Plumbing the depth

This is, in my view, the most important and skilful part of coarse fishing. Most of the time, fish will be feeding on the bottom. So it's important to make sure that your hookbait is placed where the fish are in order to be in with the chance of hooking a fish. So how do you go about finding the depth of your swim. The answer: using a plummet. Plummets are dumbell shaped lumps of lead or other metal (note that lead plummets aren't allowed anymore - they are poisonous to other organisms including fish, birds and even us humans!).

To attach a plummet to your mainline, thread your hook through the hole located on the top of the plummet, and then insert the hook into the cork on the bottom. This will make sure that the plummet doesn't come off on the cast. Make sure you have your float attached to the line.

To cast, simply do an underarm cast. There is no need to cast out far, about a 1-2 rod lengths is sufficient. In order to read the depth, you need to be able to see the float. Ideally, the floats' tip should just be visible. The diagrams below will help you to read the depth of the water:

Don't be inclined to plumb the depth in one area, though. You will often find fish at dropoffs (this is where the depth of the water changes significantly, such as underwater cliffs and undercut banks etc.) So make sure to plumb the depth all around your swim to create a picture of what the bottom of the lake/river/canal is like. The time invested in this will be worthwhile - a person who has not plumbed the depth will often go home having caught nothing.