Link-ledger leaf troubles.

[Andy1990]

Hi all,

My regular venue is a small spate river that I often fish when dropping off after a recent flood/rise. Link-ledgering lob worm is almost always my preferred method but I’ve struggled on the last couple of sessions and again today.

I’m fishing to the far bank and find that anything from 2-4 SSG’s is usually enough to hold bottom in the spot that I want the bait to sit. The trouble I’ve had is the bow that I allow to form in the line is then snagging leaves coming down and creating a huge pull on the 2oz glass tip and more often than not, proceeding to pull the bait from the far bank and into the main flow of the river.

Interested to see if anyone has any tips to combat this? I usually switch to a heavier weight/bomb and to hold the bait in place and then try to ‘disturb’ any leaves that do snag on the main line to release the tension on the tip. It’s OK if this is only needed every so often but today it was every minute or so and ends up detracting from the fishing and trying to present a good bait.

Any suggestions here or is it simply one of fishings unavoidable challenges?

Cheers,
Andy.

 

[fishingcarpenter]

evening andy ,i also fish small rivers and the amount of rain weve had this autumn has ment they are in flood more often than not, try a penny washer or even drill a small hole in a 2 pence piece. the flat weight will be harder for the flow to move. i use different size washers to get the right resistance. the rod very high will also help, this year the roach really are taking lobs well with a odd bonus chub , hope this helps , regards trevor

 

[Philip]

Try touch ledgerng. You can maneuvere the rod tip to steer the line round any debris as they come down the current but still stay in contact with the rig.

 

[The Sogster]

If you can, try lifting the rod in the rest therefore keeping more line out of the water. This may help depending on width or depth.
You haven't mentioned the length of rod but maybe a longer one (oo 'er) would also help in keeping the line out of the water

 

[rubio]

Upstream leger will sometimes help bounce leaves off. But maybe I'm just kidding myself cos I can't truly think of anyway to completely avoid them. Except wait a fortnight.

 

[no-one in particular]

Why are you fishing the far bank, wouldn't the near bank be easier and avoid the leaves, you may be able to sink the line with the rod tip under the water as well.

 

[108831]

Certainly look for swims where the current takes leaves to the far bank,it won't stop it,but it will ease the problem,do not wear blinkers thinking fish like chub only hang on the far bank,they are nosey beggers and look around at different spots in their territories...

 

[Andy1990]

Why are you fishing the far bank, wouldn't the near bank be easier and avoid the leaves, you may be able to sink the line with the rod tip under the water as well.

I’ll often cover the full swim if possible. I’m not exclusively fishing the far bank but often find it to hold better features. Now for my daft question - whilst I do fish the near bank, I don’t have the rod tip under the water - doesn’t this hamper visibility on the tip?

Andy.

 

[Keith M]

I’ll often cover the full swim if possible. I’m not exclusively fishing the far bank but often find it to hold better features. Now for my daft question - whilst I do fish the near bank, I don’t have the rod tip under the water - doesn’t this hamper visibility on the tip?

Andy.

If you use a finger to touch leger you don’t need to rely on watching the tip; you can be looking up into the sky and still instantly feel a bite, and be able to distinguish between a leaf bumping into your line and a fish mouthing your bait, after a little practice.

Keith

 

[no-one in particular]

I’ll often cover the full swim if possible. I’m not exclusively fishing the far bank but often find it to hold better features. Now for my daft question - whilst I do fish the near bank, I don’t have the rod tip under the water - doesn’t this hamper visibility on the tip?

Andy.

Same as Keith really, use your weight to hold bottom and sink the line with the tip just under the water and hold the rod feeling for bites. How much tip under the water will depend on the leaves but feeling for bites is not too bad. I am no expert at this but roach give a quick pull and strike straight straight away or if you think it is something big and big bait used I move the rod tip or pay out a bit of line to give them a bit of slack for a minute and wait for the rod to wrap round and then strike. A lot depends on the size of river, current, where the rubbish is coming down etc. but having a build up of leaves or weed on the line can be very annoying so this is one way to think about to avoid it; across the whole river if you like but a bit easier fishing the bank close to you normally in these circumstances. You might have to use a heavier weight than normal a arsely bomb is the best I find and I would not use a swim feeder or anything, groundbait by hand.
You could try some sort of float leger combination that allows you to sink the tip but still see a float sticking up which will mean most of the line is under the surface but it is not easy to get the combination right I find with a float/leger in fast running water. Maybe some others will have some better ideas on that .

 

[Keith M]

When I’m fishing my local stream and there is a lot of leaves or weed drifting downstream and constantly hitting my line I either try to fish a float which will tend to move downstream in between the leaves and weed, or if I am legering I try to minimise the amount of line going through the water; either by using a longer rod if I’m needing to fish a feature near the far side, or fishing close to the near bank away from the main flow which will be carrying most of the leaves and debris with it downstream.

If I am fishing on the bottom I will usually prefer to ‘touch leger’; a method that is often neglected nowerdays but as anyone who uses this method can tell you it’s a perfect method when you are after larger fish on a small river even more so when conditions are a bit iffy.

