KNOCK AND RUN

 

     A popular pastime with rascals and scallywags the world over, banging on the door and running away seems to be equally popular with the bream and roach at Jubilee. I've been wondering for a while if scaling down one of my carp fishing tactics might pick up some better fish. I'm not asking for the world here, just one or two more, bigger roach than I catch on roach tackle and maybe some 3lbs plus bream. After all, bream and tench still come to the net on boilies and 14 mil pellets fairly regularly.

     To that end I tackled up with my standard 1oz bolt rigs but this time, on 8lbs line armed with size 12 hooks and a single banded 8mm pellet. The swim I chose was in an area I seldom tackle following a tip from a passing angler. He had claimed many four to five pound bream from this part of the lake at around 20-25 yards. Whether those sizes were accurate or not, I hoped to find out but at least it suggested decent bream might be present. The fact that I could just about catapult 4mm pellets that far was a bonus as it would mean I wouldn't need feeders or groundbait although these might offer a future path to better results.

     I put in half a dozen pouches while I set out my stall hoping that it would give me a head start building up the swim. Did it ever, three minutes after casting the left hand rod wrapped round and my first fish was on its way to the net. Just shy of two pound, it wasn't quite what I was after but it was promising to say the least. I should have known better. The rest of the morning was spent watching the rod tip banging away to little purpose.

     Occasionally the bait would be gone but more often than not, the bobbin would either not move at all or return to the same position. Clearly the lead wasn't moved in these scenarios, which suggests liners. I tried fishing a bit shorter but it made no difference. Now and then, the bobbin would hit the deck but my strikes were pretty much fruitless. I tried bigger hooks, hair rigs, soft pellets, pink wafters, all of which resulted in fewer indications than the standard hard pellets.

     I did eventually get another, slightly smaller bream and a small hybrid. For the last hour I switched to a running lead and bobbins on a long drop which resulted in another bream lost but the frustration of answering the door to find no-one there took its toll. I shall persist with this approach though. There was certainly enough happening to make it worth persevering with, that's for sure.