Carp Catchers Blog

The 2013 edition of the free carp fishing DVD from Korda is out now. Packed full of the latest products and tactics from the Korda lads it’s not to be missed. Here’s a quick sneak preview in this short trailer of what to expect.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okcJRbSbaas

Pick yours up in store soon with your next purchase.

Dave

The daylight hours are slowly increasing and with that the temperatures are sure to start climbing soon too. Before long there will be an abundance of natural food swimming around in most lakes and the carp are sure to take full advantage of this and so should you. Spring has always been a good time of year to fish Zig rigs, although this method has only really been brought to light in recent years. For those of you who don’t understand the principle of Zig rigs, they are generally small bouyant hookbaits fished mid water to imitate a natural food source. The small hookbait could be anything from a small piece of foam or cork to a custom made imitation bug or fly and can be any colour or colour combination, although personally I favour yellow or a natural colour such as that of cork. There’s a wide range hookbaits made for Zig fishing, such as the Nash Zig Bugs, Avid Carp Zig Lites and Gardner Zig Rig Foam all of which provide you with a variety of hookbait options.

Zig rig hooklinks are usually light mono hooklinks tied up with something like Korda’s Kruiser Control Mono or Drennan Double Strength. The lighter the breaking strain or lower the diameter the better as a less obtrusive hooklink will get you more bites. The same rule applys to hooks as well, the smaller the hook the better. Although thick weed, snags and other obstacles need to be taken into consideration when choosing hooks and hooklinks as theres no point hooking fish if you are going to keep losing them. The Korda Mixa Hooks or the Drennan Super Specialist Barbel Hooks are both good examples of a good, strong zig hook.

The next thing to take a look at is your lead setup, I prefer a simple leadclip with no rig tubing or tail rubber to ensure the lead is dropped on the take. A large lead swinging around on a long hooklink is a recipe for disaster. Anti Tangle Sleeves such as those from Korda are also vital to help cut down on tangles. Some Pva Tape like Korda’s Woven PVA Tape will help secure the lead in place for the cast.

Once you have all the tackle required to tie up your zigs you need to get out on bank and give them a go. The depths you fish your zigs at is entirely upto you, although its worth varying the depths over your rods to cover as many depths as possible until you get a take and find the depth the fish are sitting at. The Gardner Rig Bin and Gardner Mini Rig Bin are ideal for preparing a range of zigs at home so they are ready to use when your on the bank, saving you having long lengths of mono all over your swim.

Here’s a nice Zig caught Mirror I had on a small piece of cork on a 10ft zig in 12ft of water.

Get out there and give them a try this spring.

Tight Lines

Dave

The Guru Inline Method Feeders are ideal for small commercial carp waters where the actions comes thick and fast. Guru have designed a method mould to go with the inline feeders and make loading them with method mix even easier. Creating a neat presentation that can be cast accurately, which is very important with this type of fishing.

Step 1.

Attach a short hair rig to the size 11 swivel supplied with each feeder and attach the bait of your choice. Guru’s own ready tied method hair rigs are ideal for the job.

Step 2.

Now place the bait on the hook bait platform.

Step 3.

Take the correct size Guru Method Mould and fill it with the desired amount of method mix.

Step 4.

Now carefully bring the loaded method mould and the method feeder together, making sure the hook bait remains in place and apply pressure to both.

Step 5.

Carefully, making sure not to break up the method mix, push the feeder from the mould by applying pressure to the back with both thumbs.

Your method feeder will now look like this and is ready to cast out.

Give it a go

Tight Lines

Dave

The Avid Carp Solid PVA Bag Loading Kit has been put together with quick and convenient solid PVA bag construction in mind. The kit is supplied with 20 transfer solid PVA bags, 10m transfer PVA tape and an Avid bag loader.

Solid PVA bags are generally fished with very little or no solid food items in the bag, a small hookbait and a short hooklink with an inline lead.

Step 1.

Squezze the bag loader and insert into the PVA bag.

Step 2.

Now drop your baited rig and lead into the bag and hook your tubing/leader into the V groove to hold the lead in place.

Step 2.

Slowly fill the bag up with your chosen mix until the bag is half full, then unhook your leader and lower the lead on top of the mix.

Step 3.

Then top the bag up so the lead is just covered in bag mix before removing the bag loader and compressing the mix with your fingers.

Step 4.

Once the bag mix is packed down, twist the top of the bag , wrap some pva tape around it and tie a couple of granny knots to secure it all. Make sure the bag is tight and compact, it will cast further and more accurately.

