Coarse Fishing - Beginners FAQ

[carping on]

cheers josh,

i got a bit confused about what do you put on first!
i had my 2 hour lesson but i forgot that bit

No problem. You should also - try to get a sea fishing lesson sometime. I personnaly don't know of any myself - i learnt from my brother - but i'm sure you can find out pretty easily so good luck!

hi i am just getting into it myself, the maggots last anywhere up to 40mins in the water, when you buy them from the tackel shop, put them in your bait tub and put them in the fridge, this keeps them fresh and are ok to use for upto days, but if your missis dont like the idea, just hide them behind the jam jars or summit,

when putting your flowt on, dont close the shot too tight so you can slide it up and down to get your levals correct, buy a plummit form the tackel shop, for about £0.40. this will help you get the leval perfect with little hasse put the hook into it and cast out, and then you can slide your shot and float up or down to get the right depth, then give your shots a bite with your teeth to keep the closed... u usally put 3 or 4 maggots on a size 16 hook, but if after carp when usin maggots i but 6 or 7 on a size 10

when hooking maggots hook them on the blunt end not the pointy one as the wriggle more... all this i got told of and old and gray fisher man, and its worked for me, but you will learn alot just by havin a walk round your local fishin place and chatting to people, most people are happy to help you if your polite, and have coffee in your flask

[19adrian68]

Originally Posted by flaky-jakey@hotmail.co.uk

nice 1,

will be useful to begginers,

did u know:

more people fish,

than watch football

The fact is more people go fishing than actually participate in playing football.Hope that clears it up Tight lines

[Billy D]

hi, i am more of a crap man but i have been doin abit of coarse and i cant get it rite eneyone have a tip for me thanks

Stephen

[mrwell]

Well CARPING ON a lot of questions there mate lets see if i can answer some of them for you...
1-SLUGS
Not something i use but a good bait on Rivers mainly for Chub and Barbel,Hooks a big size 10/12,casting use a heavy lead so little effort is needed,not the best baits for lakes or stillwater more for Rivers but if you can find some small slugs then great these will do for stillwater fishing but not the big ones.
2-
You should never bite shot on to the line one it is not safe and two you do damage to the line there are things called auto shots that are great for this purpose,it puts shots on and takes them off your line,get it at your tackle shop.
3-
Maggots can last for several days in a cool place,a old fridge is ideal but if you have a shed or garage then that would do but make sure it is cool and not like a oven,i would use my maggots in two days so they are pretty fresh.
4-
I don't think anyone can answer this one because no one knows what the fish like more,but in simple terms RED is the first colour to disappear in the water it changes to Grey to the fish,the fluro colours are good like orange and yellow in coloured water but try not to use the dark colours Blue purple these are best for chopping up for groundbait.
5-
Float or hook on first,well it depends on the float your using,some floats just clip on your line and are held in place by shots,i have a few of these and they are very good,others are fed on the line through a hole so these would have to go on first before the hook.
6-
Not to sure what you mean here,if your asking what is the best way to put your hook and float on then i always put my rod on the floor with the line over my legs then float and hook in that order unless i am using a self connecting float then just put the hook on first then float at any time after.
7-
A swivel is very useful to prevent line twists,they come in all sizes from large to micro and vary in weight,they are often used in feeder work or ledgering but the micro can be used with float fishing but you have to take into account the weight of the swivel,it is not a snap link and should only be used to prevent line twists,you can get Swivels called paternoster swivels these are great for feeder and ledger work these have three swivel heads on them one in the middle ideal for putting your feeder or ledger on with your hook length on the other end you can add a snap link to feeder or ledger for safety in case you get snagged up and use a grinner knot or palomar knot to secure them on the lines.

[Billy D]

thanks mate i went today and got a bag full not bad fish as well so that was gd and i will be tryin all of them tip thanks agenn

Stephen

[Bigel]

Hi guys not too sure where to post this, but need some advice.

I'm just returning to course fishing after many years. I fortunately work on an estate where we have a 3 acre lake used for irrigation to the land. This is filled from a natural spring (lake-approx 10 yrs old). There is a shelf of about 3m before a drop off to 7/10m in depth.
The lake has this week been stocked with, I believe common carp between 1 to 2lb. Here are my questions!

1, How long should we leave the fish until we can fish them, I don't want to cause them any distress etc. The company that stocked the lake have asked for 1 month is this long enough?

2, What sort of tackle would i need?

3, What method/methods would you use?

4, Any ideas on bait/baiting areas?

Many thanks in advance & any help is greatly appreciated. Bigel

[mrwell]

Firstly i would think that a little bit longer would suffice one month is a little early in my books,give them plenty time to settle in i would say APRIL(if no closed season).
The carp are small being 1/2lb in weight so you would not need anything big,a light waggler rod set up would do or a pole with light elastic number 5-6 hollow for good stretch or latex,line would be 3lb break to 2lb hooklength that is of course if the carp are no bigger than 2-3lb max but do try and get a feeder rod as well so the two things i would take is WAGGLER and FEEDER rods.

Methods well i have already said a light waggler set up but it depends on the weather conditions,if windy fish over depth by 2inches,in other words plumb you depths(very important to do this) to find the bottom then add a couple of inches on to it that would mean you are two inches over depth,this should stop your line and bait from being pulled all over the place but if you can get your hands on a feeder rod as well then that would be great for these waters(lakes)just a standard maggot feeder would do or small method feeder,don't over do the feed although i would think you should get plenty of bites if these carp have never been fished for before or seen food like pellets,maggots,meat and worms all of which should catch you these carp.

I have already stated some baits i would use or take with me but my main point of attack would be maggots and worms,these are more natural baits that these carp would take as food,if the weather is cold you can be certain the carp will be in the deep water and not the colder margin areas so you would need a feeder in order to get to them after all you state it is around 10meters in depth(30feet) so you would need a feeder for that depth,get some PVA bags so you can put your feed in a tight area,use swivels on your line to save line twists if you use feeders as well,all this might sound mind blowing but it is basic stuff and very easy to do,if the weather is warmer then try the margin areas because again the water will be warmer there and the carp will be in that area,loose feed maggots on a waggler set up or pole if you have one or you could try luncheon meat carp love the stuff

[Bigel]

Many thanks for your reply Mrwell.

We will def give them longer but as you can imagine there is suddenly alot of interest. We don't have a closed season on our lakes & certainly don't want to hammer the living daylights out of it.

So off to the local tackle shop to get kitted out.

Regards.

Bigel