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LIQUIDLIQUIDDIETDIET
Name: Ant Rogers
Age: 27
Sponsor: Preston Innovations/
sonubaits.com
Lives: Staffordshire
ANGLER PROFILE
VENUE PROFILEFishery: Woodland View
Location: Droitwich,
Worcestershire
Contact: 01905 620872
www.woodlandviewfishery.co.uk
Howmanyofyoufeedliquidsto
catchfishonthebottom?AntRogers
does,andwhenhecombinesthemwithamassivelumpof
meatonthehookhehasonehellofafish-catchingrecipe.
FEATURE LIQUID FEEDING
A few pellets, a handful of corn, a big glug of liquid
and a sizeable lump of red meat on the hook
sounds like an unusual concoction, doesnt it? Well,
Ant Rogers has been feeding this way for some time
now and believes he has hit on the perfect recipe
for success. If his recent form at Woodland View is
anything to go by then who are we to argue?
Three days before shooting this feature, Ant
recorded a 152lb framing weight of hard-fighting
carp in poor weather conditions after several days
of cold rain. In fact, Ant reckons the weather was so
bad that he only caught properly for the first three
hours. One can safely predict that once the water
warms up properly, so too will the action.Ant has been perfecting this technique for a few
years now and, to date, his best weight is 197lb
in a 3hr evening match. Watching him in action
you soon realise it wont be long before that 200lb
barrier gets blown away, so well let Ant take you
through his method
WhatIsIt?WhatIsIt?
110matchfishingJuly 07
andmeat!andmeat!
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Soft meat is vital it is taken more confidently,
is easier to strike through and fools bigger fish. I
use cheap Ye Olde Oak ham and start to prepare
it several days in advance of a match, using this
method:
Slice up a tin of meat with a knife and place the
cubes in a polythene bag with plenty of air inside.
Shake the bag vigorously for at least five minutes
until the corners of the meat have gone and it is
coated white with the fat. Add 150ml of CSL, a capful
of sonubaits.com Strawberry flavouring, and a good
squirt of the same brand of red dye. Shake it all upagain, bag it up and freeze it. Next day, defrost it fully
before refreezing it, and do this every day until the
weekend. The more the meat is frozen and thawed
the softer it gets. I tend to take three sizes of cubes
with me which range from 1cm offerings to 1in
gobstoppers. Any meat that is unused gets refrozen.
The thick liquid clings to the
corn and sinks to the bottom.
Liquids are the next frontier in match fishing, as far as I am concerned, and Woodland View seems to be where
they have taken off the most. Before realising the effectiveness of liquids I would often find myself needing to feed
up to a whole 250ml pot of corn after every single fish. This may seem a bit drastic but it was often necessary with
this attacking, big-bait method.
The fish in this venue are very active and seem to sit off the bottom searching for food. A pot of feed helped
force them down long enough to catch one before you had to repeat the process. When the fish were feeding well,
you could easily get through the fisherys 10-tin limit of corn, and this is when I stumbled across the importance of
feeding liquids.
On one match I ran out of bait with 90 minutes to go. All I had left was a handful of corn, a few casters and a
bottle of liquid flavouring. In order to make my feed last to the end I experimented with feeding a big glug of liquid
with a pinch of bait every time I cupped in. I couldnt believe how well the fish responded to it, and from that day
on liquids have been a crucial part of my feeding strategy.
A column of liquid flavouring in the swim is a massive fish attractor in its own right and really helps to bulk out
your feed. Nowadays I still bring my limit of corn but the liquid makes it last so much longer. I know some anglers
who are just feeding liquids now, with no solid feed other than the hook bait!
I like to fish this method on the bottom, in anything from three to eight feet of water. For that reason you need a
liquid that is denser than water so it will sink quickly to the floor. After much experimentation I have settled on corn
steep liquor (CSL). This is a major by-product of cornstarch processing and is a natural source of betaine. More
importantly, fish love the stuff!
I like to use neat CSL that has not been watered down and the sonubaits.com version is perfect. To give it an
added kick I add a squirt of sonubaits.com Strawberry and Tutti Frutti flavourings before starting. Two small CSL
bottles should be more than enough to last me a session.
