| * There are many big fish rigs and bait | | | | millimetre cubes soaked in amino acids and fished |
| combinations that are little known, or with a little | | | | 2 or 3 on a hair or using two hairs, with the hook |
| adaptation, can bring fantastic rewards! Here are a | | | | wrapped in dough of the same base mix. This |
| few big fish proven ideas to add to your fishing | | | | really fools the big carp! |
| arsenal... | | | | Where pellets have really been used extensively |
| A great little known rig 'edge' for carp is the | | | | and catches are slowing down on them, move |
| normal dog biscuit fished on the bottom! Side | | | | onto 'scalded' pellet paste and fish this bait |
| hook dog biscuits or slide them on a hair as | | | | 'method feeder style' with a great big ball of |
| normal, but fish the rig on the bottom, under free | | | | paste on the hook hair wrapped on a 21 millimetre |
| offerings on the surface. | | | | pellet! Or try using two hairs with pieces of 21 |
| In summer it is often difficult to get 'takes' on | | | | millimetre pellets on, wrapped in scalded pellet |
| pressured big fish waters on the surface, but | | | | paste. This is really great for big carp and catfish |
| many 'free baits end up sinking and being eaten | | | | too. |
| with confidence on the bottom. Try them soaked | | | | I bet you do not hear of this really genuine big |
| on amino acids compounds or flavours any time | | | | fish hook bait method! I have caught numerous |
| of year where the fish see many of these in the | | | | very big carp using this and I am surprised not |
| summer months! | | | | more people have worked out this extremely |
| Using a larger size long-shanked hook and foam or | | | | effective idea: Make up a batch of homemade |
| cork as a 'balance or buoyancy aid on the hook, | | | | boilie baits of roughly 6 to 8 millimetre diameter |
| you can put on many small worms, grubs, slugs, | | | | size. |
| short lengths of lobworms or night crawlers. Try | | | | Then Tie a long hair measuring around three |
| this using a 'ground bait stick' or PVA bag or swim | | | | centimetres beyond the bend of your hook, |
| feeder with maggots. Again this is proving the | | | | preferably a size 4 or 2. Feed onto the hair a |
| downfall of many big fish where the more | | | | cube or ball of foam, cork, or polystyrene about 1 |
| 'conventional rigs and baits' have lost their 'edge.' | | | | centimetre in diameter. Now loosely tie about 8 or |
| Or even try the above hook baits fished with a | | | | 9 of your small prepared baits onto the foam and |
| PVA bag full of crushed boilies! Or try a | | | | hair surrounding it. |
| 'mag-aligner' rig with maggots, alongside 21 | | | | Like the 'popped-up' maggots 'medusa rig' and |
| millimetre pellets and boilies in a PVA bag. | | | | similar hemp stuck with "Bogey" idea; the carp or |
| Another well proven winning method for big carp | | | | catfish has no option but suck in all of this |
| and catfish is to use size 2 hook with a 4 | | | | unusually shaped package of food. It really gets |
| centimetre cube, ball or 'cone' of pepperoni or | | | | around those big fish used to testing and rejecting |
| garlic sausage or luncheon meat, soaked in amino | | | | single, double bait and normal pop-up bait rigs and |
| acids supplement. This might be might be just the | | | | baits... |
| ticket for your first big catfish! | | | | The author has many more fishing and bait |
| How about fishing whole and crushed 21 millimetre | | | | 'edges' up his sleeve. Every single one can have a |
| halibut pellets, carp pellets, salmon pellets or trout | | | | huge impact on catches. (Warning: This article is |
| pellets in a PVA bag, with fish oils added, while | | | | protected by copyright, but reprints with a link |
| using a small artificial pellet on a small hook for | | | | are OK.) |
| some really big wary carp? | | | | By Tim Richardson. 'The thinking angler's fishing |
| I love to use boilies cut down into around 7 | | | | author and expert bait making guru. |