BDAC Junior Section

Junior Section

Junior News

USING KEEP NETS

When using a keep net always make sure it is the correct size for the fish you are going to put in it.

If possible try and position it directly in front of you so you can put the fish in quickly and safely.

Always submerge the maximum amount of the net and don’t leave it sitting high in the water. Where ever possible try and peg out the bottom of the net in the water to avoid it collapsing. Always thoroughly dry your keep net after use.

KNOTS

One thing you have to learn early when you start fishing is to tie a good knot. Most younger anglers tend to buy packets of loose hooks as they are cheaper than hooks that are already tied and I’ve seen youngsters all too often lose a good fish and on bringing the line back in find a crinkled bit of line and the hook gone.

So here are some basic knots.




Plumbing the depth
Once you have chosen your swim you need to find the contours of the lakebed, identifying any shelves or holes that may hold fish. When float fishing, the best way to do this is using a plummet. There are several types, the most common being a weight with a piece of cork at the bottom. Set your float rig up as normal then attach your plummet, there is normally an eye that you thread your hook and line through and then place the hook into the cork base. Cast out, and if the float disappears below the surface you are too shallow, you need to move the float up the line a few centimetres. Keep on doing this until the float is just visible.

Carp rigs
The most important design criteria of any rig is that the carp can escape from it if the line breaks. Hence a rig is not just the hook link, it also includes the lead, assuming you are ledgering. Don’t forget you can present any bait with a float rig. Last Winter on a syndicate water a friend of mine was the only angler to catch a carp between November and February because he used a float fished boilie only 5 metres from the bank. Despite all the complicated rigs you see in magazines, most carp are caught on simple rigs. The key is to select the correct length for the hook link and the hair. I recently fished at Little Easton and was getting lots of twitches, which by shortening my hook link resulted in four carp in an hour. The easiest way to tie on a hook and a hair is to use the knotless knot shown below. Remember to allow for the diameter of your bait, plus the hinge, when setting the length of the hair. A 22 mm boilie will need a longer hair than a single grain of sweet corn. Always make sure the hair comes off the shank of the hook level with the point of the hook, this gives the best hooking efficiency.
Always remember to wet your knot before tightening as this reduces damage to your line. Alternatively there are many commercially made hook tiers in the tackle shops with

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