How do you fish for line bites?
I’ve been told to fish for ‘line bites’ in winter to help locate the carp. That’s great in theory, but how do I actually go about it in practice? Ben Sinclair, via e-mail
Sam Meeuwissen says: “When ‘fishing for liners’ I like to spread my baited rigs out in an arc. Some rods are fished up high on top of structure such as bars etc., to lift the line high in the water. These rods are fished with semi-tight lines and heavy Maxi Bug indicators with the extra weights added, with a bit of a drop before the buzzer. Line bites would be a simple tightening up before the bobbin resettles.
“Closer-range rods or baits presented fished over structure such as weedbeds or gravel bars are slightly different. I find smaller and lighter bobbins such as the ultra light Nano Bugs are preferential. This is to ensure that they tighten up with minimum resistance, without moving the lead, and the bobbins can settle gently back to their original position. With really light bobbins you can often tell how far from the rod tip the line has been caught by a passing fish from the way the bobbin drops back.
“Once a line bite has been detected, then it is a matter of casting slightly shorter so that your baits are in the correct zone. I’ve found this method works especially well when Zig Rig fishing.”