MICRO BAITS AND PREOCCUPATION

By KEN TOWNLEY

In this article I want to look at the subject of feeding a swim, in particular dealing with spodding and introducing a concentration of feed so as to achieve preoccupation and the kind of aggressive feeding that produces the maximum number of takes.

Those of you who have read my pieces before will know that I am a firm believer in persuading carp to eat bait, lots of it and in as confident a manner as possible. I continually stress the fact that the harder and more confidently and aggressively a carp is feeding on my bait, the easier it is to catch as its confidence will be high and its suspicions fewer. In fact my whole strategy when baiting up is to try to get the carp feeding in as natural a manner as possible.

There are many ways of getting under the carps skin and while you may think that it is only recently that the use of small seeds, boilie crumb and other tactics the disappearing food source has come to the fore, in fact the use of small food items to create preoccupation has been around for years. Rod Hutchinson wrote in his very first book, published in 1981, that, "The main requirement of a particle bait is that it should be found in numbers, the inference being that carp should be encouraged to feed on one particular food source until it became preoccupied on it to the exclusion of all other foods". Taking a leaf out of the match anglers book, Rod carried out extensive tests using hempseed to see if preoccupation on the bait carpet could be created 20220j915u and his results on what was then a totally new and ground breaking approach were revealed to an astonished carp world in Angling Magazine in the mid 1970s.

Unless you are in the extremely fortunate position of fishing for a massive shoal of forties with its corresponding capacity for cleaning up a huge amount of food, it is not practical to think of using solely boiled baits alone to achieve preoccupation. Even baits as small as 8mm are likely to be too large to really persuade carp to put their heads down to the degree that you could call them truly preoccupied. Come to think of it, who in their right mind wants to roll out thousands of 8mm boilies when you can do a much better job using seeds or other baiting techniques? Even the larger particles such as chick peas or tiger nuts are generally considered too big to achieve maximum preoccupation.

No, what you need is a mass of tiny food items, the smaller the better, spread over a fairly large feeding area. Yes folks we are talking about micro seeds, mini pellets, swiftly dissolving larger pellets such as CSL Pellets, ball pellets, boilie crumb and boilie soup. Get enough of these kinds of bait into a swim and you should be able to get carp preoccupied on the bait carpet.

Micro seeds and seed blends are the most commonly favoured baits and of them all hempseed is probably the most well known. Others like the dari seeds, niger seed and the expensive but brilliant French Teazleseed are equally worth while and all rely on the principle of getting the maximum number of food items into a swim for the minimum amount of actual weight. I hate to think how many teazleseeds would equal the weight of say a 20mm boiled bait but you can see my point: How much easier it must be to achieve preoccupation with hundreds of tiny seeds rather than with one single boilie.

Now I am not saying that gaining the carps' confidence by tempting them to become preoccupied in their feeding is the only road to go down, but it is one of the best, the only problem lies in actually introducing your bait effectively. This is easy enough when you are baiting the margins when all you need do is throw the bait in by hand or introduce it via a catapult, but what happens when you want to get all those tiny seeds way out into the middle of the lake at the sort of distances you would normally only think of fishing with boilies? Well that's where all sorts of little tricks come into their own and so let's get down to the nitty-gritty and talk about how to get out there and do it!

The best way by far of getting bait out a long way is by boat, a rowing boat for preference (almost certainly banned on your water) but failing that with a remote controlled boat. Now I know these are not popular with some factions of the carp fishing community but I make no apologies for reaffirming my totally acceptance of them. I haven't actually got one but if I could afford one I would use it like a shot. I have no qualms about them whatsoever and provided they are used sensibly and not abused (taking hookbaits out into snags, for instance) I see no earthly reason for banning them. It seems to me that the only people who complain about remote boats are those who have not got one.

So if a bait boat is not a practical consideration what other ways are there of getting bait out a long way. Well basically there is only one realistic method and that is to use a spod. PVA bags and Method feeders are all very well but there is no better way in my mind of building up a concentrated area of micro food items than by spodding.

