Carp Catchers Blog

Regular customer Sean Bown had a session on pit 6 recently and had a very nice result. Sean has struggled on this difficult water but has kept at it. Persistence paid off and three nice commons of 17lb(2) and 19lb 12oz fell to Seans’ rods. Two of Seans’ commons fell to zig rigs with Gardner Black Zig Rig Foam as a hookbait. The other took a Baitcraft T1  bottom bait. Well done Sean, nice one.

Best fishes,

John

Carp are very wary creatures when put under angling pressure and they soon wise up and learn the tricks to avoid capture. One of which involves identifying anglers lines and avoiding the areas which they have identified as dangerous. There are a variety of methods anglers have at their disposal to try and eliminate these issues. These include back leads both flying and clip-on, tungsten putty to pin leaders and hooklinks down and now Korda have released their Sinkers. The Sinkers contain tungsten and are designed to pin down hooklinks.

Backleads have been around for years and have been used to good effect by many anglers in deceiving wary carp. The principle of a backlead is that they are attached to your line to pin it down to the bottom.

Clip-on back leads have been used for years and were first used with stones and paper clips. Nowadays there are many available on the market such as  Korda Intelligent Backleads (See picture below). The idea behind clip-on back leads is that once you’ve cast out you slacken off your line and clip on a small weight. Once clipped on you slide the backlead down your line into the margin. This pins it down out of the way of any passing fish, thus concealing the line from their ever wary nature. These also work well in preventing tangles when playing fish under the rod tip as they hold your other lines out of the way. The disadvantage of backleads is they can create unnatural line angles. These unatural line angles reduce indication of bites and can at times cause your line to sit awkwardly, especially in the presence of weed.

Flying back leads such as  Korda Safe Zone Flying Back Leads (See Picture Below) are attached to your line prior to casting out. They are shaped so that they fly back up your line towards the rod on the cast using air resistance. Flying back leads sit closer to your terminal tackle and pin your leader down more effectively than clip-ons. Unfortunately lying back leads also have a few disadvantages as they are affected by side winds, casting technique and also cause awkward line angles if used incorrectly.

Tungsten putty is reasonably new to the carp world but has been used to good effect since its appearance. It can be moulded on hooklinks and leaders to pin them to the lake bed. You can also rub tungsten putty up and down braided mainline or hooklinks further enhancing your presentation. Tungsten putty is incredibly heavy for the quantity you need and it works really well at pinning everything down to the bottom out of the way of wary carp. There are many brands on the market with a range of colours available including  Gardner Critical Mass Putty . (See Picture Below)

The newest product available to modern day carp anglers are the  Korda Sinkers which are tungsten hooklink weights. Korda Sinkers are easily threaded onto your hooklinks to keep them pinned to the lake bed. Sinkers are easy to attach, grip the line incredibly well and are fish friendly. (See Picture Below)

All these products will work to your advantage in the right situations. Give careful consideration to when and where to use them, as if used incorrectly they could hinder your chances of catching. Think about the make up of the lake bed, depth variations, weed growth and decide whether they will work to your advantage. Take these factors into account and you might find, one or a combination of a few of these products will help you put more fish on the bank. Give them a go and Pin It Down.

Tight Lines

Dave

I am not going to say a lot about this one. Follow the link and check it out for yourself and see if it gets that carp catchers grey matter working overtime Enterprise Pop Up Redworm .

Best fishes,

John

I went down to Farlows lake recently for a short session. The lake was fairly busy, but there were a few swims available. After a good look round I settled on one of the open water swims on the smelly bank. The conditions were fairly mild and sunny with the wind blowing over my shoulder as I cast my first rod. I felt the rod down onto a clear area and placed the rod on my pod to allow the line to sink. My second rod was cast about 10yrds to the left of my first rod and placed on the pod also to let the line sink. As I set the indicator on my first rod I noticed the line was going to my left “that’s strange” then the penny dropped,  fish on!! After a fairly decent fight I slipped the net under a nice gnarly old mirror carp of 18lb 4oz.

Result!! It’s great to get a fish right at the start of your session. A 16lber folowed a couple of hours later and that put up a hell of a fight plodding up and down the margins like the monsters do, I just could not get its head up. Both carp were caught on my new sweetcorn rig and the hookbaits were Enterprise Pop-Up Sweetcorn . The hooklink was 25lb Rigmarole  Hydro-Link Silt  tied to size 8 Gardner Longshank Incizor Carp Hooks .

