Carper’s Web - Carp Fishing News

Prebaiting a water undoubtedly helps you to put more fish on the bank.

Like most people, my time on the bank is severely restricted by work and other hobbies. I’ve found that by prebaiting a swim and then maximizing my time by fishing early morning or late evening I can boost my catch rate considerably.

Identifying your aim in prebaiting plays a major role in deciding how to go about your campaign. Other variables to be considered include the type of water, the stocking density, the different species present, the angling pressure on the water and, of course, the species of fish you’re targeting.

The main aim of prebaiting is to get the fish feeding confidently enough to take your hookbait. There are many ways to do this e.g. by feeding your chosen bait on a regular basis or by feeding a certain swim with bait in order to encourage the fish to return to the same spot time and time again.
I try to develop a combination of feeding a small number of spots using both the bait I intend to use as a hookbait and some other background feed.

The main reason for using a background feed is to help keep the cost of prebaiting down. Background feeds include groundbait, trout pellets, hemp, groats, carp/hemp/CSL pellets etc.

My prebaiting campaigns can be split into two categories, short-term and long-term. Most of my short-term prebaiting has been for the more general coarse fish such as tench and bream. My longer-term prebaiting has been for carp. In the season when I kept up a steady supply of bait, it proved an absolute success from my very first session.

Another factor that needs considering is that the prebaiting that I detail in this article was concerned with fishing close in on spots that were easy to bait by hand or catapult, even with light particle baits. I’m sure that the principles can be applied to longer range fishing especially where you are prebaiting with boilies or have the use of a boat, good spod rod or bait boat.

There are some pitfalls that need to be considered before you decide to undertake a course of prebaiting. Most anglers don’t take too kindly to others throwing in large amounts of bait when they’re not fishing. It pays to be discreet as this normally keeps the locals happy and prevents them from taking advantage of your hard work! A good trick is to bait up heavily over the spot you’re fishing just before you pack up. Another problem is that it is often difficult to get to prebait the spot you want as i s being fished. Often, you need to be the first or last person on a water so that you can introduce bait into your desired spots.

SHORT-TERM PREBAITING

I would class my short-term prebaiting as anything from two weeks before I commence fishing to just a few hours before I fish. If I’m starting to fish with a new boilie, or starting on a new water or one I haven’t fished for a while, then I like to introduce a few samples of my intended hookbait in likely looking spots just to give the fish a taster. This is a tactic I adopt frequently when using particles. I like to introduce a pound of particles three times in the week prior to fishing. I feel that the fish will then be familiar with the situation when they then come across my bed of particles and will therefore feed more confidently.

I have had particular success using this method with black-eyed beans for both carp and tench.

When I was younger, I used to bait up two swims in a morning on my local water after I had finished my paper round. After two weeks, I fished one of the swims capturing eight tench in a morning session - a comparative success in contrast to my usual results.

If I intend to fish a few sessions in winter, then I always like to introduce a small amount of boilies over a couple of weeks just to get the carp looking for food.

Most of my prebaiting has been done for carp, but when I’ve applied the short-term prebaiting principle to other coarse fish I’ve also had some success. When fishing on the Lancaster Canal I raked a weedy swim and baited it with a 1kg bag of groundbait and a pint of squatts. When I fished it the following morning, within 10 minutes of fishing I landed an old looking bream of 4lb-plus from a stretch that rarely produced bream.

The groundbaiting had obviously drawn the fish in, and they’d cleared the bait but had stayed in the area looking for more food. The same thing applies to fishing for tench. Raking the swim and baiting it the day before fishing draws fish in and you will often find that the fish have mopped up all the bait but stay in the area looking for more.

The number one bait to use has got to be hemp. If you prebait the swim with hemp, then the fish will keep coming back to the spot time and time again until every single grain of the tiny seed has been eaten. Hemp effectively draws in most types of coarse fish. When I’ve baited heavily with hemp I’ve noticed that the true impact only occurs two or three days later.

