May 2007 85 84 May 2007

|VL 'LN
S0NL
slack
How on earth do you expect to see a bite when there's
no tension on your tip? 0es Shipp has the solution

RIAIIY shouldn't bc lctting on. Not many pcoplc
know about this mcthod, and it's won mc so much
moncy. On thc right day it's so good that it will doublc
your catchcs. You rarcly cxpcricncc a fish picking up
thc bait and rcjccting it, and you scc bitcs that you
didn't cvcn knowyou wcrc gctting.
!hc mcthodinqucstionis slacklining, anagc-oldpracticc
kcpt sccrct amongthcfcwanglcrs 'inthcknow'.
!hcmainprinciplcinvolvcdis standardfccdcr fishing, but
instcad of tightcning up to thc quivcrtip to scc thc bitcs you
lcavc thc linc slack. Rathcr thanwatching thc quivcrtip, you
watch thc linc whcrc it mccts thc watcr. Asmall bubblc will
appcar hcrcwhcrcthclinccuts throughthcsurfacctcnsion.
Bitcs arc dctcctcd whcn thc small bubblc movcs and thc
linc shoots off. I'vc cxpcrimcntcd with this mcthod, and you
cansccbitcs that wouldn't cvcnrcgistcr onthcquivcrtip.
Ivcn thc lightcst of tips still crcatcs a lot of rcsistancc,
andthis is all rcmovcdby watching your linc. Ior a onc-inch
indication on thc quivcrtip your hookbait probably movcs
ncarcr 10 inchcs, bccausc thc rcsistancc causcd by thc tip
acts as a wcight, causing thc linc to strctch instcad of thc
tipmoving.
FEEDER TACTlCS
00 May 2007
FEEDER TACTlCS
THE RI0HT TIME
Knowing whcrc and whcn io usc ihc slack-
liningmcihodis kcyinmakingii workcorrccily,
Thcrc'snopoini usingii forcarpfishing, bccausc
ihcy will doublc ihc rod ovcr anyway, and nor is
ii anygoodfor vcnucs whcrcihcrcis alargchcad
of aciivc fishprcscni.
If ihcrc arc loads of carp in your swimihcy
will icar aboui and givc you loads of linc biics.
This makcs ii vcry hard io disiinguish bciwccn
lincrs and propcr biics. Thc idcal cnvironmcni
io do ihis in is vcnucs wiih a largc hcad of
shy-biiing 8oz io 1lb skimmcrs. Thcsc arc
noiorious for giving you finicky liiilc biics
and ihcn dropping ihc baii whcn ihcy fccl
any rcsisiancc.
Ii workscquallyaswcll forskimmcrsasii docs
for fasi-biiing roach. I'vc had grcai succcss wiih
ihis mcihod ai Bough Bccch, Chard Rcscrvoir,
PorihRcscrvoir andihc spccimcnlakc ai Mavcr
Iarford fishcry. Thcsc arc all in ihc Souih Wcsi,
whcrc I fish, bui ihc iaciics will work anywhcrc,
cvcnwhcnlcgcring onacanal or Icnlanddrain.
Ii gocs ioially againsi how you should fish
ihc fccdcr for carp, and ihai's bccausc carp and
silvcrfish fccd diffcrcnily. Carp will grab a baii
wiihoui cvcn ihinking aboui ii, and if you'vc
goi your iip bcni righi round ihcy will jusi hook
ihcmsclvcs againsi ihcrod. Skimmcrs don'i fccd
in such an aggrcssivc manncr, which is why ihc
mcihodnccds iobc adapicdiocaichihcm.
Ii's also worih noiing ihai ihcrc is no poini in
irying io usc ihis mcihodwhcnii's rcally windy,
if ihc vcnuc has a loi of iow, or if you arc noi
gciiing many biics. All ihai will happcn is ihai
ihc iow will pick up ihc linc and pull ihc slack
linc iighi. You can gci away wiih ii if you arc
gciiing biics as soon as ihc fccdcr hiis ihc dcck,
bccausc ihc biic will havc bccnindicaicdbcforc
ihc iowhas achancc iopull ihc linc iighi.
"Jhere |s ao po|at
us|a |t for carp
f|sh|a because
they w||| doub|e the
rod over aayway"
Myrigiseversosimpletotie. 5implytiea6insloopinthemainline,
leavingthetagendlong. Thentieanoverhandknotontheloopthis
makestheriglesslikelytotangle. TheIeederisthenattachedtothisloop
bypassingtheloopthroughthepowergumlinkandthenovertheIeeder
beIorepullingtight. ThetagendoI themainlineshouldhavealooptiedinit
sothatithangsbelowtheIeeder. Yourhooklengthisthenattachedtothis
looptoloopstyle. I startwithan!Sinshooklength, andiI I'mcatchingwell
I will shortenitdownto7insorSinsiI allowed.
May 2007 87
With nc
resistance
frcm the tip,
skimmers can
take the bait
ccnfidentIy.
Des uses shcrt
rcds sc he can
punch the feeder
cut even when
fishin cIcse in.
DES SHlPPS' PlC
A0VANCE0 TIP
CarryabottleIull oI washingupliquidmixed
withwater, andsquirtitonyourreeel beIore
youstartyoursession. Thiswill makeyourline
sinkmoreeasily.
