Dealing with Fussy Fish

Just one small kernel of
maize on a small hair rig
with no sinker did the trick
with fussy fish.

This mirror went for the one
kernel of corn on the
freelined (no sinker)
rig.

This summer has been a struggle for me. The numbers and the sizes have just not been  there even though I have tried many different places.  Same story all over for me- slow fishing.
Today was an interesting day, though. I was in a place where I was getting hits.  I know they were carp because I saw some cruising around. They would pick up my combo bait of maize and artificial corn, go to run with it and drop it.  I knew I was dealing with fussy fish. So, I made some big changes.  I took off my rig and sinker rig and tied on just a hair rigged, small, #10 hook with a short hooklink. No sinker.  I decided to freeline just one one small kernel of maize on a weightless set up, something I have done in the past with fussy carp. That did the trick.  Within minutes, the alarm was screaming and I was onto a fish that turned out to be about a six pound mirror.
I wish I could tell you I killed the fish, but the truth is that I only landed one more fish today. Oh well, with the way things have been going, I'll take two fish in this morning's outing!