Danny Wilson

Lives – Wigan

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Sponsors – NuFish

MF Says – A Master Pie Chef

It’s pretty common knowledge that when the water is cool, carp will shoal tight and back away from angling pressure. This often means a large proportion of the lakes stock being balled up in one place. This can lead to a situation where one or two anglers have a red-letter day (the draw bags) and the rest are left to pick up the pieces. 

Silverfish are largely reliable back up fish to target in this scenario and of course the popularity of silverfish only matches now mean that there is some great fishing to be had. But these fish, particularly the bigger samples, often back away just like the carp do. This is where the safe zone needs to be exploited to help you catch those bigger match-winning fish. 

Ide are a brilliant fish, they are wonderful weight builders and can be voracious feeders particularly when they are in the 10oz to 2lb bracket. The bigger ide though have become wise and will naturally push away from pressure. 

Here at Bradshaw hall for instance many of the lakes are open water bowl style lakes where the middle of the lake becomes the ‘safe zone’ where the big crafty fish move to as soon as the whistle is blown (how do they know!).

So how do we go about targeting them in a pole dominated situation. Well ladies and gentleman the traditional waggler will soon become your best friend while your pole set ups will be left on the roost for the second half of the match. The waggler is the ultimate way to search open water without committing to an area. 

Allow me to explain, these fish are not necessarily ‘up for it’ and will shoal together just to get out of the way. So the last thing you should look to do is say feed some groundnbait out there to establish a base. The fish are already there in this safe zone and we are looking to pick them off by going to them, rather than relying on the bait to draw them. 

That’s not to say loose feeding won’t work, but rather than commenting to a spot, I will cast around a little to start with. If you locate the fish you will get quick bites and then I can consider feeding a few casters with the catty once a hot spot has been found. The key is not committing too soon until you feel relatively confident you have found some fish. They often roll here too so can give away their location. 

A simple waggler set up is all that is needed, a soft waggler rod is beneficial. Ide are notoriously lazy fighting fish and nod around which can lead to hook pulls if you are not careful. So a nice soft-actioned rod of 12ft or 13ft is ideal. This is matched up with a small reel loaded with 3lb DETEXION mainline to allow lighter floats to be cast with accuracy and distance should the need arise. 

Floats are kept as light as possible without compromising the distance that can be achieved. A 2g insert waggler is a good starting point, importantly choose something with a plastic hi-viz tip as winter light can be dreadful. 

Most of the bites will come as soon as the float has settled which suggests the fish are watching the hook bait fall through the clear water. For this reason I have just two No10s down the line. The waggler is set up at six feet to begin with (in a 10 feet deep swim). There is no doubt that these ide are sitting well up off the bottom and its all about finding where they are sat.

Light hooks and hooklengths are important, use whatever you are confident in but be prepared with some 0.10mm hooklengths with light wire gauge size 18 hooks. 

It has to be said that the waggler needs to be fished in conjunction with the pole. Feeding fish will always win the matches, particularly in the second half of a match when they are feeding with confidence. The fish held up in the safe zone rarely last all match so you need that thought in your mind. 

The pole is deadly here with some amazing weights of silvers to be had. But you can take advantage of the safe zone theory with the pole also. Most of the feeding is done with the catapult and loose feeding casters will get those roach and smaller ide feeding well. In fact even on the coldest days here they can even be caught shallow. 

But if you want to catch the bigger fish, they are often found beyond the loose feed and past the pole tip. This safe zone is created by the angler in this situation as those crafty devils sit where they can’t be caught picking off those free offerings that are safe.

This is where being a little crafty can pay off. Light rigs with longish lines flicked beyond the pole tip is nothing new. But that doesn’t make them any less effective. They are also a rare sight and many anglers often overlook such a set up. But having this style of rig on the roost WILL catch you more and bigger fish no matter what time of year. 

The rig does not need to be anything fancy to take advantage of this pole safe zone. Before I continue I can hear you all asking why not just add a section? It’s a decent point and undoubtedly it can work. But the water is clear here and the fish are obviously sat away from the pole waving over their heads. I believe adding a section would just lead to them backing away further whereas with a longer rig you are almost picking them off. 

Anyway, back to the rig, it needs to be as light as conditions allow whilst being able to keep a tight line between the pole tip and float. In an ideal world a 4×10 CYPRI would be my first choice but if there is any wind I wouldn’t hesitate to up that. Spread out No11s work well to allow a tidy fall of the hook bait and once again the rig is set about five feet to begin. This depth combined with a longer ‘lash’ of one to two metres mean I can flick my hook bait well past the feed and allow it to settle back toward me. 

This technique works well because the rig is always tight as the float settles. Ide can be frustratingly fast biting fish and don’t get me started on those big wily roach that are also here. Everything needs to be stacked in your favour and being able to keep a tight line is vital. 

The pole line is approached slightly different to the waggler in that we need to create a feeding zone to begin with. I kick the swim off with just one small ball of fishmeal groundbait with some finely minced worms and the odd caster. This will be left to settle for at least an hour whilst I fish the waggler and also build the swim with loose fed casters. 

When the waggler dies or I feel it needs resting I will then swap to the pole to see what is happening on the feed. In a perfect world I will have a really good spell fishing bang on top of my feed but I know there will be a spell when raw fish back off. A good plan is to keep an eye on the fish your are catching, or should I say the size of the fish you are catching. 

If you are catching a small stamp on top of your feed then there is a good chance the better fish are hanging back in the safe zone. That is the perfect time to try the light rig. You will get a lot more bites on the rig that is past the pole tip, fish are just naturally more confident feeding away from danger and in the safe zone they don’t think they are being fished for necessarily. But you will miss more bites too due to the length of the rig. So concentrate and really try and hit those small dinks on the float as they are often the bigger ide and roach. 

I am on the awesome Lake Two here at Bradshaws today. This is the perfect example of a lake where fish take advantage of safe zones. The middle of the lake is full of big ide and the only way to catch them is with the waggler. Yes you will catch the odd one on the pole but the majority will be caught on the wag. 

The session has gone almost like a script. The early going has been fantastic on the waggler despite lots of ice floating around! The fish are, as predicted, rolling right in the middle of the lake and it doesn’t take long to locate some bites fishing at around 20metres. Perhaps it’s the cold temperatures but very few of the bites are coming on the drop. Most are actually coming once the float has settled and has been in position for a fair while. Every day is different and this proves that point nicely. They are also responding to a bit of loose feed today with ide up to 3lb and even quality roach all providing me with lots of bites. 

Before to long the bites begin to fade but with over 20lb in the net it has been an amazing first 90minutes. The pole is readied and I begin with a 1g BULK rig set just over depth. Hook bait is a small section of worm as I find this picks out the bigger roach nicely. The fishing is excellent with a roach a chuck heading my way, a nice regular feeding pattern is soon established, roughly 20casters each time I ship out. 

It isn’t long before the rig begins to hold up signalling the fish coming up in the water. It’s time to change things up and that lovely little 4×10 rig flicked around the loose feed is rapidly upping not only my catch rate but the size of fish too. I am cautious not to enter the pole safe zone too soon, in a match I would leave it as long as possible, but the urge gets the better of me and I’m soon flicking out beyond the pole tip. Amazingly I haven’t had a single ide on the normal pole rigs, yet my very first bite on the flick rig is a 2lb ide! It is simply incredible how they can be in your peg yet hanging back knowing they are safe. That is until I come along with the long lining rig!

It’s been amazing session considering the water temperature and ice, with over 40lb to show for my efforts. This safe zone idea is nothing new, but it is a timely reminder that fish will always be more comfortable away from the pressure.