How to (fish with an angle)

It is worth taking the point of view that you can learn something new from every fisherman you meet. We all of us have our own ways and methods and they're all there for a reason, often after the reason has long departed.

My methods are threaded through this website. If you let me know and I'll explain as best as I can. Having said that, there are few alternative ways to say "first, find the feeding fish, then present them a bait without spooking them, from as near to them as you can get".

For those who are puzzled by modern fishing terminology I've thrown in a glossary.

"If people don't occasionally walk away from you shaking their heads, you're doing something wrong." John Gierach

• Books
• Angling Glossary

• Chasing butterflies
• Float fishing for Carp

Fishing Books

Contrary to popular belief it is possible to learn stuff from books. Those who say 'you can't learn from books' should be consigned to the special Hell and its Demons reserved for them, along with those who say "he didn't mean any harm" and "boys will be boys" after some careless and tragic event. Anyone who thinks you can "make more than 100% effort" can fry alongside the former. I'd also personally consign anyone who says they don't need a degree as they've been to the "University of Life". Yeah. I've been there as well, plus I have a Physics & Electronics degree*. Also down there, on a rolling boil, are those who really actually believe "the exception proves the rule", missing the point that in this case "proves" means "tests"...

Any circle of hell is also too good for anyone who spends 10 minutes (or longer) in a coffee shop queue and when they get to the till start on the "oh er..hm. I wonder what I want" routine. It is indeed fortunate for those with this special sort of selfishness, that when I'm behind them in the same queue, I don't have my cricket bat to hand.

I'm recently reminded to make provision in the fifth circle for those 'well-meaning' folk who insist on asking "How are you - in Yourself?". If I wanted to discuss that you would'nt need to ask. Bu88er off.

Of late I find myself considering that Eternity with all of Hell's demons, might be too good for people who clump around to where you are quietly and unobtrusively fishing, then stand on the skyline behind you in bright clothes asking you in a loud voice if you've caught any. I'm constantly amazed I'm polite to those such, although I'm hoping that politeness is absent come Judgement day. All those who compound this sin by asking me what bait I am using, disccover that I'm using corn and haven't had any luck...

However, if you are one of the readers, you can do very much worse than start off by reading these:

(*I'd just like to point out I have no problem with anyone based on their academic qualifications, education or ability. None at all. Whatsoever. Or age, race and gender for that matter.)

'Still Water Angling' by Richard Walker. Publisher: David & Charles. ISBN 0-7153-7074

'When Still Water Angling was published in 1953 it was hailed as revolutionary and has been regarded as the standard work on this aspect of angling ever since.'  it say on my copy's dust jacket. Mine's a 1978 re-print. Even with so many "puddles" with "pet" carp in them, there is much in this book that is relevant still, and will help you to understand and to catch fish.

It certainly forms the basis of my "keep still, quiet, and dress down" method. I also keep my end tackle as simple as I can.

'Walker's Pitch' by Richard Walker. Stacks of blunt common sense by the man himself.

'Drop me a Line' by Richard Walker and Maurice Ingham.

This is one of the best fishing books I have ever read. There is a wealth of good fishing tips in here and this along with the Carp Catchers Club, will show you that there is little in today's angling scene that wasn't considered and thought through in the '50's. A great profile of the two authors and the social mores of the times. Post war austerity was still a factor in everyone's lives (petrol was scarce) and colours the already fascinating dialogue. Anyone thinking about fly fishing for trout should read this, and there are also the tapers for both the original carp rod made by RW and the "Light Carp", which is not unlike the MKIV. The latter was designed for 6-10 lines and the former, at a rough estimate was around a 2lb t/c for 12lb line and up, and seems altogether a more useful carp rod than the MKIV.

As Viking Sagas do, this book show's you that people haven't changed much - the bit about MI fishing quietly under cover being accosted by a loud, brightly dressed skylining fisherman for information on carp fishing rings as true today, I've had exactly the same happen to me, but with some 50 odd years interval, so we rediscover that some things haven't changed - there are always those who are prepared to experiment, make up their own mind and do the hard work required to affect changes, which is good to know.

I was chuffed to find that MI had a copy of "I Walk by Night" which I got some 2 years before DMAL. It's a little dusty window overlooking a forgotten world.

'The Carp Catcher's Club' by Maurice Ingham et al.

A classic, which will never be repeated, now we depend on email. So many of today's carp tactics were thought up within these pages, culminating with the record carp capture at Redmire. If you aspire to carp fishing you simply have to read this.

Unlike 'Drop me a Line' though this has a formality and a structure and also gaps in the narrative where things happened in the background, which are fun to speculate about over a beer, but are strictly speculation. We now know the BV thought carp fishing was being led in an over commercial direction for example and disagreed with RW on this. Water under the bridge.

It does feel as if the stuffing went out of the group a little when the record carp was captured and also interesting to know that but for a dodgy hook eye, Peter Stone would have beaten that record.

Certainly RW dominated the group, but not least because he was unwilling to take anything at face value, until it was proved to his own satisfaction, but that is one of the normal (but all too occasional) dynamics of human nature.

For all that, this is another interesting record of the start of carping (among many other equally interesting things), with all sorts of useful ideas, some of which are now de-facto methods, some of which never got fully explored at the time and still haven't and some which have since been shown as erroneous. Also fun to note that the match angling fraternity of the time derided them as "not serious" and labelled them as pleasure anglers. Plus ca change.

Confessions of a CarpFisher By "BB".

This book probably did more for the birth of carp fishing than all the others put together. It's variously interesting, realistic, poetic, matter-of-fact and romantic.

Wood Pool by "BB".

An odd little book, being an account of the stocking of a small lake and its emergence into a small carp and tench fishery, with its problems and delights almost equally well described. Worth reading if your dream is to have your own water. Worth reading on a cold winter evening as well.

Be Quiet and Go A-Angling. Michael Traherne ("BB").

This little book has a spread of fishing experiences and in places is mystical and a bit strange, but I think this volume tells you more about "BB" than many of his books. One to sink into.

'The New Compleat Angler' by Stephen Downes and Martin Knowlden. ISBN 0-7481-0088-1

This is really worth reading through as this has the best description of how fish see the world around them (and more importantly above them) I have ever read. An understanding of this is essential for any fisherman. Leading on from that, I believe, that while drab clothing is sensible (full camouflage gear NOT essential in my opinion), stealth, and particularly lack of vibration is a huge factor in keeping fish close to you and unwary. And an unspooked fish is a lot easier to catch...

This is why I am always happier if there is some cover between me and the fish (even screen of reeds is a help), and colour in the water, while it may indicate feeding fish (which is usually good), means they can't see you either. I would add that the deeper the water is by the edge, the happier I am also.

