The big question: How long should you leave your rods

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.”

Ian Chillcott

“This is the 64,000 dollar carp angling question. Much will depend on the type of water you are targeting. For instance, I have found that carp in deeper waters tend to put up with repeated casting much better than fish in a shallow venue. But I am sure that it is the amount of fish you are angling for that is the most important factor. The lower the stock levels, the less disturbance you really need to be making. In lower stocked lakes it is very often the case that disturbance will send alarm signals to the carp, and they will avoid that area for some time. On more heavily stocked lakes, like the ones you have mentioned at Linear Fisheries, the heavily stocked nature of the lakes means the carp cannot be so fussy as their food is in very short supply.

“There is no definitive answer to your question, no matter what anyone says, and in essence you simply have to adapt your fishing to the environment you are angling in at the time.”

Martin Locke

“To re-cast or not to re-cast very much depends on the water that you’re fishing. We’ll take it that there are no small fish or critters whittling the baits down to nothing in no time, so a ‘normal’ fishing scenario. Where you expect takes quickly, during baiting, or soon after (generally higher stocked waters) I see no reason not to recast as often as necessary. Obviously keep an eye on what’s going on close by, if it’s happening for the boys ‘working at it’, then following suit should see action pick up.

“On the lower stocked waters where action is normally a bit thinner on the ground, it’s ‘normal’ to adopt the stealthier approach, keeping disturbance down to a minimum, so as not to ‘spook’ the fish with aerial bombardment, especially when fishing in shallow areas. But if the water is deeper, say, over 10ft, you might be wise to try Spombing over Zigs, as the amount of fish taking the bait ‘on the way down’ is much greater than we may think. After all, the Spomb is the dinner bell and not associated with danger as such, it’s just that because activity is much slower, it’s easy to try it for a while, catch nothing and tell yourself (and be told by other anglers) that it’s not the one and you’ve blown everyone’s chances! So a bit of ‘gentlemanly conduct’ is often necessary! Again, keep your eyes open for what’s going on around you is always the best approach.”

Nigel Williams

“When to re-cast the rigs is a game all carp anglers play! For me, it comes down to confidence in your angling and the venue that you’re fishing. Every lake is different. Big fish angling or targeting fish is a totally different ball game to fishing runs waters. On busy day ticket waters I will re-cast if I feel I should have had a bite and nothing has happened (if I’ve seen fish over my baited area or had line bites and then the activity ends without getting a take).

“On venues like B1 and B2 the fish respond to bait and the sound of spods/Spombs so I would put three spods out after the recast. This can have a huge impact - I’ve sometimes had bites almost instantly after doing this. However, when big fish angling, if I’m 100% the rig is right and on the spot, I will leave it up to 48hrs - I have no issues whatsoever in doing this. On some of the harder, low stocked venues I fish, I have found the fish shy off the sound of a lead going in so the only reason to re-cast is again down to indications you see.

“So in a nutshell: put the effort into watching the water - it’s so important - and building a picture of what’s going on in your swim; this will give you the answer to when to re-cast."