What would you do?

GrahamM · Jun 14, 2006

You find yourself on a water that holds crucian carp and double-figure (and bigger) catfish and.........

You want to fish for the crucians, and the best bait for them is halibut pellets and small boilies. But they?ll only take them on reasonably light tackle such as 6lb line and hooks no bigger than a 10?s.

You?ve tried other baits and heavier tackle but the difference in success is massive. Small halibut pellets on 6lb line (max) hair rigged to an 8?s hook far outfishes anything else.

Trouble is, the catfish (which are quite prolific in the water) like the halibut pellets too, and at least once in a session you get seen off.

So what would you do?

Say sod it, give up crucian fishing (even though you love fishing for them), and fish with appropriate tackle for the cats?

Fish heavier and cut right down on the number of crucians you can catch?

Fish with a different bait and cut right down on the number of crucians you can catch?

Carry on as you are and take your chances with cats on the gear and bait that catches the crucians and accept that you're going to lose a few cats?

Or what?

paul williams 2 · Jun 14, 2006

I would try scaled down tactics first if i really wanted to catch the cruc's but possibly with a very light hook and small barb that would possibly straighten and pull out when a cat is hooked..........i suppose the real point is would leaving a small hook in the cats mouth on bit offs and breaks cause them any discomfort?.................personally i think not, in moderation.

Sgt Bash · Jun 14, 2006

I dont fish for either species, but if I did I would probably feed off the catfish by loading up one side of my swim with chopped up deadbaits(mackerel/roach etc} and scale down my halibuts on the other side of the swim, hoping that the catfish would go for the bigger easier pickings, so leaving me to concentrate on the crucians.

Graham Whatmore · Jun 14, 2006

I would take my dog with me to frighten off the cats!

You can't fish for both with one type of tackle and set up surely Graham, it just isn't practical is it? I've never known crucians turn their noses up at bread flake or punch anyway and I would try to wean them on to that.

paul williams 2 · Jun 14, 2006

Did you get your hooks sizes mixed up Graham?.....size 10 max first and then a size 8 mentioned.........me got a feelin you is up to summat with us!

-

Matt Brown · Jun 14, 2006

I would fish for the crucians with light tackle and not worry if I lost a catfish.

Occassionally I might target the catfish using suitable tackle.

Pick your target and tool up accordingly.

si · Jun 14, 2006

will the cats still take the pellet up in the water ?

GrahamM · Jun 15, 2006

Matt gave the correct answer as in that's exactly what I do.

With Paul a close second!

Steve Spiller · Jun 15, 2006

What about the poor old cats carrying line and hooks about?

I agree with Graham W, get them onto a different bait that the cats don't like, bread, sweetcorn or tiny bits of lunch.

GrahamM · Jun 15, 2006

Ah, at last, a reply I was hoping for.

Here's a few questions for anyone who disagrees with the answer:

Do you fish for roach or dace with at least 6lb line when you know there are chub around, and at least 8lb line when there are barbel around?

Do you fish for roach with at least 6lb line in a stillwater when the same water holds tench, and with at least 10lb line when the water holds carp?

Do you fish for perch with a wire trace and at least 10lb line if there are pike around?

No doubt you get the gist of the questions.

And bear in mind that all of the above except pike will take any type of bait. Getting them onto a different bait won't work.

If your answer is yes to all of the above then it means you're more or less using heavy tackle to fish for everything.

Steve Spiller · Jun 15, 2006

Crafty Git!

;-)

Fred Bonney · Jun 15, 2006

Answered my questions,didn't it Graham,well almost, Carp eat anything!!!

Graham Whatmore · Jun 15, 2006

"Getting them onto a different bait won't work."

What makes you say that Graham? Bread has always been a first choice for Crucians and I, like most people, have always found it to work so why do you imply they wouldn't take it. They must have been weaned onto halibut pellets and boilies to start with so surely they will change to something else, and though I know zilch about cats, I wouldn't have thought they would be interested in punched bread or flake, though I will stand corrected.

I also said " You can't fish for both with one type of tackle and set up surely Graham" meaning I would fish light for the crucians in the normal way and heavy for the cats. Seems logical and I've often fished light for roach knowing full well that there were big carp present and the same applies on a river when there are barbel present. To do otherwise would surely restrict your catch rate.

Matt Brown · Jun 15, 2006

We are never going to be able to land all of the fish we hook. It would be boring if that was the case.

I'd like to think that the bigger fish have no problem shedding small hooks and light line should we break off.

Paul Christie · Jun 15, 2006

I think I would add that I would make sure the break off happened where I wanted it to, by using a finer hooklength and not fishing straight through to the hook.

At least that way, you can be sure that there's only a minimal amount of lost tackle, well below the float etc....

Matt Brown · Jun 15, 2006

Indeed. Safe rigs and balanced tackle should be used at all times.

honslow · Jun 15, 2006

Sod the cats - non-indigenous species. Sorry, but they're not meant to be there in the greater scheme of things (not to mention the fact that they're ugly and they stink!). Slugs with fins.
Can't see a small hook doing a cat that much damage anyway...

njb51 · Jun 15, 2006

Use crucians as live-baits for the cats?

i'm already leaving.................... ;-p

GrahamM · Jun 15, 2006

Graham (Whatmore): "Getting them onto a different bait won't work."

What makes you say that Graham?"

I was refering to what I wrote about tench, carp, chub, roach, etc, Graham, not the catfish bit. In that there's no point in weaning roach onto any kind of bait because any other fish will scoff it too.

The catfish reference was a deliberate ploy to draw out the answers I knew I would get.

GrahamM · Jun 15, 2006

The crucians I fish for all love maggot and sweetcorn by the way. They won't hardly look at halibut pellets and small boilies.

What would you do?

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