Dips, bobs, lifts and moving float but no fish....

[Macca_EFC]

Went fishing this wednesday at Wrightington lakes (if anyone knows it). Float fished close in on rod, first put I had a common around 4lb then constant lifts, dips and general float activity but no fish....I tried striking at different points i.e float dipping right down, lifting up etc but no fish or bait left on the hook! Day ended with 3 carp, tench, a gudgeon and two roach. I had tried going shallower, deeper, smaller shot near the hook, shot further away from the hook, different baits all with pretty much the same result until, I tried a small hair rigged boilie bit of an off the cuff idea but this seemed to irradicate all the annoying dips, lifts etc. Anyone any ideas what the hell could have been going on??

 

[Gav Barbus]

Could be thefish bumping into line as they feed Macca ,or bits pecking at the bait.Try fishing a good couple of feet over depth and try not to have a tight line to the rod.

 

[Blunderer]

They were line bites, mate, I'm pretty sure.If you had loose fed pellets of hemp then this is even more likely.One method I have seen in this situation is to actually use a float which sits below the surface. Only strike when it lifts out of the water. This method is only really suitable for carp. Alternatively, use a more bouyant float, sit on your hands and wait for a fish to hook itself.

 

[Poshpaul (Angling Trust and PaSC)]

Crucians? Possibly try a pole - depends how big those carp and tench are

 

[Macca_EFC]

Gav- I thought it might be smaller fish nibbling my bait though seems strange they didnt bother with the boilie, and I sank my line and gave it some slack as well.

Blunderer-never tried the under the water float method, but as there are tench, skimmers/bream in there would it still work for those? Maybe the more bouyant float would work better.......

Posh- not actually sure if there are any crucians in there or not, think most of the carp are up to about 10lb not sure on the tench possibly up to 6lb, i fish another water with the same tactics yet I've never had so much float movement without any fish lol

 

[Alan Tyler]

Little sideways nudges can be exactly that - fry nutting the float itself - which can drive you quietly barmy until you twig.

 

[Macca_EFC]

Don't think they were knocking the float as it was being pulled right down as well as the side to side knocks, maybe i shud have taken my float off put a couple of swan shots on and waited for a run??

 

[Alan Tyler]

Or leave the float on, put on a swan-shot and wait for a lift bite?

At the moment , on my local lake, there are inch-long fry at the surface, four-inch roach below, and - allegedly - an assortment of carp, tench and bream below these. So if they're all singing from the same hymn sheet, you can be getting liners, float nudges, shot-bites and genuine nibbles in no particular order. Pass the Lithium...

Crucians, ghosties, tench and bream can all gnaw away at a bait for ages, so try a thumbnail-sized lump of meat* and ignore everything except sail-aways and polaris launches. If you miss, leave the next bite longer. Strike gently, so as not to spook fish you miss.

Some days you have to leave it until you're sure the bare hook must be dangling from the fish's rear end, and still only lip-hook them.

Don't EVER try this tactic with worm or maggot, something will get deep hooked, probably a perch.

*At least - my mate catches bream on two one-inch cubes of meat hair-rigged on a #2!

And don't 'e moan about it...

 

[Macca_EFC]

Will give the wait and see approach, obviously there were fish there as I did catch even though I had my doubts over using two medium worms as bait but a carp took a fancy to them late on in the day, I try to stick away from small baits so I don't get pestered to death by small roach all day, ironically I never mind catchinggudgeon......will also give the strike gently approach a go

 

[Gav Barbus]

I like to fish places like that with a small piece of quill attatched top and bottom fished well over depth with flaot lying flat with no weights on the line,fish under foot as you are and bites are usually very positive sail aways,you still get the twitches and trembles but proper bites are usully sail away and unmissable,great fun with minimal gear .Big baits are a must though .Might be worth a try Macca.

 

[Macca_EFC]

Any idea's where I can pick up some quill? I'm around the ormskirk/southport/wigan area so not sure where would have some as I've never tried this before.....also what sort of hook size should I go for? no smaller than a 10?

 

[Gav Barbus]

the stuff that stick float stems used to be made of is good ,or anything slim that floatsaround normal waggler size ,just cut it to size ,paint if you like and bobs your uncle a method that is deadly in summer for close in feeders .Big hooks big hooks like a size four or even a two.I just use to use snapped floats I found an improvise.Have you not got a clubcard Macca.

 

[Macca_EFC]

Clubcard for what/where?

 

[Gav Barbus]

I meant did you fish commercils all the time ,as they can be pricey.Some good club cards in your area.

 

[slime monster]

if it occurs again take the bait off and see what happens if nothing you can eliminate fry or line bites,it may be that you are fishing to heavy for finicky fish or have a lot of roach going for the bait.

 

[steve smith]

I once had the same thing, missed countless bites,dips ect, eventually hooked a crucian/ brown goldfish, i cant really tell the difference.

 

[Risque Manoofus]

When I first started to read this I thought to myself "welcome to the world of paste fishing", but you didnt mention until the boilies what bait you were using. Had you been using paste then this is the norm until you suss what to lift into.

My feelings are that you had too many fish in your swim Macca. Try fishing a metre off were your actually feeding. If you feel you need to feed heavily then dont drop handfulls of pellet or whatever over your float.

The other thing you could try is to cut back on your feed drastically and feed to your bites.

 

[Macca_EFC]

Sorry bit late with replies...

Gav-yesI do tend to fish commercials as the canals round here in my opinion aren't that great unless you want to go weed fishing. What kind of club card should I look at?

Slime-I tried without bait and still had the same, just not quite as much as with bait I assume lots of irritating little fry were there!

Steve- not sure if there are any crucians in there but I fish another place with crucians and can nail them relatively easily with the same set up, I've never seen anyone catch a crucian there so I discounted that idea whilst sat trying to work out what was going on

Risque-I was using either luncheon meat or sweetcorn, never used paste and if that happens with paste i dont think i will lol, then gave worms a quick go later on, also tried fishing away from the feed area and still thesame thing happened

Can't decide if im annoyed there could have been so many fish in my swim but I couldnt catch them or if that's good I just need to figure out a method to catch the buggers lol