I think it is a generally held perception in the carp world that I don't use spods and that I do not like them. That is not the case at all; I do use spods and I like them, when the time and the place are right! There times when a spod definitely causes problems of over baiting and scaring the fish. Yes, on some waters I fish, over-zealous use of the spod rod will have the effect not of attracting carp to the swim but physically driving them out of it and avoiding the area like the plague for some time afterwards. OK, I will fully accept that on waters where the spod rod is not a permanent feature on the bankside carp can in fact be drawn to an area by the crash of the spod, but it is as well just to bear in mind that there are equally waters where the opposite applies.

I think one of the main drawbacks is that it is too easy to introduce too much bait in one spot, or too much bait overall. It should be remembered that a fully laden Fox Rocketeer will hold six or seven ounces of hempseed or micro seeds such as Haiths Carpticle. That is a lot of bait and you only need to cast out a dozen times and suddenly you find you have put in over five pounds of bait. I am not saying that it is necessarily a bad thing, indeed five pounds of bait may be exactly the amount you want to introduce, but it is all too easy to get carried away.

Those are points to remember and consider, but there are also plenty of plus points. For a start a well designed spod allows you to put bait out further than any other type of propulsion system I know. I know there are some guys out there who can put a 20mm boilie 140 yards with a throwing stick, but I am not one of them! Nor, would I suggest are the majority of carp anglers I have seen using a stick. No, if you really want to get baits of all kinds out a long, long way you really have to turn to a spod of some kind.

If I can just digress for a moment: I know we are not really talking about introducing whole boilies in his piece but if you have never used a purpose designed spod to put boiled baits out to extreme range, you do not know what you are missing. Boilie Rockets such as the ones from the Fox range fly straight and true and in the right hands can deliver eight 16-18mm boiled baits to a range of over 140m. That's probably further than most of us can cast a baited rod! I know that is the case as far as I am concerned, and that is without having to switch to a very heavy duty purpose designed Spod Rod. Even using my standard everyday long range casting rods I can put a loaded Fox Bait Rocket further than I can cast a single hookbait and four ounce lead.

You may find that some smaller boilies tend to jam in the barrel of the Rocket. If this happens try placing a small stone in the spod before you add the boilies. This should prevent the baits from jamming.

I always fill a Boilie Rocket to the top (usually nine 18mm boilies). In just about every case the top bait will come out of the spod in flight to land round about the fifty or sixty yard mark, leaving just eight baits to go the distance. I know a lot of anglers who consider that these spilled baits are wasted and they prefer to load the Rocket with eight baits rather than nine, thus ensuring that all their baits hit the right distance. However, I don't mind the one that got away. In fact, on long sessions I will start to drop one rod short so that it fishes on the area where the baits that have fallen on are landing. You may be surprised how many fish creep in on the inadvertently baited spot.

Rocket style spods are the perfect way of getting bait into a water where seagulls cause problems. If you've not yet encountered these annoying little buggers and their nasty habit of picking up boilies in mid air or off the surface of the water you are a lucky sod. Believe me, they can drive you crazy and there are times when you simply have to stop using a throwing stick or catapult until they have gone away. Therefore, a Boilie Rocket is the perfect foil to their dastardly tricks!

(Incidentally, here's another worthwhile tip for you. When you re-bait, especially if you are on a long session, always throw your old baits into the same spot. It might be under a nearby tree or just a few yards out into open water, but make sure that three or four washed out baits go into that spot day after day. Then, a couple of nights before you pull off, fish a single hookbait on that spot. Again you'll be astonished at how many carp you may pick up from an unlikely place.)

Having discussed Boilie Rockets, let us look at the other kinds of spods available as each is designed for a different task. First of all there is the dumpy or Stubby Spod as Fox call their version. This is ideal for particles, boilies or seeds at close to medium range. The Fox Dumpy Spod is an excellent piece of tackle and because it is attached at four points rather than two it has better stability and cast further than its main rivals.

