Carp Catchers Blog

Just a final reminder that your rod licence expires today. A £2000 fine and criminal record is no joke. See previous blog for more details.

Best Fishes,

John

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

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

Hi, I haven’t written a blog before, but whilst we were fishing a few weeks ago, an article John showed me struck a chord and I thought I would share it with you.

We all know how important it is to take care of the fish we catch, having a decent size unhooking mat and treating any wounds with the Korda Carp Care Kit , but it is also important to take care of ourselves and our dogs (if they are fishing companions).

The article was about Leptospirosis or Weils Disease which is carried by 15 – 30% of rats.  The bacteria is excreted in the rats urine and can be passed onto humans and dogs when they come into contact with contaminated areas.  In the case of fishing – lakes, rivers and canals.

To protect yourselves you should cover any cuts with waterproof plasters, don’t leave food and cooking utensils out or uncovered.  If you do get symptons, which are fever, chills, headaches, muscle ache, vomiting or diarrhoea, you should contact a doctor immediately.  Weils disease can be fatal if not treated early.  Dogs can also be carriers and also contract the infection, so you need to make sure that they have been inoculated.

On a happier note, its been lovely and sunny, but don’t get sunburnt use your suncream and stay in the shade when possible.

Be safe and catch lots

Angela

That man Tom Cox is definately on a roll at the moment. Fishing a popped up lamprey from our deadbait section Tom helped himself to this lovely clean 17lb pike. Well done Tom, keep them coming!

Best fishes,

John

Just a quick word to let you know about the new rod licence system. When you renew your rod licence this year whether at the Post Office or online you will be given a unique reference number. Keep this number safe and with you when fishing as this will be proof, should you be asked for your licence, that you have paid. You will receive a credit card style licence through the post in due course.

Best fishes,

John

Just a quick reminder that your fishing licence expires at the end of March. Renew it early so you don’t forget, because if you get caught fishing without it you face a hefty fine and a criminal record. You need to renew your licence at your local post office or to renew online Click Here . Remember if you fish with three or more rods you will need two rod licences. I will post another reminder closer to the time.

Best fishes,

John

Many of those of you new to carp fishing and many of you that are not, will think looking at the carp fishing mags that every one is catching but you. This is not the case, if you look at how many catches appear in the magazines and add them all together the number is miniscule in comparison to how many people actually carp fish. Not catching or in carp speak, blanking, is part of carp fishing and should fire you up to succeed in your next session. I pride myself in being quite consistent when it comes to catching carp, but at the moment I’m blanking like a good un’ and it’s really got my brains going into overdrive. Forget Dr. Wii’s brain training go carp fishing. Seriously though, I’m not the only one blanking, the syndicate as a whole is struggling. There has only been one fish out in 18 days and there’s been a heck of a lot of rods hours fished for that one fish. I’m really enjoying it though, but as my girlfriend Angela said, I’d be enjoying it more if I’d caught one. So if you are blanking too, don’t despair you are in good company. The carp are in their autumn/winter transitional period, which puts them out of sorts and off the feed. This transitional period, which happens every year, seems to have started a lot earlier this year and many lakes across the country are fishing poorly. So as I said previously don’t despair, keep on keeping on and the rewards when they come will be well worth it.

Best fishes,

John

Being able to splice your own leadcore leaders will enable you to use a wider range of leadcore leaders in your fishing as you can’t buy most types of leadcore in ready spliced leaders, it will also enable you to splice your leaders to your fishing needs. Splicing leadcore can take some practice but once your got the hang of it and your confident you will be able to benefit from it in your fishing.

The leadcore used in this demonstration was Kryston Score Gold Leadcore.

Step 1.

Peel back the outer coating of the leadcore to reveal the lead inner, remove about 2-3 inches of the inner leadcore. (See picture below)

Step 2.

Once you’ve pulled the outer coating back to its original position you need to thread a splicing needle up the inside of the coating away from the lead inner about an inch. Start threading the needle up the outer coating from the end of the lead inner. (See Pictures below)

Step 3.

Now slightly blob the end of the outer coating to prevent the splicing needle unravelling it as your pulling it back through. (See picture below)

Step 4.

This is the time to add a swivel or clip to the leadcore if you wish to splice one on for your lead setup. Hook the splicing needle onto the end of the coating and close the gate to prevent the needle snagging. (See picture below)

Step 5.

Step 6.

Now gently coax the needle back through the outer coating of the leadcore using the needle, to make it easier if your struggling try pushing the outer coating together as your pulling the needle through this will make to hole through the centre of the outer coating slightly larger. The finished spliced leadcore should look like this. (See picture below)

Whatever you do, don’t splice a swivel onto the mainline end of the leadcore as this will prevent your lead or rig coming off the leader in the event of a break when fishing running, inline or helicopter lead setups and is also likely to pick up weed and become snagged on the lake bed. 

Tight Lines

David

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