got some sardines just like some advice?their big sardines,about 15 centimetres .do you fish them whole ,head section or tail section?

Whole

whole

Pop em up too, had 35 pike from the Middle Level over two days, they loved it. Had to drive into Wisbech to get more sardines and balsa.

balsa?

pops them up

While we're on the subject of to chop or not to chop! what about herrings?

mine are around 10 inches long (and full of spawn).

I had intended to halve them, what do you guys do?

Fish whole on one rod and half on the other. See what works best. Try twitching them back every few minutes too.

Fish them with whole sardines

Most dead`s are used frozen,better for casting,most of mine ,I will take the head off,allso I will leave a few bait`s out the night before I go,so they are bloody for the morning,all worth a go.

Les would you like to tell my missus that!
she went mad about the smell of a few sprats last week...still looking on the bright side I had a quiet couple of days!!

If you buy 'em fresh, try injecting with a bit of oil beore you freeze them. Either way, thy're alreay an oily fish, so prick the flanjks/belly with a needle when you stick them on to help the oils out.

I usually twist the heads off the bigger ones but they work fine whole.

They also work well popped-up, mayb because they're so bright and shiny when bought fresh.

I've also cauht plenty of fish paternostering them off the bottom in flowing water.

The twitch tip applies to any dead, especially on the drains where you ideally want to search a swim then move on to the next one.

If you freeze thm at home, wrap thm well in poly bags as they get freezer burn and dry out fairly quickly, ie lose a lot of the oil content.

Probably my fave deadbait after mackerel, hey're so soft the hooks always pull out into th ish, although they're usually only fit for one or two casts unless you're fishing close in.

is it worth trying one rod with head and one headless?

i use a filleting knife to put a couple of cuts half way through width ways on the opposite side to the hooks some times in stead of pricking

Always worth trying different baits/ things on different rods.

If you're using two, try one popped up on a leger rig or better still the poppernoster thing on the rigs page, float leger the other one and keep casting both around, twitching them back a few turns on the reel every five mins.

Just keep experimenting/tinkering with it until you find the fish. It could be the bait, they have bizarre prefences on some waters.

It could be baits nailed to the deck score, usually when it's cold, or fished a bit off if you think they're actively hunting grub and a bait fished a foot or two off the bottom is more visible, so more likely to attract a fish.

Just keep mucking about until you catch - half the fun of it for me is trying to suss the preference on a water and be able to catch and stuff your mates.

It doesn't always go to plan, but dead baiting doesn't have to mean turn up with a wheelbarrow-load of kit and sit in one spot all day.

If the water's fished by other geezers, try getting on there on Monday or Tuesday, be quiet and just sling a couple of baits just over the marginal shelf - this is where everyone else slings their washed-out mackerel tails when they change baits, it can pay off sometimes.

Livebaits are probably the best instant method when it comes to catching any pike in front of you.

If you can't try 'em for whatever reason, try wobbling a dead on one rod and fishing the other one static.

chris why do you throw your tails in when you change bait and not at the end of the session after you've finished fishing.

Errr, Chris, you my echo?

lol.

;o)

chris,you said to twitch the bait back after 5 minutes of it being in water.do you mean change the bait every 5 minutes or recast every 5 minutes?

No, what Chris means, and i meantioned earlier is to, after casting the bait in, wait 5 minutes or so, if no action, slowly retrieve a few inches of line by gently pulling the bait in. Like i said, only a few inches. You can 'twitch' the bait all the way back to the bank over a period of time (depending on how far you cast it) covering a good area of the lake bed and hopefull tempting a pike.

Sorry if I step in, Michael twitching is done by a couple of turn on your reel not changing the bait or casting the bait every 5 minutes