The fishing potential of some of Britain’s biggest stillwaters is immense, but the sheer size of these venues is enough to deter many anglers from giving them a crack.
Featureless, and often covering hundreds of acres, finding the fish within what many would describe as an inland sea feels like an impossible task.
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England Freestyle Feeder international Joe Jaggar understands the fear that such giant waters instil in people, but believes the majority of anglers have the know-how and ability to unlock their true potential.
“There are enormous venues all over the country that are packed with fish, and it is often down to using the watercraft skills that you already have in your armoury to locate and catch them,” explained Joe.
“Bream travel around in big shoals and, if you find one, there is no doubt that there will be plenty more nearby.
“I live close to Lake Windermere which, as England’s biggest stillwater, is a bit of a beast!"
“It’s over 11 miles long, has a perimeter of over 30 miles, and the depths go to beyond 200ft (none of those are typos!), meaning there are quite literally millions of gallons of water for the fish to explore."
“Yet it recently produced one of my best day’s fishing ever when I had over 200lb of bream in just five hours."
“There was nothing overly complicated about how I attacked the venue, and any angler with moderate experience could master it in no time at all."
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Pick your spot
Where you decide to sit will have a big bearing on how well or badly your session goes. A bit of homework is needed to put you on a reliable area, and there are several things you can do in the build-up to your session.
The first is to look for recent match results. As a rule of thumb, matches tend to be staged on the same areas of big venues week-in, week-out, and the fish get used to being fed there.
Failing that, try to walk or drive past the venue, looking for other anglers to see if there are any spots that appear to be particularly popular. Tackle shops are another mine of information, and the staff are often knowledgeable about the best way to approach waters that their customers fish.
Once you’ve found a spot, use a marker float to lead around and find a suitable bottom. You need a smooth lakebed where the depth either remains stable or only changes very gradually.
Aim to find an area that is within easy casting range, yet far enough out that the bream will settle. In the abyss that is Windermere, I found a spot 30m out that had a depth of just over 20ft. That may sound very deep, but it’s a fraction of what it would be if I went double that distance.
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Prebaiting is king
Chucking a bait-up feeder a dozen times at the start of the session isn’t going to cut it on such a huge sheet of water unless you get lucky, and the fish are very close.
Instead, you need to prebait quite heavily, ideally the evening before your session. The fish need enough time to find it, but not so much that they clear the spot and disappear before you arrive! I feed a range of baits, using groundbait as a carrier, but it doesn’t matter what mix you use.
To plenty of groundbait, add a dozen tins of cheap corn and a couple of pints each of pellets and dead maggots. Form this into balls and fire them out with a specialist catapult. Spreading the feed over a reasonably wide area will keep fish grubbing around for ages once they arrive.
There is an element of expense to this, but it’s an essential part of the plan that can’t be bypassed if you want to get a large shoal of bream in front of you.
THE BEST FISHING WADERS WILL HELP YOU GET OUT INTO THE LAKE IF THE WATER IS SHALLOW.
Prevent tangles
First of all, make an early start so that nobody can beat you to the peg! Once in position you only need one rod, but it needs to be set up in a way that eradicates tangles. Although you won’t be casting any great distance, you are likely to be fishing in deep water, and tangles can occur as the feeder sinks to the deck.
A helicopter rig is by far the best set-up in this instance. These venues are lightly pressured compared to many other types of fishery, and the bream aren’t particularly tuned into our tackle. That allows you to use beefy kit without any qualms. I use 0.10mm braid, a 0.28mm shockleader and a 2ft 6ins hooklength of 0.19mm mono to a size 8 Guru Feeder Special XS. The rod is a 13-footer with a little power throughout.
There is a very steep ledge here at Windermere and, by holding a long rod high as you play fish, you can get the bream over the top of it without your terminal tackle rubbing up against it. The feeder is a 60g Daiwa window. I use the bait-up version, simply because of the volume of bait that you may need to introduce to keep the bream occupied.
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Time your bites
It’s impossible to guess how such wild fish will respond to a feeder dropping over their heads. At some venues it will spook them, while at others they’ll be curious, and home in on the parcel of bait that you’ve just introduced.
Using a stopwatch will give you an indication as to how they are reacting. If you’re getting quick bites, that’s a very positive sign, and regular casting should be part of your routine.
If bites are taking a while to come, then be a little more patient, as they may be backing off the feeder going in and only settling once it has been on the deck for a while. Keep an eye on your stopwatch and see if there is a timeframe in which most bites occur. If every one comes within five minutes, it’s pointless leaving the feeder in any longer.
Try a cocktail
A large volume of bait will draw the fish in and give them a huge bed of food to graze over. Making your hookbait stand out may seem like an impossible task, but my tactic involves the use of something that hasn’t been introduced while prebaiting.
I’ll load the hook with as many redworms as I can, tipping them with a red maggot to provide a visual element. Bream absolutely love redworms and, if your hookbait is the only source in the swim, you’ll increase the chances of it being taken quickly.
White maggots (when you’ve prebaited with red maggots) are another option to offer the fish something unique within your target zone.