'The Path by the Water' by A.R.B Haldane.

I heartily recommend this. It's what fishing is all about. If my prose was half as good I'd be pretty pleased as well.

Although it's clear that compared with some Mr. Haldane had a privileged upbringing, his descriptions of fishing by worm and later fly in the tiny brooks near his family's home in the Ochill Hills is finely drawn and a childhood many would dream of having. Long days small stream trout-fishing, packed lunches and the slow-motion passage of time, both bewitch and transport. If the book enthrals a little less when the author move onto the Itchen later in life, that's not the fault of the writing, but is rather the reader's regret at leaving the Ochills behind.

These days no longer exist but then neither do the writers and we are poorer for it.

'By Many Waters' by A.R.B Haldane.

I heartily recommend this as well. Bygone times and attitudes, but the waters are gently evoked. It's enough to make you take up fly fishing...

'Fishing Difficult Waters: Winning Tactics' by Ken Whitehead. ISBN 0-7137-2335-1

All of Ken Whitehead's book are worth reading. He solves problems his own way, and all the better for. A really good angler.

'Ken Whitehead's Pike Fishing' ISBN 0-7137-2335-1

As already mentioned, all of Mr. Whitehead's books are worth reading. It is nice to read books that don't instantly recommend the author's range of tackle as well...much of the reviews and advice on the 'net seem to end with a recommendation for the author's product. Hard to take that advice at face value really.

'Falkus and Buller's Freshwater Fishing'. ISBN 0-09-174067-3

Although orginally published in 1975, this has much useful advice and information on all aspects of Freshwater Fishing - tackle may have changed but the fish are much the same...you'll find a lot of things in here that are being used to day and some that are "in fashion" as it were.

A Ladybird Book about Coarse Angling Yep really. This is a classic. I include it here because of the interest it evoked in me as a nine year old (1970), with terrific colour pictures of tackle and fish. Special mention must be made of the picture of a boy fishing a mill stream with a bamboo cane for a rod. And where else can you see folk fishing with a tie on? Wonderful. Oh yes, and it did also have some good basic information for those starting off along the path by the water, with knots and how to set up tackle and advice on your actual fishing.

'Carp and the Carp Angler' by George Sharman.

This is a great book for any thinking angler. This excellent and thoughtful book has never really had the plaudits it's deserved due to it unluckily being in the shadow of a more controversial book released around the same time. Yes, I mean Carp Fever.

George takes us through his early carp fishing and then launches into a well thought out discussion on catching fish in heavy weed and bubblers, especially those feeding in deep silt. Few lakes now have this kind of silt, but as I fish on two such, I can vouch for his reasoning. There is a chapter on knots and their effectiveness, which raises interesting question and solves them with a new knot. The careful examination of hook sharpened with a cutting edge and outward facing barbs (both tested on self modified hooks) is a testament to one who didn't take face value too seriously as well as having you reach for the whetstone. He show that winter fishing for carp is not the dead duck is was then thought to be. There are many gems hidden in here, I recommend it to all those who occasionally think "I know everyone does this, but I wonder if...?"

In the days of carp books, magazines and articles by the score, most of which are recycled sales pitches, this is a breath of fresh air and it's age has not rendered it obsolete. Although age alone renders nothing obsolete.

'The Carp Strikes Back' by Rod Hutchinson and friends.

A terrific tale of carp obsession that dives into the despair and climbs to the elation and along the way teaches you a lot about carp and how to catch them. A great book for any carp angler, or for any angler of any sort really.

'Carp Fever' by Kevin Maddocks. (1989 10th Edition)

This is a fascinating book. It's been said that it's not a good read but I don't agree. That's like saying 'Moby Dick' is good, but a really good textbook on 'Moby Dick' is not good. This is, for me, a textbook on how to catch big carp consistently but of course it doesn't follow that one reads it for the lyrical prose. I approached this book with some negative thoughts and that serves me right for not making up my own mind.

Much of the carp catching mechanics are not surprising or even new for the time of the first edition. There are echoes of Richard Walker and others and it all it really comes down to the same principle as making Jugged Hare. First, catch your hare…

Location of the fish occupies a misleadingly short part of the book and you can skim it and get the wrong impression. KM spent hours, nay days locating fish in various waters, making special trips and, I've no doubt, recording everything noteworthy with times, wind, temperature and so on. From this database he would make decisions of where and when to fish, in the reasonably secure knowledge that his emplacement and the fish would coincide at the right time. To this he added the detailed records of catches, bites baits and weather until he had as complete a picture as one can get. As Richard Walker and the CCC knew, finding the fish is much more than half of the process. It's easy to underestimate the importance of this both in contemporary terms and especially with todays waters where the fish expect to find your ground bait, consider it their natural food and even home in on the sound of it hitting the water.

Added to this KM fished long unblinking sessions, several days at a time, but don't be fooled here. He didn't catch because he fished long sessions. He fished long sessions where and when he had determined his target fish would be feeding. There's a big difference.

KM seldom loose fed in any volume, the fish were already there (he'd checked), so were his baits. He scorned bivvies as they impeded striking. Even on a campbed he was right next to his rods and although having the benefit of being a light sleeper, he plan was to hit every bite right on cue (I'd have liked a section on how and when to hit bites on various rigs).

Although this all sounds simple (it is, in principle…), having made a massive investment in location, some considerable investments in baits and fishing hours, KM would ensure he hit every bite bar none and lost no fish if remotely possible. He certainly never lost a fish the same way twice. The rod was matched to the job and distance, the line checked, every hook tested and sharpened.

How can you not admire that kind of thoroughness? Even if you, as I do, find this intensity too much for enjoyment; even knowing that it works I couldn't fish this way. But to carry it through like this requires extraordinary focus, strength of mind and purpose.

If the book has faults - the bait section feels a bit like filler, the knot section is brief (I just can't believe he didn't test knots a little more scientifically) and there are rafts of info on locating fish that I'd love to have seen - even just one water as an example, with the hours put into divining the likely spots and the resulting catches, an example case. Having said that, having explained what you have to do, I imagine it's left to the reader to make his own location sorties and record his own data!

Not a purist and less than romantic, KM was nevertheless the benchmark for dedicated, consistent and even ruthless carping. It's not KM's fault that so much of what has followed is pale imitation, bivvie encampment armchair fishers, far from their tip action rods and bolt rigs, more loose feed in a session that he probably used some seasons and stew-pond fish that exist only due to the good grace of that copious feed, locating fish and watercraft cast to the winds, camping site pitches near the toilets and café. The slavish following of the two-rod all-night-session approach but without the hard earned where, when and how, like small boys copying their Dad. But these adherents are no worse or better than the CCC groupies who slavishly buy their B. James MKIV (even today)…[the B. James MKIV was created for the mass market it wasn't the same rod that the CCC used and I think the most over rated rod, but I digress…].

