"It sounds simple... and it is! Yet Freelining - fishing with no Weight or Float - is a sadly neglected method in this age of high-tech tackle and complicated Rigs."
Freelining is fishing with nothing on the end of your Line except a baited Hook. This usually means fishing at fairly short range, because the only casting weight is provided by the Bait.
But don't look on this as a restriction - more fish can be caught close in than many anglers realize.
When freelining a sinking Bait such as Cheese for Barbel and Chub, use your sensitive fingertips to feel for bites.
One of the great advantages of Freelining is that you need only the minimum amount of tackle, which means you can move easily from swim to swim. But remember to wear drab clothing, tread quietly and keep off the skyline.
Carp like nothing better than to bask in the sun in the sanctuary of weeds and snags. This is no place for bolt Rigs and heavy Weights. Your best chance is to Freeline a floating Bait such as Dog Biscuits. And because you have no Weights or Float on the Line, there's nothing to catch in the weed or snags during the fight.
Stealth and concealment are crucial whatever type of fishing you do, but doubly so when Freelining because usually you are fishing close in and stalking visible fish - and if you can see them, never be in doubt that they can see you! Wear drab clothing, tread carefully and keep off the skyline. If you can, try early mornings or late evenings, when you are less visible.
Many Carp anglers regard Freelining as 'old fashioned', but the proof of the pudding - or in this case, the proof of the Breadcrust - is in the eating. Too often, Carp anglers cast heavy Rigs to the horizon when they would be more successful - and get more enjoyment - Freelining Floaters in the margins.
Freelining can be a deadly method for many coarse fish, and for Catfish and specimen Eels. It is arguably the best method for success.
Many carp anglers today regard freelining as old hat. How often these days do you see a carp angler fishing without a huge lead and some fancy rig? Yet back in the 1960s and 1970s freelining was by far the most popular method for carp. Many top Carp anglers, consider it to be 'THE method for this fish.'
It wasn't until the 1980s that Bolt Rigs and Hair Rigs - and therefore the use of heavy Weights - came to the fore in Carp fishing.
During the 1980s the number of Carp anglers increased tenfold, so pressure on waters increased dramatically. The first reaction of the Carp was to move out of the margins, to get as far away from the ''madding crowd' as they could.
Since then, the constant bombardment of heavy Weights at such features as islands and gravel bars has led to the margins being the least disturbed areas on many lakes!
This is where the thinking angler can score, with Freelined Dog Biscuits or other Floating Baits when the Carp are up on top of the water, or Freelined Sinking Baits - Boilies, Pastes, Particles and so on - when they are rooting about down below.
Chub and Barbel are two species for which Freelining can be deadly, and in times of low flow there is no finer method. Shallow, clear water really does need a gentle approach, the minimum of splash with the cast and no Float, Weight or Swim Feeder to arouse the suspicion of the fish.
It can come as a surprise to many anglers just how readily a shoal of Chub responds to a steady stream of Floating Bait drifted over it. Bread Crust is the obvious choice, but try Dog Biscuits as well - chub love them.
Stay well back from the Chub to start. Then, as they become more confident about taking the free offerings, you can creep a little closer. But never be in too much of a hurry because Chub, though greedy, are wary creatures.
Having got into a position from which you can both see and fish for the Chub, try to pick out the biggest, then run your Hook Bait down to it. You may only get one fish before the shoal spooks, so put some more Bait out then try a different swim for a while. With luck you'll get one from there, and then the first shoal may be back on the feed when you return. This is not just a Summer method; it often works in Winter too - try it on a still, sunny day.
When a river is low and clear it's all too easy to scare away Chub with one clumsy footfall. Even if you do creep up on them without being seen or heard, they are quite likely to bolt at the sight or sound of a Float or Weight. Freelining, of course, is the answer.
One of the deadliest summer Chub Baits of all - a big, juicy black Slug.
The best way to fish a Slug is Freelining.
Swing it out and up over the water so that it hits the surface with an audible plop
and be ready for an immediate take Chub seem to recognise the 'plop' and home
straight in on it.
Perhaps the most exciting form of Freelining is for Barbel. Put a big lump of Luncheon Meat or Cheese, or a couple of Worms, on the Hook and cast upstream into a promising looking gap in the weeds or a steady glide over clean gravel.
Cast well above your chosen spot to allow for the slanting of the Bait as it sinks in the current. Take a little slack Line and gently hold it across your fingertips. Bites when fishing like this can be almost imperceptible 'plucks and twitches', but more often are vicious tugs - you won't miss many but you may lose your Rod if you don't hold on to it tightly.
Chub also respond well to this approach (sometimes too well when you are after Barbel). Cheese and Cheese Paste are excellent Baits throughout the year, while in Summer few Chub can resist the plop of a big, juicy black slug.
Traditionally, one of the best methods for fooling big lake Rudd on balmy Summer evenings is to Freeline Floating Bread Crust in the margins. Certainly, it can be very effective, but try Dog Biscuits too; big Rudd 'woof' them up!
Pike, Zander and Perch anglers often Freeline both Dead Baits and Live Baits, especially on 'hard-fished' waters where the fish have grown wary of Rigs offering even only slight resistance.
Neither of these fish seems willing to tolerate any resistance when taking a Bait, so fishing with no encumbrances on the Line is common.
Some anglers are put off Freelining because they are worried about Bite Indication. There's no Weight for the fish to pull the Line through, or Float for the fish to pull under, so they aren't confident about what's going on at the end of their Line.
Confidence is important to every angler, but it's equally important for the fish to have confidence in the Bait offered them, and herein lies the answer. With many of the takes you get when Freelining - notably from Barbel - you would have to be at home to miss them, so boldly do they bite. When surface fishing you see the take, so there's no need for any indicators here.
When Freelining Sinking Baits in still waters, use a Rod Rest with the type of head that allows the Line to run through it freely, then place a washing-up bottle top (with an artificial illumination device attached if you're fishing in the dark) - or cylinder of kitchen foil - on the Line between the Rod Butt and First Ring. Leave this hanging slack then sit back and wait for the action to start. On still days you can even just watch the Line between the Rod and water - what could be simpler?
With a 'stealthy approach' it is surprising how many fish can be caught close in on Freelined Baits. Remember this simple rule - if you can see the fish, the fish can see you!
Remember, a fat Lobworm is one of the most natural Baits of all and is heavy enough to cast a fair way with no Weight on the Line. Try it when Freelining for Barbel.