I was fishing one particular spot on a gravel bar close to some rushes. I was only fishing for 24hrs, but I introduced half a bucket of hemp. I had two dropped runs during the night and several line bites. Despite my lack of success, the owner, who had been present when I introduced the hemp, reported that the spot produced some fantastic captures of all species in the following week. So if you prebait with hemp, it’s worth considering fishing the spot a few days later (or for a few days if you can sit and wait). If you’re fishing sooner you must be careful about the amount of hemp you introduce to prevent total preoccupation. It often pays to lace your bucket of hemp liberally with your intended hookbait. Hemp is also quite cheap, especially if you buy it in bulk, an important consideration for lengthy baiting campaigns.

A tactic that can be applied equally well to rivers and lakes is to bait up several swims on your arrival at the water. This is a good method where you don’t have the time or money to properly prebait. What I normally do is fill a bait bucket with two-thirds trout pellets and one-third hemp. I then add a small amount of pre-soaked black-eyed beans. They’re a very visual bait, especially against the dark pellets and hemp, and they also rest on top of any silt deposits. I then walk around the lake and put four or five large handfuls of bait in likely looking spots.

When you come to fish the swim a few hours later the fish often betray themselves by sending up bubbles as they feed on the bait.

In fact, I like to use this method to fish spots that I’ve always fancied trying but have never bothered with. Often you look at small spots under bushes or you fancy small corners that are never fished, but you never get round to fishing them as you always plump for the ‘banker’ swims.

I started on one lake by introducing bait into four small areas around the lake and then fished each one in rotation. By fishing each swim for a couple of hours, by the time I’d reached the third swim, a small corner which had never been fished, there appeared to be no signs of fish. However, within the next half hour I landed three carp all around 8lb in weight. The fish had obviously had time to feed on the bait without being disturbed or have line hanging over their heads. That day I float fished close in using hair-rigged luncheon meat, a bait that seems to be picked up confidently over my prebaited area as long as it not been ‘hammered’. (Where ‘old favourites’ like meat, sweetcorn and bread are being overlooked it often pays to use these highly effective baits).

This method of introducing bait into a swim and then fishing it a few hours later led to my catching my biggest fish from the lake in question. This method can be applied successfully to rivers where you can walk several miles baiting fishy looking areas and then work you way back home, giving each spot a go until you return to your starting place with hopefully a few fish under your belt.

One of the simplest ways of prebaiting is to purchase a large bag of groundbait and simply introduce this into a swim for several weeks. It can be improved by the addition of a small amount of your intended hookbait. If you can discretely introduce groundbait into a swim that won’t be fished or only lightly

Fished, then the fish will become accustomed to visiting the area for the regular supply of ‘safe’ food.

LONG-TERM PREBAITING

If you’re about to embark on a long-term baiting campaign, then you need to be committed to your task. To ensure that my baiting goes to plan and I don’t waiver too much from the task in hand, I have a wall planner on which I write down when I’ve baited up so I can see if I’ve started slacking!

I’m lucky in that the water I often prebait is just five minutes from home. If you’re to make the prebaiting work, you need to have good access to the water. To make things easier, it would be better to bait a water close to your home or one on a route that you take regularly, e.g. a water that you pass on the way to work. Or failing that, just fish the water all the time; at least then you’ll be there to introduce bait regularly! Once you’ve got into a baiting routine the quick trip to the water becomes part of your day/week, and it also gives you the chance to keep in touch with what’s going on or do some fish spotting.

Getting up just 15 minutes earlier could give you enough time to bait up and dramatically improve your catch rate.

All my long-term prebaiting has been in pursuit of carp. I like to start in January when the water is only lightly fished. I make it my New Year’s resolution to keep up with my prebaiting and then catch the lake’s biggest fish. I generally succeed with the first part of the resolution, but fail miserably with the second!

I bait up the known fish holding areas. Despite the weather being cold and the fish feeding less, I always feel confident that my bait will be eaten. I always start with a smaller amount of bait and then build up. As there is less bait going into the water during winter, I feel that my bait has a good chance of being eaten. You can start prebaiting at anytime of the year, but I feel that the longer it is before you start fishing the spot the better your results will be.