Like most spods these smaller pocket versions fly further and truer if they are topped up with water. They deliver a much reduced quantity of bait but in fact this can be an advantage in certain cases. For a start because they are comparatively light even when filled you can use them on your standard carp rod, there is no need for a specialised heavy duty spod rod. Secondly their size imposes a degree of restraint on the user and there is less temptation to over bait a swim. This is particularly important if you are using tigers, as I know just how easy it is to over bait with tiger nuts.

The next spod to consider is the general purpose particle Bait Rocket. This can be used to introduce pellets, particles, boilies or seeds. These types of spods hold a lot of bait and it is easy to get a bit carried away with them and thus put too much bait into the swim. They are less streamlined than the slimmer Boilie Rocket type of spod and they are usually drilled out either along the entire length of their body as in the case of the Gardner Tackle product or at least along a part of their body, as is the case with the Fox version. Obviously if you like to add water to the spod you will find it difficult to say the least with the Gardner version!

Again there is a tendency for these larger general purpose spods to spill some of their load in flight but I would once again refer you to my earlier comments in which I point out that this is not necessarily a bad thing. However, if you prefer you can prevent this from happening by putting a plug of soft groundbait in the mouth of the spod prior to casting.

There is one big drawback to all open mouthed spods, namely that they drag like hell when you are retrieving them, and of course, the further they go, the more line you need to retrieve. It can be a right pain in the butt casting a boilie rocket a dozen or more times to a range of 140m then dragging the awkward beast back in. Aerodynamic they are not, and they skip and dart across the surface like a dervish. This causes the line to build up erratically on the spool forming loose coils one moment and very tight ones the next. This is definitely not conducive to effective casting as the line tends to spill and catch, spill and catch, thus reducing distance. (Watch out if there are hungry pike on the prowl and they have been known to attack a spod on the surface while it is being retrieved.)

There is one very important recent development that deserves a mention, as it is the most innovative and unique spod on the market. Called the Rocketeer, it is the new brainchild of the Fox development engineers, with considerable input from Mr Innovation himself, Alan Partridge. The Rocketeer is a Spill-Proof Spod that features a unique rear opening door system which not only retains the contents intact during the cast, it also allows the spod to be retrieved more easily. What happens is that as soon as you start to retrieve the empty spod the two hinged rear doors are drawn shut thanks to the clever way the draw cords are attached. The spods water resistance is then substantially reduced and the empty unit can be retrieved with a lost less effort, at the same time maintaining steady pressure on the line which stops it from building up erratically (see photo which shows the Rocketeer with the rear doors closed.

The Rocketeer is the same size as the Bait Rocket, which means that it can hold a considerable amount of bait, especially if you are using something like Haith's Carpticle or the superb Red Band Conditioner. Being part-drilled out, the body can be half filled with water to add more weight for extra distance. The water can also assist in persuading gooey or sticky bait to empty out better. This is a significant advantage when using micro seeds or sticky mini particles.

When you consider that some of the larger capacity spods can hold as much as half a pound of bait, it is clear that you will need a heavier duty rod to cast them out. Sure, dumpy spods such as the Pocket Rocket or the Stubby Spod can be used on an ordinary carp rod, as can the thin, aerodynamic Boilie Rocket-type spods. However, all the other commonly used spods will be too heavy for normal carp rods and may over-stress them to breaking point.

In the past it was the practice to use heavy beach-casting rods but these days there are a number of purpose-built spod rods on the market. You don't want to be spending a fortune of a rod that is only going to be used for spodding so cost is an important factor here. However, you get what you pay for so think in terms of spending as much as you can afford so as to buy the best. You are looking for a rod of 12 feet in length with a test curve of around four to five pounds with a proper, solid screw fitting for the reel and, preferably, Fuji rings as well. The action should not be too steep so look for a rod with more of a compound taper rather than a fast one. Casting a heavy spod requires a special technique and fast taper rods can be rather unforgiving in the wrong hands. One very important point to look for is a large butt ring together with a larger than normal tip ring. The butt ring should ideally be 40mm and the tip ring 16mm The large butt prevent the line from catching around the ring causing a snap-off while the large tip allows the shock leader knot to pass through with ease.

