Dave legering with a quivertip as bite detection
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LEGERING
Part One - The Basics and Quivertips
Welcome to the first part of a series of classes on legering. Over the next few weeks I will be showing you many of the different ways to fish a leger rig, from simple stillwater quivertipping to fishing with bobbins and electronic alarms. I will attempt to explain when and how to use various forms of bite indication and the tackle you will need for each different style and situation. In this edition I will attempt to explain the background to legering and the options available for someone about to attempt this method of fishing for the first time.
What is legering?
Before we get too far ahead of ourselves let's look at what legering is and why we would generally choose to use a leger rig over a float set up.
Simply, legering is about fishing a bait on the bottom without a float to indicate when we have a bite. To do this you need to replace the float with some other form of bite indication of which there are numerous options and I will cover these in more detail as we go through the legering series.
Why would we choose to leger rather than fish a float? Well there are many reasons. Maybe because the water is too deep to float fish or possibly the wind is too strong. It may be because we want to fish beyond the sensible range of a float or it's because we want to present a static bait in a river current. We would also use a leger rig to fish after dark as a standard float is obviously of little use.
Getting started with a quivertip
The most common form of bite indicator for legering is the quiver tip and this is where the beginner should start. A quiver tip is really just an adaptation of a normal rod tip. The first versions appeared over 30 years ago with the introduction of glass fibre which can be produced in very thin and yet strong sections.
A selection of quivertips
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This provides a low resistance bite indicator that can easily signal the shyest of bites. The early versions were spliced into a standard rod, achieved by cutting off the standard rod tip and splicing in the much slimmer fibre glass tip that could be easily bent round with just an ounce or two of force. And hence the quiver tip was born.
Nowadays quiver tips are very common with a host of commercially produced rods available made for many different still and running water uses. Although spliced-in tips are still around and there are screw-in versions available too, the most common form of quiver tip is the push-in tip. The top of the rod is designed to have the short quivertip section pushed into it like a normal section joint of a rod.
There are many, many different applications for quiver tipping which is why there are a host of rods to choose from. It's difficult to say 'this is the type of rod you need to buy' because, for instance, the length, strength and characteristics of a rod that you need for skimmer bream fishing on a stillwater is completely different to that required to fish large swimfeeders on a river. Also the greater the distance you are fishing at, the longer the rod needs to be to efficiently pick up line and set the hook.
So there is no easy answer to which rod you need as there is no one tool available to perfectly cover all situations. Having said that I can point you in the direction of a current rod that can perform a broad range of functions quite adequately, though I don't usually recommend particular items of tackle. This rod is the Middy M4 Feeder. It is a very good quality 'combination' quiver that has two top sections, a 'soft' and a 'stiff' and each top section has two push-in quivertips to compliment them. The rod also comes with two short 'dolly' extensions that can vary the rod's length between 11 and 14 feet. At less than £100 it gives you a pretty broad spectrum of uses that you would normally have to buy at least four 'normal' rods to cope with. For novices or the budget conscious who are likely to fish the quivertip on both still and running water or will want to target perhaps both silver fish and carp from the commercial type pools, this rod will be ideal, certainly as a starter.
As with any item of tackle though, I would consult my local tackle dealer who, when you explain the type of fishing you want to do and tell him what your budget limitations are, should be able to recommend a rod for the job.
Quivertip strength is measured in ounces
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Whatever rod you buy make sure it is at least 11 feet in length with the quiver fitted, even for general stillwater fishing, and that it is made from carbon or carbon composite. As with our float rods, the more money you pay generally the better quality rod you will get. Try to avoid buying second hand unless you have to. It pays to buy a quality current model as quivertips are easy to break and you may struggle to obtain replacements for older models.
It is wise to get a rod that has a selection of push-in quivertips. As I said earlier, although increasingly rare these days, you can still buy rods with spliced-in quivers and those that have a threaded tip ring that takes a screw in quivertip. These are not ideal for a novice and I would avoid these styles personally. The push-in quivertips will normally be rated for strength in ounces and be made from either glass fibre or carbon. The softest quivertips with a rating of around 1oz are for use on still or very slow moving water and will be made of glass fibre. They are designed to show the smallest pull of a bite and offer as little resistance as possible to a taking fish. Tips are then available with progressively stiffer constructions in ½ oz increments up to around a 4oz rating. Stiff tips of 3oz or more are generally made from carbon fibre and are for use on fast rivers or on commercial carp fisheries with heavy feeders.
Reels
An open faced fixed spool reel is required for general legering and feeder fishing. This should be stepped up in size from the version you use for float fishing as it is going to take a bit more punishment. The constant casting and retrieval of a feeder or leger weight requires a more robust reel. A '3000' size reel is about right.
A '3000' size reel with an infinite anti-reverse feature
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Again, buy the best quality you can afford. Models with multiple ball bearings will be smoother and more hard wearing than models with fewer bearings. Make sure the spool has a line clip as you will often use this to control the distance you cast. If at all possible, by a model that has an 'infinite anti reverse' feature. What this means in layman's terms is that when the anti-reverse switch is on, no matter where you stop the reel handle there is no play in the backwind locking mechanism. Some reels allow the reel handle to turn backwards a fraction before the anti reverse kicks in. The infinite anti-reverse feature makes the precise setting of a quivertip much easier.
Reel lines again depend on what type of legering you are doing and your target fish size. For fishing light maggot feeders for small fish on a stillwater then 2.5lb line is fine. For fishing groundbait feeders, which are heavier, then 3.5 to 4lb line is probably about right, while 5 to 6lb line may be needed for big feeders on a fast river, especially if large and powerful fish like barbel are the quarry. Whatever the strength, make sure that the reel is properly filled to the edge of the spool with at least 100m of line.
Other equipment
The most important item of additional equipment for fishing a quivertip has to be the rodrest. The correct style of rodrest is important for setting and steadying the quivertip and also for effective striking. Go for one with a 'multi-position' design that enables you set the rod at various points along its length. This, along with the anti-reverse feature of the fixed spool, allows you to fine tune the initial bend in the quivertip so that both pulls and drop-back bites can be clearly seen.
In part 2 of this legering series I will show you how to set up and fish a light quivertip rod and feeder rig for targeting smaller fish on a stillwater. See you then.
ian jay
