One – More Cast: Mid-winter Zig Fishing

Mid-winter is a time when the leaves have fallen and the sun greets us only later in the morning, giving us that extra time on the bed chair, snug in to your favourite sleeping bag, with many of us tucked away in our frost-covered bivvy’s like hibernating bears. It’s a time of year where we work hard for every bite, and that is all the motivation that we need to respond in an instant to even a single bleep from an alarm. So, while we are on the topic of how hard we work for bites in winter, why not look at something that I am sure not a lot of us use on a regular basis, namely the good old zig. I have wasted entire winters sitting on big, deep pits waiting for bites that never came, because I never targeted those upper middle layers, where sometimes we could even see the fish. This despite after hearing about so many guys banking that extra bonus fish using this method. The truth of the matter is that the fish spend massive proportions of their time somewhere in the mid to upper layers of the water column and are perfectly catchable with the right approach. Personally, I think that in winter they spend much shorter times feeding on the bottom. There is no set depth at which a zig is ultimately successful and a bait fished at the wrong depth will produce as few results as one fished on the bottom; basically you have to hit the right level and be prepared to change it when the bites stop. It can be a leap of faith to change something that you are catching on, but changing the depth of a zig can, in the right conditions, bring instant results, but if you go the wrong way, it could mean no more action. I usually fish bottom baits at night, up until the sun has broken the cold morning air, as there is always a good chance of action on the bottom at these times, and then wind in a rod or two and attach zigs. Nothing else in the set-up need change, it is a simple case of cutting the rigs off and attaching the zigs, and even the same areas can be fished; and often, if you have been getting action on the bottom in these areas, you might get the same action on the zig. My bait choice was coloured foam, as it works as well as anything else I’ve tried, and my own personal favourite is light pink and yellow mixed. I started with the good old black and yellow that resembles a bee, and from there experimented if I wasn’t getting the results I expected. Bite indication can be something to get used to with zigs. If you imagine what is actually happening as a fish takes a bait, eight or ten feet above the lead, the lead can either swing back towards you, be dragged about on a slack line, or hopefully, be taken away from you as in a normal take. To cover all eventualities, I fish with the bobbin halfway up to show both drop-backs and forward takes although sometimes you just get a gentle bouncing of the bobbin. Generally, if you get any sort of erratic indication that last more than a couple of bleeps, there is a good chance a fish is on the end, so be prepared to strike some bizarre takes and indications. Remember that winter is not a season, it’s a celebration of the opportunity to be out on the bank while most others are tucked away in their homes, giving you the opportunity of bagging that elusive lump that will turn your winter into spring. All of us know the feeling of warmth that comes with sitting in your bivvy with a cup of brew, overlooking your frost covered rods, waiting for action!