ASK THE EXPERTS
This month's winning question:
Dear Panel
Recently I joined a small syndicate water with just nine members, all
of whom catch regularly and at different times of the day. I, however, seem
to catch at night and have great difficulty in recasting in the dark. I
have been told many times about using the horizon or treeline to locate
my baited area, but still seem to struggle finding my way in the dark.
Please help me to avoid the brambles again!
Many thanks,
Tom Dytor
Cambridgeshire
Tom, casting back to your carefully found spots after dark can be an unnerving prospect. It is a perfectly easy task during the day, but as soon as the light fades and you are robbed of your primary sense, it all becomes so much more difficult. You mention that people have been suggesting you use the horizon, or the treeline to locate your spot. This is sound advice but is only half the information you need. If you think about it, you need two pieces of information to be able to accurately locate a spot – the direction (your treeline marker) and the distance; one without the other is useless.
The two small pine trees mark the spot in this swim. I had a number of big fish from that mark
There are a few points you should consider when looking for a treeline or horizon marker. Firstly, make sure it is something that will still be clearly visible after dark – telegraph poles and suchlike are often hard to see on really dark nights. Large trees, houses, or bushes are all ideal – just make sure you will still recognise the silhouette once it’s gone dark. Secondly, don’t choose the spot you intend to fish purely on the basis that it is in line with a particularly big tree, or house for example, as this is probably what many other anglers who fish the swim are likely to do. Find the best spot you can and then see what is available on the treeline to line it up with.
Heavy clouds and darkness loom, but the treeline is still clearly visible. The first tree at the bottom of the slope did the bite for me.
That’s your direction sorted, now you need to combine that with achieving the exact same distance from the bank to be able to pinpoint your baited area. This is done really simply by clipping and marking up during the daylight hours. The first thing to do is pinpoint the spot with a marker float. Once you are happy with the spot, cast out your end tackle a few feet behind the float (depending on the depth) and swing it in on a tight line. Clip the main line into the line clip on your reel and wind in. Recast the rod to check that the lead lands sweetly just behind the float and you get the required donk, or soft landing, dependent on the type of lakebed you are fishing over. I use two small pieces of black electrical tape, folded and trimmed, to mark my line, but orange pole elastic tied in a Grinner around your main line is an excellent alternative.
Two small sections of black electrical tape make an ideal marker. They stay where you put them, are easy to remove, and by using two pieces, you can tell if they have slipped
I place the marker just past the tip ring when the line is still in the clip. That way, once you’ve had action during the night it is simply a case of casting back out slightly away from your spot, winding back until your marker is just past your tip, clipping up your main line and winding in. You can then rebait. Plant your feet in the same spot as they were when you marked everything up originally, line yourself up with your carefully selected horizon or treeline marker and out it goes. Your rig will be as accurately positioned as it was during the daylight! I’ve spent a lot of time fishing day-only waters where I was turning up in the dark and positioning hookbaits for the dawn feeding spell. All the preparation and marking would be done in advance so I would be angling with just two casts. Simple, but superbly effective, as the best edges always are!
A night-time capture. Getting my hookbait back out to the same spot as accurately as possible and with minimum disturbance is imperative
Be lucky,
Gaz
