How long should you leave your rods for?

The big question

“One area of my fishing which I’m never too sure about is how long to leave my rigs in position. Once I’m happy with how they’ve landed, I tend to leave them until I go home, but do you think it’s worth recasting on a more regular basis if I haven’t had a bite? I fish a variety of different venues, from my reasonably hard syndicate to the odd session on Linear’s Brasenose 1 and 2.”

Luke Church

“It’s one of two things…”

“I would have to say that from my personnel experiences, leaving rigs out for any length of time and not receiving bites would normally mean one of two things: either the fish are not present in the area or the rigs just aren’t sitting correctly. Don’t get me wrong, the fish don’t always feed, but more times than not, if they are present in your area or showing over your spots, the likelihood is you should be expecting a bite or two. If the bites never materialise then a quick recast onto your spots wouldn’t harm at all. On so many occasions I have received bites within minutes of a fresh recast. It has to be the fact that either the rig is slightly tangled or just isn’t sitting properly on the lakebed, once sitting correctly the bites normally are quick to follow.”

Ian Lewis

“First and foremost I believe regularity of re-casting depends on the venue itself, if it’s a well stocked venue like B1/B2 where you get a high volume of carp traffic in your swim, then re-casting often isn’t normally a problem and if I’m honest, if a rig’s been out and you feel you should have had a bite and you haven’t, bring it in, ring the changes if necessary and re-position, you’d be surprised how quick a bite can come by doing this.

“However, on the polar opposite, if you’re on a tricky, low stock water where bites are few and far between and the fish are cagey, if I’m happy with the drop after casting and confident the rig is fishing effectively I’d leave it positioned for 24hrs or more and only move it if I’ve seen fish elsewhere and feel I can put myself in a better position for a bite by doing so.”

Rick Golder

“The right rig helps…”

“I tend to redo my rods every 24hrs if I haven’t had any action, mainly as I like to use pop-ups, and a freshly balanced bait after that time is always better. That said, I think it’s also dependent on your rigs; I use stiff rigs which never tangle, so I’m always confident I’m presenting well but if you have any doubts, more frequent casting may be needed. I do believe that on the harder waters, fish swim over your baits a number of times, and they may be accepted and taken after a while as the fish have become used to them as safe, in which case the longer they are out the better. This adds weight to the washed-out theory on baits. On easier waters I think fish are attracted to baits going in, so that may be to your advantage there. I always aim to redo my rods in non-bite times too, which I wished more people did as I often see people thrashing it up at the best times!”

Lewis Read

“Carp are carp – so the basic principles”

“Tailoring your approach to suit individual waters takes time (and experience). Even then, once you think you have a handle on when to cast, and how long to leave the hookbaits in place, there are a myriad variables that can potentially throw a spanner in the works.

“Carp are carp, wherever you angle so basic principles apply: if you have fish showing over a hookbait that you’re confident is presented well (watched the rig in flight and felt it cleanly down to the lakebed) then sitting on your hands can pay dividends. But this approach has its limits. Boring them out isn’t the most effective use of your time and on waters with well stocked waters that have a high level of carp traffic (like Brasenose) resetting the trap with a fresh little bag, or baiting up over the top of the rig can be the trigger that gets you the bite that you’re looking for.

“Being pro-active on these venues is really a massive benefit in the long-term. Perhaps the best idea is to use your common sense. If you’re strategically soaking hookbaits and you’re not catching anything is it because of location? If they’re in front of you then why aren’t you getting bites? If you have a bit of bait out in the swim and there’s not many fish evident (low stock venue) you need to learn to ‘allow it to happen’ as the fish will whittle away the bait you have applied to a point when bites are viable as they hopefully become more confident over a period of time.

“The main thing is to keep your eyes peeled and react to opportunities – and that includes letting the fish grub about undisturbed without leads plummeting in around them when necessary.”