As the river season opens this week I’d like to wish all of you river anglers out there good luck and tight swervy lines. If any of you have a decent catch or a nice specimen, email us a photo and a short report and I will feature you on the Carp Catchers Blog. Once again good luck to you all.

Best fishes,

John

Customer Ian Smith has been catching again. This lovely chunky common carp weighing 30lb 2oz was caught by Ian from the Bluebell Lakes complex recently. Ians’ rig consisted of a 10” ESP Striptease  hooklink tied to a size 8 Korda Wide Gape X  hook. Fishing over a bed of  Nash Scopex Squid Liver Plus Robin Red boilies Ian popped a Nash Scopex Squid Liver Plus Robin Red  pop up hookbait an inch off the bottom. Nice one Ian a real chunky one that.

Best fishes,

John

The New Quest Baits range is now in stock. This Carp Catchers Blog will give a quick rundown of the products. Firstly we have the shelf life boilie range. The Rajah Spice  is proving very popular, based on a birdfood base with added robin red this is an all season bait with a lovely Indian curry smell. For those of you that like a fruity bait the Fruity Trifle  have a mixed fruit with cream smell and is also on a birdfood base. The Fruity Trifle feature a washed out red colour which may help to trip up those wary carp. The Surf ‘N’ Turf  has got loads of really sexy ingredients like Krill, low temperature fishmeals, anchovy extract, liver, caviar, meat products, and black pepper oil, but no added bulk oils so it can be used year round. Finally we have the  Liver B8 Boilies  which are a naturally dark brown colour and have a meat, liver, and blood base with no added bulk oils, making them an all season bait. The Liver B8 has no fishmeal in it, so if your water has been hammered on fishmeals this may be a good alternative. We also have the Quest Baits  pop ups in stock, The Fruity Trifle smell particularly nice and would be good for single hookbait fishing. To compliment the boilies we also have the Boilie Dip to match the above, which is highly concentrated so should be used as a hookbait booster and not a glug. To give your hookbaits a longer lasting boost, try the Quest Baits  pastes a really good edge in winter. For more Information or to purchase click on the above links.

Best fishes,

John

This Carp Catchers Blog is for those of you who like or would like too do a spot of surface carp fishing. It is fairly easy but there many people that are new to carp fishing so here goes.

These are the components needed for the set up.

Step 1

Loop your mainline through one of the Line/Rig Stops  loops

Step 2

Push one of the line stops towards your mainline

Step 3

Push the line stop onto the mainline loop

Step 4

Push line off mainline onto the mainline itself

Step 5

Cut off the kink in mainline caused by looping it

Step 6

Pull the line stop right up your mainline and thread the mainline through your TFG Surface Missile

Step 7

Tie on one of the size 11 ESP Hi Performance Carp Swivels  using a Palomar Knot

Step 8

Pull the Surface Missile up tight to the swivel

Step 9

Pull the line stop up to the back of the missile. This is what will give a bolt effect to the rig

Step 10

The finished rig. Tie on your hooklink and you are ready to go

This is a carp safe rig in that most surface fishing hooklinks are of a light breaking strain. Should the mainline break the line stop will come off fairly easily. The whitish or opaque finish of the missile will blend in with the whitish/light blue of the background(sky). Don’t forget the carp are looking up!!

Best fishes,

John

For those of you that fish the rivers or lakes that still observe the old close season, a reminder to make sure you get a rod license. Remember the penaltys’ for not having one are very severe. Licenses can be obtained at the post office,online or by telephone from the environment agency.The new season starts on June 16th so good luck all and tight lines.

Best fishes,

John

Yes this is a carp and one of 30lb exactly. Carp catcher and regular customer Eamonn used his favourite Mainline Cell Freezer Boilies  for a four fish catch including the 30lb mirror shown. All four fish were over 20lb and were caught over a bed of bait. Eamonns’ rig featured a size 4 Korda Wide Gape Hook  tied to a 24lb Drennan Carp Silk  hooklink which was cast to a silty area. Well done fella keep catching.

Best fishes,

John