This is another reason for starting prebaiting in winter. Not only will I not fish the swim (it’s too cold to venture out!), but others probably won’t fish it either.

The best times to introduce bait are at dusk and dawn, especially where wildfowl are a problem. If you bait up in the half-light you can often avoid the birds diving and devouring all the boilies before the fish discover them. Getting to a water early can mean you avoid the first anglers of the day and can prepare your spots in secret. However, I was unaware that whilst on one of my prebaiting trips I was spied on by some guy in camo gear! When I started fishing the water seriously a few months later the guy came round and introduced himself and told me he had spotted what I was up to.

Introducing bait into several spots will mean the fish will become accustomed to finding bait all over the water. I like to bait a combination of known fish holding areas, so fish will definitely be finding the bait, and areas that are quiet and unfished. Prebaiting an unfished area takes some confidence. These areas are often ignored because they don’t produce fish! To bait an area that is believed by others to be devoid of fish takes willpower but can provide good rewards.

The advantages of baiting quiet unfished areas (if they exist on your water) are that the fish can learn to feed confidently on the bait without disturbance or fearing capture, and you can often bait these areas more discretely or without upsetting other anglers. And the more confident the fish are feeding, the more likely you are to catch them. It also means that you can nearly always get onto your chosen prebaited swim when you want to. You know when you’ve finally cracked it when people start fishing your chosen swim because your results have become too much for them to ignore any longer. Unfortunately, it then means you have to start all over again and develop a new area.

If you stick at baiting an area that normally doesn’t produce, you may find that you’ll end up producing an artificial hotspot. On my local water, I chose an unfancied swim and baited it once a week with around 50 boilies from January until March. When I started fishing, I continued to introduce bait. The fish had obviously discovered the food source, and I found that they’d started to visit the area looking for their free meal. I caught consistently from the unfancied swim. I no longer introduce bait into that area, so has the artificial hot spot died?How much bait should be introduced? If you’re part of a baiting team, sponsored, or cost is not a problem then introduce as much as possible. However, please make sure that all your bait is being eaten and not causing detriment to the water. I only fish for a small number of carp in a relatively small water, so I don’t need as much bait as would be required on a large water or one with a number of large carp. Also, don’t forget that other species will be eating your bait. If the water has a big head of tench or bream, they could be eating the majority of your bait. However, I feel that a regular supply, no matter how small, has its benefits. If you’re restricted to only a small amount of bait, then concentrate on a small part of your water so that the fish get used to feeding on a regular supply of your chosen bait and keep visiting your specific area.

In Julian Cundiff’s book ‘Practical Carp Fishing’ he recommends as a general guide:

For 50 carp in a lake 4lb of bait three time a week, for 100 carp 6lb of bait and 10lb of bait for 200 carp.

That is a very expensive outlay, but cost and effort equal results. However, I’m still prepared to say that even a small amount of bait will help improve your results. If you use the levels recommended above, then as long as you’re using a good bait, your results should reflect your efforts. If nobody else is introducing large amounts of bait, you should be able to take the water apart.If you are undertaking a long-term baiting campaign, then you must use a good quality bait. Don’t start using a bait you’re unsure about. Use the well-proven mixes such as Nash S-Mix, Nutrabaits Big Fish Mix or one of the highly successful Mainline baits. You’ll find that the long-term success of a bait can be improved by using low-level flavours. The bait should become a food source for the fish and so initial attraction via high flavour levels are unnecessary.

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Anyone who is a keen carp angler would know that Wellington Country park is the UK mecca for catching very large carp.

The opportunities to fish at Welli are as rare as winning the National Lottery! So when Trevor (Affectionately known as TT) offered me a 36 hour session with him I jumped at the chance.
For those of you who do not know about the venue it’s about 20 acres in size situated in lovely quiet countryside about 4 miles outside Reading. The average depth is around 4.5 feet with the water being very clear which promotes prolific weed growth. This water is home to many very large carp to 47Lb. Many top name anglers fish Wellington and its not uncommon to meet then when you are there.

A nice pair of Welli whackers! Welli was featured in one of the most recent Korda DVD’s and is always in magazines without being directly named. Most days you can spot an angling celebrity fishing there.

