3rd session - waggler for small carp

[DorsetTangler]

Hi
Ive already mentioned the trip I had to Hordle in another thread. (Had a few issues with pellets, ahem )

I started using an 11' Drennan Red carp waggler rod. It was a bit breezy, I had 4lb trilene line on and was trying to sink the line after the cast with some success. However when striking I was missing most of the bites, I think because of the delay getting all the line off/out the water trying to get the hook home.
(Incidentally was using single sweetcorn on the hook, size 14 hook, 3.6lb hook link, 3AA insert waggler, with one shot No 4, or 6, down the line about 8" from the hook. Had plumbed the depth and was fishing about 2" over or so I think)

After a while I reverted to my Shakespeare 13' Omni match in an effort to pick up more line quicker. Started to connect with some bites but still difficult striking I thought.
Some of the first few fish I managed to catch were hooked on the outside of their mouths, any ideas why?
Should I be struggling with an 11' rod picking up line? (I've since been back to the shop and managed to exchange it for the 12' version)

Grateful for any tips/advice really.

 

[greenie62]

What distance were you fishing?
Also when you struck - did you see the line coming out of the water - straight line or wind-blown 'bow'?

Congratulations on getting the dealer to change the rod after you've used it - that's probably a dealer worth hanging on to!
Cheers!

 

[DorsetTangler]

What distance were you fishing?
Also when you struck - did you see the line coming out of the water - straight line or wind-blown 'bow'?

Couldnt see it to be honest. Maybe it had bowed a bit then.
Was fishing about 4 rod lengths out maybe, just too far for easy underhand casting for me.

Congratulations on getting the dealer to change the rod after you've used it - that's probably a dealer worth hanging on to!
Cheers!

He wasnt keen and had I peeled off the cellophane wrapper over the cork handle or got any mud or anything on it he wouldnt have. Luckily I had hardly used it and kept the rod bag off the floor. But yes I was pleasantly surprised.

Which makes you think, a rod you only really know whats its like when you've cast with it and landed a fish on it. I read the reviews on the Red range, seemed very good. It felt quite stiff, not whippy, in the shop but when I came to use it it did seem soft.

 

[greenie62]

....
Some of the first few fish I managed to catch were hooked on the outside of their mouths, any ideas why?
......

Strike too late - bait ejected?
Strike too early - bait not swallowed?
Line bites - bait not swallowed - just nosing?

Might be worth using a hair rig?

There shouldn't be that much difference in how much line is shifted by an 11' rod compared to a 13' at the range you are fishing - 4 rod-lengths - unless the depth is more than 10-15'. Just a daft thought - you've not got a bait-runner on have you and you're loosing line through that?

Anyone else with any bright ideas?

 

[rubio]

Sometimes a sweep of the rod to the side slow and low can shift more line in difficult conditions like cross winds

 

[DorsetTangler]

Cheers all, definitely no baitrunner, just a normal fixed spool.
I think Im just so out of practice striking. And maybe picking a peg with lots of tree cover around it didnt help, couldnt really go for it on the strike for fear of knocking 3' off the tip of my rod.

I was using Fladen hook to nylons I had to scrounge off may dad as ran out of drennan barbless specimens. maybe they are not the shaprest/best at hooking?
A bad workman though...

And now my eyesights shot, even with glasses on, struggle to see to tie on a small hook myself.

 

[rubio]

And now my eyesights shot, even with glasses on, struggle to see to tie on a small hook myself.[/QUOTE]

Now my eyes are shot for close up stuff but I can still tie on a spade end. Putting line thro a hook eye is way more difficult.

 

[DorsetTangler]

Now my eyes are shot for close up stuff but I can still tie on a spade end.

Do you use the matchman hook tyer? I used to use one years ago, could be an idea

Putting line thro a hook eye is way more difficult.

The hook eye I can just about do (ish) its putting the line back through the hole at the bottom of the blood knot I found the trickiest.

 

[greenie62]

.... And maybe picking a peg with lots of tree cover around it didnt help, couldnt really go for it on the strike for fear of knocking 3' off the tip of my rod.......

Careful with the 12footer then - you could lose the whole top section!

Tight Lines!

 

[john step]

Just a thought. You say waggler for SMALL carp. They weren't F1s were they?? Notoriously quick and hard to hit a times. You may be beating yourself up and its not really your faultmg: The anglers that fish matches on a local club lake holding F1s wouldn't dream of going for them without a pole and delicate floats etc.
Just a thought....:wh

 

[DorsetTangler]

No pretty sure they werent F1's.

Mind you F1's didnt exist last time I went fishing so not sure I'd spot one. They looked like a mixture of normal commons and mirrors when I did get one in.
I had a bream of about 2lb and that was like a soggy flannel coming in compared to the pull even the small carp gave.

 

[peter crabtree]

Were you loosefeeding any bait?

 

[john step]

No pretty sure they werent F1's.

Mind you F1's didnt exist last time I went fishing so not sure I'd spot one. They looked like a mixture of normal commons and mirrors when I did get one in.
I had a bream of about 2lb and that was like a soggy flannel coming in compared to the pull even the small carp gave.

F1s look a bit crucian and a bit common. They don't have the long barbules a common has. Some have mini barbules.

There is one water I fish where you can get lightening fast bites which you would swear were roach but are in fact carp sometimes into upper single weights. I have seen carp in clear water suck in and blow out a bait quicker than the blink of an eye.
I like to use a favourite method as they can be caught close in. This is using a long rod with a centre pin(optional) with a pole float under the rod top and the hook at depth. Bait is a large piece of bread flake on a large hook which is easier to hook them on than a small bait.
I think giving them a large gob full makes rejecting it harder. Seems to work.
The centre pin negates the necessity to have a loose clutch on a fixed spool as it can be fireworks at close range. If they are in the margins a normal length rod works a treat.
Hope that helps.

 

[DorsetTangler]

Were you loosefeeding any bait?

Yes, 2mm pellets and sweet corn.
As mentioned in another thread I didnt realise the pellets had to be soaked to ensure they all sank so some were floating, some sinking. This probably didnt help.
Thinking about it maybe the carp were sucking at the dropper splitshot thinking it was a pellet and that was why I wasn't hooking up. Might also explain the hooks on the outside of the mouth, as I yanked the split shot out of their mouth the hook swung up and caught them on the outside maybe.