Heron Lake

Heron Tactics & Tips

I have often remarked that Heron is the most 'English' water on the Complex and as a result you can approach it exactly as you would at home, with the exception of bigger hooks and stronger line of course! I have yet to find the complete Rig for Heron but have found the most success with the help of a Combi Rig! I also know of a number of high profile Anglers that used the 360 Rig with great success too. My preferred method is to tie the Combi in the conventional manner with a softer Braid section at the end of a stiffer boom.

Two things I would suggest not to use are the Chod Rig and FluoroCarbon mainline! Once again, there is often a blanket covering of low lying blanket weed (both Canadian pond and Silk weed) and this can hamper your presentation if using the Chod and secondly, it is not advisable to fish with slack lines either, due to the possibility of the fish running into a weedbed before you have had time to react, potentially allowing it to become tethered! My concerns over FluoroCarbon revolve purely around it's abrasion resistance, or lack of and again, the fact it may become entangled in the marginal weed if fished slack, thereby allowing a Carp vital time to gain sanctuary and in turn, cause itself harm in the process! Having said that, I amongst others have also had a degree of success by using the!

Chod-anoster / Weed-anoster rig, this is almost identical to a Choddy but comprises a 2-6" super-stiff and straightened Hooklink and is fished 6-8' up from the lead on a much tighter line, this style allows for much better bite indication and will ensure that a) your bait is presented perfectly and b) your line cannot entangle itself around any obstacles in the swim! On Heron, your baiting strategy is governed entirely by the Fish and will vary greatly, not only from season to season and month to month but sometimes from week to week! Don't forget, you are not the only Angler there, even if your chosen swim is free upon arrival, it may well have been occupied for the previous 7 days and quite possibly for some weeks or even months beforehand too! They are big Carp and will respond to large quantities of bait at the right time of year but my preferred approach would be just to fish small PVA bags and scatter between 50-100 Boilies around each Rod with a Throwing stick until you have gauged just how many Fish are in your swim and more importantly, how many of those are actually interested in feeding?!

If they are, the Heron stock respond to a variety of methods, beds of Particle and/or Groundbait have worked well in the past, as has a simple Boilie approach so make sure you are prepared for all eventualities if this is your chosen water. As far as choice of Boilies goes, I think a good quality Fishmeal bait works better on Heron than on the other waters. Mainline's Activ-8 has always scored highly as have a number of others, such as Baitcraft's Super K and Halo.