Sink And Draw

What is the ‘sink and draw’ method?

Replies:

1. “It's when you cast a lure or deadbait (or occasionally a worm etc) and retrieve by winding (when the bait will come towards you , but also rise in the water) and then stop winding (when it will flutter back to the bottom). I guess usually you're imitating a wounded fish. When using a deadbait it's really the same thing as 'wobbling'.

Various people assure me it's brilliant for pike. In my experience it IS brilliant in one swim under a bridge where I can often get a pike within about 5 minutes; in lakes, though, I've never had so much as a take, and apart from my 'hot' swim I've had limited success elsewhere on the river. But that says more about me than 'sink and draw'. I certainly find it more fun than ledgering a deadbait.”

2. “To mount deadbait for sink and draw, fix treble so they are 3" apart by wrapping the wire around the shank of the upper treble, and firmly embed of its prongs into the bait's eye socket. The bottom treble is nicked with the barbed prong only into the bait flank along the lateral line.”

3. “Using a small pair of long-nosed pliers, push the swivel at the end of a standard snap-tackle through the gills of the deadbait, from behind, and out through its mouth.

The bait will stay on better and you will get a better action.

When you've positioned the hooks (as Andrew suggests, but I like to have a turn of the wire around the deadbait's body between the two hooks) use some elastic to bind the rig to the deadbait.

That way it will stay on better through repeated casts, and won't tend to 'bunch up' so much.

If you cast the deadbait into a 'piky' looking area, you can leave it to sink, and then wait awhile before twitching it a few times, and slowly working it back to you.

This is where sink and draw has an advantage over lure fishing - you don't have to keep it moving!

Some times a couple of swan-shot on the trace helps with extra casting weight, and with sinking the bait.”

4. “You can also include cork balls to pop up the bait if there is a weedy bottom.

It can also help to keep the bait on the surface, if you wish to fish it high in the water.

You can get a cork ball from the tackle shop, then drill it, and then I split it, as you pass the trace through the gill covers and out the mouth, the cork can be slipped over the trace and inserted into the mouth.

This enables me to fish a wobbled dead bait at any depth. You can add weight and sink it, or cork and float it, meaning you can explore every nook and cranny of a swim.”