TT and I arranged to meet at 7.00am on Saturday morning at the main gates, for me 7.00am could not come quickly enough after a sleepless night. After what seemed like an eternity TT eventually arrived and after the usual meet and greet we unlocked the gates and drove to the angler’s car park.

With just four cars in the car park we knew that the best swims would possibly be taken. Both of us loaded up the barrows and headed off to the lake with much anticipation but sure enough the better swims on the lake were already taken. TT made the decision to set up on the grassy bank area so we turned our barrows around and set about the long walk to the grass bank area of the lake.

The spot we chose gave us good coverage of the water. With three rods out each we could ambush the carp as they swam from one end of the lake to the other

The tactics Due to the abundance of weed it was 12.30pm before I got my last rod into the water. Confident in the spots I had chosen I set about baiting up.

The left hand rod was positioned at about 60 meters out and 20 meters of the bank to my left hand side. This made baiting a simple matter of walking around the lake and catapulting boilies onto the spot.

1Kg of Dynamite boilies were catapulted onto the spot My second rod was placed at 90 meters straight out in front, too far to reach with the catapult so out came the trusty Grey’s spod rod. 20 or more casts later I had deposited another kilo of Dynamite tiger nut boilies over my hook bait.

The third rod was a roving rod and used the same rigs and bait but was set up with PVA ground bait sticks and was cast to showing fish.

Special G ground bait and crushed tiger nuts mixed with tiger nut oil made up my stick mix ingredients

Rigs were very simple - Korda side-clip systems were used to eject the leads quickly due to the weed problems. Safe zone leaders helped the side clip systems work well and pinned everything down on the lake bed.

Size 6 Kamasan Maxx Barbel hooks were tied to Suffix Camo Skin 15lb braided hook lengths. The rigs were made up deliberately very long 13” to help bait presentation allowing the bait to settle as naturally as possible on the weedy lake bed. A long hair was used with a small Korda micro ring giving a claw rig set up.

A long length of heat shrink tube was used to give a simple kicker at the eye of the Maxx Carp hooks The going bait on Welli is Dynamite Monster tiger nut boilies in 10mm, 15mm, 18mm and 20mm sizes both shelf life and freezer baits. To complement this I had some Dynamite 15mm pop ups and tiger nut liquid. The fishing For the first 24 hours the rods and bobbins sat in perfect symmetry only moving when either a weed bed drifted into the line or a coot thought it was a carp and picked up my bait. Don’t you just love coots?!

No carp yet no runs yet but we were looking good

TT was getting bored so he decided to do some swim clearance. The floating weed was a real nightmare. TT managed to create a weed mountain nearly 3 foot high and six foot long.

We were surrounded by the most beautiful country side and with the carp on a go slow we were able to fully enjoy these exquisite surroundings. The lake had been very quiet for the preceding weeks and our session followed that slow trend. However a few carp gave us a demonstration of jumping and crashing out of the water more akin to dolphins than carp.

All too soon it was our last morning our rods had remained upon there rests and no carp had bothered us. As we lazily sat in the warming autumn sun, without warning TT left hand rod burst into life as the clutch on his Shimano Technums went into overdrive as a fit carp tried to escape.

TT jumped into action grabbing the rod as he lifted into a powerful carp, his Free Spirit rod took on a full and healthy curve Our expectations were very high could this be a 30 or maybe one of the lakes many 40’s. The fish was skillfully played into the margins.

Due to the very shallow margins TT decided to net the fish himself

The carp was soon being looked after on TT’s very old but strangely hardly used unhooking mat TT manged to hold the lovely common up for the cameras before letting him back to his watery home.

TT assures me that this is his happy look!

This superb miniature common will grow to one of Wellington country parks much larger residents in years to come With just a couple of hours left to go before we had to start packing up our tackle it was my turn to get a screaming take from the left hand rod. I lifted the rod from the Delkim and felt a heavy fish but immediately the line went slack; I had managed to drop the fish. When I eventually reeled in the rig, the pop up bait had managed to get impaled upon the hook point, preventing the hook from catching the carp properly. Oh well maybe next time.

