Martin Bowler’s Adventures
A rig intended for bream tempts a very welcome ‘imposter’
Martin on why big feeders = big carp!
ILOVE the banshee wail of taut line in the wind when a carp is doing its best to part company with me.
The run had come on a cloudy dawn, and with no weed cover the fish had no choice but to run.
At that point the alarm screamed and my second rod sprang into life. Had my hooked carp somehow snagged the line? Unlikely, given that the fluorocarbon I was using was
nailed to the gravel bottom. A double take was my best guess, but what could I do when I was already battling a 30lb common?
I had to let this second fish run unchecked until I’d netted the main prize – not an easy process when a big golden-flanked block of muscle refuses to budge from the margins. With its every surge, landing both carp seemed more and more unlikely.
If I didn’t focus on the job in hand I could end up with nothing, so when at last the carp’s mouth spluttered on the surface, gulping air, my relief was palpable.
There was no time to admire the common, though, as I rushed over to the second rod that demanded instant attention. Alas, the hooked fish had found a snag and I knew from the solid sensation there was no way back.
As the line gave I tried to be positive, because I already had a beautiful fish to photograph and my rig seemed to be extremely efficient.
BIG-FISH METHOD
Time to come clean and admit that I had actually been fishing for bream – but I am old enough not to be surprised by situations like this. As well as that double take I had already caught two other mirrors that night.
For a short while the Method feeder was flavour of the month on the big-carp scene, before it was swept away by Ronnie rigs, Slip Ds and the like. Sometimes the need to stay fashionable trumps effective tactics.
Squeezing balls of groundbait around weighted frames just isn’t carpy but, believe me, that doesn’t mean it isn’t super-effective.
The Method is as deadly for carp as it is for any bream or tench, and now, because it is so little used, fish have no reason to be cautious of it. The perception that it’s difficult to prepare and use is flawed, too.
I like to enjoy the fight from smaller species, so in this instance I was using a 2¼lb test curve rod – but there’s no reason a standard carp rod wouldn’t work. What I couldn’t scale down was the mainline, which was 15lb. Nothing less would take the strain when casting a heavy ball of feed, and besides, I knew how deadly the Method can be for carp. Not being able to land them just isn’t cricket.
My chosen feeder was a 70g E-S-P flatbed, simply threaded on to the fluorocarbon. It came with its own line connector, but I like a belt and braces approach for big fish so I had substituted it for a size 9 Uni-Link swivel that fitted snugly into the housing.
A short 3ins-4ins hooklength is required, and in this case I used 15lb braid to a size 10 Cryogen
“The Method is equally deadly for carp, bream or tench”
Curve Shank, knotless-knotted to incorporate a hair. Bait was either a small krill dumbbell or two pieces of maize.
When the feeder hits the surface it should splash down like a stone, with the mix intact rather than being smashed off on impact. My recipe was a 50/50 blend of Sticky Krill Active mix and Halibut Powder with added fish oil. Once dampened this creates a tacky groundbait that breaks down slowly. For a match angler this would be useless, but I’ll often be waiting hours for a bite so I need the process to be a lot slower.
In the mix I included a small amount of 2mm micro pellets but no large food items – these would be added separately to stop the base mix drying out.
So, when I laid the hookbait into the well of the E-S-P mould, I sprinkled a few pellets, kernels of corn and boilie pieces in on top. Then I filled the vessel with the groundbait before pressing the feeder into the mix.
The result was a perfectly formed Method straight out of the mould with the highly attractive larger food items fully on show.
This highly effective set-up is backed by a short hooklength for maximum bolt effect.
AND NOW TO BREAM
My quest for spring bream saw a change of venue a few days later but my tactics remained the same. Why not, when I was already fishing the best way I could?
A small boilie lay on top of a slowly dissolving pile of
groundbait on each rod, and as the shoal arrived there wasn’t a chance the food could be ignored or the rig bypassed. The first suck and the game was up as the hook hit home in the bottom lip and a barnacled flank spun away in panic. Game on!
Fashion and fads come and go but some tactics always remain head and shoulders above the rest. So if you’re targeting big carp, tench, bream and even barbel in the river season to come, don’t forget the Method. It doesn’t tangle, it’s a super-effective bolt rig, and it marries feed and hookbait together with unbeatable accuracy! Don’t ignore it!