Where did I go wrong?

tom_moran · Jan 31, 2016

So I went out for a morning session today on a commie lake filled with 5 to 20lb carp and some big bream. I fished next to a guy who was using the same method as me(method feeder) our rigs were no more than 10ft apart and I know 90% of the fish in the lake were right where we were fishing as a member of the club has been using a fish finder to map the lake once a week and watch where the fish were holding up. Now here's the issue, I blanked and he caught pretty much a fish a chuck. Only difference I know of is bait, he was using micro pellets soaked in tuna oil with a white dumbell pellet and I was using poloni groundbait with a 6mm course pellet. I used some amino plus spray on the hookbait and also used some small bits of chorizo which I had dusted in chilli powder and turmeric. Not a sniff all morning.

Having written this down I realise I've probably just answered my own question. Was I wrong to go for spicy heavily meat based bait?

Chefster · Jan 31, 2016

If you never had so much as a liner,then the fish probably were not in youre peg,in the winter,i witness it all the time on commies,someone will find a pocket of fish,that wont move,and those around them cant buy a bite...one thing though a white hookbait will always do well in the winter,whether its a boilie,dumbell or bread discs..Why did you sit there without a bite though,why didnt you nick a bit of bait off him and try it,or wet some pellets down and put hair rigged bread discs on,or a bit of corn?

tom_moran · Jan 31, 2016

I actually got some corn out the freezer and out it in a bait box at 6am, then promptly left it on the kitchen table...

He did offer me a white dumbell, but it was moments after I got the call from the mrs.

It is something I will grab next time I'm in a tackle shop though.

I was definitely within sniffing distance of the fish, there's a big depression on the lake bed that they have been hanging out in all winter and I fished to the edge of it, but maybe they just didn't fancy the smell of my groundbait, it's smelly stuff. Food for thought I guess. Next time I'll take some micro pellets and fish the same spot and see if it makes any difference

Chefster · Jan 31, 2016

tom_moran said:
I actually got some corn out the freezer and out it in a bait box at 6am, then promptly left it on the kitchen table...

He did offer me a white dumbell, but it was moments after I got the call from the mrs.

It is something I will grab next time I'm in a tackle shop though.

I was definitely within sniffing distance of the fish, there's a big depression on the lake bed that they have been hanging out in all winter and I fished to the edge of it, but maybe they just didn't fancy the smell of my groundbait, it's smelly stuff. Food for thought I guess. Next time I'll take some micro pellets and fish the same spot and see if it makes any difference

Always worth having a selection of hi-viz baits,and some pellets in your bag in winter mate...A lot of matches are won this time of year on commies using popped up bread with no feed,its always a good starting point before you start throwing feederloads of bait in youre swim,to gauge wether they want a bit of grub or not..Gazza

tom_moran · Jan 31, 2016

I think your probably right tbh, I'll get some hi viz bait in me bag. I've got tonnes of pellets, all sorts, all in my bait box in the shed. I suppose I could have used 6mm ones but they probably wouldn't have stuck.

I guess even though he was doing the same as me and fishing the same swim it was the tuna flavour and hi viz bait that clinched it. I had a feeling that was the case just wanted a second opinion, I do try and learn from my blanks

Chefster · Jan 31, 2016

tom_moran said:
I think your probably right tbh, I'll get some hi viz bait in me bag. I've got tonnes of pellets, all sorts, all in my bait box in the shed. I suppose I could have used 6mm ones but they probably wouldn't have stuck.

I guess even though he was doing the same as me and fishing the same swim it was the tuna flavour and hi viz bait that clinched it. I had a feeling that was the case just wanted a second opinion, I do try and learn from my blanks

To be honest mate in winter fish will shoal up tight and they wont move,thats why it pays to search the swim with no feed first to try and locate them,once you get a few liners or bites,you can work from there,sometimes they can be a few meters away and you would think there were no fish there

S-Kippy · Jan 31, 2016

It happens. In winter they can shoal up tight and refuse to move just as Gaz says. I've had it happen to me and I've done it to other people. If they ain't in front of you and won't move to your bait there ain't much you can do about it except search for another pod or pray for a mugfish.

Ray Daywalker Clarke · Jan 31, 2016

tom_moran said:
So I went out for a morning session today on a commie lake filled with 5 to 20lb carp and some big bream. I fished next to a guy who was using the same method as me(method feeder) our rigs were no more than 10ft apart and I know 90% of the fish in the lake were right where we were fishing as a member of the club has been using a fish finder to map the lake once a week and watch where the fish were holding up. Now here's the issue, I blanked and he caught pretty much a fish a chuck. Only difference I know of is bait, he was using micro pellets soaked in tuna oil with a white dumbell pellet and I was using poloni groundbait with a 6mm course pellet. I used some amino plus spray on the hookbait and also used some small bits of chorizo which I had dusted in chilli powder and turmeric. Not a sniff all morning.

Having written this down I realise I've probably just answered my own question. Was I wrong to go for spicy heavily meat based bait?

It happens not much you can do about it. Also as Others have said above.

There are times when fish are on the feed and it's not your bait they want, it's the guys in the next peg.

wanderer · Feb 1, 2016

Interested to know if your rod was knocking about, did you have it at right angles to your bait, hook size, 16 not uncommon with the method in winter, small slivers of raw steak straight on the hook, raw minced beef in your groundbait, and as the lads above have said may be only the same few pegs ever produce during the colder months.

Alan Tyler · Feb 1, 2016

What a reassuring thread - I don't often go to paylakes, but when I do (filled with self-loathing for lining the pockets of those who stuff puddles with so many fish that only a moron could fail to catch) I usually find myself in the blanking moronity.

qtaran111 · Feb 1, 2016

I agree with the others, a switch to a high vis bait may have helped.

I had the same thing happen to me on a small commercial lake in winter. At one end there's a bay without any swims that you can cast to from either bank and the carp shoal up there in winter. Couldn't buy a bite with the normal pellets that work well. I switched to a white wafter, cast to the same spot and had a bite almost immediately and a ended up having a good day.

I went to the same spot about 2 weeks later, and based on previous experience started with a white coloured bait and...nothing, not a sausage. Switched to a pink dumbbell and bingo, bites galore.

It always pays to have a small selection of bright baits in winter. I prefer white and pink (obviously

) pop ups/wafters/dumbbells plus some corn & bread.

john step · Feb 1, 2016

Just to put my two penny worth in. As others have stated they can shoal up tight. I sometimes think it is not realised sometimes just how tight they are together at times and if you are a few yards off...that is as good as a mile.

From a high vantage point in clear winter water I have seen them so tight they are touching and packed in like sardines looking like a dark stain in the water. Two feet either way there is nothing.

luisfisher · Feb 9, 2016

I think you should change your fish finder.

Where did I go wrong?

tom_moran

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Chefster

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tom_moran

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Chefster

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tom_moran

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Chefster

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S-Kippy

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Ray Daywalker Clarke

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wanderer

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Alan Tyler

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qtaran111

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john step

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luisfisher

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