Fed up with Roach and Greedy Perch please help

[hyperloop]

Hi I am fishing for Tench Carp Bream and seem to be hooking everything apart from them. All I get is Roach and dam big greedy Perch.

We used sweetcorn as bait and size 18hooks to start off with and didn?t get much success. I then made the change to 14hooks and sweetcorn and still no joy.

Finally I switched to 3 red maggots on corn and all I started getting was the roach and perch.

My friend and me are fishing on the bottom and have used hemp to spice things up. After only having one decent Tench out of this pond in 2 months I am getting depressed.

Is it the time of year or are we doing something wrong?

Thanks

 

[Matt Brown]

Have you tried pellets? Five some 3mm expanders a go.

 

[hyperloop]

Do you mean trout pellets?

Thanks

 

[Matt Brown]

No, not really. Carp pellets are similar except they are usually manfactured with a food profil more inline with the needs of Carp and Cyprinids than Trout. This usually means a lower oil content.

Trout pellets are banned on many stillwaters.

Carp pellets come in two main types. Standard and Expander.

Standard ones will sink and are great for feed but are difficult to hook.

Expanders would float of you just threw them in so they need a bit of preparation. I soak mine in water for 15 minutes or so and then I use a pellet pump (ask your local tackle shop and they'll show you this) to remove the air. The soaking makes them expand and removing the air makes them sink. They're great for both feed and hook baits.

On many waters nowadays, pellets are the most common bait used so all sorts of fish are used to eating them. On some waters you'll still get pestered by small Rudd and Roach but you always have the option of using larger pellets.

I'd recommend Van Den Eynde Expanders. Try the 3mm ones first. You should only need a third of a bag for a day's fishing.

 

[hyperloop]

Thanks Matt. I.ll get some in the morning and try them. Will let you know how I get on. Watch this thread.

Thanks

 

[hyperloop]

Hi. I tried some pre made Jelly pellets at the weekend. Sad to say I didnt even get a bite. The lake seems to be an issue. Its hard to get a bite in 4hrs there. The only people that do catch seem to be there for 2 days.

 

[Matt Brown]

It might be worth trying the pellets on an easy water so you can get used to using them.

It sounds like the other water is either rock hard or you're doing something else wrong (or both!)

 

[Blunderer]

It could be your tackle.
"Bits" are a bit silly basically and are too young to know that line/hooks etc are dangerous.
Bigger fish - the tench/carp/bream you are after - are often wiser and need delicate presentation.
Are you float fishing?
What line are you using?
How did you hook the pellets?
What/how much and how often are you feeding?
Are you fishing where these fish live/patrol?
And, very importantly, what times are you fishing?

Sometimes it is easy to blame your bait.

 

[hyperloop]

I,m

float fishing with a puddle chucker
size 14 hook
5lb line

we are putting groundbait out when we arrive and mainly fish that spot for 4hrs.

times between 1pm to 7pm

the lake is not stocked so dont know how many numbers are in there. But have seen huge carp/bream/tench pulled out.

 

[Steve Spiller]

If there are large bream about I would put a bed of 3m/m Halibut pellets down, or 4m/m elips pellets.
I would fish 14m/m hair rigged Halibuts over them, or maybe if you can buy some bait bands that will take a 14m/m Hlibut.
Bream love Halibuts no kidding, the carp and tench might come onto them as well.
If they do, you will need to step up your line and hooks.

Good luck.

 

[Blunderer]

I think there is a lot you could do then.

Get back to basics - forget the bait:

For a start, you are fishing at the wrong times for tench, carp and bream. They tend to feed at dawn, dusk and overnight! The exact times you are not there.

Also, feed little and often, not all at once. Build the swim up with bait in every bite. Don't forget, if you get a bite, chances are most or all of your feed is already gone. Small fish can mop up groundbait in no time.

Also, make sure you are fishing on the bottom.