As for a reel, I strongly suggest you buy one with the largest, deepest spool you can find. This not only increases casting distance, it also takes a lot of the strain out of retrieving the empty spod. The more ball bearings the reel has the smoother it will retrieve. Go for a model such as the Daiwa Emblems of the excellent Shimano Big Baitrunner.

Opinions vary about the best line to use. Braided reel line is becoming increasingly popular but unless you are experienced in using and casting braid in everyday carp fishing, I suggest you stick to nylon to start with. You can go as low as 4lb line but remember to attach a heavy duty shock leader to absorb the power of the cast.

The lack of stretch that is a characteristic of all braided reel lines is a considerable advantage when casting a heavy spod as it allows you to unitise the full power of the cast and the strength of the rod. When using nylon a lot of the rod's power is absorbed by the line's stretch and casting distance can be greatly reduced.

One important point to consider is that repeated casting with braided line can soon take its toll on the finger tip you use to hold the line prior to releasing the cast so it is a good idea to use a leather finger stall or a piece of sticking plaster to protect you index finger tip if you are going to be doing a lot of spodding.

When setting up the reel for heavy duty spodding it is as well to use the thinnest, lightest line possible. I will confidently go as low as 4lb breaking strain but always attach the tapered shock leader and Quicksilver to absorb the impact.

Right, that is the delivery system sorted out. Now let's look at some of the baits we can use to achieve preoccupation, namely mini baits, micro seeds, larger seed blends, small particles, pulses and nuts and tiny cereals like groats and popcorn maize.

There are several stages to progress through in order to achieve our aim of maximum preoccupation on a bait carpet using seed baits. So let me guide you along a step by step path to success by outlining how I tackle a water.

Using mass baits to create preoccupation is probably one of the most sure fire ways of getting action in modern carp fishing. Even though I was the first angler ever to get heavily involved with the use of groundbait and was responsible for developing its use for carp, and even though I invented boilie soup and developed boilie crumb from Rod's original idea, for may years I stuck rigidly to a boilies only approach. However, I was forced to remove my head from the sand when I witnessed the kind of success others were enjoying. That is not to say I wasn't experienced in the art; simply that I felt a reliance on boiled baits was more likely to be successful.

It was only after noticing that many anglers who had previously been of the same opinion as myself were now using particles and mini seed blends that I changed tactics.

STAGE 1 - PICKING A WATER

I do not suppose I am any different to a great many of you reading this in that I fish mostly smaller waters in the UK. Lakes such as Treesmill, Rashleigh, Salamander, Clawford etc. have been my proving grounds for a great deal of experimental work looking at the way fish feed. I therefore try whenever possible to pick a water where I can find a spot where it is possible to watch carp and judge their reactions to the bait and the baiting situation. I realise that this is not as easy as it once was, given the number of carp anglers around these days, but there are still lakes - some even quite big ones like Wrasbury, for instance - where you can watch carp in their natural environment and 9 times out of 10 these are the lakes I prefer.

It is a slightly different matter when I am abroad as the continent of Europe does not understand our concept of small waters but nevertheless, on lakes like Le Queroy, Chateau Lake, Lac Vert, Chattillon, Commons Lake, Cannonball and a host of others I have still usually be able to find some way of looking in on carp. One of my most exciting experiences was watching carp that had almost certainly never been caught before, feeding on my groundbait in a gin-clear little river (more like a barbel river than a carp one) in France last year. It was only after three days of patient baiting up that the carp arrived, and I caught a beautiful 27lb 2-tone mirror.

This then is my starting point but in reality it is seldom possible to find a water with little or no pressure where you can experiment with presentation and with baiting techniques. Nor will switching swims at will or fishing the margins be necessarily a formality. For the most part your fishing will be governed by circumstances beyond your control such as over-crowding, heavy angling pressure, restricted choice of swims and so on.

