Andy May’s Top Five Match Fishing Mistakes to Avoid

5 September, 2018 | Match & Coarse | Tips | Articles

5 Comments

One of the biggest name’s on the match fishing circuit, Andy May is one of the go-to anglers when it comes to advice. Here he identifies and explains how to avoid five common match fishing mistakes…

In this article:

• Choosing the right pole elastic
• How to position your pole rollers correctly
• How much to feed
• Choosing the right line diameters for your rigs

 

Andy continues…

“As an angling coach I all too often see some very common mistakes that can be easily rectified…. well, I say easy, but if you don’t know…. you don’t know…I think I know, but, I might not know…. you know!  What I’m trying to say is despite all the literature and videos that are readily available these days its still all down to the individual angler themselves to get out there and put the practice in to rectify their mistakes and become a better angler. Lets got through the top five I see all too often”….

 

Mistake 1 – Feeding

Along with presentation, feeding is key to getting the best results from your fishing session.  The old adage of little and often really isn’t far from the truth. However, there are situations when you need to feed more, and lots, while there are also other times when its best to feed little, and very little.  All too often I see anglers hoofing enough bait in to fill up a fish the size of a small rhinoceros, and then to sit back and wait another hour and do the same again.  Its far better to feel your way into a session rather than just go in all guns blazing and make them have it!

Mistake 2 – Line Diameters

There is a whole host of categories that come under presentation and the problem of line diameter is the biggest by far.  Those pesky F1’s and shy biting roach are suckers for sussing out line,  avoiding line that looks like rope and only feeding when line that’s acceptable and this will catch you fish on the coldest of cold days.  Of course, you will have days when everything you do seems to work, but, more often than not take a step back and think about your line diameters.  Think, what fish am I after? and gear up accordingly.  It’s very rare that I fish anything over 0.14 diameter or 4lbs in old school during the summer and in the winter that will be down to 0.10 on commercials and 0.08 on natural waters… (2lbs and 1 ½lbs in old school).  Obviously if its bigger fish you’re after you may have to go slightly heavier…. but, it’s the next problem in elastics which is the bigger factor!

 

Mistake 3 – Elastic Choice

Using too thick or too heavy elastic is a very common problem I see.  Anglers fishing for carp gearing up with bungee style elastics is a massive no-no.  There are occasions when you do need to fish heavy when fishing tight to snags etc, but, fishing with light elastics is miles better than fishing too heavy in my opinion.  You certainly won’t bump as many fish if using light elastic.  The big fish you hook wont fight as hard and won’t bolt off either.  I tend to use MAP hollow 6 to 9 for most of my fishing during the summer. While in the winter, I change to solid single 6 for everything!  As long as you have a puller bung or side puller, you won’t have a problem.

 

Mistake 4 – Float Tips

Float tip like a lighthouse.  Oh yessss, I see this nearly every day when I’m fishing, anglers that have a float showing that a boat could quite easily moor up on!  Just make sure its dotted down.  You can use thicker floats if your struggling to see the bristle, as long as its dotted down. I guarantee those little dinks that your seeing and not striking at on your float are proper bites!

 

Mistake 5 – Pole rollers

This is a little bit harder to talk through, instead its much better to be shown.  Basically you want to make sure your back roller is higher than your front roller so that your pole tip is always low to the water when shipping out (so that your rig is always flat on the water and not tangling). It also helps when you’re shipping back with a fish as it avoids putting unnecessary pressure from above on the fish. Also make sure they are at a slight angle, if your right handed out to your right and the opposite if your left as this also helps when shipping.

 

Conclusion

As I said before videos are great and lots can be learned from  watching them (especially mine, ha-ha) but its far better to get out there and just remember what I’ve said and give it a go, it will definitely help put more fish in your net…wohoooo!

More from Andy May:

Andy May’s Snake Lake Fishing Tips

Get sloppy for commercial silverfish