I wonder what KM makes of it all?

Read this then and decide if you're 'serious' or not. I'm not a "serious angler" by any standards, but frankly 99% of all carp fisherman I've ever seen or met aren't either. Today's rod-pod and a bucket of boilies, pitched in the first swim that looks comfy, isn't even a tenth of the way serious compared with KM. Not remotely.

Stuff I've read but haven't got around to saying anything about...so I've given them a star rating in the meantime.

• Rod and Line (Arthur Ransome)****
• An Angler's hours (Sheringham)****
• Moby Dick (Herman Neville)*****

  Yes, I know, a whale's not a fish. What on earth has this legendary tale of near psychotic obsession with a water-bound leviathan got to do with fi...oh. I see.

• The Book of Eels (Tom Fort)***

  A fascinating and timely book on a mysterious and endangered species, who's salvation may yet be that cute fluffy otters love them.

• A Jerk on One end (Robert Hughes)***
• Carp Pitch (Tom O'Reilly)**
• Quest for Carp (Jack Hilton)****
• Quest for the Best (Jack Hilton)***
• Powerlines (Dexter Petley et al)****

  'Fish Running' stays with you (if you've both run and fished as I have), 'The Wilderness Cure' water horse rattles the scallop shell pile in my mind, 'The Last Trout' is masterly and both 'Still Waters' and 'Pond Life''s visceral imagery tells us that those Sepia days of yore might just be figments. Every story in this book is a cracker. You'll read them more than once.

• The Fishing Box (Maurice Genevoix). Translated by Dexter Petley and Laure Claesen ***** Even now I can smell the bleak and in the still watches I fear the frog man.
• A Stream of Life (Bernard Venables)**** Interesting.
• BB Remembered (Tom O'Riley)** Frankly, not quite worthy of the man himself.
• The Floatmakers Manual (Bill Watson)**** So, so handy if you're float obsessed ;-)
• Casting at the Sun (Chris Yates)***** Definitive.
• The Ingenious Hidalgo Don Quixote de la Mancha (Miguel de Cervantes Saaverdra)*****.

  Translated by John Rutherford. The classic tale of a man who didn't get out enough, read way too many books about a long past and chivalrous world that never existed and became obsessed with it to the point of psychosis. See what I did there? Don't be Quixote.

• Four Seasons (Chris Yates)****
• Falling in Again (Chris Yates)***
• The Waterlog Years (Chris Yates)****

***** is outstanding. **** is very good, *** is good. ** usually means I've only read it once, * I never even finished it - in practise this means my three random pages read in the bookshop failed to pursuade me to buy it.





It has always been my private conviction that any man who puts his intelligence up against a fish and loses had it coming. - John Steinbeck

Angling Glossary

Words have great power. What you call something can change the perception of it in a quite startling way. For example "wind farm"…you're no doubt thinking of lush grass waving gently in the wind while silent and elegant turbines rotate in the rural background while sheep graze. "Wind power station". Now what are you thinking?

See? Well, fishing has similar examples and frankly some are worse. Some are confusing. Some words have changed their meaning altogether. Some mean different things depending on who you are. I offer up my own explanation for the old and the new and also those words for which the meaning changes according to the user.

Anglers and fishermen often ascribe different meanings to the same word or phrase. Confusing? Not any more.

A  B  C  D  E  F  G  H  I  J  K  L  M  N  O  P  Q  R  S  T  U  V  W  X  Y  Z

"A"

• Angler: someone who fishes with an angle, as opposed to a fisherman, which is someone who just catches fish.
• Anti-eject: euphemism for "self-hooking".
• Anti-eject rig: a cunning device which allows fishermen not to have to bother about working out when to strike, or indeed, even needing to be there at the time.
• Artificial Sweetcorn: a cunning method of getting money off one who hasn't considered that a whole tin of real sweetcorn can cost less than one grain of the artificial sort.
• Artificial Bread flake: a cunning method of getting money off one who hasn't considered that a whole loaf of actual bread costs less than a piece of artificial bread. And the loaf makes a handy snack.
• Artificial Maggots: a cunning method of getting money off one who hasn't considered that half a pint of real maggots can cost less than one artificial maggot.

"B"

• Badooshbag: A fisherman who is using a 2-3oz bolt rig, casting only 30 yards with both rods and has to check his bait every 30 minutes. Baa-doooosh! Baa-doooosh! Baa-doooosh! Baa-doooosh! Yeah we know you're there, so does every fish for 300 yards.
• Baggin': like match fishing but with none of the grace or charm.
• Bait boat: forerunner of the spod and these days a useful target for sustained catapult fire.
• Bite Alarm: Noisy ill-named device, which might be renamed "self-hooked fish finning it to the horizon" alarm. When used with the anti-eject rig, enables fishing to be carried out from your mate's swim on the other side of the lake. It's a wonder they haven't fitted GSM modems to them so you can get a text on hook-up and then you can pop home between fish, avoiding all that tedious sitting on the bank.
  (If you think that's extreme a carp can reach 30mph. That's 44 feet per second. If your bait is less than 44 feet from a snag and you're more than 1 second from your rod, you don't deserve the fish and all the 'safe rigs' in the world won't stop the fish getting snagged.)
• Bivvie Peg: A handy device for ensuring that even if you are fishing 70 yards distant, dressed completely in 'real tree', you can make enough noise and vibration to scare those far away fish as well. And as everyone knows, the further you cast the bigger the fish are.
• Bivvie: a tent-like device for containing all the comforts of home for those who fish to get away from it all.
• Bleeper (serious fishing): Electronic bite indicator, used at maximum volume, allowing the user to hear it from variously, 50 yards up the bank where they were having a chat, the next county, the car park or the pub. Also used for waking them and everyone else on the lake from sleep and scaring birds. See Bleeper (angling).
• Bleeper (angling): One who uses an electronic bite alarm. See Bleeper (serious fishing).
• Boilie: a hard round lump of high protein food that can be readily bought in copious quantities and flavours for anti-eject fishing. The consistent way carp are continually and repeatedly caught on baits of the same size and shape, does tend to undermine the assertion that they are really cunning. "As cunning as a fox". Yep, seems OK. "As cunning as a carp". Hm. Needs work. "A Cunning Stunt". Getting there...
• Bolt Rig: Anti eject rig used with a heavy weight so the fish hooks itself with no further interference required by the fisherman. In other words a self hooking rig, removing most, if not all of the skill. Of course no-one does that, because there would be no point to it.

