Rigs and Tips – Catching carp off the top

Baitworks founder Mark Bryant shares the simple floater-fishing rig he used to bank three big commons off the top in an afternoon, and how he adjusted his presentation to deal with a strong crosswind. Full transcript below.

An afternoon off the top

Here we are over at the lake in the Cotswolds. I managed to pinch an afternoon off and do a bit of float fishing, and I’ve had three. Started off with a 28-pounder, a cracking common off the top, then another, a 22, on a lone mixer, and then the last fish I just had, a 25 common, an absolute belter, that took a little zig.

The rig

This is the setup I was using. I’ve got a little trimmed-down Kingfish boilie super-glued to the back of a size 10 mixer hook. Really important to have a nice strong, firm hook with a massive gape, great for hooking potential. That’s tied onto a pre-stretched 15lb nylon, there’s a bit of weed out there. Then I’ve got a little tiny micro swivel here, a nice wrap-around, with a bit of putty, which enables me to flip the mixer out about 20 yards or so to where the fish were feeding.

Beating the crosswind

There was a really horrendous crosswind. I could see them taking mixers, so I flattened the line off with oil, but then the wind would pick up and the controller float would go through too fast. So I put a little bit of putty on and anchored it on the bottom. I had probably about two, two and a half, three foot in the shallows, and fished a little mixer. As soon as they came up, I watched the hook bait, and as they came up and took it, I’d strike and set the hook in the bottom lip.

So there you go, a nice, simple little setup, and a great little afternoon’s float fishing.