ASK THE EXPERTS
Dear Iain
What is the best bait to use over silt, a pop-up or a bottom bait, and what is a good particle mix to fish in conjunction with your hookbait? What is the most effective method for fishing the hookbait and particle mix?
Rob Rile
Dear Rob
Many thanks for the question. The pop-up/bottom bait debate can, and will, go on for many a year to come, but my own opinion is that it has to be a bottom bait every time. If you think about it logically, there surely is only one reason to fish in the silt in the first place – obviously, there is the rig concealment factor, but the main reason the silt is the key is because it’s full of all the food and nutrients the carp need to survive, so why on earth should you wish to cast out a pop-up and have your hookbait hovering blatantly over the top of the silt? Silt, as I say, is full of food. You place your hookbait in it, along with your free offerings, and it will only be a matter of time before the fish will fall foul of your rig.
Hemp, corn, and tuna make a fantastic spod mix.
As for a good particle mix to fish in conjunction with the bottom bait, I would go for hemp, sweetcorn, and good old tuna every time. What you will have when you mix all three together is the attraction from the hemp, the visual appeal from the sweetcorn, and the oily, fishy, tuna, which the carp go absolutely nuts for!! You won’t need to fill it in from the off with this mix, Rob, the little and often approach will be fine here. Just start off with six spods and gauge it from there. As soon as you’ve received a bite, simply top up the spot with another six spods. The top match anglers swear by this approach, and we, as carp anglers, can learn a hell of a lot from some of these guys.
A standard bottom bait straight from the bag has been my number one choice for several years now.
The method I would adopt for this style of fishing would be the good old lead clip; most of my fishing is done with the lead clip as it allows me, when faced with a weedy or snaggy situation, to discharge the lead, which, in turn, leaves me in complete control of the fish. I would also fish all three rods on one spot. What this will do is maximise your chance of a big hit if the carp move into your swim in numbers. Say, for example, you get the first bite, you’ll still have at least two rods bang on the money while you are playing, weighing, and photographing the first fish. Believe me, this has been the reason for a lot of my big hits over the last five years. It does take some guts to ignore what else is happening over the lake, but it normally pays dividends in the end.
This very welcome mirror was caught from the silty area directly behind the oh-so-blatant gravel patch.
Good luck, and be lucky.
Iain Macmillan
