Fishing beyond Casting Range Fishing beyond Casting Range

By Edwin Wout

Introduction

Dean Brookes and myself recently returned from a trip to Spain chasing European Wels catfish and carp. While we were staying with our good friend Ardy Veltkamp at his ‘Carp Casa’ on the mighty Orellana Reservoir he introduced us to Edwin & Ressie Wout.

Like Ardy they are from Holland and also have a home by the water. Edwin and Ressie run the Angling Escapes company

(www.anglingescapes.co.uk or www.anglingescapes.nl) for bookings on some of the best carp lakes across Europe. Orellana, like many North American waters, is big, challenging and home to some very big wild carp including commons to 79 lb and Mirrors to 77 lb. Feature finding and fishing beyond normal casting range are key components to consistent results on Orellana and Edwin’s experience I’m sure will be helpful to anyone who wants to try such tactics here in North America.

Let me start with a small introduction; My name is Edwin Wout and I was born in 1967 in Holland. I started fishing for carp the aged of 12 so you can say I have been carp fishing for a few years, 42 actually. Of course, I started with the many small lakes and canals around my city.

But very soon I found that with a small boat, you could go to areas that nobody else was fishing, or you could even bring your lines and rigs to spots that were beyond casting range. This started to bring me way more fish.

But the road to fishing at such long distances was a long learning process.

You must overcome many problems. How to detect the bites on your alarms, how to avoid problems with other boats, how to avoid big bows of line when taking your lines out and doing all of this while making it safe for the fish.

In this article I hope I can give you some tips and tricks that will help you fish at these long distances with fewer problems.

First of all it is always better and easier to fish as close as possible. There are often more fish close in or within easy casting range so why would someone fish far out? But now and then it can bring you more fish if you know how to do it.

As a young kid I did not have the money to buy all expensive gear. So, most of my money went into my boat and fish finder because that opened my world. A fish finder for me is the most important tool when you want to fish further out. Because close by you can find out depths and bottom structure with a rod and a maker float.

But as soon its beyond casting distance, you need to know what happens down there as well. Why would I fish 300 yards out if I don’t know anything about depths and bottom structure? It’s always about what is down there. Is there a plateau where fish would pass or go over.

Does it have mussel beds or weed beds where fish can find food or shelter. Does it have differences in bottom structure that can lead the fish that way. Just dumping bait on a spot where fish never come will not bring fish. But putting food on spots the fish is naturally attracted to makes them eager to take your bait instead of what they normally eat.

But then again, this elasticity will also give you more problems of getting a signal on your bite alarm. And the tighter you have your clutch the more elasticity it takes to get a signal at your alarms. So, this means the fish can move further without you knowing.

In the beginning I used heavy hangers because people said it takes out a lot of the slack at long distance. But because of the weight of the hangers you had to make your bait runner drag more tight. And because of that you could reel in the next day and find out there had been a take and the fish had found her freedom in a snag.

So always keep your clutch loose for quicker response by a take. I would never fish close to obstacles or snags at long distance! It’s not about getting a take; it’s about landing a fish safely!

In the beginning I fished with mono. These are perfect lines to use with a small wallet and by people with not that much experience. Mono has elasticity, so it forgives you when you make mistakes in playing the fish. You won’t have hook pulls just because of the brute strength you put on the hook and the softer mouth.

The problem in having your clutch loose is that the fish will not easily self-hook on the resistance of the line so this brings you to fishing heavier leads.

I was once fishing a France lake and getting a few short runs that stopped before I pick up my rod. It made me wonder but after seeing all the crayfish in the lake as their natural food I found out their mouths where as hard as leather!

So, in addition to having the sharpest hooks I could find, I also went up with the lead weights from 2.5 oz (70 grams) to 4.5 oz (120 grams). Now every pickup was a run and a fish. Small changes can lead to success.

When I was more experienced, and my wallet was a little bigger because I was working, I bought my first braided lines. This opened a completely new world for me. Fishing with braid you get a way quicker bite indication, picking up your rod you have a lot more feeling of where the fish is, what the fish does and how you can steer the fish.

Also, with weed beds the braid cuts through the weeds and plants. But because it has no stretch it also has no forgiveness. So the pressure you put on your rod goes directly to the hook and mouth of the fish so you must adjust how you play your fish to avoid hook pulls.

Braid has a lot of direct strength for its small diameter, but at snags a mono line is a lot better.

Imagine it like a t shirt, if you just pull at it, it is difficult to tear, but when you make s mall cut in the shirt, you easily rip it apart. It is the same with braid, if it is not damaged its very strong, but as soon as it rubs along a stone or a mussel it soon cuts through.

So by using a mono leader of 40 – 80lb, 2 or 3 rod lengths long you have the best of both worlds.

You have the mono on the bottom that will slide along stones and snags way better, and you have the strength of the braid playing the fish and feeling what the fish does and when the fish is closer in you still have some elasticity of the mono that prevents hook pulls. I also use more supple rods when I don’t have to cast and I always have my clutch a little smoother when I fish with braid.

