where am i going wrong ?

[nellgers06]

hi guys only recently took up coarse fishing and hav been to a lake a few times with some friends who are sea fishermen who dont really understand the concept of it . i have been doing a lot of learning at home through books , dvds , the net etc and thought i knew enough to go out for my first big session.a big mate of mine came along who is predominately a fly fisherman but done a lot of coarse fishing in is younger days so i felt reasonably confident we would be in for a good day.

. we arrived at the lake which is full of roach , tench , rudd a few bream , the odd carp and apparently pike so we got there for first light and began setting up. i have not got a feeder rod yet so decided to use the waggler on my float rod using maggots , sweetcorn , luncheon meat , dog biscuits everything else could possibly think. we were reccomended a swim stim product from dynamite by the guy in the local tackle shop and he said it would work wonders so we made our mix and began feeding the swim while every so often putting loads of loose feed in. a few hours went by before i was onta a fish a small roach but my first oe so was very pleased , i thought to myself thats good we,ve attracted the fish so now we must keep them so continuously kept feeding little and often .
Another few hours past before my mate caught a small tench of around 1/2 pound . Another FEW hours past and i recieved two small bites in sucession that i both missed lol and that was it for a 13 hour session, i have to say i am bemused were we went wrong. Incidently i was using 5lb line and fishing with size 12 and 14 hooks , any pointers ? or was this just a bad day at the office.Thanks

[rob@home]

Did you plumb the depth mate?its really important to do this with a plummet if not you cant be sure your on the bottom or not. For the sake of 50p get yourself a plummet (heavy weight with cork around the bottom)all you do is attach it to your rig (thread your line through the eye & the hook goes into the cork)& cast out to where you will be fishing if the float goes under then you will need to add more depth to your float if the float cocks or floats as it should try bringing the float down towards the hook an inch @ a time until your float goes under slightly then set your float about an inch deeper this way you'll be on the deck when you cast out with bait on this can be really important when fishing commercials or bit pits in my experience. I hope this makes sense. By the way the gear your using sounds fine I use 4lb 4oz drennan float line & if using corn about a size 14 also.

Rob.

[nellgers06]

cheers rob , i feared this may of been the reason we wer told the lake was 8ft deep in the middle as it is not dat big so with fishing a bit away from the middle we guessed 6ft which i know we shouldnt of took for granted. Plummet from tackle shop next piece of tackle lol incidentally we altered the depth quite a few times and threre were plenty of fish up in the water even if we wernt on the bottom should we not of been gettin the odd bite as the fish were comin up through the water

thanx again

[barbelblanker]

You might be feeding too much feed as well. After about 3 -6 orange size groundbait balls loose feed about 6 maggots over the top and then cast. Keep feeding about 6 maggots every few minutes and recast over the top. This allows your bait to drop through the water and catch the loose feed up. Generally if there are NO bites then slow the feed a little for a while. If the bites are coming then keep to the same feed rate. If you think about it , feed 100 maggots and cast one in the middle and the odds of a feeding fish finding yours is 100-1. feed 6 and you just dramatically increase your chances. Also, if the fish are not too confident then they will reject any of your baits that act the least naturally if they don't have to compete with the fish next to them. So the one that is sinking striaght down and quite fast will be left till last. If they have a split second or they loose their meal , they will grab the hookbait even of they detect it isn't perfect. It's that or starve.

I reckon the top mistakes beginners make is -

1. They do not plumb the depth so have do not build up a picture in their mind as to what the lake bed looks like.
2. They do not feed properly (this takes a lot of practise so do not dispair).
3. They under fill the line on their reels.
4. Try to fish too far out, two rods lengths is usually plenty, especially in deep water.

Also you need to accept that even us grizzled old beggars blank a lot too.
Especially barbel fishing ;)

If you can find a grizzled old beggar who is willing to help , in your area, then a friendly approach might work wonders.

Tight lines and keep them questions going, we all started somwhere. No question's a daft one.

[nellgers06]

thanx barbelbanker top advice , really appreciate the help beginners recieve on this forum , although im just back from a 13 hour session yesterday , ive renewed confidence and more determined than ever to do better and improve my skills next time ot , roll on monday lol will post how i do or dont get on

many thanks

[rob@home]

I concer with what barbelanglers just said completely. Especially number 4 just cos you can see the fish in the middle doesn't necessarily mean you'll catch them bear in mind the line we use is like tow rope to a fish & if your fishing in open water then its more than likely the fish can see your line,try fishing next to features weed,lilies these things are all good fish features. When you get your plummet you can use it to find features like drop offs,ledges on the lake & try to fish to these ledges can also get you bonus fish sometimes. I also like barbelwalker bang in about 3 groundbait pouches when I get there then set up my rod/s as this gives the fish a little time to find your feed & get confident on it before you even cast in, remember the longer you leave it to cast in over this feed (within reason) the more confident the fish will be. Another good thing i've learn't is if bites dry up during the day rest your swim. By this I mean keep loose feed going in as you have been but get rid of your rods for 1/2 hour or so again this builds confidence in the fish that are left there. It also gives you time to get a bit of lunch down you, you cant fish effectively if your not looking after self. Best of luck mate & tight lines.

Rob.

[nellgers06]

Once again rob top tips that will be took on board , much appreciated , ive got the bug lol