"C"

• Cautious fish: fish living in a pressured water. Avoids mentioning why they are so "cautious". "Perpetually nervous about eating at all" would be more accurate.
• Clooping: A feeding technique carp use to suck all the bread off yer hook in one go, leaving it dangling bare and all Tod Sloane. Ba$tards.
• Cr*p: Anagram of Carp.
• Crucian Carp: Smaller cousin of the Common Carp, this has the good luck to be too small for "serious" carp fishermen and the bad luck to be descended from Goldfish. The casual disregard for fish movement means that many of the pure Crucian carp in the county are now hyridised with goldfish and their various relatives. Another species on a knife-edge. Well done everyone. If you know where there are any Crucians, keep it to yourself.

"D"

• Double (serious fishing): the only carp that count.
• Double (angling): a more generous than usual measure of Glenmorangie or Talisker. I recommend the "Glenmorangie Quinta Ruban". Laphroiag is good, as long as you like alcohol strained through burnt seaweed ash (I do).

"E"

• Eel: an almost eradicated species with one of the most fascinating live-cycle of any fish, which has the bad luck to not look as cute as Pandas, baa-lambs, fluffy-bunnies or otters, although it may outlast the panda, a devolved carnivore that's backed itself so far up the vegetarian alley it can barely find the energy to mate. Way to evolve. Odd though, as the radical vegetarians I've met are rabid sociopaths. Or pathological idealists. So hard to tell them apart isn't it?

"F"

• F1 Hybrid: colloquially a cross between a common carp and a Crucian carp retaining the streamlining, stamina and raw power of the Crucian and the impish character and gilt beauty of the common carp. Luckily it can't breed.
• Fisherman: someone who catches fish. Inshore netting, drift netting, trawling, long lining or harpooning. All fishing.

  "G"

• Gudgeon: Gobio gobio. A small bottom dwelling river fish, which is easy to catch, beloved of all young anglers because of this and ounce for ounce has to be one of the hardest fighters in the water. A fish which embodies the spirit of angling. Isaak says. See Gonk, Gobby.
• Gonk: Best slang name for a gudgeon. See Gudgeon.
• Gobby: Second best slang name for a gudgeon. See Gudgeon.
• Gloucester Old Spot: A short pig with an unfortunate manner, which may well be linked to it being endangered (as a species).
• Grass Carp: A non indigenous fish, allegedly introduced to clear weed. This doesn't really work. Has the ascetics of the ugliest bits of a chub crossed with a mullet and fights like a wet sock. Useless things.

"H"

• Hook (angling): what you put the bait on.
• Hook (serious fishing): what you tie the 'hair' on.
• Hook (tackle industry): device used to persuade serious anglers to part with their cash, in exchange for this year's fashion. Like the not really necessary move from 3/8bsf to 10mm threads, meaning everything has to be changed. Then 2 rods to 3 rods, everyone buys another rod and reel, then going from camo rod pods to stainless steel. Ooh ooh, must have a spod rod. Ooh and a special marker rod. Change tackle again...good game, good game...ker-ching.

"K"

• King Carp: as in, "Have you had any tench?" "No, just another 'king carp."

"L"

• Lefty: nickname for a careless spodder. See Spodding (serious fishing).
• Long-lining: is a commercial fishing technique. It uses a long line, called the main line, with baited hooks attached by means of branch lines called "snoods". A snood is a short length of line which is attached to the main line using a clip or swivel, with the hook at the other end.

"M"

• Match fishing: like angling but with only half of the grace and charm.
• Margin fishing (serious fishing): Fishing one of you pod's rods' bolt rigs in the margin of the water, 50 yards down the same bank as you are. As opposed to the margin 80 yards across the lake.
• Margin fishing (angling): fishing under one's rod tip relying heavily on stealth and quiet to avoid scaring fish which may be only a few feet from you.
• Method feeder: a way of combining a dustbin full of fish-food with an ant-eject rig and bolt rig into one big splash. Baa-doooosh! Yeah. Big. Grrrr...and only 50p a cast.
• Midnight Mass: a quiet libation, usually a double (angling) to celebrate another fabulous dusk by the water.
• Moorhen: an aquatic bird that's so stupid even the swans and carp have noticed.
• Mug Fish: A carp that's so stupid, that even fishermen have noticed.

"N"

• 'Nail the boilie on the carp': A variation of the old party game "Pin the Tail on the Donkey", except you don't need the blindfold, silly hat and there is less guesswork involved. Well the blindfold bit's true.

  "P"

• Pellet: Like a boilie but a different shape. Clever. Might fool the really cunning carp. Luckily a lot of reared stock fish were fed on pellets so they tend to work really well.
• Perch: the small perch is the young angler's first catch, mostly. Despite the elegant theory expounded in "On the Origin of Species" (C. Darwin) and years of natural selection 'by worm and boy', the Perch has not yet evolved sufficiently to recognise that hooks=bad. Just as well. See Stripey, Sergeant.
• Plastic Hemp: Sorry, words fail me on this one.
• Pleasure fisherman: a term of veiled abuse used to describe anyone who isn't "serious" enough about their carping to use 3 matched state-of-the-tart rods and rod pod, a bivvie and various self hooking rigs and remote alarms. On the upside, it suggests the serious fishermen are not having much fun, which is something pleasure anglers can live with.
• Pressured water: a water where all the fish have been caught so many times the only way to catch them easily is with anti-eject rigs. On top of that the "natural" food for the fish is now almost all boilies. So: twitchy fish that are scared of boilies, which are now their staple food. Nice. Well done everyone.
• Pasty (match fishing): A small carp of any sort in the ½-2½lb bracket, handy when trying to bag up.
• Pasty (angling): A handy lunch for the long session angler or indeed the short session. The traditional Cornish pasty is filled with beef, sliced potato, swede and onion and then baked. Very nice.

"R"

• Real tree: An amazingly effective camouflage pattern, which means that when you are fishing at a distance of 70+ yards, you can't find anything you just put down.
• Rod hours: how long it took me to read "The Carp Strikes Back".
• Ron Thompson: A totally ficticious angler used as a brand name for some budget tackle. An excellent example of a hook (tackle industry). Almost as good as "stones".
• Ruffington, Sir Thomas of: the best ever slang name for a ruffe. When catching a Ruffe, the fish is to be shown to your fellow anglers with a flourish while exclaiming "Sir Thomas of Ruffington!". A mock fanfare, while strictly optional, is strongly encouraged.

