For me it depends on the bite. If it is a possitive guzunder it is met with a possitive lift of the pole but for nibbles or a suspicion of a bite I “feel” for the fish first with a much more gentle lift to save the pellet. As regards the foul hookers I was “done” next peg by 2lb by an angler who had five foul hooked fish in his catch last week. They were all decent F1’s and he was striking hard at every indication on the float.

i find it’s best not to strike just lift realy fast and hard !

mikeomania what hooks r you using i was using 911s and found only the point of the hook was penetrating and the full hook wasnt going in so i switched back to 808s and i aint lost a fish also f1s and mirrors/commons feed different if am fishing a place thats predomintly mirrors and commons i tend to lay on a bit if its full of f1s i fish dead depth

Miko as per PH76 I find 808’s an excellent hook for winter fishing with almost any bait. I cannot honestly say that I have had more fish come off early in a match than late and find that the vast majority of fish losses are down to foul hookers.

Its strange how those foulhooked ones always seem to fall in the keepnet as their bieng returned.Does any one else have this problem.

Slippery little beggars Freddy aren’t they!

whats wrong with putting foulhookers in the net if you do not you are as daft as a frog.

Here’s first, a match thread i can comment on. After fishing with Darren Cox (name dropping git aren’t i) i now strike by aiming to see the bottom of the float i am using, while maintaining a tight line between pole tip and float. You’ll be surprised how you feel, rather than see the bite first.

I will add it does take a lot of concentration to maintain the tight contact between pole and float to get the maximum benefit.

BnF,i fish this way when fishing close,i tried to explain this method a couple of times,but the lads have a right chuckle.I also find when catching crucians a lot of them are hooked around the face and not actually in the mouth.

As Hillbilly and BnF say your’e feeling the bites before you see them.

Soft laccy & firm strike.

If conditions dictate that you can use a short line between float and pole then even a 4″ lift will hit the majority of bites especially if you can get above the float.

Knocks can be met with a slight lift that i’d ‘progress’ if the line tightened: Hard to describe but hopefully you get my drift!

I only like lifting at bites when there are lots of fish in your swim otherwise its a strike.

mikeomania. Close and long. Fished it with Darren at the Glebe on pool 6 1st peg at 14m into the close vegetation. If you have it right, feeling that bite gives the split second to control the fish and move it into open water.

The key is not striking but lifting just enough to see the bottom of the float. It’s tricky but worthwhile.

Yes tou feel it before you seeit,try it it works.

mike instead of striking i found that a gentle lift works all the time i found that if its a gazunder bite or a dip or a tremor on the float if you lift and dont connect with a fish and drop it back in you can sometimes induce a bite. through out a match i never ever leave me float stationary for more than a minute i am contiually lifting dropping and laying the rig in trying to induce my next bite. the reason behind me not strikin is i hate fishing long and having to ship back without a fish

hold hook against pellet so as point and shank both touching pellet . Then roll pellet up towards spade end until point sticks out and rest is bury’d . Then lift like a stealthy ninja.

It’s the resistance that causes the fish to hook itself.

What i picture happening is the bait is in the fishes mouth. As it moves away you see/feel the movement and lift. The fish bolts, hooking itself.

All i can say is it works, but as billy the squid says the hook must stick out.

Oh, and the reason pellethead 76 is always working the float isn’t because he doesn’t like striking, it’s because he’s tight with his bait, and doesn’t want to feel the fish have robbed him!!

Must be a Scouse thing….