Colin Dance NFA Coach and the team’s advice and tips on how to fish Holme Grange.
Now winter is nearly upon us here is our latest advice to bag more fish…
Carp are much more difficult to catch as the winter moves in so you will need to fish further out than in the summer months. Method feeder, the flat bed style works best and you only need a small one, load it with a good winter groundbait such as Sonubaits Hemp and Halibut. Fish the method with a short 4 inch hooklink for the best presentation and a smaller hook than in the summer… around a 14 or 16. Hair rigged baits work really well and we find that Sonubaits S-Pellet hookers work well or natural baits such as maggot and worm. Use the clip on your reel to clip up so that the method lands in the same place each time. Find a far bank marker such as a tree and cast to the same spot and each time you cast a little more groundbait builds up and creates a feeding area. You may wait a long time for a bite but keep casting to let the bait build up. Cast every 10mins approx.
Click Here to see a video on how to fish the Preston method feeder or Click Here to see how to use Drennan’s latest method mould.
You could also try a cage feeder with groundbait and maggots or worms in the middle and either of these on the hook. Fish a long tail with the cage feeder 15 inches or more.
Zig rigs also work really well as the lake is very deep. Perfect baits would be small boilies or artifical boilies such as Avid’s Zig Lites, these are made for the job. Spod or fire balls of sloppy groundbait and particles over the hookbait to get the fish into your swim and feeding up in the water. Try a variety of different particles so they go through the water at different rates. Ian Russell has used this technique at the lake to catch in excess of 20 fish in the winter months.
If you are using bottom methods and boilies for carp try using 10mm boilies and tip them off with one of Avid’s sight stops, this makes the bait more visible and can provoke a bite. I have found white and pink work well in the winter. Don’t forget to use smaller hooks, if you are using a 10mm boilie a size 12 hook is plenty big enough. Small PVA bags are enough with just a few freebies or try one or two of Nash’s Chain Reactions, great for the winter!
The roach fishing in winter is at its best, use the pole or float fish and fire a few maggots or casters over the bait every minute to get the fish into your swim, keep swapping baits to see what works, a small section of worm, caster or double maggot, this can catch the bigger roach. Fish light and use a small hook 16 or 18 and 4lb lines. You can expect up to 20lb of roach in a good session a good day for anyone!
If you have any specific questions you can email Colin at colin@crowthorne-angling.co.uk for advice or use the form on the contacts page or call into the shop for advice.
