Free Line 109 — October 2026 - Flipbook - Page 159
ALEX
PAUL HANSON
STEVE
BENNETT
BRIGGS
I t seems only a few fish wo u ld b e c au gh t f ro m a p reb a i te d
s p ot before they would move o n (a ka th e s p o t h a s b low n ) – th i s
h a ppens all too much! For th i s re as o n I s p re a d my e f fo rt s i n to
p rebaiting more than one s e ct i o n to ke ep my o p t i o n s o p e n . I f
yo u find fish on the river o n th e to p , yo u ’d b e w i s e to f i s h fo r
t h em that night . You can o c c as i o na l ly l e ave e m p t y ha n d e d i f
t h e fish are preoccupied w i t h fe ed i n g o n n a t u ra l foo d s i n t h e
swim or holding up in the are a re ady to s p aw n .
Prebaiting a spot for a l o n g p e ri o d o f t i m e c a n o n o c c a s i o n
l e ad you into a false sense o f s e cu r i t y, a ll ow i n g yo u to fa l l i n to
t h e trap of fishing an area yo u ’ve c o m mi t te d a l o t o f e f fo r t to a n d
s u bsequently miss op portun i t i e s e ls e wh ere . T h i s h a p p e n e d to
m e at the beginning of o n e se a s o n wh en I b a i te d u p h e av i ly
by my mooring for weeks b e fo re t he s ea s o n s t a rte d . F i s h we re
b o shing so much it was ke ep i n g me awa ke a t n i gh t , a n d t h en
a s soon as the season starte d, t h e we at h er c on d i t i o n s c h a n g e d
a n d the fish seemed to than k m e fo r fe ed i n g th e m u p p ri o r to
s p awning and disappeare d u p s t re am ! T h i s wa s n’ t a was te o f
t i me in my book, as the fe ed i n g m e an t my m o o r i n g h ad t h re e
a reas that remained clear o f we ed fo r t he re s t o f t h e s e a s o n ,
a n d these spots managed to p ro d u c e s eve ra l c a r p i n c o m i n g
m onths.
You can always draw fis h u p s tre am , b u t d u e to t h e fl ow, i t
i s impossible to attract fi s h d ow n st re am . If yo u wa n t f i s h to
c o me downstream, you wi ll n e ed to wa i t fo r t h e f i s h to d o t h i s
n a turally or be pushed dow n by st ro n g f l o o d wa te rs o r d ro p s
i n pressure. Try changing f ro m p art i c le s to b o i l i e s (a n d v i c e
ve rsa) if you are seeing s i gn s o f c a r p o n o r n e a r th e s p o t s
w i thout a run.
Line lay:
FR E ELINE 45
