fish in the margins

[Lord Paul of Sheffield]

It seem to me that some angler have a pre concieved idea of how to fish a water and are not able or willing to change

yesterday fishing the carp were all in about 3 inches of water right next to the near bank - you could see their back and the mud churned up - yet still one bloke persisted in casting to a tree covered island about 30 foot out - about 3 or 4 time he over cast and it the island - twice getting caught in the trees - I couldn't see why he did this when under his feet about 3 feet to the side were fish

 

[flossy]

See it on my club lake whacking out baits ,when most of the time the fish are at your feet.

 

[dorsetandchub]

I sometimes try to avoid carp, MiLord, chance that's what this chap was doing?

 

[Lord Paul of Sheffield]

I don't think so - a cast to the middle of the lake would get rudd - margins near and island are carp magnets

 

[dorsetandchub]

Practising his casting or not wanting to take advantage then? Or just didn't want hectic sport.....

 

[Lord Paul of Sheffield]

he was catching carp just casting to the island and ignoring those under is feet

 

[soft plastic]

he was catching carp just casting to the island and ignoring those under is feet

Maybe he had a reason to... perhaps he wanted to catch on the feeder, full stop. If I saw carp foraging under my feet I would ignore them as well. That's why I don't fish commercials.

Sent from my D6603 using Tapatalk

 

[robtherake]

I see it all the time and usually have the marginal areas to myself. The carp (in particular) aren't there all the time, but can be caught at intervals during the day as they follow a natural patrol route on some waters, particularly those with coloured water and a drop-off close in.

Dawn and dusk are the best times, for sure, but good catches can be made in full daylight if you're prepared to keep noise to a minimum (stay off those board platforms!) and pull the rods back so they don't overhang the edge.

 

[dorsetandchub]

Although I would never claim to be an expert, I believe stillwater barbel often patrol and explore the margins also. The percentage I've had would, at least, suggest this.

 

[Lord Paul of Sheffield]

when I got to the water there were carp already in the margin
I sat well back and kept the rod away from hanging over he water and gently lowered a method feeder in to the margin

 

[Chefster]

when I got to the water there were carp already in the margin
I sat well back and kept the rod away from hanging over he water and gently lowered a method feeder in to the margin

Some might say thats not proper fishing ,literally dropping a method a few inches from the bank in amongst feeding fish,a lot more skill involved chucking to an island 30m away,casting tight to an island,feathering the feeder down etc...im not saying thats my view,but others on this forum seem to always be going on about whats proper fishing and whats skillful,and whats not...Gazza

 

[seth49]

On Tuesday I finished up fishing in the margins for carp as that's were they kept coming too.
After a couple spooked of the line I started putting the lead on the bank just out of the water, and just having the hooklenghth in the water,baited with a chunk of peperami on a hair.
Caught five after that all about ten pounds, good couple of hours sport, with quite a few more feeding in the margins which didn't take the bait.

I found that if I threw a few pellets in a carp would follow within a minute. Was good fun as I was sat back and able to see what was happening.
Will try it again tomorrow on a different lake with some bigger carp in.

 

[robtherake]

Some might say thats not proper fishing ,literally dropping a method a few inches from the bank in amongst feeding fish,a lot more skill involved chucking to an island 30m away,casting tight to an island,feathering the feeder down etc...im not saying thats my view,but others on this forum seem to always be going on about whats proper fishing and whats skillful,and whats not...Gazza

It depends what you're after, Gaz. At the water I margin-fished last week, I could have easily clipped-up and fished the island margins instead - the lads doing just that had a fair few more fish than me, but the average size was four or five pounds less than those from the near margin....

 

[barbelboi]

Am I missing something here but if you're fishing tight to an island you're, err, fishing the margins...................

 

[Chefster]

It depends what you're after, Gaz. At the water I margin-fished last week, I could have easily clipped-up and fished the island margins instead - the lads doing just that had a fair few more fish than me, but the average size was four or five pounds less than those from the near margin....

As i said mate,not my opinion,but some may think that way,personally i would rather fish a pole,in the margins ,and feed appropriately,i draw the line at method fishing in the margins,i think its a "noddy" method....Having said that,ive seen a lot of matches won this way,its just not for me

 

[robtherake]

As i said mate,not my opinion,but some may think that way,personally i would rather fish a pole,in the margins ,and feed appropriately,i draw the line at method fishing in the margins,i think its a "noddy" method....Having said that,ive seen a lot of matches won this way,its just not for me

The legered baits I used were bigger than a loaded method feeder, Gaz. 2" lengths of 2" diameter Matteson's sausage, hair-rigged to a size 2 barbless Owner hook and 12lb line. Didn't lose a single fish and only had 2 under double figures all week.

 

[greenie62]

The legered baits I used were bigger than a loaded method feeder,...

With baits that size Rob - it's no wonder you get a bad back on occasions! - does it get really bad when you try to cast them? :doh:

 

[robtherake]

With baits that size Rob - it's no wonder you get a bad back on occasions! - does it get really bad when you try to cast them? :doh:

I just roll them off the edge, mate.

 

[Tee-Cee]

I had a session on Tuesday fishing a margin swim....

From my position I ( and the rod )could sit parallel to the bank and cast ( some 30' or so ) toward an overhanging tree with an underarm swing. ( Note that I said ' toward ' the tree as over doing it would mean hitting the trunk ! )
I used just enough weight to reach a 5' clear area that extended out from the bank so my cast ended up 2/3' from the bank. Beyond this some of the branches met the water so it was a very tight swim not helped by other overhanging branches closer to me. In essence it was like looking down a tunnel..........

The fish, as generally happen with margin feeders ( seemed to ) travel back and forth along a stretch of bank some 100' long so it was a case of waiting for them to turn up which they did every 45min or so, and I knew they were around as they ( like Lord Paul ) could be seen swirling in the shallow water ( some 2/3' deep ). I encouraged them to do so by using Chum Mixer in small quantities and to stop them moving on !
Around this time the baitrunner would go ( or not ! ) and it was then just a case of hit and hold with a strike that bought the rod top pointing out into open water, AND also below the surface to keep the line below the branches hanging in the water. Yes, it was hairy fishing and the tackle needed to be adequate to force the fish move out into open water, BUT it did work and I had fish just into double figures. No, not many, and much of my time was spent waiting for the fish to turn up, but it was far better this than 3/4 other anglers who sat doing the same thing except nothing turned up at all !!

Margin fishing is as good as it gets IMHO and in many cases conventional tactics don't work or you have to adapt them to suit the usually shallow water, not to mention the need to work out how you are going to land the fish once hooked !!
You need a plan to cover all eventualities and that's what makes it interesting....

One chap, on his way home stopped to say " you seem to have found them " and in a way he was right. I had to go looking..............................


ps Today I fished the same swim straight out in the overcast conditions and caught 25/30 roach up to 3/4lb plus two crucians of 11/2lbs PLUS a 6lb carp theta ventured out from under the tree !! Always the way................................

pps For the carp I fished lumps of meat on a braid hair with Korda Kurv shank B hook size 8 and 10lb main line. This ensures none are lost in snags and I get the fish to the net. works a treat !

 

[binka]

I love margin fishing.

Running or stillwater, the margins often hold the best underwater feature there is in the form of the marginal drop off and catchment areas.

It's nice having that close combat experience and even with barbel my biggest fish have come practically under the rod tip, many (but not all) without feeding a morsel which suggests that wiser fish like to scrounge around in likely places instead of heading for the easy grub where they usually end up getting a rattle on the nose.

Not really sure how that pans out with these guys who catch big carp at range though, maybe something to do with the fish feeling safe and confident in both situations?