Colin Dance NFA Coach and the team’s advice and tips on how to fish Holme Grange.
Spring is now her and the weather can be very variable, frosts and lots of cold rain can make the fish move to deeper water and stop them feeding so eagerly so we have tried to advise some different methods to suit changing weather conditions.
Method Feeder – suits all weathers but good for cool days or when the night has been cold. We recommend the flat style of method feeder Made by Preston, Gru or Drennan they all work the same way. You can use groundbait or softened Micro pellets on the feeder or a combination of both. Click here to see video on how to prepare. Use micro or 3mm pellets (must be fishery) put them in a bait tub and fill with lake water to just above the pellets, you can flavour them at this point if you wish. Wait for the water to be absorbed, takes about the time to set up, and then you can use them as they are in the mould or add a little groundbait to them to make more sticky or add them to your groundbait. Please click here see a video on how to fish method feeder. Try and fish the same spot by clipping up on the reel and cast often until the fish start to feed, this builds up a carpet of bait. Use a short hooklink of about 4 inches, we sell lots ready made for the job and fish small hooks as small as possible to suit the bait. For example with an 8mm pellet I would use a 14 wide gape hook. Either use a banded hooklink and use an 8mm pellet or use a hair and fish corn, meat, (Cotswold baits do a great flavoured cubed meat) or the Sonubaits S pellets work really well on the hair.
Pellet Waggler – great for calm warmer days when the fish are up in the water.
Click here to see our great video filmed at Holme Grange on how to fish this method. When fishing the pellet waggler it is essential to keep trying different depths from 1.5 feet to 7 feet and find at what depth the fish are feeding. As we have said in the video it essential to keep feeding with a catapult over the float, just 2-3 pellets at a time every time you cast. Keep casting often about every 2-3 mins and try to cast to the same spot. The bites are quite violent so hand on to your rod. At first you may not get many fish it takes a while to get them feeding in your spot and feeling confident.
Bagging Waggler – Good for warm calm days but can work on cooler days
Almost the same as the pellet wagger except you have a wire frame below the float that you put groundbait around. Again vary the depth as the pellet waggler, as the float hits the water the groundbait or mico pellets start to break up and sink and the fish come up in the water to gat the food and take you bait. Again you need to fish in the same spot for the best results.
Conventional Float Fishing – All round good for all weathers.
Standard tactics to suit all weathers, keep hooks small as you can to suit the bait ie: 18 for maggots and perhaps 16 wide gape for corn. Fish close in and feed a little bait often, some small balls of groundbait, or a few maggots or corn depending on your hookbait. Feed every 5 mins to attract the fish. Make your float not sit too high up in the water so that you do not miss bites, put some dropper shot, about size 8 or 10 spaced out along the line starting 6 inches from the bait and add them until just the tip of the float is showing. Click here to see video on how to float fish.
Fishing Zig Rigs – works well all year round
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.
Traditional carp style – works well all year but may not catch so well on hot days and during the daytime.
If you are trying for a big fish our best advice is to fish a big bait possible 20-30mm boilie, do try a snowman as it lifts the rig off the bottom and makes the bait more visible. Use smallish hooks depending on your bait , for 20mm bait use a 8 or 6 and for 15mm baits an 8 anything smaller baits try a 10. Try small baits too, 10mm boilies catch very well or small snowman rigs. P.V.A bags are essential to get some free offering around your bait and use a throwing stick to put some loose boilies round your hookbait. keep feeding – there are a lot of fish in the lake so regular feeding will catch more fish, unless its very cold then slow down a bit – little and often is the best.
Other methods work well but the ones above are the main ones. The pole also works very well at the lake both on the deck and shallow for more info call us or watch our video that shows Steve Mayo at the lake fishing pole shallow. Click here to view.
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.
