Summer caster fishing in the margins with Harry Booth
This is a method which only works in the summer months.
Bait. Half a pint of casters, a few chopped worms and a few red maggots.
Groundbait. Super Match. Lake 3000 and bread crumbs mixed in equal quantities and riddled at least once.
Terminal Tackle. Because this is a method which catches tench, a substantial line is required. I use 3.3lbs Matchteam straight through to a size 18 Kamasan B911 hook. Float sizes vary dependant on depth and conditions but 4x10 or 4x12 should cover most eventualities. Pole elastics are number 14 hollow, number 4 latex or number 10 solid.
Method. Plumb up to find a level bottom, this may be a foot away from the bank or a yard away, but the bottom must be level. The depth can be anything from 3ft to 6 ft. depending on the peg. Find two lines, one to the left and one to the right, at a minimum distance of at least your top two sections.
My shotting consists of bulk number 10's with one or two number 11 as droppers. I fish dead depth to begin with but go up to 3 or 4 inches overdepth if possible.
Begin by feeding an orange size bal of groundbait with 30 casters and a few chopped worms in each swim using the pole cup and leave for 30 minutes. I use double red maggot or caster or a piece of worm ad bait. You will normally catch perch and roach, or an odd bream or crucian before the tench move in. Feed only casters as and when bites slow, do not feed maggots.