When the sun’s up, the fish are up. And if there’s one tactic that stacks up the big weights when carp are cruising near the top, it’s the pellet waggler. It’s fast, it’s noisy, and it’s all about triggering competition.
The rig is blissfully simple. The hard bit? Feeding. Because that’s where your session is either a success or failure.
At its core, pellet waggler fishing is float fishing, just on fast forward, with the aim is to create a noisy, constant fall of bait through the water with the catapult, that gets the carp stirred up and rising. Once they start swirling, tails flicking just under the surface, it’s game on.
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The best bait
Forget the gimmicks, sinking pellets are the top choice. 6mm and 8mm give you the best accuracy, though 4mm can be a winner when you’re targeting smaller carp or F1s. At places like Boddington Reservoir, where longer chucks and bigger fish are the norm, 10mm pellets come into their own, the aim is to keep your bait options simple to concentrate on the fishing.
RAIN IN THOSE PELLETS WITH THE BEST FISHING CATAPULTS.
The pellet waggler rig
This hasn’t changed much over years, and for good reason. A short hooklength of 12-18 inches, a short buoyant float (usually no more than 8g), and a strong size 14 or 16 hook is all you need. Keep the float as small and dumpy as rules and conditions allow, you’re not trying to spot shy bites, you’re casting into a feeding frenzy.
Most modern pellet wags are fully loaded, as very few anglers choose to use a waggler that requires split shot nowadays. With pellet waggler kits that slide onto the line consisting of 4 float stops and a waggler adapter swivel.
These secure the float and make changing the float a doddle. One float stops above the waggler and three below to take the force of the cast and ensure they don’t slip.
A handy tip is to leave a slight gap (1cm) between the first and second float stop where the swivel sits, this allows the float to collapse on the strike meaning you don’t have to strike through the float and will result in more hook ups.
THE BEST FISHING REEL IS ESSENTIAL FOR RETRIEVING A PELLET WAGGLER QUICKLY.
Feeding, will make or break the session
The key here is little and often, and I mean very often. Think 4 to 10 pellets every 30 to 60 seconds. Not handfuls at a time, just a nice constant, rhythmic trickle of bait going in to help draw fish into the swim, while keeping them hunting for food.
The constant rain of pellets on the water triggers interest from far and wide, as carp equate the noise to food. The falling bait keeps fish moving interested up in the water, rather than following it to the bottom. You’ll soon see signs of competing fish, swirls, tails, and the odd boil right under the surface.A good sequence is to fire a pouch of pellets out, cast straight into it, and hold on to the rod, as it may get pulled out of your hand before your floats even fully settled.
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Modern tweaks worth trying
If you’re fishing venues where the carp are particularly wised-up, try finer mainlines, this will make casting lighter floats with more control far easier. Choose a wide gape hook, with the hair tight to the bend of the hook, for better hook holds.
Some anglers opt for anti-dive discs to ensure the float sits instantly, these help to stop the float from diving deep in the water when cast, another benefit is they create a louder noise when they land and can help hold fish in the upper layers.
Also don’t ignore a short rod on commercials, a 10ft pellet waggler rod gives you faster casting, much more manoeuvrable, more control, and less faff when playing fish under the rod tip.
Finally, always be prepared to throw a straight lead with a pellet hookbait on this line, just incase you may have fed too heavily and the fish have followed the bait to the bottom. It's always wise to have a chuck on this line from time to time if sport slows but don't deviate from your feeding rhythm.
PELLET WAGGLER IS HARD WORK! MAKE SURE YOU'RE SAT COMFORTABLY ON THE BEST FISHING SEATBOXES.
