Late Spring, into Summer is the perfect time of year to target Tench, Carp, Crucians and Bream in stillwaters. This gives me an excuse to use one of my favourite techniques - the humble "Lift Method". Forget fancy anti-eject combi-rigs and the like; the lift method is simplicity itself. All the terminal tackle you need is a float, a hook, a swivel and some swan shot.
The principle of the lift method is to over-shot your float and fish with all of the weight laid on the bottom. The float is set slightly over depth, so that when the rod is set up on rests, the float can be made to sit upright by simply tightening the line, so you can finely adjust how much float tip is visible. When a fish takes your bait, the shot is often lifted from the lake bed, which causes your float to lift out of the water, sometimes even laying horizontal on the surface! It is this action from where the method derives its name. Very often, however, you'll notice knocks on the float tip before it disappears, just as you would with a waggler. Either of these bite indications are positive enough to justify a strike.
The float is attached bottom-end only with float rubbers. This allows quick depth adjustment and enables your float to pull free if a hooked fish takes you into a snag.
You can easily adjust the distance between weight and bait. This can be useful if the fish aren't feeding confidently, because a longer hooklength gives the fish more time to inhale the bait before it feels any resistance from your weight. As shown in the diagram, I attach one or two SSG shot to the rig by pinching them on the tag end of the swivel knot. This prevents damaging the mainline with the shot and it also allows the shot to pull free if they become snagged.
I find it best to set up my rod on two rests, with the rod pointing straight at the float and the tip set just beneath the water surface. This will keep the line sunken, meaning you'll get less false bites from gusts of wind and passing waterfowl! If I'm fishing a water which contains large fish, I prefer to use a small free-spool style reel. This is useful if a specimen fish makes off with the bait when I'm not concentrating on the float. The fish is able to take line with little resistance, whilst I'm alerted by the noise from the reel and my rod is in no danger of being pulled in! Believe me, the first run of a tench or carp is one of tremendous power and it's better to be safe than sorry.