Step 5.

Now trim all the excess PVA away above the knot, leaving a few millimetres as a buffer for casting to ensure the bag doesn’t come undone.

Step 6.

Pinch the bottom corners of the bag before licking and sticking them down to create nice round aerodynamic edges.

Your bag is now complete and ready to cast out. Give them a go.

Tight Lines

Dave

The Guru Pellet Feeder is an innovative design that protects the softened pellet loaded into the feeder during the cast and on impact with the water but allows the loose pellet and hookbait to come free of the feeder once on the lakebed. Here is a step by step guide of how to load the feeder.

Step 1.

Take some standard off the shelf pellets, such as, Trout or Halibut pellets and cover them in boiling water for a couple of minutes before draining the water off.

Check the pellet is sufficiently softened, if not repeat the process with boiling water until they are the right consistency.

For the purpose of this demonstration I only prepared enough pellet for one feeder. If you are planning a day session I would suggest you prepare as much as you think you may need.

Step 2.

Attach the feeder to your mainline, followed by a rig and your choosen bait. I would suggest something that matches the pellet in the feeder.

Step 3.

Partly fill the feeder with the scaulded pellet.

Step 4.

Then place the hookbait in the feeder like so.

Step 5.

Now top up the feeder and compress slightly. Make sure not to compress the pellets too much though, as you want them to loosen and release the hookbait once on the lake bed.

Your feeder is now loaded and ready to cast out.

The feeder will land on the lakebed with the pellet still intact.

But after a minute or so and a gentle pull back of the feeder from the rod it will release the pellet and your hookbait.

This type of presentation is perfect for any waters where weed is present or you are fishing in a greater depth than normal. Although it will work perfectly on all waters.

Give it a go.

Dave

What do you do when you keep getting liners but no takes? Many carp anglers will just sit there and wonder why? They will maybe change the hookbait or buy a different bait next time they go fishing. My advice is to reel in and recast 5 to 10 yards shorter. If you are still getting liners reel in and recast shorter again keep doing this until you get a run or the liners stop, you should now be in the right area.

Best Fishes,

John

Salt is often used by many anglers as an additive to particles and spod mixes. Although a lot of anglers don’t know why it is such a good addition to bait. Salt works well as an additive on many waters but it can be more effective on some waters than others. Now it isn’t completely understood why it works so well but I believe part of the reason it works is due to fishes requirements to regulate their salt and water content. Fish need to regulate the levels of water and mineral salts in their blood the same as we do, this is called osmoregulation. Freshwater fish absorb their required salts through their gills in exchange for waste products and through their food. By a combination of urine production and salt absorbtion fish can maintain their body’s salt concentration. Therefore the addition of salt to particles, boilies and spod mixes can be very effective when fishing for carp, especially in soft water areas where salt minerals in the water are scarce. One of the principle ions involved in osmoregulation include Sodium Chloride which is better known as Salt. So next time your preparing some bait for part of your baiting campaign or just for a forthcoming session grab some salt out the cupboard and add a generous handful to your mix.

Give it a go.

Dave

The Atomic Tackle Choppa Droppa is a safety helicopter lead system, offering a setup that can be fished in or around weed that will allow the lead to drop should it become snagged.

In this demonstration I used the Atomic Tackle Choppa Droppa Ready Rigs but Atomic do sell a Choppa Droppa Kit which enables you to use your own choice of leadcore or leader.

Step 1.

Pull the micro bore bead off the small leadcore link, then thread on your lead followed by the micro bore bead onto the small leadcore link.

Step 2.

Using a baiting needle pull the leadcore link through the Choppa Droppa clip.

Leadcore link pulled through.

Step 3.

Now tear a small piece off a PVA nugget and roll it between your fingers.

Step 4.

Push the PVA stop into the loop at the end of the small leadcore link and pull it tight against the clip. Attach a rig and the setup is now ready to cast out.

Tight Lines

Dave

Those of you using coated carp hooks may have noticed that they rust around the eyes and even sometimes the hookpoint. Give them a little dab of Vaseline and the problem to a great extent is solved. You can buy small tackle box sized tubs of Vaseline from most chemists.

Best Fishes,

John

Here’s a handy little tip for getting really neat knots. Instead of using saliva to bed down knots use a dab of Lipsalve which is easily obtainable in chemists or supermarkets and comes in handy tackle box size containers. It will give you a much tighter knot with no line burns or pig tails.

Best Fishes,

John