Carp Catchers Blog

I’ve just returned from 2 nights on Manor Farm at Richworth Linear Fisheries. I fished 3 solid bags on the same spot no more that 6 feet apart with 10mm CC Moore Odyssey XXX pop ups topped with Avid Carp Sight Stops and baited up with a bucket of hemp, 10mm CC Moore Odyssey XXX boilies, caster, maggot, pellet and a few other goodies using a Spomb. The fish started showing over the spot late afternoon and into the night. I had a chunky 31lb 15oz mirror just before midnight which was followed by a pristine 20lb 14oz common just before first light. The following evening I was plagued by ducks and struggled keeping all 3 rods tight on a spot before darkness fell. That night the conditions completely changed, the fish activity was a lot quieter and no more runs materialised but I was happy with the fish from the previous night.

Tight Lines

Dave

After another weekend session on my Nene Valley syndicate I managed to bank 2 carp to 24lb. The fish were landed using Korda Solidz PVA Bags filled with PVA friendly hemp, which was made by drying off some Dynamite Baits Frenzied Hempseed and adding a generous amount of Mainline Hemp Oil and leaving it to soak in for atleast an hour.  Tiger Nut hookbaits were critically balanced and used as hookbaits with Avid Carp Sight Stops for added visual attraction.

Tight Lines

Dave

I made another trip down to Richworth Linear Fisheries recently and had another good result. I landed 12 fish during my session the biggest being a 30lb 4oz Mirror. All the fish fell to either critically balanced tiger nut or boilie hookbaits with Avid Carp Sight Stops fished at 85 yards to the island over a spodded area of hemp, corn, chops, maggots, pellets and crushed tigers. Baits were presented in Extra Small Korda Solidz PVA Bags using 2.5oz Avid Carp Inline Groove Leads and short hooklinks.

Tight Lines

Dave

On a recent session to Richworth Linear Fisheries I caught a 32lb 4oz Mirror and a 21lb Common. Both fish were landed using critically balanced Tiger nut hookbaits and Avid Carp Sight Stops over a spodded area of hemp, corn, chops, maggots, pellets and crushed tigers. The nuts were presented in Extra Small Korda Solidz PVA Bags with small micro pellets and groundbait and cast to a small clear area in the weed at about 70 yards.

Tight Lines

Dave

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

This Carp Catchers Blog will show you how to prepare hemp. The fresher the hempseed the easier it is to prepare so try to make sure your supplier (if it’s not us) has a regular turnover.

The first step is to soak the hemp in water for 24-48 hrs. Make sure that there is plenty of water over the hemp as some of it will be absorbed by the seeds. Step 2 is to boil the hemp till the seeds split and a little white sprout appears, if you add a little salt to the water it helps to keep the seeds a nice shiny black. After cooking you can add any other flavourings or additives that you like, although it is more than adequate as it is. Once the water has cooled it ready to use or bag up as required. Make sure to keep the hemp in the water it was boiled in as this will contain all that lovely hemp oil. Also if the hemp dries out it will float!! Freezing is the best way to store your cooked hemp if you are not going to use it straight away. Here at Carp Catchers we do dry Mega Hempseed in 5kilo bags.For those that don’t want to prepare their own we also do our frozen ready prepared Mega Hempseed with maggots, casters plus added betaine. We also have Dynamite Baits Frenzied Hempseed  and for PVA bagging TFG PVA Friendly Red Hot Chilli Hemp .

Best fishes,

John

After deciding to change waters for the coming winter and due to busy banks I’ve had a little bit of a confidence boost. On my first weekend session from late friday evening to early monday morning I had a bit of a result in the shape of 6 mirror and common carp to 21lb15oz. After turning up in the dark at 8.30 friday evening I opted for the north bank as I had been told it was free of any other anglers. After watching the water for nearly 2 hours I decided to fish up the dam end in the the deeper water or what was left of it anyway as this is where I’d seen the carp showing the most . The reservoir serves the purpose of topping up the Grand Union canal so the water levels can get quite low at times.

During my session I banked 6 carp to 21lb 15oz from 3 different spots using  Baitcraft T1  boilies over a spread of bait which included a spod mix of hemp, Solar Pure Bait BYT and crushed T1s over one of my rods. Most of the bites came during the hours of darkness which meant I had to have all my spots marked up to get them back on the spots in the darkness.

The rigs I used consisted of 15lb Korda IQ2 tied to 2 inches of stripped Sufix Stiff Silt with a size 6 Korda Wide Gape Hook, a small piece of shrink tubing over the eye and tied blowback style.

Tight Lines

Dave

(I should have turned my head torch off for the night time shots, but had forgotten while sorting the self takes. Luckily they didn’t turn out too bad.)

Here’s a handy little tip from the boys at Dynamite. We all know how good hemp is at attracting carp, however they do tend to get preoccupied on the little grains refusing to pick up your hookbait. So how do we get the attraction without the preoccupation? Get yourself a tin or jar of Dynamite Baits Spicy Chilli Frenzied Hempseed  and put it through a liquidiser that’s how !! You can also add any other bits and pieces you like such as sweetcorn or flavourings at the liquidising stage. Brilliant is’nt it !

Best fishes

John