Top Waggler Tips

When waggler fishing I can offer you the following top tips to ease and improve your angling:

• When fishing shallow strike to the side, the opposite direction to the wind. When fishing deep strike vertically. This should ensure good contact of the hook with the fish.


• Arrange your shot pattern so that from the bottom, there is progressively a greater distance between the shot. This should reduce tangles.


• There should be a maximum of one third of your shot between the float and the hook. The rest should be locking the float in place.


• Try using combinations of bait such as sweetcorn and maggot to target the bigger fish.


• To remove nuisance fish such as small roach try fishing deeper or using a bigger bait on the hook.

Happy New Year!

Fishing Blues

In the winter months the fishing can be slow and there is nothing worse than a downfall of rain to even further ruin the day. I find in these days when your spirits are low it is best to pack up and go home. You're not enjoying it, and if your not getting any bites it is not worth being there!

Personally taking a break from fishing now and again really helps to increase my motivation. Maybe trying out a new tactic, reading the fishing magazines or just trying to fish for a different species.

You could also try fishing a different water. In winter the temperature is lower, and so the fish will dive to the deepest part of the water where it is warmer. In particular deeper waters will provide better sport during the winter months because of the increased temperature deeper in the water.

One fishing aspect that really takes off during winter is pike fishing. These predator are naturally adapted to the cold temperatures and can really provide a thrill during the cold months ahead. Once more techniques for fishing for them are not difficult. You will need big rods, perhaps 2.5 lb test curve, and at least 12 lb breaking strain line. Dead baiting is the simplest of tactics where you attach a dead fish using 2 trebles and a wire trace to your main line. An excellent article on dead baiting can be seen here.

Taking Photos When Fishing

Everyone likes to document their progress while fishing, and to take a photo of your latest catch is one of the best ways of doing that. Although to take a really good photo of your latest catch requires some skill.

Try to include in the photo a recognisable object to give a sense of scale. This could be yourself, a ruler whatever you want!

This leads me onto my next point; if you are going to be in the photo, and you are fishing alone, you will need some sort of tripod in which to position your camera while you get ready. Many digital cameras come with a time delay in which you can get ready with the fish before the photo is taken.

Try to make the background of the shot as scenic as possible. This just adds to the beauty of the shot. Personally I find if any interesting weather or season change (red leaves on trees for example) is present this makes an exceptional interesting photo.

Obviously try to keep the time the fish is out of the water at a minimum. There are commercially available keep-nets for carp and pike but again these are not beneficial to the fish.

The use of photo editing software after the photo has been taken can correct errors such as blur or over exposure. A popular free tool to do this is Google's Picasa

Merry Christmas!

My present to you... a few fishing cartoons

Wrap Up Warm

Its winter, and the temperature is falling as we head into the new year. In the British Isles the weather sadly has the tendency to without warning change to rain or snow. Therefore, I would advise for yourself to prepare for a variety of conditions if your heading out for a fishing trip in the near future.

Consider taking plenty of extra layers of clothing, preferably waterproof. It is also worth taking a hat, since a third of your bodies heat is conserved there. You might also wish to take a tent, or at least a brolly to shield you from the conditions.

Even if the fishing becomes disastrous, with no bites, you should maybe consider using this as a photo opportunity, and capture some beautiful shots like the one here.

Christmas Fishing Wish List

Dear Santa

This year I would like

1. Bivvy (Tent)


2. Wireless Bite Alarms
   
3. Stove


4. Walkie Talkies
   
5. Camouflage Jacket
   

Merry Christmas!
Robbt

Coarse Fishing Magazines

Many fishing magazines exist in the United Kingdom covering many different aspecs of fishing. I have categorised some of my favourities below and given each a short description.

General
Improve Your Coarse Fishing - excellent graphics and overall good coverage of all aspects of course fishing. One aspect I dislike about it though is the lack of scottish waters covered in 'where to fish'.

Anglers Mail - again covers a variety of fishing topics but lacks the professional anglers articles. Although it has improved in the past few months, but I would say that Improve Your Coarse Fishing is a better option.

Pike and Zander
Pike and Predator - excellent pike fishing magazine featuring monthly articles from famous pike fisherman such as Mike Brown and William Nigel. It has lately focused alot on fishing for Catfish, but hopefully should switch back to pike soon!

Improve Your Deadbaiting This Winter

In order to consider how to improve your deadbaiting we must consider how the predator reaches your bait. If you were underwater could you see a dead fish 100m away? Presumable not, since most likely the water will not be crystal clear. Fish can also sense movement, but then again your bait is dead and so will not be moving! Therefore the main sense we should focus on is smell.

Sea baits such as Mackerel, Herring and Lamprey contain alot of natural juices which can leak out into the water. Therefore by using these you are vastly improving your chances of attracting a Pike or Zander. Furthermore to aid the release of these 'juices' you can slice the sides and flanks of the dead fish, which should greatly improve the amount of scent released into the area around your deadbait.

Easily Record Your Catches

To note down your latest catch with all the added details gives you a wealth of imformation in which to improve your fishing thereafter. You can make a more asertive choice of bait (since you know what works), you can pick the best spots and most importantly you can see how much you are improving.

So what information should you record? Ideally you should note the species of fish, weight, bait/method used, weather conditions,tiem caught, venue fished and the place caught on water. To go to extremes you can also note the GPS coordinates of where you caught it, the temperature, as well as the asmospheric pressure (from research this has an affect on fish feeding).

To make this task a whole lot easier you can use an online log book (this ones free). This allows you to notice trends in your catches such as what weather is best, and at what time. It also speeds the whole process up by easily typing in the record you make, instead of searching through notepads.