Hi all,
I've been hard at it with varied results...
I've persevered with maggot, trying hard to dot my float down and strike early to avoid the perch swallowing the hook, as per everyones advice it has improved things, at least cut down on the amount of hooks I'm losing
Although I tend to use my whip close in when I use them, seeing more as quick fun fishing while my float rod is sitting there doing nothing!!
Also my past couple of session I took with me some Middy hair rigged hook lengths and some orange 10mm tutti fruitti boilies... These seemed to bring poor results... Switching to hair rigged corn landed me my largest fish, a bream to date, nothing massive but i was a happy bunny!! Any advice for the use of hair rigs and boilies? I was also loose feeding regular with a couple of tins of Frenzied Hemp. That definately seemed to bring the fish in, though my bites were still low... I'm ensuring I plumb the depth and feed regular with the hemp, small expander pellets and a bit of corn now and again.
I'm intrigued now as to how to present the bait better, i'm using mainly a bodied waggler during the day, with a couple of shot down the line to sink the bait and a tell tale on the hook length, usually 6-10" from th hook. How can I make my bait more appealing? Do I need to have the corn or whatever a certain way on the hook?
I also take with me some method mix that i mix with crumb and ball in. Some dry dog mixer biscuits (I've been told to hair rig them and dip them in Marmite? Thoughts?) I've usually got a bit of bread and luncheon meat knocking about to... The wife brought me up some prawns the other day.. though i didn't have the heart to tell her I didn't use them!!
How often should I change baits? How long should I leave a rig out before changing things? What differences to my tackle setup could give me more bites?
All in all I'm really enjoying myself, whether I catch or not, I find it very theraputic!!! Just be nice to get a few more nibbles!!
Anyway, rambling again. Regards to you all and thanks for all the information I'm trying to put into practice!!