Margin fishing using the pole.

Margin fishing can not only be one of the most exciting ways of fishing for carp but can be very productive, especially under match conditions on commercials, the main way of fishing in the margins is by using a strong carp margin pole or a power top 2 kit when fishing really tight down the edge, or as some anglers prefer a 17ft+ power float rod with strong line, fishing this way allows you the chance of controlling the fishes powerful runs more easily than when fishing the pole, but my no one choice would be the pole when targeting carp up to low double figures.

Where to fish in the margins? 

This is one of the big decisions to make and can and will at times make or break your day, most commercials now have good marginal planting, such as reeds/overhanging bushes and undercut banks, and of course empty pegs with overhanging platforms all of these give the carp somewhere safe to feed. These are the areas you need to exploit and with careful planning and feeding it is possible to extract large fish and match winning weights from this areas. The other factor is depth I will always look for a minimum of at least a foot as less can cause the other fish to become easily spooked in my opinion when hooking fish, I also like to have at least 2 swims on the go, this allows me to switch if one starts to die off and continue to catch whilst still re-feeding the original swim and vice a versa.

What elastic choice?

  As there is a good chance of landing larger than average fish and fishing next to snags the need to step up elastic strength is a must, my personally choice is the new Preston innovations 17h hollow elastic, this has good strength which comes in more as the elastic is stretched, if there are not many snags I will also use 12-20 Maver dual core hollow elastic. Solid elastics are also useful especially when there are lots of snags, when this is the case I will opt for the new Maver coloured latex in an 18 grade.

What strength line?

  As you know in most commercials now there are many double figure fish present so light lines and fine presentations are out the window, I usually opt for lines ranging from 0.16- 0.22 diameter using either Preston’s power line or Fox micron, these lines have good knot strength and good abrasion resistance quality’s which when fishing near snags is a must, I also fish these lines straight-thru with no hook length as I don’t want any week links in the set up.

 What floats and shotting?

  I use several float patterns for my margin fishing but there 3 main patterns I use, they are the Carpa-float margin in both 4x10 and the 4x12 pattern, this is a short float with a rugby shaped body and has a long thick tip enabling large baits to be used such as cat meat and paste and larger expander pellets, it also features a strong wire stem which is good as this style of fishing is harsh on your tackle, my other main choice of float is the tubertini carp 4 pattern in sizes up to 0.50g this is another strong carbon stemmed pattern but this has a body down profile offering less resistance, it also features a shorter thicker tip this is a plus when line bites aren’t a problem but if they are I would select the longer tipped carpa pattern which allows me to read true bites over liners. I shot the floats using the new Preston stotz shot as this stay on the line which is a plus because when your fishing with sort lines the line and shot get rubbed against your landing net which in turn cause the shot to ping off, this doesn’t seem to happen as much when using the stotz, this I think this is due to the shape (cylindrical) rather than round. I shot this floats using a bulk pattern with no dropper shots as I don’t think they are required for this type of fishing, I will usually position the bulk directly under the float or about 6 inches from the hook, I will only position the bulk close to the hook when I want to get the bait to the deck quickly rather than let it fall through naturally. My third choice pattern is a Preston durafloat in a 4x14 this I use for fishing paste down the edge, I use no shot down the line just use the paste to set the float, other than that the line I use is the same on all my rigs.

What Hooks to use?

I am currently a big fan of the Gamakatsu range of hooks, if I am fishing pellet I will use there pellet hook this is very strong considering its gauge, it has a nice wide tilted gape and a strong sharpe point. If I am using corn/meat I will opt for there carp hook this is even stronger and has a large swept gape and sharpe point, I will also use preston PR27 eyed hooks if the fish I am catching are all approaching double figures as I just feel more confident with an eyed hook, if i am fishing paste then i use Maver's MT3MT4 Patterns

  Feeding ? 

This is a tough one sometimes at the start of a session or match I will dump a good pole cup full of pellets/paste or corn and meat or both or a combination either side of the margins, and leave it with the occasional few pieces of bait feed at times, then I will look for signs the fish have moved in e.g. tail patterns/surface bowling and the water be mudded up caused by feeding fish sieving through the bait on the deck, once this signs appear I will leave it a little longer so the fish are really confident, then I put just a few hook bait samples in the swim then go over them with my rig , from then on in I will only top up if bites die off as to much feed can pull to many fish in causing line bites and foul hooked fish, I will also alternate swims to maximize my catch rate. One comment I will make is that if I am catching well on a different line and achieve a good catch rate I will usually leave my margin swims alone until the last hour and then attack them to plunder the lumps and top up my weight, this is a great way of overtaking over anglers that have concentrated on the margins all day and there swims die off when yours is just coming to life, I have personally benefited from this approach , but on the other hand margin swims can be productive all day at some venues, so it’s a suck and see approach, practicing venues helps build up a knowledge of when and where the carp like to feed and from this information you can adjust your feeding to suit.   

All together I love fishing down the edge it really is some of the most explosive action your likely to encounter on a commercial fishery and its great fun on the pole.