The session went very well. Only one fish caught but the setting, atmosphere and the company had made this for me an excellent weekend session that will remain in my thoughts for many years to come. TT learnt a whole raft of new rigs ideas and concepts and I am sure if he keeps practising he will become a very confident angler. Thanks TT for a great weekend.

Tight lines! Ian Gemson is a PAA Qualified Professional Angling Coach offering training courses and one-to-one sessions for new and Experienced anglers alike. For more information regarding his services, please visit his website at SmartCarping.com

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The lead clip system is possibly one of the most popular lead systems and is used by the vast majority of carp anglers today. They are designed to eject the lead should it become tethered whilst playing the fish so using a side-clip in your rig is critical to fish welfare.

It’s easy to put this system together incorrectly so the leads will not eject and the fish will become permanently connected to the snag. In this article I will show you how to correctly assemble a side-clip system to ensure complete fish safety.

Side clips can be put together using leaders or by using rig tubing. In this article I will show you how to use a leader.

What you need

- Safe zone leaders
- Size 8 ring swivels
- Lead clips
- Tail rubbers
- Silicon tube
- Swivel lead
- Heavy latch needle

IMPORTANT NOTE:
It is vital that you use a single manufacturer’s products to build your side-clip system. Different manufactures components are not always compatible with one another.

Method Step 1

Thread the side clip onto the heavy latch needle

Step 2

With the side clip on the heavy latch needle insert the loop of the leader into the latch and slide the side clip onto the leader.

Step 3

Thread the tail rubbers onto the heavy latch needle. Now with the tail rubber on the heavy latch needle insert the loop of the leader into the latch and slide the tail rubber onto the leader and slide the clip and tail up the leader.

Step 4

Now pull the swivel into the lead clip, the swivel should be a tight fit and you should hear and feel the swivel pass over a ridge in the lead clip housing. It is very important that the swivel is a tight fit in the lead clip if yours is not tight then you can use a small piece of fishing line slipped down along the side if the swivel as it is drawn in to tighten the fit.

Step 5

Select the swivel lead you require and place a small amount of silicone sleeve over the bottom of the swivel to help minimize tangles.

Step 6

With the lead in place wet the ridged section of the clip and slide the tail rubber over the ridges. It is very important that you do not force the tail rubber completely over the ridges as this will stop the lead from ejecting if the lead becomes tethered.

Only push the tail on 3 or 4 ridges at most the tail rubber is shown about four ridges in.

Your rig is now complete!

All that’s left is to tie the leader to your mainline (a grinner knot is good for this) then add a quick link to the ring swivel, attach your hook length and bait and you are ready to cast out and start fishing.

Tight lines!

Ian Gemson is a PAA Qualified Professional Angling Coach offering training courses and one-to-one sessions for new and Experienced anglers alike. For more information regarding his services, please visit his website at SmartCarping.com

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Spodding is a bait delivery system which allows accurate baiting of a very wide variety of baits. There is no quicker way of delivering bait than a spod (besides a bait boat which I’ll talk about in a future article). If done correctly, spodding can produce large bags of fish.

Rods and reels
When filled with bait a large spod can weigh as much as 6-7oz, far to much for the average carp rod to cast, so a dedicated spod rod with a test curve of 4lb or more is required. Most manufacturers now offer a bespoke spod rod in their range.

I use a Greys Marker spod rod which is a 12’ rod with a 4lb test curve

A large spooled reel is essential to take the strain out of spodding. These big reels will make casting and retrieving the spods a lot easier.

I use a Shimano GTX 8000 reel filled with low diameter non stretch floating braid (Whiplash Pro) in 30lb breaking strain. Even at 30lb breaking strain the braid has the same diameter as 5lb mono.

The spool of braid should always be wetted before you start casting to minimize wind knots. The floating braid makes gathering the line after the cast really easy and assists in lifting the spod onto the plane during the retrieve of the spod.

It is important to note that the spool must not be filled to the lip of the spool as you would with mono as you will suffer from wind knots during the cast

When using braid you must always use a leather finger stool or a golfing or dedicated casting glove to protect you casting finger from the braid.

