Freelining, but what about the rest of the Jacket?

Free Lining
When fishing in Devon we know that there are as many different schools of thought on the ways to fish as there are numbers of anglers, from the “lots of equipment” anglers, who have the complete angling shop which you can sit on, to the “bent pin and a piece of string” school of thought. You can try either on our Devon fishing holidays as long as you abide by the rules.

Now, I think they both have there merits and place in the sport and no one should decry either ends of the spectrum, as long as the fish are considered.
Generally I think Devon fishing holidays Coarse Fishing should be, consider your fellow anglers, consider your fish and consider having a great time. If any one asks you the merits of fishing you should say they are “considerable”

Some anglers like to be able to change there tackle to suit the environment, conditions and the amount of fish in their keep net. In their mobile shop they carry a variety of tackle, baits and reels. A myriad of different styles and colours of line, swim feeders, lures, hooks, floats and weights and enough bait to feed the 3rd world’s fish.

Generally the “Free liners” come from the more Spartan end of the angling spectrum, preferring to travel light and dismissing the technical advantages of some tackle and equipment. Some because they are happy with the basic feel of fish against fisherman, some because they prefer the feel of freedom and some because they are just tight!

There are varying degrees of free lining and many anglers will describe it with slightly different facets and techniques, but that is also the glory of the sport. Generally free lining is a method of fishing using nothing more than a rod, reel, line and hook and describes a line that isn’t tight, that is, the bite isn’t detected by a tight line twitching the rod or setting off a bite indicator. The bite indication is by watching the line, or at night, a lesser free lining method, holding the line to feel the bite.

There are no floats, weights or rigs to splash in the water. The line is free to move with the water and the wind, presenting the bait as naturally as possible. Either on the surface or at any depth to which you design your bait to progress and over the period you desire.

You can use the free lining technique for live or dead bait, the line still remains usually slack, and sometimes simply laying on the surface of the water.

You have to watch the line, between where it enters the water and the tip of the rod, to detect the bite. You will see a different movement of the line, a change from what you have been experiencing and to see it, you need to concentrate, quite intently and be aware of your surroundings, to be able to differentiate between a change in the wind and a bite. This is sometimes the attraction of free lining to some fishermen.

Sometimes the bite can only be detected by the slightest small, short, jerky movements, maybe only in groups of one or two and sometimes by the line moving differently across the water, that is differently to the direction of water or wind.

Most people envisage a substantial jerk on their rod when experiencing a fish biting. But, sometimes that jerk can be subtle and sometimes even undetectable if you are not watching your line.

Lots of fishermen simply hold the rod and wait for a bite. They miss a lot of fish and go through a lot of bait because they usually don’t even know that a fish is biting, bite detectors can miss the subtleties of some soft bites, there are times when you need to concentrate on the environment and conditions. Here at our self catering cottages and fishing centre we applaud those who but bait from us, long may it continue.

There has been many a time that I have had a vision of my adversaries sucking my bait from the hook with a huge grin across their mouths, *******’s

You can use the free lining technique for floating baits or submerged baits.

Surface bait fishing, has the advantage of disturbing the water much less because of the lack of tackle hitting the water. A draw back is that the lack of tackle weights restricts the casting distance to the uninitiated, but its light contact with the water is less disturbing to the fish.

For a bottom bait the setup is the same, just your line hook and bait but when putting the bait in the water always leave slack line so the fish do not feel any resistance on the line until you strike. Indications for a bite is a tightening line or a slackening line, confusing I know, but if you take it as experiencing a difference in what’s happening without the general surrounding conditions changing you will detect it.

Any freshwater fish can be caught by free lining. If you present the bait attractively, in an area where you know the fish are, in a quiet unsuspicious manner. Even a fish that isn’t feeding sometimes can’t resist a favourite morsel presented before it.

You can introduce artificial baits and lures and whatever you feel works for you, which is why the term is slightly grey in definition. You won’t be surprised to learn that different tackle requires different techniques and practice, you will need to give them some time in different conditions to really get to know their different subtleties and nuances.

We encourage free lining when fishing in Devon, at our holiday cottages and fishing centre you can stay and freeline day or night.

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