"S"

• Safe Rig: a bolt rig designed so that if the line breaks, the weight comes off so the fish isn't towing around the big weight. Well that's all OK then, perfectly sporting.
• Sergeant: affectionate name for the Perch. See Stripey.
• Serious fishing: fishing with all the latest gear in decent water with proper laid out swims with none of that undergrowth stuff and annoying weeds, with three matched rods and reels and all the latest gear as well as those new rigs for the most cunning carp. Or possibly the latest 38 meter carbon composite baggin' solution (a bargain at only £1,999) with special 'grunter' elastic for match fishing.
• Silver Fish: term used for all those confusingly similar and unworthy non-carp fish that clog up your hook when you're trying to 'bag up'.
• Spodding (serious fishing): A way of casting huge amounts of bait in a small plastic medium range ballistic missile ("spod") accurately (more or less) to distant parts of a large water. Used in conjunction with special 'spod-rods' (more tackle, kerr-ching) and with fine diameter braid mainlines they can also be used to remove troublesome fingers. Handy.
• Spodding (angling): as in "Spodding hell, here come the serious carp anglers, let's go somewhere quiet."
• Stripey: affectionate name for the Perch. See sergeant.
• 'Stones': a special fish-tricking ledger weight made to look like a stone. In fact one range are, er, stones with a hole drilled in them and a swivel cemented in. I'm pretty sure I can buy a 50lb bag of pebbles for the cost of half a dozen of these and a tube of araldite and swivels plus a small masonry drill for about the same. £1.25 for a pebble. Almost genius. Describing then as environmentally friendly is good as well.
• Swan: a large white, outwardly graceful aquatic bird the basis of countless poems and pieces of elegant music inspired by its apparent beauty. Cobblers though. A more ill tempered, mean, aggressive, stupid and vicious bird has seldom been seen on the water. Talk about judging a book by its cover. Even the childless and jealous Aiefe turned Lêrs' children by Aebh into beautiful swans because she was jealous. Then again, perhaps she was smarter than the legends say.
• Swan shot(1): large split shot, so called, as this was the pellet size originally used by wild-fowlers for shooting large aquatic birds.
• Swan shot(2): a good result, some might say. I wouldn't, obviously.
• Swim (serious fishing): All the water between yer margin rod's line and the two other rods' lines that have baits in the water at various and extreme distances from you, whether you have paid for all the pitches you are taking up or not.
• Swim (angling): the water from you to the midpoint between you and the next person fishing.

  "T"

• Traditional Rig: when the bait is actually on the hook and you pay attention yourself.
• Traditionalist: a convenient label of veiled abuse used by long-liners to denigrate anyone who thinks long-lining is not angling. This avoids considering the possibility that it might not be and further convinces yourself that the rejection of the method is based on it being 'modern', as opposed to it being, for example, 'soul-less trapping'. There are very few actual traditionalists and why not? There are quite a lot of anglers as well.

"V"

• Volume control: redundant knob, usually at the rear of a bite alarm.

"W"

• Watercraft: the almost obsolete art of sizing up a water and the prevailing conditions, factoring in the previous weeks weather, the highest DO, your own experience and working out the best place and method to fish today. Of no use at all in places where the sound of food hitting the water brings the fish scampering over for a bit of a free feed. Or the sound of specially designed splashy floats for that matter.
• Whacker: A slang word derived from the verb whack, colloquially "to masturbate".

Chasing Butterflies...(a work in progress)

I'm currently addicted to surface fishing and pursue it with the stupidity of a dog chasing a butterfly, flying in the face of all common sense. I'm no expert though, I can tell you, but at the very tail end of the 2008 year and for a lot of 2009, I surface fished and 2010 kicked off on Jan 1st with two carp and three chub off the top. I've read a book or two (Chris Ball's is excellent) and learned as I've gone along and despite my novice status, I'm sharing what I've discovered so far…

The first attempt, late 2008, was with the plain biscuits out of the dog's kibble and more by luck that judgment, soaked them right and caught three carp at Arfleet, despite being hampered by the biscuit being destroyed by rudd in 5 minutes. Despite a good bag (for two hours on this lake) I didn't do it again until I stopped at Barton's Court and got a 10lb fish at the last gasp of dusk, on the same floaters. OK then.

The first thing to note is that it's a thrilling way to fish. Really. The adrenalin rush is huge, it's often frustrating and hugely satisfying. You can catch a lot of fish. Despite what you read very few folk bother and nearly all of those that do use boilies and mixers, despite there being plenty of other baits fish are not used to being caught on. The other big plus is that you really learn to find fish - it's mandatory really, unless you fancy chucking in your bait at random…

On the whole it's a very simple method, needing a only a rod, reel, line and a hook for most of your fishing.

I stick with the Cardinal 66 most of the time and use mainline from 6-14lb. Main line is normally Stren Original Clear (not blue). This is low visibility, tough and just sinks when wet. If I need finer hook lengths or lower visibility I use Preston (a bit shiny, visible and it really won't sink much) and have used flouro but have abandoned it, it's just not reliable.

Rods: a Harrisons Avon, a Hexagraph Avon (both 11ft & 1½lb t/c), an ESP Floater rod (12 ft & 2½lb t/c/ but stripped and rebuilt with a proper ringing pattern) and a Fox Floater Special (12ft & 2lb t/c but a very soft tip). If I'm planning to floater fish I tend to use the ESP, but the others are used often. I've had some fun sessions with a Chapman 550 as well.

Strategy

It pays to have one - although this is the easy part.

Here's mine. Find your fish, ideally feeding fish. Then get as close to them as is possible without spooking them. Get a bait to them without spooking them, on tackle strong enough to get them out.

"Always remember that the objective is to get them 'out of there' and 'onto here'" Eugene said one afternoon at the Rye Dyke when we wondered aloud at the sporting ethics of landing a 2lb roach on a Bruce and Walker CTM 11ft S/U.

If your strategy is to find a lake with lots of big fish conditioned to live on HNV bait, pick a comfy swim, bung out three of the said HNV baits at random and wait for three days on the off-chance, then you're on the wrong website.

(The astute among you will have realised that this is my strategy for almost all of my angling.)

Tactics

OK not so easy. In fact the next bit is by far and away the hardest bit.

Finding the blighters

If you crack this you're over halfway there with any fishing. Really. What the great books and anglers often do is mention how important finding the fish is, then write a few pages on it, leave out swathes of useful info. and skip blithely onto the next ¾ of the book...'Carp Fever' and 'Still water Angling' both a bit guilty here, the former more than the latter, in fact location is all. Well almost.

Consider this for a moment: the best tackle in the world is worth nothing if the fish are not present. You've got more chance with crap tackle where the fish are. 100% more chance with one rod in the right place than three in the wrong places(s). It's that simple.

Bafflingly, nearly every fisherman you see gives this no thought whatsoever, but plonk themselves into their favourite swim or one which looks OK. Job done. Fair enough if you're not bothered and it really is. If you are happy just being there with fish strictly a bonus, then why not? I've done it.