In the beginning I always fished with a friend who would hold my rods while I took my rig out in the boat to the spot I wanted to fish. If it was just a little bit windy it would create a big loop in the line.

I had to shout to him to reel in as much as possible and then clamp the line as quick as possible. In the meantime, I dropped the lead and put some bait out in that area. But because of the lead falling back on the tight line I often fished much shorter than I had planned. And when the wind was blowing hard it was nearly impossible. And often the shouting did not work as well as hoped over the noise of the wind. I then learned to take the rod with me in the boat. I go to my spot and put the back of the boat into the wind. Now I go slowly backwards till I have the same speed as the wind blows. I am still on top of the spot and because the engine is pulling, the boat handles a lot better.

The wind cannot change my position like it can do with the bow of the boat pointing into the wind. Now I set my reel so I can reel backwards and slowly lower my rig and lead to the bottom. I can also feel what kind of bottom it is. I then quickly lift the lead a little in the direction of my rod pod.

Now my rig is on the opposite side of the lead to the rod pod. Because I can see the line entering the water I know exactly where to spread my bait around and then I go with a little curve against the wind back to my rod pod. As soon as I step out, I hold my rod tip up in the air. Now the wind is blowing against the line and pushes the curve I made, out of the line.

This is the easiest way to get your rig on the best spot. It also avoids having to ‘pull’ your line straight from the bank which could move your rig off the baited area or make your hook pick up some debris.

When I was fishing a big lake in Italy in wintertime there was sun all day on the reeds at the opposite bank. It was freezing in the night so a couple of degrees more water temperature could make the fish just a little more active.

There was no way that we could sit on the sunny side by the reeds so we chose the opposite bank and put our rigs at all different depths, but we placed 1 rod close to the reeds on the opposite bank. This was more then 500 meters / yards out!!

As soon as the sun went down below the horizon the net was frozen to the boat, but we also had our first run. No surprise it was on the rod with the rig by the reeds on the opposite bank and after 2 days almost all rods were placed at this long range. The trick was not to let the fish go into the reeds.

So, we just built up some tension with the rod by slowly walking backwards. As soon as the fish was safely away from the shallow bank, I jumped into the boat and played the fish close to the reed bank.

I could easily land the fish in the boat and if it was a good fish then I would put it on the unhooking mat in the boat. After removing the hook, I would quickly put on a new, ready baited rig, that I already had in the boat.

Then it was quickly back to the spot, drop the rig and some more bait before heading straight back to my own bank for photos. This way I only had to use the electric engine once for each fish and that saved a lot of time and batteries!

When we fished the world Cup (WCC) in the Czech Republic at lake Novomlynska we found ourselves with another problem. In front of us there where loads of bushes on the bottom which we had to fish over but it was not possible to use floating lines because of the boating on the lake.

Our only option was to put the bait where we expected the fish and set the clutch and bait runner as light as possible. As soon as we had a take we jumped in the boat with the absolute minimum pressure on the rod/line. This made sure that the line would not get pulled down into the bushes.

If, as sometimes happened, we found a spot where the line was stuck in the bushes we simply lowered a small anchor behind the snag. Then when we found the line we pulled it up and continued.

If it was not possible to release the line from the snag like this, we cut the line holding the part that went to the fish and held on it. Then we pulled the other end of the line out of the snag which is easy when nothing is attached. Then we tied the two pieces of line back to each other and continued our quest, landing the fish.

You had to be with 2 people in the boat but when you have the hang of it its easy to do. I think we had the most fish of any team during that WCC, but because only the 3 biggest where counting we did not make it in the top 5. Loads of fish but unfortunately not the biggest ones.

At this moment I live on lake Orellana in Spain. A 5,000 hectare / 12,500 acre reservoir that was a valley and dammed in 1931 to provide a supply of drinking and irrigation water as well as electricity.

In front of my house the lake is about 2 kilometer / 1.25 miles wide and in total its 30 kilometer / 18.5 miles long. I have a nice bay in front of my house that slowly goes down to 24 meters / 80 feet deep. At 400 meters out there is a big plateau but I learned long ago the fish don’t go over the plateau but around the plateau. At this spot the fish come by at about 10 meters / 30 feet depth.

Because I have a lot of free space I often fish 1 rod to the left at a distance of 150 meters, 1 rod in front at about 90 meters and 1 rod to the right at about 120 meters.

Orellana can often have some rocks on the bottom so it’s important not to pick up your rod straight away. If you just let it go for about a minute, the fish starts swimming and so the line is pulled upwards away from the rocks and is soon in free water. In this swim there are no obstacles in front so the fish can keep going as they wish without any problems. I use a lead of 6.5 oz (180 grams) to 8oz (230 grams) and don’t fish with very tight lines so have the last meters / yards with a little slack line laying on the bottom. My house is about 80 - 100 meters from the bank.

