Carp Catchers Blog

During a recent winter session, when the lake was empty and all the other anglers were at home I landed 7 fish to 25lb 2oz. All the fish were landed using snowman hookbaits presented on helicopter rigs incorportating Atomic Jel-E-Wyre Hooklinks and Korda Wide Gape Hooks. The snowman hookbaits were topped with Mainline Hi-Visual Tutti Frutti 10mm Pop-ups.

Get out there and get catching.

Tight Lines

Dave

At last! a catch report. Sean and Lea went carp fishing over the Christmas holidays on the Bluebell Lakes complex and were the only two there. Sean unfortunately didn’t have a sniff, but Lea had two jack pike and the very welcome mirror carp shown below. Lea’s mirror weighed 20lb on the nose and was caught on glugged Dynamite Baits Red Fish Pop Ups . Well done to both Sean and Lea on managing to actually getting out in the arctic conditions. Special congratulations to Lea though for getting the one we all want, a carp in the snow!!

Best Fishes,

John

I’m sure this weather is driving all you fisherman out there mad, I know that it’s driving me round the twist. A good use of time in these circumstances is to sort your kit out ready for the coming thaw. Go through all your carryalls and rucksacks and give them a good spring clean. Clean your rods and reels, if your reels need a service now is the ideal time to get them done. Also sort through your tackle box and top up on anything you’re short of. Now is also a good time to tie up lots of spare rigs in the warmth of your living room rather than when your hands are cold and chapped on the bank. Roll on the thaw !!!!

Best Fishes,

John

For those of you who dare to brave the banks during the colder months it is worth baring in mind that equipment can freeze up, especially those items left outside your bivvy/shelter. The one item of tackle which you don’t want to fail you during the long dark nights is your bite alarms. With most bite alarms operating by a magnet roller it is possible for these to freeze which would mean a disaster should you get a run during the night and your alarm fails to signal a pick-up. A small bottle of Glycerol (Basically an anti-freeze) is all that is needed to prevent such items freezing up. Simply apply a thin layer around the roller during sessions where temperatures could well freeze them up. It can easily be wiped off when it is no longer needed and it will save missing a run which at this time of year is very likely to have been hard earned.

It can also be used for your rod rings to prevent your lines freezing to them. You should be able to get Glycerol from Boots or your local chemist

Tight Lines

Dave

Autumn has to be one of the best seasons on the calendar for carp fishing, as well as spring but we’re not there yet. During the autumn period big carp all over the country start to fed quite hard in a bid to up there weights for the winter ahead. It is not uncommon that all the larger residents of a lake will get caught during this period. This could be due to the fish being in competition for food or just generally being greedy about how they are feeding before the onset of winter. Either way they more often than not make mistakes this time of year.

If you’re planning to fish through this autumn into the coming winter then pick yourself a good quality bait such as the  Mainline Cell  or Activ 8 freezer boilies, the  Nash Amber Strawberry  or  Baitcraft T1 are all proven winter baits. Big carp know what’s good for them and what’s not, that’s how they got so big in the first place so picking a good quality bait is very important. This time of year it’s also important to find those areas which the carp are prepared to feed and get some bait on them, if you have the opportunity to prebait these spots in readiness for forthcoming sessions then it can pay to do so. Although prebaiting can be a frustrating game if the lake your fishing is targeted by a lot of anglers it can pay off in a big way if everything all comes together. Prebaiting can get the fish feeding confidently on your chosen bait in your chosen areas while there are no rigs in the water. If possible try to prebait on or just after darkness, this will avoid any unwanted attention from the birdlife residing on your water.

If you can it helps to find out as much as possible about captures during the autumn from previous years and the kind of spots they are getting caught from. If you can’t do this then I’d suggest targeting the deeper silty areas as this is where the majority of the carp’s natural food can be found in abundance. Carp are a creature of habit so it can become very difficult to get them to feed in areas they wouldn’t usually visit, so the areas you target must be visited by the carp on a regular basis or you could very well be making the challenge even harder for yourself.

Observation is the key to finding the feeding areas that carp are visiting, first and last light are the best time to watch for feeding carp. Whether that be bubbling, crashing or clouding of certain areas of the lake. If these areas are located you are half way to banking carp in their autumn colours.

If you bare in mind the factors I’ve discussed when planning your autumn campaign then you could well be in for a good one.

Tight Lines

Dave  

Stick fishing is a very advantageous method of fishing as it helps illiminate tangles, can be cast long distances and leaves very little in the way of food items around the hookbait but maximises attraction. Once mastered stick fishing could help you put more carp on the bank.

All that is required to make a good dynamite stick is some Korda Funnel Web Pva, a compressor, some groundbait which in this case is Dynamite Swim Stim Amino Black and a PVA Friendly liquid or oil. Make sure you use a winterised oil for your winter sticks, these won’t congeal and have an adverse affect on the melt time of your PVA.

TFG Gunk Liquids or Winterised fish oils are ideal for stick mixes during the colder months as well as the colder ones.

Step 1.

Firstly pour your chosen groundbait into a container, I use an old pop-up pot which means I can store my mix away to avoid it drying out.

Step 2.

If preferred you can now crumble in a few boilies of your choice to customise your mix. A Korda Krusha can be used to get the finest of boilie dust. If done using your hands Id suggest gently agitating the tub, this will bring the larger items to the top of the mix which you can now crumbled further.

Step 3.

Add your chosen liquid or oil bit by bit making sure to thoroughly mix it in as you go so not to add too much, you want a slightly damp but firm mixture. It is important to get the consistency of the mix correct so it compresses properly. Now leave the mix to absorb the liquid for atleast 20 mins before making your sticks or adding more liquid or groundbait if necessary.

Step 4.

Once mixed thoroughly scoop the desired amount of the stick mix into your funnel web PVA system.

Step 5.

Now for the important part, using the compressor stick from your PVA funnel web system while holding your thumb over the end of the system compress the mix as hard as you possibly can, the firmer the better.

Step 6.

While holding the PVA tight push the compressed mix out of the end.

Step 7.

Now trying not to break up the mix in the bag tie it off as tightly as possible.

Step 8.

Tie another knot in your mesh and cut the pva between them.

Step 9.

Trim the ends of the knots down carefully and your bag is now ready to thread up your hooklink.

Dynamite sticks are ideal for winter fishing where you want as little food items as possible around the hookbait but maximum attraction.  They are alsp effective during the warmer months. Adding winterised fish oils during the winter can maximise the pulling power they have during the colder months. Another little edge, if you don’t want to use fish oils, is to use Mainline Hemp Oil  as this naturally does not congeal in cold water conditions.

If you’d much rather buy a ready made stick mix that doesn’t require any preparation then Mainline’s Pro-Active Stick&Bag Mix-Crushed Tiger Nut or Dynamite Bait’s Monster Tiger Nut Stick Mix and The Source Stick Mix are ideal.

Give them a go.

Dave

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