Angling features and news

Discover how RUSS EVANS' exploding flavour cloud holds the key to catching more spring tench and perch....

Looking and smelling like the left-overs from an abattoir, the contents of Russ Evans pole cup were disgusting.
It was a writhing slop of minced worms and casters, bathing in a sup of blood red Van den Eynde Predator Plus liquid, and Russ shipped the gunge to the edge of a reed bed and poured it into Milton Lake at Surrey’s Bury Hill complex.

Instantly turning the water scarlet, the clock as now ticking- the cloud of colour, flavour and food was plummeting to the deck and Russ wanted his hook bait in the mix as soon as possible.
Racing his pole back through his hands and replacing the cupping kit with his rigged up top kit, a worm-baited hook was lowered into the flavour cloud just a few seconds later.

Almost as soon as the float settled, it jagged under and a strike connected with the culprit. The zig-zagging fight hinted at the identity of the fish long before it became visible- it had to be a tench.
After a spirited battle, the dripping landing net was soon cradling a 2lb early spring tench, a fish most IYCF readers would toast as proof that warmer weather is on the way.

Russ was certainly delighted to see the species reappear after months of near hibernation.
”Although lots of anglers thing of tench as a summer species, only worth fishing for in June or July, the truth is they get their heads down in the early spring. Probably because they are preparing to spawn in a couple of month, late march, April and May are brilliant times to target them. In fact, I catch most of my tench before June even begins!
It’s not difficult to catch them, either. You find them right in the margins and you don’t need high-tech rigs or baits. A bit of chopped worm and caster, with a splash of predator plus liquid to cloud the water and advertise the bait, is all you need.” 

On the day we visited Milton the warming rays of early spring sun were bathing the Surrey countryside in the first glow it had seen for months.
  Anglers lining the banks smiled as thermal suits and fleeces were thrown on the ground as early as morning mist burned away.

But in his swim (peg 1) Russ issued a word of warning: “It might not be as good today as a lot of anglers would think. In mid-summer when the fish have been feeding hard for months and have coloured up the water a lot more, the fish will often feed strongly on a bright day. But in spring, when the water is clear, you often have to be a bit more patient.”

Dumping in his first pot of worm, caster and Predator Plus, the response was, indeed, slow. It took Russ 15 minutes to get his first fish of the day, a small roach. But just 30 minutes later, after he’d dibbled in another pinch of the potent offering, the float buried and he struck into his first tench, a battling 1lb fish which fought all the way to the net.

The pattern of the session was set. Every half hour Russ cupped in a payload of his worm soup and then hooked one or two tench in the next few minutes. The speed of the fishes response was dramatic, the injection of fresh feed sparking almost instantaneous bites as the tench reacted the cloud of flavour and colour in the water.

”The tench lay up in the reed bed and when they see the cloud of bait suddenly explode in the water they shoot out to nail the loose feed,” explained Russ.
”more often that not I get a bite within a minute of the cupped bait hitting the water- I can imagine the fish swirling around in the worm soup looking for anything that’s edible. A caster or piece of chopped worm is sucked up straight away.” 

But the best was yet to come. As the day wore on and the fish became increasingly confident as repeated baiting coloured the water more and more, Russ tried a special trick.
Replacing the small baits he’d be using with a whole dendrobaena worm, he cupped in more soup and dropped the worm into the cloud.
His dinky pole float hadn’t settled before it buried ad he struck into a solid weight that sped away across the lake."I thought this would work . . . dropping the whole worm into the water on a light rig and letting it sink in slow motion is a killer presentation for a big perch.”
With yards of grey Daiwa Hydro-elastic stretching across the pool, Russ held the pole low to the water and pointed it almost straight at the fish to let the bungee do its work. With 0.11mm (3lb 12oz) Preston Powerline and a size 18 hook, there would be no hurrying the fish.

After a battle lasting several minutes the gaping mouth of a big perch finally broke the surface and was guided into the waiting mesh- all 2lb 10oz of it. Later, a re-run of the big worm trick produced an almost identical take on the drop. This time, a 3lb 3oz giant slipped into the net- a new personal best perch by 2oz. As e cradled the magnificent brace for the camera something else dawned on Russ: “I’ve had a hatful of tench, some cracking roach and a brace of perch weighing almost 6lb- but its only cost me about £6 in bait. What a bargain.”

1.Use scissors or worm shears, like these from Keenets to turned washed dendrobaena worms into a soupy mush. Chop them into little chunks between 0.5 and 1cm long.

2. Pop the cut up worms in a bait box and add some casters - 70% worms to 30% casters is ideal.

3. Now comes the messy bit - add a squirt of Van Den Eynde Predator Plus to the worm and caster. Don't go silly with the liquid - one or two desert spoons goes a long way.

4. At Milton the tench hug the margins, especially where vegetation offers cover. The dead reed beds that are slowly coming back to life are the most productive spots.

5. Rotate the cup to dump the worm, caster and Predator Plus in the water. The worm and caster will sink while the Predator liquid throws out a cloud of colour and flavour.

6. Worms and caster sink quickly, along with a bulk of the Predator Plus liquid. Some of the liquid will spread, creating a column of flavour. This tactic is best used in water less than five feet deep.

It's important to have the right tools for chopping up the worms, as these long handles worm shears does the job in a matter of seconds which means more time in the peg searching for a bonus fish.

No fish in it's right mind will turn down a nice juicy worm presented correctly.

Perch and tench love feeding close to hideouts like reeds, pads and rushes. Never ignore them as fish live here.

Use a light float where possible so you can present your bait more naturally and offer as less resistance as possible to wary bonus fish.

IYCF May 2009