• You need to be a registered member of Barbel Fishing World to post on these forums. Some of the forums are hidden from non-members. Please refer to the instructions on the ‘Register’ page for details of how to join the new incarnation of BFW...

Touch Ledgering

I'd dearly welcome somebody to explain how to touch ledger properly, or provide tips as I've been attempting it for years but with little success so far. I'd welcome any guidelines, cf. winding it around fingers etc.
 
Aaron, i point the rod at the lead or bait keeping the tip fairly low, i put my index fingerunderthe line, run he line over my middle finger and under my 3rd finger, you can tension the line that way to feel for vibrations which are subtle ones jst hold your three middle fingers together to tension the line further, a times i keep the line on the tip of my index finger:)
 
Mono is just fine Jon. I like to hold the rod with one hand and loop of line across the first three fingers of the other, which I personally find more comfortable than looping the line across the fingers of the hand that holds the rod. All about practising until you find what is most comfortable for you but well worth the effort.
 
I only use mono anyway. Hate braid main line unless I'm spinning. I tried doing a bit of touch ledgering last year but without being tought so to speak I didn't really know what I'm feeling for. The only time I ever really felt anything was when I got a full on bite or something caught my line on the surface. I'm definitely going to give it more of a go this year though. A big problem for me though is I tend to smoke a lot while fishing and as I roll my own I can't hold my rod all the time.
Who knows though maybe it could be a cure for smoking if Iv got no free hands.
 
John Walker said:
Aaron, i point the rod at the lead or bait keeping the tip fairly low, i put my index fingerunderthe line, run he line over my middle finger and under my 3rd finger, you can tension the line that way to feel for vibrations which are subtle ones jst hold your three middle fingers together to tension the line further, a times i keep the line on the tip of my index finger:)
Click to expand...


You are absolutely right John, and I always use mono as I worry about damage to the fish.

Regards,

Hugo

 
Have a few questions on this subject:

Always point the rod at the bait?

Works with paste and meat only?

Is it worth trying for chub?

Does it work on silt beds?

At what point do you strike?
 
I do it too, when fishing half a tin of spam on the hook. Point the rod at the hookbait, feel the fish take the hookbait, let go of the slack line, the centrepin (with rachet off) starts to spin and hit it.

The best swims for this method are crease/slacks off the main flow.
 
Touch ledgering works with any bait.
Best to point the rod at the bait so you get maximum sensitivity.
Definitely a method for chub.
Will work over any bottom, the important thing is to have as free running a rig as possible.
When to hit depends on the species and how many fish are in the swim. A shoal of fish feeding confidently will give a firm pull so strike. A lone fish feeding cautiously may well give you some small trembles up the line. In this case I would wait till a good pull before striking.
 
I touch ledger most of the time, I mostly fish small rivers and find that being on the bite gives me more of a chance to get in control of fish early. Last season an angler told me he had lost 4 big fish in a swim over the summer, his rod was in the air with an alarm.They were very big powerful fish and made snags before he got to his rod. By holding my rod pointing it at the bait, moving the fish on the strike and getting some early control with a solid rod and centrepin I got some very big fish out without loss. I also find that initial pluck or tap on the finger one of those special things in fishing especially after dark. One moment you are sitting there watching the world go by, the next a pluck and the rod is being ripped out of your hands .We are either hunters or trappers,I choose to be a hunter most of the time, on bigger rivers I would probably have to change my tactics
 
Many's the time whilst touch ledgering I've ended up playing a fish before I've been fully conscious of having had a bite. It's almost an autonomic reflex. You can be watching the bird life, looking at the far bank, even pouring a cuppa with your other hand ... and suddenly 'BANG!' ... your finger on the line has sensed a bite, and your rod hand has automatically struck into a fish.
N.b.. but mostly I just wait until the pin screams, or the rod butt bangs into the side of my chair :p
 
Edward, it is worth doing with chub but I modify the method. When I fish for chub I am using tackle that targets only chub.With chub the bigger or more pressured fish often test / look for resistance and drop a bait before you strike. If ledgering I use a quivertip rod, lightest tip that is you can get away with, a lead that just holds bottom,slight bow in the line,bait directly on the hook. I hold the rod in my right hand, line between left thumb and forefinger,looking for a tap or pluck. If I feel a tap I push the rod towards the fish giving it some slack line,often a wily chub will then hold onto the bait, pick up the slack,pulling the rod round,sometimes they still sus you out, big chub can be the sneakiest of fish. Last winter I had a group of big chub that were still dropping the bait. I had to Introduce a lobworm to the hookbait which meant they hung on slightly longer.
 
I love it. I actually do it a lot more targeting chub than I do barbel. It does work fine with most baits but I would say better with baits that you are able to totally bury the hook into so that you can allow some movement of the bait in confidence it’s not picking anything up .
one Huge advantage I find with it over rod resting is you’ll never get a deep hooked fish touch ledgering. Your hitting the bites that rod resting you would normally let develop into rap arounds.
 
I remember John Bailey a while back writing that he doesn’t bother touch legering any longer as he thinks the fish can feel the human contact through the line, interesting thought that.

I’ve had some good Barbel by pointing the rod at the bait and giving line by hand as the Barbel took after a spell of cagey knocks and plucks and sometimes touch leger for Chub but not sure that it outfishes leaving the rod lone and waiting for a positive bite.

All that said, It is an involved and tactile method of fishing.
 
I don't think Westie did much touch-ledgering for barbel, and he caught many a thousand.
 
Darren Hawen said:
I remember John Bailey a while back writing that he doesn’t bother touch legering any longer as he thinks the fish can feel the human contact through the line, interesting thought that.
Click to expand...

I feel the same. My hand hovers above the rod but I daren't touch it. However, I want to experience a pluck. That said, I am hopeless at being able to tell what is happening on the river bed. We'll see.
 
Terry Simner said:
I don't think Westie did much touch-ledgering for barbel, and he caught many a thousand.
Click to expand...
Before the pellet days Trevor west was well known for upstreaming meat and bouncing it down the flow especially in floodwater. He would hold the line and pull the bait out of position, searching the swim.There is a Youtube video of him rolling meat holding the line and pulling to reset the hookbait position. Even after the pellet changed the game he would still be holding the rod. Edward I did not mention sitting comfortably,which then allows you to be stable and not move,I then have the rod across my knee.
 
Like many others I have fished with Trefor and my understanding of touch legering improved massively as a result. Great when fishing close to snags, in combination with sight fishing and with big lumps of meat in floods. Don't do it as much now with barbel in mind as you can be standing still expectantly poised for several weeks on the BA without even a hint of a pluck!
 
I've always been a single rod fisher and 9 times out of 10 I'm holding the line like a trigger. As someone said earlier, many a time I've suddenly been playing a barbel or Chub after instinctively striking.
You can often feel the fins and barbules of the fish, sometimes you get the mild 'electric fence' sensation through the line just before the actual bite.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top