Commercial silverfish fishing offers a diverse and exciting experience. To maximise your catch, employ a two-line approach: a short pole line for smaller fish and a longer line for larger species like skimmers and bream.
When targeting commercial silvers, fine-tuning your approach is key to improving your catch rates. Feeding should be done sparingly—just enough to keep fish interested without overfeeding and potentially scaring away larger specimens. Topping up your feed when bites have almost stopped helps avoid line bites and foul hooked fish.
For roach, stringing your shot out along the line allows you to catch them as the bait falls through the water, simulating natural food movement. If you're after smaller silvers near the surface, tweak your shotting pattern to ensure the bait falls more slowly, matching their feeding habits.
On your 13m big fish line, try fishing at an angle rather than straight out in front of you. This reduces disturbance caused by fishing pressure, giving you a better chance of catching larger, bonus fish that could make a difference in your final haul.
SEE OUR GUIDE TO THE BEST COMMERCIALS TO TARGET SILVERFISH
Short pole line
The short pole line requires finesse and accuracy. Continuously feed casters to maintain interest and experiment with different hookbaits, shotting patterns, and depths to catch various species.
Remember to set your rig up using back shot to maintain a tight line, helping avoid missing bites from fast-biting silverfish. Having this rig set up on the deck and also a version for fishing shallow will keep bites coming if the fish want to come up in the water.
A slim bodied float, 4x12 (4x10 for shallow) 0.14mm mainline with a 0.10mm hooklength and a size 18 hook use a strung out shotting pattern, this is perfect to maintain a slow fall of the bait through the water. You may find that bulking the rig down by placing all the shot near the hooklength will get faster bites if the fish are feeding on the bottom.
THE BEST FISHING POLES WILL HELP YOU MAINTAIN ACCURACY AND HIT LIGHTNING FAST BITES.
Long pole line
On the longer pole line, focus on targeted feeding with groundbait and pellets via a pole pot for larger fish. Be patient and persistent, as bites may be less frequent but more rewarding.
Experiment with different depths to find where the larger fish are happy to feed. Using a slim bodied float, 4x14 again use 0.14mm mainline with a 0.10mm hooklength and a size 18 or 16 hook dependant on your hookbait choice with a bulk and two droppers ensures stability and a positive presentation to snare those better specimens.
Start off the swim with a couple of balls of groundbait laced with micro pellets and a selection of your hookbaits. Keep giving this line a try a couple of times an hour to see if the fish are feeding over the bait, you will usually get a bite quickly so avoid spending much time waiting for a bite. This line may not be particularly productive, but when the float goes under you can be confident it's a better quality fish like a skimmer.
THE BEST CATAPULTS WILL ENSURE YOU CAN FEED ACCURATELY WHEN FISHING THE POLE.
