Sorry to split hairs here, but are you saying for 30yrs you concentrated more on rigs than location? Surely Location is 99% of the puzzle, for me it is anyway. The last 1% is putting a bait in front of them that they will eat, attached to a rig that works. As everyone knows, if you aren't on the fish , then you can't catch the fish.
That’s the point
not everyone can be in the right place sometimes it’s fish elsewhere or go home
every video anyone watcheS all talk about location location location but in the real world it can always be and something has to give
if you can’t get in the right place then you need an effective rig and bait and a little bit of hope lol
As it's winter I drop down a size or two on the hook but always fish bottom baits this time of year. I'm still catching off the bottom with a 360 rig.
Whe the spring warms the water I may change to a low pop up or a zig.
I do prefer a low pop-up, as I tend to have the fish to be feeding rather than an 'inquisitive' take, and I do normally fish spots with minimal weed rather than in the thick of it.
I had switched back to inline leads, even with Spinner rigs, but I have been able to hand place rigs out in chesties and know that I have good presention. If I was casting it out I would probably be back to helicopter set-ups.
Sadly fencing is the best way or even only way forward to keep otters out.
Unfortunately this can prevent the other natural wildlife getting in as well.
Until last year I had never seen an otter attack on a Swan, although I had heard of it. The otter attacks the neck to kill it. Other birds are also prey, from ducks and ducklings, coots, anything they can catch.
Locally the birders are cutting the otter fences to get in to watch the rare birds. Otter fenced lakes become wildlife havens where everything is safe. The other wildlife doesnt take long to figure it out!