Six-inch Iccp created
by tyin a dcubIe
cverhand knct
5Ib Prestcn Direct
mcnc mainIine
0.12mm Prestcn
PcwerIine hcckIenth
1Bins Icn
A 20 feeder
ccnnected tc
the paterncster
by passin the
Iccp cf Iine
thrcuh the
pcwer um and
then cver
the feeder
Size 1B Prestcn PR24
baited with a sinIe
red mact
Through the Ieeder I Ieed the
new Fin PerIect Betaine Fishmeal
groundbait Irom 5onu Baits. It
has the perIect consistency Ior
an openend Ieeder, as it's not
very sticky and contains Iishmeal
which skimmers love. It needs to
be mixed on the dry side so that
it comes out oI the Ieeder easily
and doesn't empty on the way
back in.
What particles I Ieed depends
on the Iishery. In an ideal world I
will Ieed 2mm and 4mm pellets,
because skimmers go mad Ior
them, but carp Iind them equally
irresistible. II the Iishery has a
high percentage oI carp as
its Iish stock I'll Ieed a Iew
maggots and casters through
the Ieeder instead.
Cn the hook I'll use double
or single red maggot, but iI I'm
Ieeding a Iew pellets through the
Ieeder I'll also keep trying a pellet
on the hook.
A0VANCE0 TIP
LIKE A ST0NE
Ior ihc samc rcason ii's viial ihai you sink ihc
linc fully io siop ii drifiing. To do ihis propcrly
you nccd io casi oui io your linc clip and ihcn,
whcn your fccdcr has sciilcd, placc ihc iip of ihc
rod undcr ihc waicr and sirikc ihc rod firmly
upwards io pull all ihc linc bcncaih ihc surfacc.
This will sink ihc majoriiy of ihc linc, bui
ihcrc's always a couplc of fcci of ii a mcirc or so
from ihc cnd of your rod-iip. This is ihc linc ihai
you'vc pullcd oui of ihc waicr on ihc upward
sirikc. To sink ihis, push your rod-iip undcr ihc
waicr a couplc of fcci.
Oncc you'vc donc ihis you nccd io placc ihc
rod on ihc rcsi and gci rcady for your biic. Thc
slack linc should hang siraighi down from ihc
rod-iip and ihcn curvc round in ihc dircciion
your fccdcr is lying. You don'i wani your rod rcsi
posiiioncd so ihai ii is rcally closc io ihc waicr,
bccausc you won'i bc ablc io rcad ihc linc vcry
wcll. Ii works bcsi if you sci ii so ihai your iip is
aboui 1fi abovc ihc surfacc .
To hclp gci my linc down I usc lb Prcsion
Dircci mono, which sinks vcry wcll. To hclp ii
ihrough ihc surfacc icnsion I givc ihc rccl spool
a squiri of diluic washing-up liquid. If you arc
siruggling io sink your linc halfway ihrough ihc
scssion, jusi ircai ii io anoihcr squiri.
Now, lb mono mighi sccm a bii hcavy for
silvcrs, bui ihcrc's always ihc chancc of a sly carp
sncaking in on ihc aci -and largcr-diamcicr linc
is far morc visiblc whcrc ii cnicrs ihc waicr.
TIP CH0ICE
Thc iypc of quivcriip ihai you usc for ihis
slack-lining mcihod docsn'i rcally maiicr a grcai
dcal, bccausc you arc waiching ihc linc, and ihc
iip is noi rcally nccdcd io rcgisicr ihc biic.
Thc only ihing I will say is ihai you don'i wani
io go ioo hcavy on ihc iip, bccausc skimmcrs
havc sofi mouihs, and a bruial iip and rod will
only lcad io hook pulls.
My choicc of rod is ihc Carbonaciivc Scniicni
fccdcr ai 11fi 6ins.
This rod is brilliani and rcsponsivc,
and lci's facc ii, you don'i nccd a 18fi
rod whcn you'rc noi chucking your fccdcr
massivc disianccs.
THE SESSI0N
Somchow ihc lads ai AT Advanccd ialkcd mc inio
doing ihc fcaiurc ai Gold Vallcy - whcrc rcally
ihcrc arc ioo many fish! Surc, ihcrc arc loads of
skimmcrs in ihc Bungalow Iakc bui you'd ncvcr
win a maich hcrc wiih 60lb. I was afraid wc'd
havc problcms wiih carp, and so ii provcd.
Thc mcihod workcd bri l l ianily whcn
skimmcrs wcrc in ihc pcg, biics bcing a sharp
pick-up of linc, bui ihcn ihc rod would doublc ovcr
wiih an angry carp on ihc cnd. I caughi aboui
8lb of skimmcrs in ihrcc hours and pui aboui
40lb of carp back! Ncxi iimc you arc fccdcr fishing
for skimmcrs, givc ihc slack-lining mcihod a iry.
You'll bc plcasanily surpriscd.
After sinkin ycur
mainIine, dip ycur rcd-tip
under the water tc sink any
remainin fIcatin Iine.
A 35Ib net cf quaIity
skimmers, aII taken
sIack-Iinin.
The new Fin Perfect rane fiIIs Des' bait tabIe.
89 May 2007
FEEDER TACTlCS