It's also hard to get right 100% of the time. I'd settle for 50%...

Here's what I know about this. Firstly, if you can see carp feeding on the surface, then there are carp feeding on the surface.

Bit obvious? Well, can be, but sometimes carp are very fly and hardly make a noise or a ripple. They may be under weed or trees, and only the slightest disturbance will give them away. I've had baits disappear in front of me with hardly a sound or a ripple...so really here the first point is to observe. You're looking for the obvious things (clooping for example) but also the not so obvious.

'Water Devils' spin, carp don't...you need to watch the surface for any unusual movement of the water, this is hard when there's a ripple but time and experience will tell. For example, small and transient flat spots in the waves. Calm water makes thing easier, but often the only indication that you'll get then is the slightest shimmer of the surface.

Carp often have regular patrol routes. If you mark one such on a day of good visibility, then it's worth laying a trap for the day when the fish are not so obvious. On a lake, the fish almost always move clockwise around the margins, for the same reason the shadow on a sundial does.

Lastly, the windward end is usually the right end, summertime at least, as it's the end with the highest DO (dissolved oxygen) and when it's really hot, this is the cool end. And while flat calm conditions always look great for surface fishing, a bit of a ripple is better as it hides you and the line.

In colder conditions it's often worth re-thinking this last point. In cold weather (10°C and under) carry a thermometer for this simple check: is the water warmer than the air or vice versa? This tells you whether the windward or leeward end is likely to be warmest. The warm end, usually, is the place to start fishing.

If you only fish for fish you have observed are there, then you'll do well...

• If you come across a drift of debris on the water, caused by the wind piling stuff up, then fish against the edge of it.
• Don't be frightened of snags and weed. Carp are very bold when they think they are safe. The key is to use a strong rod (2.5lb t/c) and 14lb/17lb line and don't give an inch, screw the clutch down. Size 4 hooks and up. With lilies you have to hold them, but with Canadian pond weed steady pressure will often win out as well. For lilies if the rules permit it, use a 3-4 feet length of 16lb super braid as a weed cutter, but ensure the main line can take it and the hook length (at least 2 feet long) is considerably weaker that the braid. That includes the knots to join it all up.
• If you are sure fish are about, but have little sign, then flicking in a few mixers with a spoon will often get fish moving around to check out the bait.

Spook them not...

So, finding the fish is key. Then having done all that hard work, you scare them off. So you are in effect back to the "zippo" point above. See why that's a big deal yet? Good-oh.

First off then, movement. Most fish are prey animals (a fancy way of saying they're lunch for something else). Nearly all prey animals react strongly to sudden movement, so move slowly and steadily.

Secondly, the skyline around a water is virtually constant on most waters. Sudden changes to it are suspicious. So keep off the skyline.

Thirdly. Clothing. Blend in. There's nothing wrong with "real tree", it works. But dark greys and olive greens are fine, you don't need the full commando. Hats are fine, but no silly colours. No red's whites and blues. Don't be like the chap I saw recently who walked around every swim in the lake in a red shirt, blue shorts and a red hat, clutching a big orange bag of mixers, tossing a handful into every swim. An expert in this field to be sure.

And don't forget the face. It's very very visible and if you want to get really close to a surface feeding fish, try a veil, old landing nets or bee keepers'. One may not look ever so cool, but on the upside folk will walk right by you. Always fun to cough suddenly then.

Also, as mentioned above, carp patrol predominately clockwise, so if you have a choice and the cover is there, keep close to the right hand side of the swim's cover.

Sound and vibration. Fish react strongly to vibration and noise, even voices (low frequencies especially, they travel further in water). Here is a list of things which cause enough vibration in the water to put fish down in a 100 yard radius. Dropping tackle boxes. Hammering in banksticks. Idly whacking some item of tackle on the ground because 'yer bored'. Clumping your feet. Running around to yer mate for a chat. Radios. Sitting down so hard on your box or chair I can feel it. Yakking loudly on your mobile. Bivvie pegs, insertion of.

Now it might be that you are fishing at range or on a water where fish are used to the clump of fishermen, so why bother? Well, I'm here to tell you that even in waters where fishermen are commonly about the bank and the fish are used to the sight and sound of them, they'll still take a bait much more readily if they think no-one is there. Oh yes.

Getting them the bait...quietly

Ok then. You've spotted them, sneaked up on them, now what? Well of course you set the rod up before you started the spotting and sneaking. No? Should have mentioned that. It's worth assembling the rod and tying the end tackle, even if it's just a hook by the car...the first time you spot a fish and try, without spooking it, to set up a rod and get it a bait will show you this is worth the effort.

What next?

• To get crust a long way without a controller, use PVA string. Tie a second crust onto the string, tie onto the hook bend halfway through baiting the hook and then it will lob miles, as long as you keep the PVA link length short, less than an inch - the reason for this is a little gap between the "weight" and the bait will make it fly as a single projectile, which extends casting more than you might first think. The biggest problem with controllers is that the leader and bait present a huge drag which will often mean using a 10g controller with a bait, when a 3g would go that far on it's own. PVA string then dissolves etc. Do take the trouble to work out which is the bit with the hook in after you've cast, then you'll strike at the right take...
• This idea can be extended (once you have PVA string which can stand a cast) and bits of stick and pine cones, as examples, can be used to extended casting range without using a controller. Although there is a maximum range whatever you stick on the end, this is particularly useful for getting a single mixer on a smallish hook 40-50 yards. On some waters all controllers are viewed with suspicion.
• Use the same PVA string to make strings of mixers, which gets loose feed in the same spot as well as getting that same spot further out.

Baits

There are no magic baits of course, but there are some good staples and contrary to the overwhelmingly self serving opinion of the angling press, you can buy nearly everything you need at any supermarket.

Mixers

I use a plain supermarket mixer biscuits. Stick them in a tub, cover with boiling water, shake for 1 minute, drain the water and stick in the fridge with the lid on. In the morning they'll be fine for floater fishing. At the boiling water stage you can add flavouring, colours etc. Green is good for bait where there is a lot of birds (they can't spot it at distance). I use all sort of flavours, the water from sweetcorn, water from the hemp flask, fish sauce, anchovy sauce, tuna water, strawberry, pineapple juice, All good. Pineapple and hemp seem to work the best. You can freeze and re freeze these baits.

The other method is to add about 150ml of liquid to 1lb of biscuits and shake them (a bag is best) until all the liquid is absorbed. Leave over night in the fridge. I find this works better if the liquid is very hot, boiling. I think the air in the mixers is expanded out and as it cools the liquid is sucked in.