STAGE 2 - THE BAIT ITSELF

There are all sorts of baits that will instil confidence in carp, ones that will soon achieve the kind of preoccupation that leads to more confident and aggressive feeding, the cornerstone of any such campaign. My preference is for mini and micro seed, blended with pellets, boilie crumb, chops and a small amount of the same neat base mix as the boilies used to make the crumb and the chops. I also usually include a scattering of larger pulses and nuts. Carp often targets the larger food items individually once they have been feeding on the bait carpet for any length of time. For instance, the recent trend of fishing a few grains of maize or sweetcorn over a big bed of hempseed where carp have been seen actively selecting the individual yellow grains from among the mass of hempseed.

Another trick well worth trying is to fish a very light scattering of sprouted particles over a carpet of micro seeds. As pulses like chick peas sprout they give off a very positive attraction.

One excellent blend of micro-to-maxi seeds is the Multi-Seed Mix from Haith's. This is a subtle mixture of micro and mini seeds, formed by mixing equal parts Carpticle (a superb micro and mini particle mixture) and Red Band, along with a handful of larger pulses such as chick peas, black-eyed beans etc. In fact Red Band Conditioner is a brilliant seed blend in its own right containing fine selection of mini particles with the addition of aniseed oil as well as some very attractive mini pellets for added attraction. During the preparation stage some of the small grains actually break down almost to a mush and this actually encourages the prepared Red Band to begin fermenting.

The great benefit of these kinds of micro/mini seed blends is their low cost. A little really does go one hell of a long way and something like Carpticle will keep the carp happy for some time.

Any tiny bait that can be introduced in quantity will have the effect of promoting preoccupation and mass baits like hempseed and groats are perhaps the best examples of single mass baits available. However, most anglers these days seem to prefer a mixed groundbait carpet, one that includes hemp products and maybe some groats, but which offers a wider variety. I have already indicated my own preference for such a groundbait so let me now just outline a recipe that I believe will work well on any water.
It is as follows:

First mix together in a bucket 3 parts of Haith's Euro Mix with one part SuperRed Groundbait. Now add flavour and water and allow the mixture to stand overnight if possible so as to absorb water. The process can be speeded up if boiling water is added. I now add the a few meaty bits such as chopped boilies, boilie crumb and whole boilies.

Having added the bits the whole groundbait is given added attraction by the addition of a handful of chopped or crushed, prepared tigers, a handful of Haith's Peanut Granules and High Protein Crumbs and some CSL Pellets. Finally the piece de resistance!

There isn't a single solitary groundbait or Method mix in the world that cannot be improved by the addition of a jar or two of those sexy little false caviar eggs. You can get them from the supermarket. In fact they are actually lumpfish eggs and only vaguely taste like the real caviar, but as a fish attractor they are beyond compare. They are so brilliant that they are actually banned in France!

The wet mix can then be stiffened to your personal preference by adding Soya flour or semolina. However by far a better way to stiffen the mix is to add neat base mix. The mix is now ready to be introduced to the water and this can be done by boat, remote bait boat, spod, Cobra Groundbaiter or via a good spod such as the Fox Rocketeer. Alternatively you can form the groundbait into balls and bait up by hand or catapult.

Another carpet bait I can thoroughly recommend especially since I developed it myself is the amazing SuperRed from Haiths. I will be honest with you when I say that this product is one for which I have very high hopes, the main reason being because it is based upon the fabulous Robin Red. It also contains crushed Carpticle, crushed hempseed, ground tigers, Red Factor, peanut granules and aniseed oil. In recent tests it has proved very effective indeed. In fact, on a recent trip to the Chateau Lake the combination proved deadly accounting for no less than 86 carp in two five day sessions with fish to 41lb falling to Trigga hookbaits fished over the top of a carpet of SuperRed. All in all I used 30kg (dry weight) of the new groundbait, as well as 10kg of boilies and by the end of the second session I was so exhausted I was glad to come home!

