Pole Rigs - Shotting Patterns - 13 February 2022 - Ready for a New Season
Remember - aways keep your rigs as simple as possible!
I use three different types of rigs - a positive rig with the bulk close to the hook, an on-the-drop rig with the bulk and a small string of shot, and an on-the drop slow-fall rig with a mid-way bulk and a long string of light shot. You can move the two shot on the bulk down rig together to make a double-bulk rig.
Preston Power - Bulk Down - olivette 30 - 45 cm from the hook - 1 or 2 Droppers, size dependant on float size.
The fine wire of this float is not as heavy as normal wire and doesn't bounce as much when shipping out the pole.
Preston Inter Carbon - Bulk down - olivette 60 - 90 cm from the hook - 5-6 droppers, size dependant on float size.
Preston Chianti - small bulk of Stotz just below half depth - string of 5 - 7 No. 11 or No. 12 Stotz.
Tip - When you start a session, the fish are not lined up on the bottom waiting to be caught, you have to get them there. After feeding your groundbait, start on the lightest rig and lightly feed with a catapult - hemp is always good to start with. I search through the water for the fish. The noise the light feeding makes attracts fish to the swim. Sometimes you can start on the middle rig. The first bites are usually on the drop, but when the fish settle over the groundbait, and you get bites after the rig has settled, you can change to the heavier rig.
Always try and have a minimum of 2 lines to fish so that you can alternate between them. If you feed little and often the fish will come up off the bottom. If you feed less often and heavier the fish will stay on the bottom. Feeding small balls or nuggets of groundbait can often be the best way to keep the fish on the bottom and feeding.
If you are in a match and everyone is feeding, a heavier approach often works well. Feed small nuggets of groundbait every cast - regularly - to create more noise and a cloud near the bottom - and 'steal' fish from the angler next to you. Believe me, it works!
DH 13 - I use these in the larger sizes of 5, 4, 3 and 2 g - carbon-stemmed floats often have a great advantage over wire-stemmed floats. I like to use these on the Voorne Canal when I am after the big Bream - in the larger sizes the bait is very stable.
Drennan AS5 - Bulk down - olivette 20 - 40 cm from the hook - 1 or 2 droppers, size dependant on size of float.
Hydra Flat Float - Bulk down, olivette 30 - 45 cm from the hook - 1 to 3 droppers - size dependant on the size of float.
DH21 - a great float that will replace the Inter Carbon in the smaller sizes - I also have them in 2.5 and 2 g.
AS 6 - these will also replaced the discontinued Inter Carbon.
Preston Paulo - I've made up a 1.25 g model of this float to give it a try. It has an extremely sensitive tip and will show up very delicate bites. The rig has a 1 g in-line olivette and seven No. 11 droppers - a string of four that are 12 cm apart, two directly below the olivette and one above.
I've made this rig up on Accu Power 0.14 mm line - my preferred choice for the main line on most of my natural water rigs. It is thin enough not to be seen by the fish and robust enough for the rig to last for several uses. The No. 11 shot sink a little bit slower on 0.14 mm line compared to a 0.12 mm line.
