Carp Fishing Tips & Tricks.

What Is Carp Fishing?

What Tackle Do You Need?

Carp fishing is an addiction once you have the bug you usually have it for life, I have had it fore Over 40yrs now and it still shows no sign of waning.

Its not just the catching of the carp exiting as that is, its being outdoors and seeing nature at its best ( and worst ). Its watching that Roe Deer emerge through the mist on a June morning, waking to sound of bird song when daylight is still an hour away and the sound of a heavy carp crashing out somewhere in the darkness.

If you are just starting carp fishing do not get caught up in all the hype, you do not need to spend a fortune on all the latest gear you can still catch carp on even the basic gear just make sure that you have adequate gear to look after the carp when you have caught them a minimum 36ins landing net, a large unhooking net, a pair of forceps, weigh sling and antiseptic for treating where your hook has been.

There is a lot of basic carp gear out there but rather than buy something that is cheap and nasty just look on the ebay auctions you can pick up quality second hand gear for a fraction of what it would cost you in the shops. Just make sure that you choose the respected sellers to buy from and pay through pay pal, that way you are covered- it does not cost any thing to set up a pay pal account.

So what will you need to start?

A couple of rods, bait runner reels, a pod or buzz bar, line hooks ,bombs,baiting needles,landing net,unhooking mat,forceps,weigh sling scales and some bait of course.

If you are contemplating night fishing you will need a decent bivvy,a bed chair,sleeping bag and a stove to mash all that tea/coffee you will be drinking . Invest in a reputable head torch and possibly a lantern for inside your bivvy. As I said earlier you do not have to spend a fortune, look on ebay and check adverts in your local papers.

Float Fishing For Carp.

One of the most under used but deadliest forms of carp fishing is the humble float. If I only had a few hours to fix this would be my first choice. Moving around the lake with the minimum of gear searching the carp out. It does require stealth and concealment. As you move around the lake just drop a hand full of bait in any likely looking areas such as overhanging trees, weed beds anywhere that the carp may patrol such as a deep margin, if you do not find any carp on the first lap of the lake go round again paying particular attention to the spots that you have baited previously, above all be quite, a spooked carp is not going to feed.

I usually carry a bucket containing a mixture of hemp, different sized pellets, a few grains of sweetcorn, a small amount of ground bait and a few samples of whatever hook baits that I plan on using such as boilies,corn, worms and one of my favorites cockles.

If you decide to give cockles a try first check the margins of your water if you can spot plenty of freshwater muscles you will probably find that they will be a killer bait but for some reason I have not found them to work as well on waters that do not have a decent muscle population.

If you watch the video below Matt shows a basic float rig you can use, if you are using particles to bait up your spots do not strike at every movement of your float you will more likely than not receive a lot of false bites caused by the carp catching your line I usually wait for the line to tighten up to the rod tip before striking.

After catching a carp from a swim I will usually visit the other spots that I have baited previously to see if there are any signs of feeding carp, do not forget to be as quiet as possible and keep below the sky line. The beauty of float fishing is that dropping a float rig into a swim causes very little disturbance as apposed to trying to place a 3oz lead into position. If I have no look in this swim I will move on to the next and so forth.

This method of carp fishing can be very active, is very exiting and can be extremely productive.

If you are fishing deeper water I can highly recommend the Polaris range of floats fished with a small bomb they find their own depth so there is no need for repeated casting to ascertain the depth, again anything that cuts down on disturbance is in your favour.The floats feature two holes in the base of the float to take different diameter lines just choose the one to suit your line and thread your line through, the float will sit above your hook link swivel until you cast out. When you have completed your cast just pay out line until the float appears and then tighten up gently until the float cocks and you have the right amount showing. Takes are usually quite dramatic with the float launching above water before disappearing hence the name Polaris.

.

We All Love Video.

It is some times a lot easier to watch some one show you some thing via video rather than for you to read text and it is usually more interesting in the video above Matt Hayes does a good job of running you through the basic float fishing method, as I stated earlier it can be a devastating method for catching carp and a lot more exiting than sat behind a bank of rods just willing the indicators to move. Give it a go I am sure that you will love it.

I do love my winter carp fishing but:

I love my winter carp fishing a lot of carp anglers have hung up there rods until next spring and on many occasions I can have the lake to myself its just me and the carp.

But there is nothing to beat watching the carp rolling over in the swim as dusk approaches or watching the early morning mist drift accros the lake on an early June morning. Spring and early summer are usually the most productive in the carp anglers year, the carp are more active and thus easier to find, they are expanding more energy and thus have to feed more so as long as you get your location and your rigs right you are in with a good chance of catching.

