You can visit many commercial fisheries around the country, and they are stocked with Ide, although not indigenous to the UK, they can be found on the continent in rivers like the Danube. The reason why they are chosen to be stocked into commercials in the UK is their aggressive feeding and willingness to feed in practically all conditions.
Have you ever considered targeting Ide in your local commercial that has been stocked with them? They can be lots of fun to catch and you don't need a lot of additional tackle to what’s already in your tackle box. As for the bait a couple of pints of maggots or casters will more than suffice. In this article I will give you a simple yet effective approach to catching a netful of Ide.
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Keep it simple
Ide will readily feed on the bottom, but when you attract several fish into your swim and they compete for bait as it falls through the water, they are far easier to catch shallow and this is the most effective way to catch a netful.
It's easy to be drawn to features like islands, reed beds or lillies, but these can be magnets for carp and F1's, therefore to single out the ide I would choose to fish away from cover in open water. They tend to swim around in large shoals too, so if you can get one feeding, you should be in for a prolific days action!
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The 3 best rigs
With the goal of ultimately getting the ide competing for bait shallow I would set up 3 rigs, these 3 rigs can be used on a short pole or a long pole line.
Deck rig
The first rig to set up is the best silverfish rig that will catch the Ide hard on the bottom, this rig should aim to get the bait to the bottom quickly, with so a strung bulk of shot with 2 droppers is ideal. Use a slim bodied float 0.4g (4x14) with a 1.7mm tip. Using a 5lb (0.16mm) mainline to a 4” (10cm), 3lb (0.11mm) hooklength to a fine wire size 16 hook.
Through the water rig
The rig to catch through the water will incorporate a much lighter slim bodied float, 0.15g (4x10) with a 1.7mm tip and a carbon stem. Shot with 3 No9 shots spaced evenly in the bottom third of the rig this will allow a natural fall whilst keeping a tight line to the hookbait, as the ide start to intercept bait as it falls through the water you will be able to see the bites. I would use the same 5lb (0.16mm) mainline and 4” on 3lb hooklength to a size 16 fine wire hook.
Shallow rig
Finally, the shallow rig will help you to catch much quicker as the ide begin to compete for the bait as it falls through the upper layers. Set up exactly the same as the through the water rig just a much shorter version around 2ft total length this will enable you to search the upper layers by moving the float up and down to find the right depth the ide are feeding at.
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Never put the catapult down
The key to get the fish competing up in the water is to keep a steady stream of bait going through the water, here you can experiment with patterns, but ultimately consistency is the key. Keeping to a rhythm will quickly give you an insight of how the fish want to feed.
Regularly feeding a small number of maggots or casters (8 to 10) at a time, I find this a good starting point to gradually building a swim. As the plan is to catch them shallow, I would refrain from upping the amount of bait I feed at once, I will just adjust the frequency of feeds.
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Kowing when its time to change rigs
From starting on the deck I know it’s time to change rigs once I start to miss bites or have line bites as this will indicate that the fish have begun to compete and come off bottom to intercept the bait. It will trigger me to switch to the through the water rig, again the same indicator will cause me to switch to try and catch on the shallow rig or an even stronger indicator is to see fish swirling for bait as it hits the surface.
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Consistency is key
Once the fish are competing shallow the key is to keep them there and this is achieved by keeping consistency in the feeding, little and often to keep the shoal competing. Feed before the rig goes in, feed when you get a bite and feed again once you have landed the fish. By keeping this rhythm you will be able to achieve a consistent amount of bait falling through the swim keeping the ide competing.
You may find that if bites start to dry up that the fish have simply backed off the feed and by adding half a section will quickly put you back in touch with them. It is important though not to chase the fish with the feed, keep this consistent and going in the same area, trying not to feed beyond your pole tip as this has a tendency to eventually push fish out of reach of the pole.
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