You don't need expensive flavours, you can use cooking Strawberry flavour and colours and pineapple juice reduced by half in a pan is very strong. Vanilla's not bad, and anchovy sauce is good but you seem to need a lot of it to really flavour the mixers, so for llb of mixers two table spoons of the sauce and top up with water to 150ml. Shake well, microwave to boiling, then add to mixers etc...

Bread

A good white unsliced sandwich loaf my staple bait. White is more visible, wholemeal tougher. If you can get bread baked the old fashioned way with yeast, the smell is better and the bread is tougher. Most supermarket bread is not baked this way...you can do a lot with bread. Big bits of crust work, two smaller bits back to back hide the hook and cast further and flake, pinched around the line hide the hook completely and will often get a take when crust is treated with suspicion. Often, when mixers are being treated with suspicion, a big bit of bread will get a quick take as it's less familiar and greed also pays a part.

It can be worth dunking crust quickly before casting, as if the bread is hard when it lands you will not hook an instant take (it does happen). A thin slice of a mixer biscuit cut with a sharp wet knife and place between the hook bend and the crust can help it on when casting.

Other baits

Supermarket shelves are stacked with interesting ideas, the three most useful I've found are naan bread, crumpets and pizza bases.

Naan bread (at least the ones I buy) need taking out the packet and drying overnight to get firm enough for putting on a hook. On a plain naan, the slight spice smell seems to attract the fish, even suspicious ones and I've had fish take naan and swim past bread to do it. It's quite tough and casts well and resists small fish.

Crumpets are tough but soft and cast well. The downsides are, that they are very holey and can present a challenge to hook, they also don't deform when slurped. So if you use a big bit, it resists being taken. Again get the good ones, the yeastier the better. Having made crumpets from scratch at home (OK the Marmiteangler did), I recommend those as a floater bait...

Pizza base is custom built crust and foiled packed with a yeasty smell. Ideal for keeping handy, just in case. Good for casting.

Strawberries float…on most water strawberry flavour is used...marshmallows can work well. Worms using a cork ball or injected with air are good, but everything likes them. If it floats and it's edible it's worth a try. All baits can be tweaked with flavour, bank-side I use strawberry, hemp oil and anchovy sauce (Lea & Perrins). A touch from the top of the bottle is all you need to differentiate your hook bait.

Odd bait stuff...

• Worms make good floater baits if you can inject air into them. This doesn't always work in practise (always looks good in the books) so 6mm cork balls can do the job. Put a slit in them and push it over the hook so the slit if toward the hook bend. Use a long shank hook. If the worm won't stay on, use a latex float stop to keep it on the hook. Watch out for pike. Use wire and floater fish for pike? Interesting idea…
• Damsel flies also a good bait...so are slugs, twitch off a lily pad into a fish's path. Cork balls are useful again.
• Often, on pressured waters, single mixers are viewed with suspicion and large baits, several mixers or bread in big bits will work better.
• A fish is a fish...carry a few other baits. Easy ones are a small tin of corn and/or a small bag of cockles. If you find a feeding fish, might as well have at it.
• If you want to band hard baits on a hook don't buy bait bands, buy pleating bands (for horses) and double them. £1.50 for 500. Clear, black and brown.
• Use scissors to cut crusts into baits that give you the best casting, cutting two bits around 1 inch in diameter and then mounting them back to back for example. Rough torn pieces are fine but don't cast well so you'll need to decide on distance without a controller or shape. Fish can't tell the difference.
• If birds are a problem, mixers dyed green (and flavoured) especially when fished in or against weed or bushes will attract a lot less attention.

Controllers

I don't use them much. I prefer to fish near rather than far and find that most off-the-shelf ones are designed for 50+ yard casting (I assume). I can get crust 30-40 yards and 2 mixers on a size 4 some 30 yards, 3 on a size 2 go miles...having said that small baits and longer ranges are often worth a go, so I made some flat controllers. Cut ¼ balsa sheet into ¾ strips, and then cut a groove for a cleaned biro refill tube and put solder wire (lead free…) around the stem. When it's about right, glue the halves together with wood glue to get a square section and set to with a sharp knife. When approx. bomb shaped (tube central), smooth with sandpaper. Then I seal and paint matt green/grey, the colour of stuff that's been bobbing in the water for a bit. These cast OK, I've made about 8, for less than the cost of one off-the-shelf.

I plan to make a few out of sticks off the apple tree, just cut, sealed with either wire through the middle or just s swivel glued in.

One of the most effective controllers I've used is a large porcy quill, self colour, just put on the line with silicon tubing at each end. It's got weight and being streamlined, casts like a missile.

Line and Hook lengths

I'm not convinced that flouro is any better than clear nylon per se and although it occasionally seems to work, I've found all flouro unreliable for knots and gave it up. I think a thinner hook length can occasionally help with really suspicious fish, I don't think it matters so much what it's made of.

My major problem is that of attaching the hook length to the main line, often dissimilar materials and thicknesses. If you use a swivel, even a little one then you need some kind of controller. I work very often on the basis that no controller will cancel a thicker leader.

I've tried a cocktail stick stuffed up a silicone tubing over a swivel and it doesn't always float. Pop-up foam, with a hole run through it, pulled over a swivel does. Use a cork ball and rig ring to use a fine leader if you're not casting far.

• I think all line is visible and in general line on a bright day is best sunk. On a choppy or very dull day it won't matter so much, worth trying camouflage leaders, with a change in colour every few inches. Green and black marker pens are handy.
• If you need to sink line (and some line is a bu88er to sink) - if you used a double loop knot for a leader, on the tag of one of the loops, pinch a no 6 or 8 shot. This gets the line almost vertical under the bait, you can make it 3 feet if you like. It works well and if the fish are tricky, worth a try. If you're on mainline through, tie a slider knot in 4lb braid and pinch a no 8 on one of the tags.

Odd dodges

• Cast your bait first and then the free offerings. Very often works.
• Try casting a bit of flake that sinks into free offerings of bread. Hold the line in your fingers…
• If you are fishing in water where the fish are "cautious", takes are fast and there are many dummy takes. Try a cork ball six inches from the hook and strike when that goes and not before. Vary the distance according to conditions. Work best with bait that doesn't resemble cork balls in any way, e.g. bread. If that's not working, put on a toothpick with two really thin bits of silicone.
• A double overhand loop not is reliable for most leaders to main line. I've tried Uni's, blood knots, water knots and others, and the double loop is still the most reliable. Nothing works as well as a swivel and two Uni knots.
• Use a spoon to flick out free offerings, this is lower key that windmilling arms and even a catapult on occasion.
• It can be worth suspending a bait on the water by use a controller to anchor the line on a lily pad and have the bait dangling directly onto the surface a couple of feet out. Like all fishing next to pads, strong line (14lb b/s and up), a strong rod (2.5lb t/c min) and walking backwards on the strike are mandatory. You can extend this to using the far bank to rest the controller on.
  
