How to catch F1s in winter | Steve Ringer

Steve Ringer explains how staying on the move will help catch more fish in the cold


by Richard Grange |
Updated on

F1 hybrids are a real ‘pleasure and pain’ fish in cold weather. On the one hand they provide bites when the carp have shut up shop, but on the other, they can be one of the most difficult species to catch!

I’ve had plenty of days when I knew there were fish in the swim, but just couldn’t catch them despite trying every trick in the book. That’s the key to catching F1s – always changing things and never sticking to the same spot, same rig, and same bait.

F1s are famed for being a fish that are always on the move. Catch a few and you think that you’ve got things cracked, but as quickly as they arrive, they drift away.

The angler that works this out and moves with them will keep on getting bites, which is why location becomes critical above all else. Find the F1s, and you’ll catch them!

FISHING FOR F1'S ON THE POLE IS MUCH EASIER WHEN YOU'RE SAT ON ONE OF THE BEST SEATBOXES, CHECK OUT OUR GUIDE HERE.

They can be one of the most difficult species to catch!
They can be one of the most difficult species to catch!

Start off dobbing

Once winter arrives, it’s standard practice to start off dobbing for F1s, normally using bread. Dobbing is a great way of finding out where the F1s want to be. If an area dies, I’ll feed a few maggots or micros and get a second run of fish. Don’t just dob tight to features as the deeper water will often be the best area.

AS WELL AS USING BREAD, THERE ARE LOTS OF GREAT BAITS FOR DOBBING ON THE POLE.

Start off dobbing
Start off dobbing

Find the right depth

Depth is key with F1s, so spend some time with your plummet. Nine times out of 10 there’ll be a precise depth that the F1s want to feed at, but this is always changing. On one day it might be 3ft, yet 24 hours later they’re in 5ft of water! If I started at 5ft and had no signs after five minutes, I’d move up to 3ft and repeat the process.

THERE ARE SOME GREAT F1 VENUES THAT FISH WELL ALL WINTER, READ OUR WHERE TO FISH GUIDES TO FIND OUT MORE!

Find the right depth
Find the right depth

Move about

Early in a session it’s rare to catch a number of F1s from the same spot. The secret is to be quick to move. When bites dry up, I’ll move just a metre to the left or right of the original spot. I’m trying to find the fish again, and experience tells me that once I catch a few they won’t have gone far.

WEARING THE BEST WINTER FISHING WATERPROOFS WILL KEEP YOU COMFORTABLE SO YOU CAN FISH AT YOUR BEST.

Move about
Move about

Fish the short line

The ‘short’ line with maggots is a good bet for F1s, often feeding by hand. The earlier you can catch on it, the better chance you have of doing well. I fish this line at six pole sections out and trickle maggots in all day, ready to fish it in the last hour. On better pegs, you can catch for two hours.

YOU DON'T NEED AN EXPENSIVE POLE FOR FISHING THE SHORT LINE, HERE ARE SOME OF THE BEST POLES UNDER £1000.

Fish the short line
Fish the short line

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