Keith Ashby

"Try fishing the edge shallow. By this I mean say 6 to 12inches off bottom in a 2 foot swim. You will be surprised the amount of fish you can catch.... "

I tend to believe that we as anglers miss out a lot on the near side swims, often preferring to fish long because everyone else does. My thoughts are why complicate things. I know that if the fish are present close by I can draw them in close enough to compete.

The fish you expect to catch are generally larger so in reality you do no need to catch as many. By careful feeding and being prepared to do something different to the norm then you can have some good red letter days, if its in a match all the better.I generally try to feed at least two, preferable three lines in the margins. Top threes either side or a longer line as far as possible to any feature the peg may hold. It may be a bush, a bigger clump of grass, or a difference in depth. Careful plumbing of your swim will determine where in your peg the fish are likely to be. Small depressions on the bottom of the lake will hold any feed deposited in there as it will not be affected by movement of the water above it.

One will be fed with corn only, the other 4mm GOT Pellets, with the longer line taking both in smaller quantities. The longer line is initially fed by pole cup then topped up by a Fox Tosspot. The nearer lines are fed the same to start then by hand. This spreads the feed about slightly and allows you to pick off some wary fish that do not come onto the main pot. *For* hookbaits Jolly Green Giant and either 4 or 6mm GOT Expanders are superb and are consistent in both size and quality. Cheaper corn tends to be harder. The hook will not pull through the bait to the fish enough and results in a few bumped fish.

Rigs are nearly always MW Pellet floats in .2 or .3g range and I have them shotted with a bulk around 12inches from a size 16 B911. In deeper water (over 3ft) I will spread the shot out to give a slower fall of the bait through the water especially in the last foot. Lines vary according to the time of year but will have no hesitation fishing .20 in winter if they are having it. At the end of the day it’s no good hooking them only to lose them.

One tip I will give is to try fishing the edge shallow. By this I mean say 6 to 12inches off bottom in a 2 foot swim. You will be surprised the amount of fish you can catch.
Finally we all do things slightly different; it may be feeding to holding your pole, lifting and dropping to fishing well over depth. There are no rights and wrongs with fishing, it depends on the day. We will all learn from the experience of being on the bank with others suffering the same fate. *It does help though that the wealth of knowledge that the GOT Baits anglers possess is always readily and freely available.

More About Keith

Where do you start? I suppose at the beginning. Many moon’s ago whilst still a nipper I have memories of fishing with my dad, nothing major, just odd trips out on the Severn. I caught my first fish there a small perch that impaled itself on a beaten up maggot. Times and people moved on and although my Uncle Colin was a keen angler fishing for Swindon ISIS through many a national and river championships, I never really got into fishing until my mid teens when a gang of reprobates would go fishing all over London on canals, lakes and rivers. Jumping onto the local buses got you everywhere in those halcyon day’s. The fishing was not too good but the craic and banter was always there. I still maintain that’s the only reason I go fishing now.

Moving to Milton Keynes saw me change tack completely. I was surrounded by water. The Rocla lakes were brilliant in those days and many 100lb bags of Bream came from Redhouse and Dovecote Lakes. The River Ouse was full of big chub and perch for the winter months and the canal was walking distance.

I joined a club and although not brilliant bagged a few wins and sections in the matches. Colin had moved up here then and took me everywhere to fish the local scene against very good anglers. After a few years the club had gone “cliché” and the match side of it, didn’t fold but a lot of anglers left to fish elsewhere. I was one of them.

I got into some fishing forums, maggotdrowning and talk angling around about this time and became an active member, fishing the matches, winning both the Maggotdrowning.com Individual event at Tunnel Barn Farm and the pairs event at Rolf’s Lake with Colin Sharrad. It is here that the Jinx series started and has offered a lot of friends along the way.

I started fishing where I wanted and fished a variety of waters, Drayton, Makins, Heyford and the likes but it was not until I fished Rolf’s that I started to take things more seriously. The quality of angler there was amazing to what I had experienced before. Gary and Trevor were the main men on the venue regularly framing and taking the place apart. Yet they would tell you everything about your peg and where to fish, with what and set you targets. I never set the world alight at first but over time gradually a few sections were followed by the odd win.

Now fortunately I have the honour of wearing the GOT Badge and firmly believe in the company, products and the men behind it. They have shown great courage and faced adversity along the way but have a strength of belief in what they are trying to achieve.