  Often there are nooks and crannies on water which will allow this, fix the controller on with a length of line weaker than the hook link of course. Baits need to be firmish, as bread will get sucked off the hook every time. Crumpet or mixer biscuits are better.
• Try casting a bait onto a lily pad and edging it off, very slowly in front of a passing fish.
• Try suspending a bait 4 inches down, by hanging it over a lily pad.
• It's still worth trying a big bit of crust thread on the line with a small piece on a size 10 just a few inches off or dangling under the surface.
• JAA rule of snags: the worse the snag the more confident the fish. Corollary 1: it's easier to find fish in a snag and use strong gear, then it is to get a take in open water on fine line.
• Using leaves as a disguise...some days any line will spook a fish. Your alternatives are to resort to getting the line off the water or hiding it, and I've noticed that a good ploy, is to get a couple of leaves, or even a section of lily pad and thread the line through it, a couple of rough stitches if you like and pull the leaf against the bait. It won't cast far, but it'll get a rise as often as not.
• You seldom need to strike as fast as you think.
• On some waters the first couple of rises are short, watch the bait and the line - if the rise is a ruse, the line will not budge, then you need steady hand and nerves…and a cork ball can help.
• Don't neglect the bank you're on. It's worth feeding a few baits, try to ensure cover between you and the bait and as evening descends, if you sit quiet fish will come by. I've had more than a few fish and my two biggest fish in 2009 were taken under the rod tip, one on bread and one on naan.
• For very close work a centerpin is not a bad idea, it's easier to retrieve line under pressure.
• Keep the kinks out of your line, these will impede your casting. Get a spin doctor and it's worth using the "loo roll tube" dodge with to settle things out.
• Don't give up. If you miss a take and the fish never feels the hook, keep quiet and calm and re-bait, you'll often get another go.
• Get a screw in gaff hook for your landing net handle, it's invaluable for getting hooks out of trees. A screw in weed cutter blade (single) is also useful for cutting line that's snagged (trust me, if you are striking at fast fish with only a hook on the line, it's going to end up behind you from time to time) and retrieving the odd lily leaf for use as a disguise.
• If you're 'between fish', take a tea, and slip a cork ball over the line and drop a big flake bait in front of you while let the swim calm down drink the brew. You'll be surprised how often you get a bonus fish of some sort. A fish is a fish...
• Fish's behaviour will vary water to water. On some waters, baits on snags are suspicious, on other waters not and vice versa with baits in open water. In some waters fish will porpoise at baits, or swim along the surface and on other's they'll rise vertically from the deep with no warning. Observe, adapt.

Float fishing for carp (missing pictures at the moment)

Float fishing for carp is much neglected, but it's still possible to catch carp this way and while you can fish any old way with a float and occasionally latch into one, if you want to catch them on purpose, there are methods which work better than average.

Good old fishing on the bottom

As shown…anything from 6-18" over depth, often bites will take 10 minutes to develop and it pays to use a float with some buoyancy and/or a long antennae so line bites are horizontal dithering, rather than the float sinking. A pheasant quill is good, a good big crow quill as well. Put the bulk shot by the float and a BB on the bottom. Don't over shot the float.

I use braid hook-lengths, tied directly to the mono, and favour baits that small fish can't take on. Carp like flake, paste, worms, meat, all good. I probably spend too much time using cockles and mussels on large hooks over a bed of hemp.

Two variations...

(1) use a small pole float 0.4g (1BB / 0.4g) or less, ensure the bait, shot and float are in line by over casting and drawing back. Then the float will bury when the bait is inspected. Strike right away the float goes and works best with large baits, 2 mussels, meat in 2cm cubes.

(2) lengthen the tail to 2 feet, and add another shot and pop up a crust or a floating bait. Tricky to cast, but works well, bites are often odd, with the float popping under 4 inches and staying there for an "elephant". I tend to say "one ele-" and then strike hard…bread crust is good, but prone to dismantling by the small fish, so either check it often, use crumpet, which is tough or floating dog-biccies are good as well.

The lift method

This is nothing more or less that the original (Patent Pending the Taylor Brothers) lift method slightly adapted. You can stick with peacock quill if you like, it's white, can be cut to length and is cheap. The idea is to place the bait between 2-6" from the hook. Shot the float to sink (just) and then set the depth so it's only just showing, 1mm or so is fine (you can sink it entirely, but it's good to know where it is). When yer carp sucks up the bait for a preliminary inspection, the float will pop up. Strike pretty much right away, the idea is to catch the fish on this inspection of the bait.

Works best I find with large baits, so big lumps of paste, a size 6 with three cockles or mussels or a big bit of meat. While it can take some adjustment to get the "tail" right, it's good for those waters where fish are wary of all baits and will inspect everything. I've got a couple of floats made with a cork ball and a bamboo skewer for this, with a long tip, orange and the top of the ball white, so I can keep the smallest bit of tip in view and when it pops up it's very positive.

The idea here is fish right in the margins and even stalk the fish, if feeding signs are seen. If fishing in a static way it pays to keep the rod tip back from the water - the plan is to strike when a fish inspects a bait in a normal and relaxed way, which it won't do if it thinks you are there. As soon as the bait is given its first speculative suck the float will pop up. Strike right away.

It's worth thinking about the length of the 'tail' in relation to what you are trying to catch here. Assuming the 'tail' is laying straight on the bottom, then the chance of a fishing brushing the vertical main line as it approaches the bait are directly proportional to the size of the fish and the length of the 'tail'...so I suspect (but haven't tested) that anything over 6" overdepth will not work well with this method shorter is better, although I also suspect less than 2" is too short. I'd suggest, 6" if you expect or are trying for really large fish and 2" for less than 10lb or so. But I'm guessing, I've not done any experiments or anything.

The subtle method

A pole float, self cocking, fish about 4-6" over depth, no shot on the line. This works well for small baits and one water I fish this is the most effective method of catching carp on the float, with a size 14 (barbel) hook and a single grain of corn (on 7lb 14oz Preston Reflow or 6lb stren right through with a 6lb braid hook length about 4" long). Again, carp here are old timers and wary of multiple baits and boiles but are used to mopping up low risk single particles. Avoid snags with hooks this size, you've no chance, it's an open water technique. You could scale it up to 10/12lb line, but the line would exceed the hook's strength and the success of this set up is the relatively fine line and small hook.

So a small particle behaving 'naturally'. 6lb Silkworm and 8lb mono is as thick as I've gone and had fish this way.

"Scepticism is the highest of duties; blind faith the unpardonable sin." Huxley