A stringer to fool even the wariest carp

When was the last time you used a stringer? Let me guess? Chucked two or three baits on a bit of PVA tape, hooked it on and lobbed it out, right? It can be a brilliant tactic on loads of venues, but applying some real thought to what the presentation achieves will open your eyes to something even better.

A good friend of mine, Steve ‘Bog’ Redding, used to use stringers a lot. He’s one of the best anglers I’ve ever met and used to pay a lot of attention to how his stringers would be presented on the lakebed. It was some of his thinking that influenced what I refer to with friends now as the ‘Long Drop Stringer’.

See Bog surmised that when you were fishing a scattered boilie patch, a standard two or three bait stringer could actually alert fish to your hookbait, as opposed to drawing attention to it. For this reason, he used a single bait stringer where the PVA tape was as long as his rig. Theory being, fish move from bait to bait over this type of baited area, so why would you want them all in a little pile?

Sure, a greedier fish would fancy the big pile of grub, but with three rods at your disposal, why not hedge your bets? For every carp that will nail a greedy pig rig and baiting set-up, there’s another that will be wary of it.

I put Bog’s theory to the test on several venues where I was baiting with boilies. The ‘auld lad was right! I would quite happily say that any standard bottom bait presentation can benefit from the Long Drop Stringer. Another boilie the length of your rig away – think about it. Whichever one the fish eats first, the distance to the next one is equal. As most rigs work more effectively when a carp is moving in this manner, tightening up and enabling our hooks to turn and grab, it makes total sense to me.

Presented just like if you’d catapulted or sticked it out there

Is this as natural a presentation as you’d like? I’m not sure!

I’ve also played around using the Long Drop Stringer to balance a bait. If I have a wafter or semi-buoyant hookbait on, I like my single bait stringer not to affect this carefully devised buoyancy. A slow sinker will settle away from the lead more effectively, but a heavy bottom bait six-inches away will drag it down. For this reason I just string-up a pop-up as well. The Snowman Stringer. The pop-up, of course, eventually floats away, but it ensures your end tackle wafts down to the lakebed just as you want it to.

Check out the way I set up my stringers. The way of attachment means it can be cast anywhere without the bait flying off. What I tend to do is tie up loads – as many as I might need in my wildest dreams – because nobody ever gets the cast bang-on every time and casting out without a stringer out of laziness is just, well, plain lazy! If you ever find yourself saying ‘that’ll do’ in your own fishing, do it again!

The last time I used the Long Drop Stringer was on a venue where the carp are flat-out boilie-munchers. I was introducing loads of Sonubaits prototype boilies and the catch-rates were good. After a while they got really wary of the usual presentations and this sorted out some much better fish for me. I used simple fluorocarbon Hair rigs with out-the-bag bottom baits – the Long Drop Stringer proving effective for a rake of fish before the lake was closed for the spring.
It doesn’t get any simpler. Give it a whirl and see if you can confuse a few boilie-munchers yourself!
MAT WOODS

Angling bushcraft: the Long Drop Stringer

All you need for this is a stringer, needle and a decent boilie!

Fold a small tag end over and thread it through the boilie.

Pull it through, to create a small loop held tight by the bait.

Pass the other end of the tape through the loop you’ve made.

Pull this tight, through the loop so it sits against the bait.

This is more secure for longer casts. A neat way to do it!

Tie the other end against the hair to prevent it tangling.

This one-bait stringer is the same length as the rig. Nice!