Bubble Chasing.

wanderer · Jan 27, 2016

I am recycling a thread that i posted elsewhere to see if you guys have experienced anything similar, and because so far no one has been able to give me an answer that i can live with. Three lakes i fish regularly, 2 pits full of weed and one estate lake with no weed but deep silt, these lakes have certain areas usually in between 10 to 14 foot of water, where masses of bubbles show but try as you might, you never get a bite. It is not gas or weed, they move, indicating feeding fish and if you haul in the freebies, they increase. Move fifty yards away and cast to bubblers and the bites materialise, whats going on, other anglers on other venues, assure me they have noticed the same thing, i resorted to match style fishing with very light tackle out of curiosity but still zilch. Have any of you seen this and what do you reckon is the reason.

Peter Jacobs · Jan 27, 2016

Is this phenomenon only experienced on the South side of a body of water?

If so then it could well be connected with the 1729 Bubble Act which was enacted in order to prevent the formation of Joint Stock fishing syndicates without a Royal Charter . . . . . .

In 1719, and prior to the Bubble Act is was generally possible to trade more debt for equity (or in angling terms to chuck in far more freebie bait than was ever necessary)

Erm, some of the above might have got a little confused in the translation LOL

Keith M · Jan 27, 2016

This is a surprisingly common occurence on waters with soft silty bottoms which contain bloodworm and other silt borne creatures.

You have clouds of small pin bubbles moving around your swim and sometimes the bubbling Tench move right across where your bait is lying but apart from your float trembling a little occasionally the fish seem to be totally ignoring your bait.

I have aways thought that when this is happening (and it happens quite a lot on silty bottoms) that the Tench are grubbing about looking for bloodworm and other insects deep down amongst the silt and the anglers bait is sitting above their heads on or near the surface of the silt so is not being found or seen very easily; although I suspect that vision doesn't play much of a part when soft cloudy silt is being disturbed on the bottom by feeding fish.

I've spoken about this with other Tench anglers at various other silty ponds and lakes and they have often concurred with this notion as it seems quite logical and could explain what is happening.

It follows that other species that sometimes feed like this may also give the same results.

Whether this is exactly what is happening I can't say but it makes sense to me. LOL.

Keith

wanderer · Jan 27, 2016

Thanks for the reply Keith, its clear you have seen this before, some people havent, doesnt seem to be any solution though, it just means a tempting no catch zone full of fishy signals.

---------- Post added at 12:56 ---------- Previous post was at 12:54 ----------

Peter Jacobs said:
Is this phenomenon only experienced on the South side of a body of water?

If so then it could well be connected with the 1729 Bubble Act which was enacted in order to prevent the formation of Joint Stock fishing syndicates without a Royal Charter . . . . . .

In 1719, and prior to the Bubble Act is was generally possible to trade more debt for equity (or in angling terms to chuck in far more freebie bait than was ever necessary)

Erm, some of the above might have got a little confused in the translation LOL

Wasnt this Bubble law provoked by the south sea bubble crash of those early 1700s and before that also spawned the bank of England in 1694.

Pete Shears · Jan 27, 2016

I have seen the same in a lake I fish for carp. Patches of bubbles,sometimes 5-6ft across will suddenly explode on the surface,even the dab chicks & moorhens will move in to pick off food items and these areas will move around indicating feeding fish. Can I get a bite,can I hell.
After watching Koi in my pond crash dive & turn at the last second onto their sides,they then fan the bottom with their tails to stir up the sediment, then circle round about 1ft off the bottom looking for food.
Transpose this to a lake when 2 or 3 or even more twenty pound plus carp do this it's like a jacuzzi.
The only thing I can think off it to float fish off the bottom & adjust the depth until a hittable bite develops- in my case it usually happens 50yds away so it is virtually impossible to do this.

Ray Daywalker Clarke · Jan 27, 2016

Not had this happen to myself, it seems strange, Keith seems to have come up with a reasonable explanation.

I do fish a large pit where the Tench are moving in your swim, not feeding.

They roll on the surface and there are bubbles at times, but this then stops and the Tench start to feed. I think this might just be the Tench moving in to the swim, and this action takes place before they get their heads down to feed.

I notice you say if you move 50 yards and cast to the swim, you get bites. Just a thought here, but maybe your fishing right over their heads almost on top of them. When casting to the swim once you have moved, your bait may well be that little bit further away, while they are foraging and moving around they find your bait. When in the swim, your right on top of them and they are moving under and away from your bait. May sound strange, but who knows.

wanderer · Jan 27, 2016

No Ray, the new spot is just that bait and all, for the record on the estate lake, there are only a few tench but the pits have loads used every bait possible, pop ups , wafters, down to maggots straight through on 4 pound line to a sixteen hook, nothing works, somebody suggested it may be eels but living a long way inland and there scarcity, i am not convinced.

chub_on_the_block · Jan 27, 2016

Masses of bubbles - real fizzing - has to be fish. I have had sparse bubbles that looked convincing at first but soon proved to be Signals. What to do? - the posters above say more than i can add. With me, just getting to the point where i am sure it is fish helps. I have fished waters that were proven to be virtually devoid of fish but crayfish or gas bubbles had me suckered for a few sessions first.

Ray Daywalker Clarke · Jan 27, 2016

Try free lining bread paste on a size 6 hook, even if you try it on a sleeper rod, has to be worth a go.

Keith M · Jan 27, 2016

Keith M said:
This is a surprisingly common occurence on waters with soft silty bottoms which contain bloodworm and other silt borne creatures.

You have clouds of small pin bubbles moving around your swim and sometimes the bubbling Tench move right across where your bait is lying but apart from your float trembling a little occasionally the fish seem to be totally ignoring your bait.

I have aways thought that when this is happening (and it happens quite a lot on silty bottoms) that the Tench are grubbing about looking for bloodworm and other insects deep down amongst the silt and the anglers bait is sitting above their heads on or near the surface of the silt so is not being found or seen very easily; although I suspect that vision doesn't play much of a part when soft cloudy silt is being disturbed on the bottom by feeding fish.

I've spoken about this with other Tench anglers at various other silty ponds and lakes and they have often concurred with this notion as it seems quite logical and could explain what is happening.

It follows that other species that sometimes feed like this may also give the same results.

Whether this is exactly what is happening I can't say but it makes sense to me. LOL.

Keith

To sink my bait a little further into the silt (which is usually a redworm or small bunch of maggots so that it stands out more amongst the silt) I have tried using a standard Tench 'lift method'; only with a slightly heavier shot than normal; and this has sometimes worked. which could seem to backup this theory.

But as I said I am only guessing that this is what is happening. LOL.

But then again it might be simply because the Tench have become pre-occupied with bloodworm at the time, and are just ignoring any other items of food (like our baits).

Keith

john step · Jan 27, 2016

I think that there are as many instances of natural gas as there are fish activity. Bit of both ? There are many time you can see the bottom with rising bubbles and no fish present.

That type of weed that grows upwards in strands and is used in aquariums for oxygenation.....you can see bubbles of oxygen coming off it. It is common in lakes. Fish moving through it or retrieving tackle will dislodge the gasses.

I feel this is distinct from silty waters where it probably is fish and other water life disturbing pockets that have formed. Just a theory, but I think eels can be more active and do this in daylight in deep water and not be feeding on anglers baits.

Bubble Chasing.

wanderer

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Peter Jacobs

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Keith M

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wanderer

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Pete Shears

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Ray Daywalker Clarke

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wanderer

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chub_on_the_block

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Ray Daywalker Clarke

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Keith M

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john step

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