Do not forget to pack your floater rod, if the carp are moving around on top in the middle of the day you are not going to catch much using bottom baits. The alternative of course is to use a zig rig.

I see a lot of new comers to carp fishing turn up at the water and just pick the first swim nearest to the car park or one at the back of the wind, they then wonder why they haven't caught anything at the end of their session when with a little thought and a bit of effort things could have been a little different.

I like to arrive at the lake at daybreak or before and spend the first hour or more just walking around the lake looking for signs of carp some times you will not have to look far as they are usually quite active at this time of day and there is no mistaking when a carp decides to crash out. Other signs may be less obvious, such as just a head breaking the surface or a flat spot among the ripples and of course bubbling. Time spent looking for carp is never wasted there is an old saying that one hour in the right spot is worth a week in the wrong one. Spend more time locating your carp before actually fishing and you WILL catch more.

Winter Carp Fishing Tricks.

Its that time of year again, water temperatures are dropping and the carp are less inclined to feed. A lot of carp anglers will be hanging up their rods for the winter, WHY???

I love my winter carp fishing there are far less anglers on the bank indeed on some of the waters that I fish I can nearly guarantee to have the water to myself. Its true that with the lowering temperatures the fishing does drop of for a few weeks but once the temperatures have stabilized the carp will start feeding again, and with less anglers on the bank you have more chance of catching them.

So What Winter Carp Fishing Tricks Have I Learnt Over The Years?

The most important trick to winter carp fishing has nothing to do with rigs, or bait, whether you are just fishing days or are fishing nights, its to do with keeping warm. If you are cold wet and miserable you are not going to fish effectively or enjoy your fishing. This applies doubly to night fishing, winter nights are long and cold I have fished many nights when the lake has frozen over and nights when I have struggled to land a carp because my landing net has been frozen to the ground. Winter night fishing is not to be taken lightly you do need the right gear.

Winter Tips And Tricks-Bait & Rigs.

Here in the UK they say it has been the hardest winter for a hundred years and I for one would not argue that point. My local lakes have had 7-8ins of ice on them for weeks on end. Some local fisheries have lost fish some of them a lot of fish. This is not so much due to the extremely low temperatures but more to the lack of oxygen in the water. The only other year that I can remember being on the same scale was 1963.

We still have the potencial for more bad weather yet but hopefully the worst is behind us and we can get on with our carp fishing.

Winter carp fishing tips and tricks? or what bait and rigs to use, what waters to choose, Is it worth the trouble?. I will answer the last point first, when you are struggling in the middle of the night to take a photo of a carp you have just landed, because your fingers are too numb to hold the camera, when its dark at 5pm and does not get light until 5am but you cannot sleep because you might miss that one carp roll that may reveal their where abouts, when you catch the biggest carp that you have caught all year YES IT IS WORTH IT.

I have managed to fish two 24hr sessions in the last three weeks the first since before the Christmas period, I do normally carp fish the year through but with work and the weather what can you do?

Tips And Tricks Bait.

The first session of the new year was on a small local carp lake at Ranskil South. Yorkshire  It is a what that I only fish in the winter as it gets too busy in the summer months for my liking, but in winter I can usually have the lake to my self. A deep water of around an acre and a half it can usually be relied on to produce a carp or two in the winter period.

After watching the water for a couple of hours and with no fish showing I decided on swim 1 which gave me access to an island to the front and a no fishing bank to my left. I think that one of the hardest things to decide on in winter is how much bait to use, too much and you could kill your swim before you start. I have caught carp over big beds of bait in winter but I do feel that the conditions have to be right, for this reason I will usually start by using hook bait only on one rod and perhaps PVA bags on the other rods for the first hour or two and then decide whether to use any more bait.

A couple of hours in and no syns of any carp movement and no indicator movement so I decided to bait up along the left hand bank with a couple of kilo of hemp and a few 10 mil boilies , that was two rods covered, the third rod would be fished in open water with a PVA bag and no freebies. I do not like fishing to islands, yes the carp do patrol them they are also more wary there. Hook baits were two 10mil baits on a longish hair and size 10 hooks for the left hand rods and a small pop up and PVA bag on the open water rod.                                                           

I finished the session with two carp, both to the same rod and spot up the left hand bank. What size? both doubles biggest 16lb+ but does that matter, a winter carp is a winter carp and it was just nice to be back on the bank again.