Carp Catchers Blog

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

Now the weather is starting to warm up a bit and most of you will be looking to get out and start fishing your waters I’m sure some of you will have considered a baiting campaign of some sort. Whether your plan be to continuously bait areas or just to bait a swim prior to sessions there will be a few points that you have to consider.

Bait can sometimes determine the success you have when pre baiting. You want to provide the fish with a food source that can be recognised by them as one that fulfils their nutritional requirements providing them with what they need, when they need it. Now some anglers will choose to use solely boilies for prebaiting where as others will take the pellet/particle route. There is no right or wrong choice but the type of water your fishing needs to be taken into consideration. If you are fishing a water which mostly contain carp then particles and pellets can be a very effective method along with boilies. But if you are fishing a water which holds a large head of other species such as Bream, Tench and Roach etc. then you may find that using particles and pellets will not work very well unless used in larger quantities.

Boilies are an ideal food source for Carp as they are generally highly nutritional and in most cases contain a large quantity of proteins, fats, amino acids, vitamins and minerals. These are all highly sort after by carp in their diet. Choosing the right boilie can be a tricky task with the sheer number of bait companies and choices of flavours available to us as carp anglers. I would suggest choosing a bait that ticks all the boxes in terms of nutrition and digestion. It is no good having a bait that holds all the nutritional factors but isn’t completely digestable to the fish. If they can’t unlock the nutritional factors in the bait then it is no good for them. I would suggest using a freezer bait for a long term baiting campaign but that isn’t to say that good results can’t be had on shelf life baits. Confidence in your chosen bait is paramount. Using a bait you’re are confident in can sometimes be the difference between catching and not. If you not confident you won’t fish as effectively. Mixing up the size of boilies can also help contribute to the success of a baiting campaign as this can confuse the carp when it comes to taking your hookbait. Although the sizes you are able to use can depend on the range your baiting at as smaller boilies won’t reach the spots with a catapult or stick if you’re baiting at a distance. There are a range of good boilies available, Baitcraft T1, Mainline Cell, Dynamite Baits Banana Nut Crunch and Richworth Kg1 to name a few. I would suggest choosing your preferred bait and sticking to it, you won’t be as successful chopping and changing between baits if you plan to establish it as a good food source on your water.

Pellets and particles can be a very effective method of prebaiting. The quantity of smaller food items in the swim means that the bait remains on the lake bed for longer keeping to fish grubbing around and revisiting the area. Although smaller course fish on a water can prove to be a problem when baiting with pellets and particles, purely because they are able to eat the small food items. A lot of people like to use pellets and/or particles to prepare and clear spots of weed and debris as not only will the fish help clean the spot but diving birds will help as they try to pick up food items. A pellet, particle and boilie is a firm favourite.

In the following sections I will cover where to prebait, quantities to bait with and how to go about it. In the meantime there some older Carp Catchers Blogs on the same subject that may be of interest to you go to New Season Baiting Campaign  and Good Quality Baits .

Tight Lines

Dave

This is an alternative to the previous Carp Catchers Blog on how to tie The Shot On The Hair Rig. It is tied in exactly the same way except the hair is lengthened by 10mm and the shot is placed halfway along the hair rather than directly next to the bait.

Setting the rig like this means the bait sits up off the lake bed by about 10mm if using a pop up hookbait. It allows the hook to lay flat on the lake bed alway from the bait, making it less obvious to wary carp. This alternate Shot On The Hair Rig  provides good bait separation and ensures the rig is hook heavy, making it more likely to catch in the carps mouth.  Though more effective with pop up hookbaits, a bottom bait can be used and the rig will still be very effective as it is still hook heavy.

Tight Lines

Dave

In this Carp Catchers Blog we have one for the future. Customer Rob O’Brien sent in this photo of this gorgeous scaly mirror carp not a monster but who cares. Also notice how Rob has chosen a suitable background for his catch photo which really enhances the whole thing. Rig details are sketchy but a Korda Choddy  hook and a Korda IQ Hooklink  were involved.

Best Fishes,

John

In the previous Carp Catchers Blog we talked about dips and glugs but we didn’t make clear what the difference between them is. This Blog will correct that.