I know it sounds strange but after a bit of practice you can not only feel bites as they develop but you can even feel what kind of bottom you are fishing over (rocks, gravel or silt) through your finger, and tell the difference between streamer weed rubbing against your line or leaves hitting your line or a Barbel moving over and mouthing your bait through the different vibrations you feel through the line; things that even the best quivertip would struggle to convey to you.

Try it and see for yourself. You don’t need to use large weights at all; just cast out and tighten up the slack and then put your finger across your line. You only need to use enough weight that will just about hold still on the bottom and will trundle a foot or so downstream and settle again whenever you lift your rod tip a few inches, so in normal conditions a small 5SSG link leger would normally be all you’ll need; and too large a weight can often be a disadvantage and minimise the amount of info being passed up your line to your finger.
It’s a great method, so try it, you may be surprised how good it can be at times.

Tight lines
Keith

 

[108831]

Another ploy is(if you can)is to put your rod tip in the water,down to the bottom with a hand on the rod,works especially well for barbel who like pulling rods in...

 

[Andy1990]

Thanks for the responses all some great advice. Touch ledgering is not something I’ve really tried before but will be having a go, probably tomorrow providing there isn’t too much rain between now and then. It will also encourage me to keep moving and cover more water I’d imagine which is another bonus, as if I’m guilty of anything it is being too stubborn when fishing a swim that looks like it may hold fish but doesn’t produce a bite - I tend to sit it out longer than I should.

Andy.

 

[Andy1990]

Evening all, pleased to say that I’ve managed to do some touch ledgering recently, only a couple of very short sessions - the latest of which was today and returned a blank but I did sneak an hour last weekend and had a small chub and a very nice perch of almost 2lbs, both bites were a great experience. Best way I could describe it was that I felt there’s no way I could have missed the bite. The only thing I tend to find my mind wondering to is if the movement of the tip due to holding the rod, and any disturbance from my finger on the line could potentially be transferred to the book & bait - potentially spooking any particularly wary fish. I suspect this is simply a confidence issue for now though.

Cheers,
Andy.

 

[Keith M]

Andy, I lay my rod in a front rod rest and pass my finger over the line just in front of my reel, or across the fingers of the opposite hand, with the rod butt either laying across my lap or in a rear rod rest; which keeps my rod tip fairly still plus don’t have the line over tight, just enough to feel what’s happening down on the bottom without bending the rod tip too much.
Getting into a comfortable position is the key especially when bites start to get a bit slow.

And don’t worry too much about moving your bait every now and then as it often pays to impart a little movement to your bait every now and then; I’ve often had a bite while my bait is still trundling along the bottom after slowly lifting my rod tip.

I’ve been touch legering for Barbel since the 1970s and although I don’t recommend falling asleep I’ve had nights on the Kennet where I’ve been ‘almost’ dropping off in the middle of the night with the rod butt lying across my lap and the line laying across my finger and I’ve been fully awake and playing the Barbel the second the line has tightened across my finger
It’s a great method.

Keith

 

[tigger]

My touch legering techniqe s slightly different to yours Keith, I find I feel a tap on the blank before any line movement as far down as the reel seat.

 

[rubio]

It can be effective to feed some of that slack in the line to a nibbling fish. Especially chub when they realise you're there.

 

[Philip]

I point the rod down the line not at the bait. In a strong current that can sometimes be at a steep angle to where I am fishing but any pull will be more direct to my finger rather than the rod. Rod across leg no rod rest. Knuckle/roller of bail arm facing up. I`ll tightn up last few inches by clicking the spool round with my free hand. Quite often i feel an almost undetectable slackening before a tug or pull.

 

[Keith M]

My touch legering techniqe s slightly different to yours Keith, I find I feel a tap on the blank before any line movement as far down as the reel seat.

I usually get the same initial taps as the Barbel moves over the bait just before the take too Ian

Keith

 

[tigger]

Many years ago, and just out of interest I did an experiment with two rods whilst fishing for tench. I set both rods up on rests and with bite alarms and bobbins on the rear.
One rod was left as a running rig and the other a bolt rig. Anyhow, both set ups were fished right next to one another and the baits were cast within several feet of one another over a bed of freebies. Both set ups produced exactly the same number of tench, which was four on each.
What the experiment showed was that the tench hooked themselves just as well as on the free running set up as they did on the bolt bolt rig.
As a by product of my little test I noticed the tip of the rods would move well before the alrm sounded or the bobbin would move.
This proved that a quiver tip, or a swing tip is the most sensitive way of legering.
If you think about it, float fishing has to be the most sensitive method of fishing because your indicator is so much nearer to the hook and will register a bite well in advance of any form of registration at the rod.

Regarding touch legering, earlier this year, before the closed season I did a little quiver tipping on the river, just a one off as a change from my usual trotting. I used a shimano antares avon quiver rod and chose the quiver section as it has long white tips which are great to look at and seem to emphisize any movement of the tip (I used a one ounce tip).
Anyhow, I was getting pulls etc but when striking at them I was hitting thin air. I decided to hold the rod in my hand and as soon as the tip made the slightest move I struck. After that I hit every fish! Ok, I wasn't touch legering but it was a similar way of fishing with my rod in hand. Also, it was actually a much more sensitive approach to touch legering as if you think about it I was striking well in advance of any movement down the rod.