On those rare days when a match becomes a fish race, knowing the tips and tricks to keep ahead of your nearest rival becomes critical.
Many top-level match anglers will have edges they use to help them save time on the bank. The less time spent messing around, the more time catching fish. Every second, minute and hour counts if you want to win big money.
Here are five great tips to help you save time on the bank...
FANCY CATCHING OVER 100LB OF FISH ON YOUR NEXT SESSION? HERE'S WHERE YOU CAN DO IT!
Use a bigger hook
Catching quickly means fast bites and, in turn, the fish not taking much time to inspect the bait. As a result, you can get away with fishing a slightly bigger hook, perhaps a 16 instead of an 18 or 20. This not only means more fish hooked – as more point will be on show – but it’ll also allow you to swing fish in quickly with less danger of the hook pulling. Start on a smaller hook and once you’re into your stride, step up!
Try to catch short
If you can, try to get the fish feeding as close to you as possible. This will make for less pole to ship back, thus saving time, and will also let you feed by hand rather than with a time- consuming pot or catapult. Of course, the depth needs to be right to keep large numbers of fish happy – on rivers and drains, this could be just 4m out, whereas on commercials, you’re looking at 7m to 9m as a good distance to target.
Correct pole roller placement
If you need to fish further out, shipping the pole back can be something that eats up valuable seconds. The trick is to not have to look behind you when shipping, but having your pole roller in the right place and at the right height so you can push the pole back on to the roller in one smooth motion. This might only save a few seconds, but when that’s done 100 times it adds up to a lot of potential fishing time you’ve missed out on.
Fish the right shotting pattern
Quickly working out just where the fish are feeding in the water column will see your catch rate rocket. This could be close to or on the bottom, or a few feet off. Wherever this is, the shotting pattern of your rigs should be adjusted to match. If, for example, the fish are on the bottom, there’s no point in using a strung-out rig as this will waste too much time letting the bait fall slowly. A positive bulk-down rig will be much faster. On the flip side, if the fish are off bottom, a bulk will bypass them too quickly and leave you waiting for a bite.
Swing them in
There will be the odd fish that needs netting, but it’s good practice to get into the habit of swinging as many in to hand as you can. Again, it’s all about saving those seconds which, over five hours, add up to a lot of extra minutes. To comfortably swing fish in, your pole elastic needs to be right. Too soft and you won’t be able to do it, too strong and plenty of fish will simply come off on the way in.
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