Boilie Dips

Boilie dips are normally quite viscose and clear. They have a powerful flavour dissolved in a neutral carrier. Your hookbaits can be left to soak in them indefinitely and this will have an added effect/benefit of hardening them. Boilie Dips can be used with bottom baits, but they are ideally suited to pop ups. A couple of good examples are the  Richworth Impact Boilie Dips and Mainline Hookbait Enhancement System.

Glugs

Glugs are normally quite thick and based on a liquid food source. Very often they will have the same liquid attractors and nutrients as the boilies they represent. Hookbaits can be left in them indefinitely and though both bottom and pop ups can be glugged longer soaking is more suited to bottom baits. The reason for this that glugs or food dips as they are sometimes known are quite heavy and soak right into the hookbaits and this can affect the buoyancy of pop ups. Glugging into a food dip before casting is the more usual way to get an extra boost is the more usual way to use glugs with pop ups. A couple of good examples would be Nash Baits Top Rod Food Dips and Fresh Fish Mussel And Oyster Liquid .

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.)

For you carp anglers who fish through the winter we have the new Baitcraft Snowball  and Super Tutti Freezer Boilies in stock. These baits are dedicated winter baits, that will work year round. We also have the Attractor Pellets  and Pop Ups  to match. For more information click on the above links to go to the main site. There will be a lot of new product information in coming Carp Catchers Blogs as we have loads of new stuff.

Best fishes,

John

Here’s a little Carp Catchers tip to help pin that mainline down on the lakebed. The Korda Sinkers  were developed to keep rigs pinned down, but try spacing out 3 or 4 of the large size along your maniline at the rig end to really sink your mainline. I’ve got them on my set up and they really work well sinking your mainline straight away, even quite heavy braided mainlines. For more information or to purchase please follow the above link.

Best Fishes,

John

These were recommended by a customer called Bob. The Drennan Grippa Stops  really do grip even low breaking strain line. So if you want a line stop that really grips the line give the Drennan Grippa Stops a try, I recommend them highly. For more information or to purchase please follow the above link.

Best Fishes,

John

Here’s a session report from little David who’s featured on the Carp Catchers Blog before.

“A couple of weeks ago I decided to give my rods a dabble at Welham lake as I was hoping to fish there this winter. After arriving I decided to fish peg 11 and started to spread 100 free offerings at 50yds range with Dynamite Baits  The Source Shelf Life Boilies after setting my traps over a shallow silt bed, all I had to do was sit back and wait for my alarm to scream into life. Whilst waiting for this “screaming take” I saw a gorgeous looking ghost carp patrolling round one of the lily pads to my right with a few hefty lookin mates too,I didnt have to think twice about moving over to peg 8 with the “carpy” looking lilys to my left this time finding much smoother patch with the marker doing the same again using my ever trusty Gardner Scorpion Stik  throwing out 100 free offerings,but this time a lot more spread out to get the carp moving more hopefully resulting in a take. A few hours past and I was starting to lose hope when suddenly that screaming take finally came. The minute I picked up the rod and started doing battle I could tell it was a big fish possibly one of the gorgeous looking mirrors I’d seen. After ten minutes the fish rose and I was amazed to see a golden carp on the surface heading towards my net, I lifted my rod ready to net my prize when Snap! then silence and after staring at my rod for a second I couldnt believe it the Big ,un had come off! After recasting my rod Ian and big David (Im little Dave!) came down and fished the swin next to mine,I told them about this beautiful ghostie on the end of my line. After having a talk with Ian and big David I decided to have a rig change and swapped to a size 10  Gardner Incizor  hook, hoping that the bigger hook would stick better in the fishes mouth an hour passed and it was time to go home,losing that fish was extremly frustrating but I was very happy to see that my tactics are working and I hope to reach my target by catching the big ghostie by next summer! I would like to say thank you very much to Ian and Big David they gave me some great advice both a couple of great fellas! I will try to keep you informed of my quest for the biggie im sure he’ll be in my net soon! ”

We’ll keep track of little Davids quest over the coming months.

Best Fishes,

John