A Guide to Basic Legering, Leger Fishing
Legering is probably the easiest and simplest way of fishing for bottom feeding fish like bream, barbel, tench and carp.
Legering is basically a method anglers use in fishing a static bait on the bottom of a lake or river bed.
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J Boswell www.fish-uk.com
J Boswell www.fish-uk.com
What is Legering?
Fishing information for beginners to angling
The weight is used to aid casting and hold the bait in position on the lake or river bed.
Using a fixed lead the fish usually hook themselves. The problem with fixed leads is that if a fish is hooked and the line breaks the fish could be left trailing the lead around.
In fact I always use a weaker hook length than the mainline whatever style I am fishing.
The paternoster rig is a good setup if you will be fishing in water with a soft silt bed.
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The lead may sink into the silt but the hooklength is more likely to lay on top and if used with a pop-up boilie or floating bait will rise above the silt.
I have fished with 6 foot between weight and hook when bream fishing on a large reservoir in winter.
Using a feeder allows the angler to attract fish into the swim by presenting groundbait or loose feed around the area of the hookbait.
It doesn't use a float (unless you are float legering but more of that later) but consists of using a weight on the main line and other methods of bite detection such as a swing tip or quiver tip or bite alarm.
Legering is so popular that nearly all specimen and carp anglers use this method in pursuit of big carp, barbel, catfish and other species.
The weight of the lead you use will depend on the distance you are casting, the type of the water your fishing in and type of rod you are using.
Other anglers may disagree with me but I prefer to keep ledgering, in fact all of my fishing, as simple as possible. The way I see it, the more complicated the set up or terminal tackle, the more there is to go wrong
This is where the lead is fixed to the main line. This can be as simple as using a swan shot as the lead and pinching it on the line a few inches away from the hook.
Fixed lead
Also, when fishing on running waters or in windy conditions where fishing with a float is difficult, legering with a feeder rod or quiver tip is a preferred method of fishing.
If your fishing running water the lead should be heavy enough to withstand the current and hold on the bottom. If your fishing at distance on a lake then the lead will need to be heavy enough for casting.
Ledgering tackle and setup.
Methods of legering
On fixed leads I ALWAYS recommend using a hook length of a lesser breaking strain than that of the mainline.
If bites are hard to come by then try lengthening the distance. I have fished with 6 foot between weight and hook when bream fishing on a large reservoir.
In place of the weight a feeder can be used, although technically speaking this is called feeder fishing.
If bites are fast and furious (we all wish) and you find your missing them then try shortening the hooklength.
This is the use of a lead that can freely move up and down the line such as an Arlsey bomb. The weight is stopped from sliding down to the hook by the use of a bead or pinching on a small lead shot a few inches above the hook
Fishing the leger is also a good method when using a running lead for finding chub and barbel on running waters, rivers and streams.
Running lead
In both fixed lead and running lead methods, the hooklength distance between the hook and weight is trial and error and will depend on whether you are getting bites or not.
I suggest starting with the weight 6 to 12 inches (15 to 30 cm) from the hook and if bites are hard to come by then try lengthening the distance.
Rods for Legering
in general if your buying or talking about a leger rod then this is the one that uses a swing tip or quiver tip, but . .
Lengths of Leger rods vary from 9ft to12ft. Other rods used for legering are Feeder and Carp rods.
The type of rod to use will depend on the type of water you will be fishing, the distance you will be casting, the species of fish you will be fishing for and weather conditions
There is some controversy over what is actually a leger rod?
If legering is fishing a bait on the bottom without the use of a float, then in theory this can either be a fishing rod that uses a Swing tip, Quiver tip, Feeder rod or a Carp rod.
I will leave it to you to agree or disagree. Please don't email me though.
Swing Tip
Reels, Lines and Hooks for Legering
Set up's for Legering
Position the banksticks so that your rod is pointing straight to where you will be fishing.
Height from the ground is a personal choice but I prefer to keep it as low as possible but in a comfortable position for striking. The swing tip should be a few inches above the water.
On a windy day, when you cast out and the weight hits the water hold the rod tip under the water until the bait gets to the bottom. You will know this when line stops pulling off your reel.
This stops the surface drag of the water putting a big bow in your line. If its a calm day you don't need to do this
It doesn't want to be just hanging straight down and it doesn't want to be pointing straight out, it wants to be somewhere in between.
As descibed above when casting the swing tip on a windy day when the weight hits the water hold the rod tip under the water until the bait gets to the bottom. You will know this when line stops pulling off your reel.
Bites are detected by the pulling round or dropping back of the quiver tip.
When your bait is on the bottom slowly wind your reel to tighten your line and put a slight bend in the quiver tip.
Bite indication is by the swing tip straightening out when a fish swims away with your bait or by dropping back if it swims toward you.
Once you feel sure the bait is on the bottom slowly wind your reel to tighten the line until the swing tip is at an angle of around 65 degrees.
As the leger / feeder falls through the water it will pull line off the reel and cause a tension on the line.
When you cast, hold the rod tip high to keep line out of the current until the leger / feeder hits bottom of the river.
You will know when your bait is on the bottom by feeling or seeing the rod tip spring back when there is no tension.
For swing tip fishing two bank sticks are needed to rest the rod in.
Place your rod in the rest and wind in your line until there is a sleight bend in your rod top
If you are fishing a river or running water you want to keep as much line out of the current as possible or it will be pulling your rod round all the time.
Bites are detected by the rod tip pulling over or dropping back.
Feeder Rod, Quiver Tip
On a stillwater, if your going to use a quiver tip rod, position two banksticks in a way so that your rod sits at an angle, around 90 degrees, to where you will be casting your bait.
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The best reel in my opinion is the fixed spool. Line and hooks of course will depend on the species and size of fish you will be fishing for.
