from these big baits requires some simple tactics that are worth trying on your local fisheries when trying to single-out those bigger carp. 

Straight Lead

One of the easiest and best tactics to use with big pellets is the straight bomb. This gives me at least one more line to fish beyond the pole, and can often produce plenty of fish, especially on days when the wind is causing problems with presentation on the pole. 

Every swim here on the Island Lake at Messingham has features to fish to, but rather than fish too tight to these I like to fish slightly away from cover. By feeding three pellets twice every 45-seconds I can attract the carp and draw them away from the snags. This gives me a much better chance of landing every fish I hook. I fish with the anti-reverse on have the rod pointing at about 45 degrees to my spot. This means that the rod will buffer the fish as they bolt off once hooked and help get them under control even before I have picked up the rod.

Balanced Gear

With the carp here running well into double-figures it is essential to use strong, well balanced gear. The first thing I would suggest is to always fish off the clutch, rather than back-winding. I set the clutch to give line grudgingly when the rod is bent into its full curve. By doing this I can concentrate on playing the fish hard and guiding them away from trouble under a constant pressure. The Sphere Bomb +10% is the ideal rod for this tactic as it cushions the lunges of a big fish without being so soft that I can’t play the fish hard. 

Lines and hooks need to be well up to the job. When big weights are on the cards any weak link will be found out simply because of the general wear and tear. Load up with the hugely abrasion resistant and fast-sinking 0.20mm Cenex Method Mono main line. Carp are not particularly line-shy when it is hard on the bottom, so use a strong 0.18mm Cenex Hybrid Power hooklength. The hooklength is around 30cm long, terminating in a size 14 Sphere Beast Barbless hook. I use a bait band to attach the 11mm pellet, fishing this on a short hair to the back of the hook. The Beast pattern is perfect for hair rigging, having just the right shape to ensure that they stay really well. 

Bomb size depends upon the distance being fished, but 20 grams is a good starting point. You can go lighter when the conditions are good, but if there is a cross-wind then it pays to use a little more weight to maintain accuracy. I use a Quick Change Bead to connect the main line to the hooklength. This bead also acts as a buffer for the inline lead, meaning I don’t need any other beads or components on the line. 

Use an 11mm Banded pellet to a Sphere Beast hook.

An inline lead is stopped by a Quick Change Bead.

Keep Feeding

Regular feeding is essential for this tactic. Forget to feed and the fish will drift away and the bites will dry up. I feed three 11mm pellets at a time. Feeding twice and then waiting for 45-seconds before feeding again. Some times the carp will come up in the water and start swirling at the pellets as they hit the water. This is a good sign as it means that there are plenty of fish competing for the bait. As the lake is relatively shallow I am not too concerned about the fish coming up in the water, plenty more will still be close to the bottom. 

Ignore any taps and bangs on the tip. Proper bites will either see the line fall slack or the tip drag round hard. It is then simply a matter of picking the rod up and start playing the carp. I keep the rod top parallel with the water as you can often lead the carp in without them really fighting too hard. Only lift the rod when the fish is close in and ready to be scooped into the waiting net. 

As well as feeding regularly, I also like to recast every two or three minutes. Most bites from carp come very quickly as they grab the hookbait soon after it has settled. If I have to wait longer than this then the chances are the bait will be picked up by a small tench or bream. The carp don’t seem to mind the splash of the lead going in over the heads. In fact, I think at times it helps attract them. 

Get into a routine of casting and feeding and soon the carp will turn up. Often a shoal of fish will move in and you will catch two or three fish in quick succession before they drift off. Don’t worry about this, as long as you keep to the routine they will be back and you will keep catching. On a good day really big weights can be achieved using this simple tactic. Even on days when the weather is making other methods difficult, the pellet bomb can be your ‘get out of jail’ card. Why not give it a try? 

Tight lines! 

Jim Hall

Regular recasting is important as most bites come quickly.

A reel like the Sphere MgTi with a seamless drag is essential to land carp quickly.

Action can be fast and furious with some seriously big carp.

Jim’s Gear

Sphere 10’ Bomb +10% Rod

Sphere MgTi 30 Reel

0.20mm Method Mono

0.18mm Cenex Hybrid Power Hooklength

Sphere Beast Size 14 Hook

Large Bait Band

Medium Quick Change Bead

20gram Inline Bomb

Jim’s Bait

11mm Fishery Pellets