Carp Catchers Blog

Regular customer Sean Bowen sent in this catch report.

Hi all,
hope you all well, just got back from a 3 night session on Welham Lake, my first session in the UK since last September. Pre-baited a spot a few days prior and was lucky enough to get back on it, which resulted in 17 carp being banked with a mixture of commons and mirrors, two of which where 20′s.
All fish where taken on T1′s and rigs used where claw style made up of ESP Big T’s size 7, tied to 15lb Jelly Wire and Korda Supernatural Braid.
Back over to France next week to fish the river Gav with my mate so will see you soon.
Sean.

Nice fish, well done Sean.

Best Fishes,

John

Zig rigs or Zigs as they are more commonly called can be a very effective method of angling when the carp are up in the water and not interested in feeding on the bottom. Here is a Zig caught 25lb14oz mirror from last week that was caught 2ft under the surface in 12ft of water on a hot day when the carp could be seen sitting under the surface soaking up a bit of sunshine. The fish was caught using Drennan Super Specialist Barbel Hooks and a small artificial bait.

Tight Lines

Dave

Gary Westcott and myself fished in the British Carp Angling Championship qualifier at Farlows Lake recently. Unfortunately we didn’t qualify but we did score five points for the Carp Catchers Team. Gary and I had two carp for 45lb 2oz and also lost one. Garys fish came on his own Innovate Baits boilies, mine came on Mainline Baits Activ-8. We had a great weekend and really enjoyed the experience.

                                                                                            20lb 4oz

                                                                                                 24lb 14oz

Best Fishes,

John

To follow on from the recent blogs on prebaiting here are a few pictures to prove that prebaiting brings rewards. These fish were all caught from the same area of the lake after a long period of continuous prebaiting during late winter early spring.

Its really is worth putting in that extra effort.

Tight Lines

Dave

After a very long lean spell customer Sean Bowen has landed a nice common from the difficult Pit 6. It’s not the biggest carp in the world, but they all count and when your struggling size doesn’t matter. Sean broke his blank spell using Baitcraft T1 Freezer Boilies  his rig featured a Korda Soft Coated Braid hooklink tied to a size 8  Korda Kurv Shank Hooks . Well done Sean on, keeping on.

Best Fishes,

John

After ten months on his new syndicate customer Rob O’Brien finally caught a carp and what a carp a new personal best!! Rob’s common was caught at first light and weighed 27lb 4oz. The successful rig was tied KD style with Atomic Jel-E-Wyre  to a size 8 Korda Kurv Shank  hook with 2.5oz square lead on a Korda Safe Zone Safety Lead Clip. It was cast to a clear spot in sunken dead weed at 80 yards range with a scattering of 30 boilies around it. Rob is family man with very little fishing time, so well done Rob on your new PB.

Best Fishes,

John

Fishing for short periods in the week can bring you success when the lake is quiet and all the other anglers are at home. Here is a 25lb mirror I had on a recent overnighter after baiting the swim on a regular basis for nearly 3 weeks. The fish was landed using an ESP Leadcore leader and Armaled Lead Clip with a Korda 3oz pear lead. The rig consisted of Atomic Jel-E-wyre and a size 6 Korda Wide Gape Hook  tied blowback style fished with a snowman hookbait and a 2 bait stringer cast to the baited area.

Tight Lines

Dave

Choosing areas on your lake to pre-bait can be the key to success. You need to do your homework on the lake to determine the best areas to target. I would suggest you pick a couple of areas to keep introducing bait to avoid disappointment should you turn up for a session and find someone in one of your baited swims. Just because you have baited a swim it unfortunately doesn’t mean other anglers won’t fish there.

I would pick two swims in completely different areas of the lake so that you have the choice of which to fish. This means that if the weather conditions should favour one area you can head for that area. I would personally pick one area on the end of what would be a south westerly wind and another in an area where you know the fish visit frequently. Once you have chosen your areas its time to decide on the spots/features you wish to fish. Its best to do a bit of marker work in the swims you’re baiting and find any likely holding areas and/or patrol routes. You could be looking for a needle in a haystack, but remember if your going to be spending money on travelling to bait up its worth putting 100% effort in. When looking for spots you could be looking for subtle differences in depth, smooth areas of “clean” silt where the carp have been feeding, bloodworm beds or areas which are not so choked with weed. It really all depends on your water. 

If you are able to observe the fish then watch them closely and figure out what sort of areas they are feeding in and on what sort of lakebed. If you can’t observe the fish then I would suggest you look at past captures if any, or speak to other anglers and see if they are willing to tell you what sort of areas and lake bed they have caught from. Obviously don’t go jumping straight into these areas as they could well be popular swims which you should try to avoid, as other anglers will be benefiting from your bait and hard work. Once you have built up a bigger picture its time to find the spots you wish to bait. Margins are always a good bet too and very often neglected by other anglers.

Make sure once you have found your spots that you have marked them on your lines or paced them out and you have picked far bank markers to aim for. It can sometimes be easier to note these things in some sort of a fishing diary, which you can used to build up a better knowledge of the lake. Here is a blog which may help you when it comes to this stage.  Another Carp Catchers Blog which may help is New Season Baiting Campaign .

Tight Lines

Dave

Hey it’s the 1st of march and the sun is shining and spring is in the air, hopefully we’ll all be able to go fishing soon.

Best fishes,

John

That carp catcher Ian has had hinself another 20 from Bluebell lakes. The 24lb 12oz mirror carp was caught over Ian’s usual bed of Mainline Activ-8  Response Pellets and  Nash Scopex Squid Liver Plus Robin Red  boilies. Ian’s rig included a 3oz Atomic lead and a size 8 Nash Fang Twister  hook. Nice fish, keep catching ‘em fella .

Best fishes,

John