Stillwater Fishing: No. 2 - Waggler Fishing on Still Waters
presented by Dave Harrell
Produced and Distributed by:
The Original Video Production Company
PO Box 885
Old Farm Park
Milton Keynes
MK7 8PQ
Tel: 01908 645115
Price £14.99
Filmed on location at Moorlands Farm, Hartlebury, near Kidderminster, its action all the way in this 60-minute video as England International Dave Harrell fishes more as if he's on a river than a stillwater to knock out an estimated 80lbs of fish in one sitting.
The video concentrates on two different styles of waggler fishing in still water, what Dave Harrell describes as "up in the air" just two to four feet below the surface, and on the bottom using his deep water rig fishing about a foot over depth.
After plumbing the depth on his swim, Dave Harrell explains how, as the season progresses, he tends to fish smaller hooks, lighter tackle and smaller baits. He then runs the viewer throught the three main baits he uses and demonstrates the shallow rig. With this technique it's all action as he casts in, catapults in loose feed, waits about 20 seconds - by which time he's usually had a bite or caught a fish - retrieve and then repeat the process. Within an hour of starting, he says, you usually have the fish feeding confidently and from there on its a fish every cast.
By the time the fish are really on the go he's loose feeding 50-60 maggots every cast, so you'll need plenty of bait if you are going to follow in his footsteps, and very little of it gets deeper than two or three feet before its snatched by a fish. There's no point, he says, fishing with your bait artificially suspended mid-water unless there's plenty of loose feed going in around it.
For a while Dave Harrell demonstrates his deeper rig to go for some of the pool's larger fish which he thinks may be feeding on the casters he pre-baited with before he started. He uses double caster and worm and caster cocktail, loose feeding casters every five to 10 minutes. However, although this technique catches a few fish, he has no hesitation in getting back to the top because he's getting so many bites on the drop. After all, there's no point in wasting time trying to get your bait to the bottom when the fish are going well near the surface.
The theme of this video is about getting as many fish as possible in a set time. No double rod rests, bite alarms and sit back for the next run in this video - the rod never leaves his hand. Indeed, if there's a drawback to this tape it is that parts of it are a constant stream of fish coming to the net rather than discussions about techniques, but once you've explained waggler fishing that's all there is to it.
The tape also spends some time on the importance of playing fish correctly, particularly the importance of being careful when they are under the rod tip if you are using small hooks and a fairly stiff rod.
But the proof of the pudding is in the eating, and by the end of the tape Dave Harrell has netted about 10 different species of fish for a netful weighing about 80lbs.
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