Some anglers use diluted liquids that disperse immediately, for catching shallow. This is when coloured dyes,
particularly red and black, also score well. I have had success with red dye when bottom fishing, but it can drift
out of the peg on a windy day so I tend to stick to just CSL these days.
If a fish takes
this its probably
a big one!
TheHookBaitTheHookBait
LiquidDietLiquidDiet
TheMethodTheMethodFishing big cubes of red-coloured meat is
synonymous with Woodland View Fishery, where I am
today. I suppose a guy called Kevin Slade started
it all off when he took this water apart with his
aggressive feeding strategy. He would fill it in withbig pots of bait, fish a massive chunk of meat over
the top and haul the carp out on relatively crude
gear. Back then, the fish often dragged the elastic
out on the take but the fish seem to have wised up
a lot more now.
A friend of mine called Ian Lockley was the first
person to show me a more refined approach. He
used smaller cubes of meat and a more cautious
feeding policy and, for a season or two, was almost
unbeatable. I learnt a lot from Ian before perfecting
my own take on the method, which has seen me
chalk up plenty of results at this time of year.
This tactic normally involves fishing no more
than eight metres out and presenting a large cube
of very soft meat over the top of a bed of corn,pellets and the all-important liquid. You are not
allowed to feed meat at this venue so I use it purely
as a hook bait. The size of the meat varies but
usually the bigger it is, the better. The meat stands
out as a large target bait among the feed and the
bigger carp home in on it readily. Dont let the size
put you off, because even small fish will suck it in.
You dont really want these nuisance fish, however
its the big carp that I target.
In a typical, five-hour match I aim for 20 or
more carp to reach my 100lb target weight, which
equates to just four fish an hour. Combine that with
a few fish late on down the margins and you can
quickly amass a big weight.
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FEATURE LIQUID FEEDING
I always start off with a handful of the fisherys new
sonubaits.com Commercial Feed Pellets topped off
with enough corn to half fill a 250ml pot. I then add a
big gloop of juice before potting it in. I tend to make abit of noise with the cup to attract the fishs interests
at the start.
Further top-ups are generally done with a quarter
of a pot after every fish or every couple of missed
bites. How I top up depends on whats going on under
the surface. If there are few signs of activity I keep
making a bit of noise when I top up. If there are lots
of silly bites and liners I tend to sneak the bait in a
bit quieter.
Meat is a heavy hook bait and doesnt need any helpto get down to the bottom
and stay there. The float
acts merely as an indicator
so I use a slim 4x14
Durafloat 7, regardless of
depth. This is shotted with
a bulk of four No8 and one
No11 Stotz. I fish at dead
depth with the shot taking
the float to the base of the
bristle and the meat acting
as the last dropper. The bulk is essential as it helps
you to read the float and distinguish the true bites
from the liners. I start with it 12 inches from the hook
but will move it closer if I am suffering from liners, orfurther away if it is hard.
I have tried hair rigging but found it leads to
foul-hooked fish. Instead, I bury a large, size 12 PR21
hook inside. This straight pattern keeps its point
better than a curved one. Line is 0.17mm PowerLine
to size 15h Hollo elastic and a Pulla Kit. I will step up
to 17h Hollo in the evenings or if I am really bagging.
I set up two identical rigs, but one has three
inches of line above the float for good conditions
while the other has six inches for rougher weather.
I tend to fish about seven or eight metres out
during the day, and a section closer in for an evening
match. This is close enough to keep the fish settled
without spooking them by playing hooked fish right
over their heads.
The red-meat hook
bait stands out like
a beacon among a
bed of corn.
FeedingFeeding
This is an instant method, and I expect to catch
a carp straight after feeding. You might not always
catch on it all day but it can give you a massive head
start in a match. Remember, you often only need a
few big fish every hour to stay in contention.
Ant rarely adds
sections once a
fish is hooked.
Two slim 4x14
Durafloat 7s
cover
everything.
PresentationPresentation
ANTS
FEED
RECIPE
A smattering of sonubaits.com
Commercial Feed Pellets01
plus a handful of washed
corn02
before the all-important CSL
liquid is added.03
A big chunk of meat is
the target bait.
You might not alwayscatch on it all daybut it can give you amassive head startin a match.
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