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It’s a clever baiting approach devised by Adam Penning and here’s how you can benefit from it…
Adam Penning tells an inspiring story about the power of baiting and waiting… He took a pair of anglers to Crete Lakes in France for a tutorial session and instructed them to resist the urge to cast out for the first two nights. On one of the most pressured venues in the world - think about it, these popular French complexes see just about every swim occupied every single day of the year - the pair under Adam’s guidance smashed the place to bits. When they returned in subsequent years, the longer they rested the swim, the more they caught.
It’s a tactic that takes balls and a huge amount of patience, but the rewards can be extraordinary. It works because these fish are unbelievably pressured and know exactly when a swim is full of lines. Giving them a bit of respite, and a risk-free meal, can trigger them into dropping their guard and feeding with abandon even once baited rigs are introduced to the swim.
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Adam Penning: “Here’s an example of how powerful this method is… I went up to dinner one night and left my two clients fishing - they were catching too many to wind in! A couple of lads asked how they were managing to catch so many. I told them that the swim had been closed for two days and pre-baited to which they angrily responded by saying, “It’s alright for some and how unfair that was.” I replied by saying that they closed their own swim and pre-baited it - anyone could do it!”
It’s not a substitute for good all-around angling, but holding off casting out and continually assessing the situation in front of you can be a great starting point, even if you can’t bring yourself to not ‘fish’ for 36hrs or so. If you don’t have the patience for this gutsy approach, then you can ease yourself into the required mindset by regularly resting your swim for a few hours a day. Take yourself off for a walk around the lake, or go sightseeing for the morning, and return to a swim that will appear much less like a ‘trap’ to the resident carp.
And remember, it’s not just a tactic for use on heavily fished European venues. Give yourself some time to cast out during a longer domestic session and the same advantages will present themselves.
