i was wondering if there is anyway to increase the chances of hooking a buff? ive been fishing pretty heavy the last month and have yet to catch one is it just a matter of time or are their certain rigs that produce better than others? certain baits? i hate to think there are no buffs in my swim but i catch the heck out of the commons so i figure where there is one species the other is sure to be there

I would suggest fishing Emma and Baiting up with range cubes and rabbit pellets the one in the green bag from wally world seem to work the best if you really pour the bait in you should get the buffs in front of you

Also, lengthen your leader. Go with 2 to 3 feet and a small hookbait. Single or double kernel of maize, particle bait or small boilie or popup. These are things that helped me land a 42 and Donny land a 65lb Buff.

Mark, do you use a bolt rig, or something simpler, for buffs?

Buffs sometimes pod up with carp, and sometimes pod up seperately. I'll fish all day and catch commons all day, and no buffs, then suddenly I'll catch two or three buffs in a row, and no carp.

It's weird. Range cubes do definitely seem to draw in more buffalo then carp.

So far all of my buffalo have come on either sweet corn, or nightcrawlers.

In my experience,

Buffalo seem to bite more in "unfishable" weather than carp. For example, when we get a northern come in or the day after a bad storm, it seems the buffalo have been biting when there doesn't seem to be hungry carp. Sorry, I know it's very vague, but I just don't get to fish much the past few years.

Also, I've experienced a much more prevalent buffalo bite in colder weather months than carp. THe problem is that the buffalo seem a bit more sluggish in colder water, so the bite can be very slow and soft. Baiting with range cubes, rabbit pellets, and using a cinnamon or spice type dough bait seems to attract buffs for me. Good Luck and keep us posted. It would be nice to know if any advice is brings you success or not, lol...that way we don't keep giving advice that's inconclusive. I haven't been able to prove this yet, but I believe some of the big buffalo travel with catfish.

Alan