Achieving preoccupation can also be achieved using pellets and of these I rate CSL Pellets very highly. The main reasons for this are the fabulous smell of the raw pellets coupled with the fact that they break down extremely fast, thus laying down a carpet of widespread yet diffuse attraction in just a few minutes. Many pellets take several hours to break down, and while in some situations this may be a positive factor, for the most part maximum attraction is best achieved by pellets with a fast break down rate.

STAGE 3 - BAITING UP

As I said earlier, my own preference is for small waters with a relative lack of angling pressure and I am sure that would be your choice too in an ideal world, so lets start by looking at a water that I fish close to my home in Cornwall, describing how I go about baiting up with mini particles, seeds and groundbait. Initially I aim to introduce a fair bit of bait in areas where I can see if it is going or not. On this particular lake there are no problems with birds as it is very deep in the margins, but obviously on your own venue you have to bear in mind that ducks and other bird life might eat the bait while you are away so in a perfect world you want a lake with deep clear margins and no bird life to speak off.

On one lake that I fish there is an out-of-bounds area where some pretty hairy snags are sectioned off and protected by a rope floating on the surface. This area naturally draws carp like a magnet. It is also a good spot to introduce bait. I can already hear you asking, Why put bait into an area you cannot fish? Well it is more a question of establishing both the carp's and your own confidence in the bait. Even the craftiest carp knows that it will eventually have to move out from the sanctuary provided by the rope in order to feed in the main part of the lake and if that carp has also come across, sampled and enjoyed the same bait he will encounter out in the lake but in the safety of the snags, there is more chance he will recognise it and feed on it. It's a confidence thing and it really give it a boost when you see carp feed on you bait, albeit within the safety zone.

Of course, not every water features such a safe area. That being the case you need to find areas where they are more likely to feel safe. This can be either because the swim is little fished or perhaps due to an area of snags. On every lake you will find an unpopular or lightly fished swim or swims. There may be a good reason why this is so, but often it is simply the case that the swims are unpopular for other reasons (to tight, too shallow, too deep, no apparent features, etc.). Frankly I am drawn to these swims, as I know they represent safer areas as far as the carp are concerned. For instance, there is a swim on Treesmill that was never fished by the regulars until I began fishing the water. In just a few short visits I landed two of the three biggest carp in the water along with plenty of back up fish, proof indeed that, though the swim was not popular with the anglers, the carp loved it!

Wherever possible I try to entice the carp to come in to the margins. It is a fact of carp fishing life that the further we fish from the bank, the less efficient we become. For instance, I can recall watching the Salamander Lake carp eject a perfectly good rig time and time again without the rod tip even twitching. I was fishing a single rod in front and back rests in three feet of water. The rod itself was set back from the edge so that only six inches of the tip protruded over the water. I was up the tree looking directly down on the rig, the hookbait and the freebies lying below me. The road tip was less than six feet from the rig. The fish would eat the freebies and mouth the hookbait, but each time they spat it out and left the area. Later, when a fish that had mouthed the bait plucked up courage to return the previously rejected rig/hookbait was totally ignored; the carp was impervious to all its come hither messages!

And the moral of this tale? That self same rig had accounted for numerous fish from waters that needed to be fished at range, but the question is: How many fish had I missed at range if the Salamander fish found it so easy to eject without any indication whatsoever with the bait lying less than six feet from the rod tip?

Not only can I see if the bait is going, I can also watch carp actually eating it. This is one of the most exciting sights in fishing as it tells you that all is well with the bait, the positioning of the bait carpet and that the carp are gaining confidence. At this stage I have to force myself from getting a bait in there. However, I try it resist the temptation as with every day that passes without disturbance so the carps' confidence in the bait and the area in which they find it grows.

