This month has been a busy one for me thus far. Work has been busy as well as attending a wedding, so fishing time has been short for me but I have managed to get out floater fishing for a few hours after work. I haven’t managed to squeeze an overnighter in recently because of not having any season tickets to my name which is a bit unfortunate but as pay day is approaching I shall be getting out for an overnighter.

I have always been a massive fan of floater fishing, seeing the fish cruising around on the surface, taking mixers like they’re going out of fashion and keeping them competing, this for me is a great way to fill the odd evening where I have nothing planned.

I got up to a heavily stocked lake close to me where I was adamant I would get a few bites in a few hours and I managed just that. I was mooching through the shed when I stumbled across my brothers hard tip coarse rod. This is an 11ft 1.75lb Ron Thompson rod which comes with alternative quiver tips. This rod has a lovely through action and would be a hell of a lot of fun to play fish on and how right I was. To compliment this set up I was using 10lb Guru Drag Line and a small Shimano Hyperloop reel which was a perfect balance. I have always used normal carp setup for floater fishing but it is never the same landing the fish quickly on what I class as heavy gear, having a bit of fun under a soft tip is great sport.

I got down to the local day ticket after work after diverting my way round traffic. As I walked round there were anglers in pegs that I had mentioned first off so I avoided them areas for certain reasons. As I walked through the gap in the fence and came up onto the top bank of the lake, it was evident that fish were in this particular area. I had stepped down into my first peg and flicked out a controller to get a take straight away but nothing other than a bream! Soon after I got plagued by ducks so moved again, staying active in this sort of situation is the best way to locate fish.

I dropped into another peg and began firing mixers out only about 15-20 yards in front of me only for the fish to start taking the mixers straight away. I flicked the rod out on a trimmed down bit of foam but after 20 minutes of trying, no result? Maybe the foam I was using was too bright and the fish couldn’t pick it out? So I switched to a normal mixer soaked in tangerine bait additive only to hook the first fish of the session a few minutes later.

With the lake containing such a high stocking, I prefer to keep the mixers going out; as soon as the fish glides into the net a few pouches of mixers are fired out to keep the fish occupied. I unhook the fish in the net and either try and get another bite or unhook the fish on the mat and give it a few minutes before trying for another bite.

It turns out that this particular method where I had hair rigged a soft dog biscuit and added a bit of cork for buoyancy was the way forward. I have never been amazing trying to hair rig a dog biscuit but this time I had it down to a T.

I was using a small Controller which was coupled with 6.5ft of 10lb Nash Zig Flo and a small size 10 hook which I had touched up with a sharpening stone to hook any fish that mouthed the hookbait, trust me, some of the hook holds were second to none! To keep the hook all inline on the surface I used a small 1-2mm piece of silicone tubing.

The evening moved on a I managed to catch 6 fish, nothing massive but some real scaly fish which is all part and parcel of an evening session for me. Keeping on the move, staying vigilant and catching fish at any given opportunity. Playing the fish on such light tackle was all part of the fun behind this particular session. It’s nice to get out and catch a few fish before going on home for dinner.

Hope your all out catching plenty, until next time!

Ross