And although I have a caravan at the bank that I rent out now and then, I myself prefer to sleep next to my wife in the same bed. Call me crazy, but I would say it’s the best of both worlds. I use the Nash Siren 4 alarms and they go easy to a distance of 600 meters. So my receiver is next to my bed.

As soon as I have a take, my wife hits the light switch and continues sleeping. I then jump into my clothes and run out the door and down to my rods. In the meantime, the fish has lifted the line from the bottom and I can easily and safely play the fish from the bank. The size of the lake means there is very little pressure. But I have found out from experience that it is mainly the anglers’ lines that scare the fish away. As soon as a Spanish angler sits to my left (and they like to boat out their lines more than 500 meters to the top of the plateau) my left rod will not produce any fish.

The result of all these lines (there are usually a minimum of 2 anglers, each with 3 rods and sometimes an illegal extra one as well) means the fish will not pass through the channel that is between the bank and the plateau.

These anglers also like to fish with mono lines. So, these thick lines fished straight and tight to the lead will sing like a tight line in the wind. This noise spooks the fish, and they now go around the other far side of the plateau.

I might catch on my middle, but most likely I catch on my right-hand rod. And when these locals also go on my right-hand side as well it kills the bite completely! The fish are still there and sometimes they will continue to jump but they just will not eat anymore until the anglers on the left- or right-hand side stop fishing and go home.

When the Spanish boat out their lines at long range they often start cleaning the boat and put it away while they are getting ready to pack up. When they are ready to leave, they try to reel in without the boat and often the hook or the lead will stick behind a rock. Then they just put their hand on the reel and start walking back till the line breaks.

So please, if you think you need to fish far out, do it wisely. Always make sure the boat is always available till you stop fishing and bring your lines in. If the line gets stuck, then jump in boat and go out to where it is stuck and most times it can be freed easily.

If there are a few hundred metres / yards of line left in the water, then an animal can get trapped in it and drown or a carp can still pick up the rig and is then trailing several 100 meters line. We all know that never ends well.

A trolling motor is easier than rowing but always have oars just in case the battery dies. If you are fishing for a few days bring a spare battery.

A fish finder makes sure you can learn the bottom features not just where you put your bait but also the structure all the way back to your rods.

That way you know it is a safe spot without any snags or problems. It is about the catching and not about the runs. A small anchor in the boat will help to free a line from the snags and you can use it when your battery dies to stay in place.

An H-Block marker in the boat is always handy, to mark your spot when you’re putting your rigs out but take it in when you are fishing. The fish can go through that line and cut you off.

Also, if you ever lose a fish it can be handy to mark that spot with an H-Block and later find out why it happened. A small box with a pair of scissors and some rig materials can be handy.

The scissors or a knife is important when you pick up another line or you get a line tangled in your prop. Carry some extra baited rigs so you can change them on the spot.

Extra hook baits plus some boilie stops, boilie needle etc is handy when you accidentally step on your boilie. It is much easier to change it near your spot instead of going all the way back!

Keep the landing net in the boat so you don’t forget it. I also like to have an unhooking mat in the boat. You can put the fish in the boat for easy unhooking and cover the fish, so he keeps calm when you boat back.

Also keeping the fish in the net on the side of the boat makes the boat way less controllable.

A very important tool to bring with you is a fish finder with GPS on it and always a compass (a real one not the one on your phone!)

As soon as you arrive at the lake put in your bankside location point in the GPS and check your compass to know in what direction you are so you can always get back. I know that everybody uses there phones nowadays for finding the way, but I never leave my phone in the boat at night.

And when I have a run, I must wake up while my alarm is screaming so I don’t think of my phone as I rush into my boat on my way to the fish. And although it seems okay when you start, sometimes after a good battle with the fish that has made your boat spin several times you might find yourself lost in dense fog as thick as pea soup.

This happened to me in Italy on another big lake. Because it was the last night, I decided to take most of my gear back to the car.

This included my box with scissors, boilie needle and of course my compass. In the early morning I had a screaming take. My mate and I rushed into the boat and after the fish. It was a little foggy, but we could easily see 200 meters / yards or more.

After a 20-minute battle I landed the fish and my mate and I were looking around but could see nothing! I said: “I think we have to go to the left”. “You’re stupid” my mate said, “we have to go to the right”.

Luckily, we heard a voice far away... “Hollandaaaaa, Hollandaaa”. We searched for the voice and and luckily, we found our Italian neighbor who was fishing 500 meters / yards further away.

He saw us going into the boat, but he never saw us coming back.

He was worried and decided to come search for us in his boat, bringing a compass.

And thank goodness he found us and pointed us in the right direction because we would never have found the bank by ourselves. In dense fog you quickly lose all reality of direction and you cannot hear anything. It is very scary.

We finally ended 500 meters from our rods but at least we landed at the right bank and I could make some nice photos of a big common before we headed back to Holland.

I hope I gave you some guidelines to help you fish beyond normal casting range. I wish you all great catches and one day I hope to come fish with you in North America. Until then tight lines and good luck.