On the other side of the coin there is the more commonly experienced situation where you arrive at a lake to explore and prebait to find it stitched up like a kipper! Now a totally different set of tactics are needed. However, the general plan of attack remains basically the same, namely, try to get them feeding in an area where they feel safe and protected, or in one that is comparatively unpressured. If you can get them used to your bait in these areas, then you can usually persuade them to do so on the pressure spots. That is why I suggest beginning to bait up in unpopular areas. If you did the same in one of the hot swims, putting bait in for a day or two, you will probably find you your chosen area will be occupied when you come to fish it. That's not to say you should neglect the hotter spots but it as well to bear the above in mind.

On a busy lake I try to put bait into several areas (without, of course, upsetting other anglers on the water). This not only makes the carp look more actively for the bait, but also gives me a wider choice of swims when it comes to actually fishing. A good time to bait up (especially if you are sneaky like me!) is well after dark when, hopefully, the bivvy door will be down and the angler tucked up in his sleeping bag. That way you can steal something of a march over other anglers. It might not be much of an edge but it's a start.
Of course, if you are spodding bait to a feature such as a weed bed, a far bank, a bar or plateau, or the margins of an island, there is now way whatsoever that you can cover up your intentions and in cases like these there is little point in extensive prebaiting as you will almost certainly find some scumbag in there when you come back!

STAGE 4 - SETTING UP AND FISHING

First let's look at the preferred situation, a lightly fished lake with low angler pressure. By now you have seen the bait being eaten and know that carp are confident in the areas you have been baiting. In my opinion there is only one way to fish in this kind of situation and that is by stalking. I have caught fish from numerous waters by simply setting the rod down on the bank with the clutch set lightly and watching the line and or the rod tip. No buzzers, bank sticks, bivvies or bedchairs. What could be simpler?

Let me give you an example. In 1989 and 90 I fished a now very famous water in south Devon unofficially called Smirkmere, the home of the famous Smirk and her mates. At the time the lake was relatively lightly fished, especially midweek which is when I liked to go. Mostly I fished one particular spot using the Four Bs method (bivvy, buzzers, bedchair and boilies) but I also always kept a bit of hempseed and/or groats trickling in. (I am no longer in the syndicate so I can put my hand up to this at last as the water has a boilies-only rule!)

One area that caught my eye was an area of bright, clean gravel situated right at the base of the wooden structure that supported a swim. The swim itself was hardly ever fished, being in a dark and cold area of the lake that seldom dried out and nobody liked. In addition it was low in discernible features and generally uninteresting. This made it ideal from a stalking point of view!

For two days I laced the margins with hempseed and a fruit-flavoured boilies and each morning the area had been cleaned out and the gravel polished to a shine!

Mid-afternoon I would reel in my conventional rods and creep round to the swim. Going down on my belly I slithered forward so that my forehead and eyes just cleared the front planking of the swim. If there was a fish in there, I'd wait for it to go away before putting a light scattering of seed onto the gravel with a single boilie over the top. Then I would set the clutch lightly so that line could be taken and place the rod so that only the top few inches poked over the top, the I'd sit back on the grass several yards away from the rod. Now it was just a matter of waiting for I knew, yes knew, that a carp or two would come into the swim sooner rather than later.

I had several good fish from the swim and can well recall one sunny afternoon when I got caught at it by a member of the syndicate who was wandering around the lake prior to setting up. He came along the path to find me sitting back on my heels with the rod lying on the deck. Clearly he had no idea anybody was fishing the unpopular swim, let alone stalking fish in it. "What on earth are you up to?" he asked. Before I could tell him the reel's clutch gave a rasping screech and the line belted off as a big fish left the foot of the swim.
I hope that example gives you some idea of the excitement and effectiveness of single rod stalking, but I will totally accept that stalking is not everyone's cup of tea and is often practically impossible to do on may hard fished waters. That said, it is still possible to adopt a semi-stalking strategy even on hard fished lakes.

Wherever possible I would advise you to use individually placed roads on front and rear rests rather than use the conventional type of set up of buzzer bars and rod pod. By doing so you can fish three separate areas much more effectively than you can with the other set up and the added sensitivity you get when the rod tip is pointing at the bait has to be experienced to be believed.

I hope this article has given you some ideas that you could use on your own lake.