Leaders
When casting a heavy bait filled spod you need a leader that will take the stress of the cast. Many manufacturers make very good leader material in both mono and braid.
This leader not only protects against snapping the line during the initial stages of casting but also helps to protect your fingers against line cuts.

I have been using Korda Arma-Kord in the 50lb breaking strain

The leader is connected to the mainline with a double grinner knot

Spods
A spod is like a large groundbait feeder blocked off at one end, often as large as a coke can. Unlike a groundbait feeder the spod has a buoyant nose cone which when filled with bait and cast into the lake causes the spod to tip and therefore self-empty.

A wide range of spods are available to suit most baiting needs

Accuracy
When we know where we want to place our bait and our marker float is sat in the required position in our swim its time to range the spod to the marker float. We do this by replacing the spod with a heavy lead and casting at the marker float until we land the lead next to the spod with our rod held vertically, cushioning the cast.

With the lead still out in the lake, place the line in the line clip and mark the line. It is now trapped behind the line clip so it is essential to feather the casts with the spod by holding the rod vertically. This prevents the spod from stopping too abruptly and bouncing back towards you and therefore potentially causing line-breaks and damage to the line clip on the spool.

Set the range to spod to using a marker float

Tying a marker knot with pole elastic

Pole elastic marker knot now in position which slides freely through the eyes

Knot lays neatly onto the spool and does not impair the cast

Placing the line in the line clip ensures the spod lands at the same range on every cast

Filling
Spods can be used to delivery a wide rand and variety of baits. To get the best accuracy when we are spodding it is critical we do not overfill the spod.

Overfilled spods do not fly straight and will want to tumble during flight

Loose baits like pellets, maggots and small boilies (particles) will if not trapped in place fall out the back of the spod during casting (known as spod-spill). To stop this you can use a little plug of ground bait or a couple of large PVA nuggets in the back of the spod.

Cap the spod with a groundbait plug to prevent spod-spill during casting

Casting
Cast out your spod towards your marker-float, overhead style. During the cast it is important that you cast with enough power to just get past the marker float. After releasing the line on the cast pull the rod back to the vertical position. As you feel the line tighten quickly drop the rod forward to the horizontal to allow you to cushion the cast and ensure better accuracy and prevent line snapping and breaking the line clip off the reel spool. When the spod hits the water it should hit with a slap on a tight line, this takes a lot of practice but ensure the minimum amount of disturbance to the swim. Cast out your spod towards your marker-float, overhead style

Allow the spod time to settle and the feed chance to escape the spod

Give the rod a couple of short sharp pulls to agitate the spod and assist the feed to exit the spod

A nice tight bed of maggots and ground bait, right ontop of your marker

When the spod is empty, lift you rod and reel fast and smooth to retrieve the spod. Always try to get the spod to come up onto the surface of the water as quickly as possible. This will it easier to retrieve and make the process less tiring.

Have fun with your new spodding skills and remember - you can always add bait to your swim but you can’t remove it.

Tight lines!

Ian Gemson is a PAA Qualified Professional Angling Coach offering training courses and one-to-one sessions for new and Experienced anglers alike. For more information regarding his services, please visit his website at SmartCarping.com

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No two lakes are the same, indeed no two swims are the same. When we look at the lake we are intending to fish, all we can see is a flat sheet of water. Without knowing what we are about to cast into how can we understand what rig will be most effective for the conditions we are placing our rigs into? The best method of feature finding is with a marker float, braid and a dedicated rod that has been specially designed for the task.

Rods The marker rod should be able to cast as far as your normal carp rods can cast. There is no point in skimping on this as you will not be able to feature find at your full casting range.

I use a Greys Marker rod which is a 12′ rod with a 2.75lb test curve. This rod is designed specifically for use as a marker rod and has 6″ and 12″ marked graduations above the reel seat to allow accurate depth measurement.

Greys 12′ Marker rod, specially designed for the task

Graduations of 6″ and 12″ allows accurate depth measurement

Reels A large spooled Shimano Bigpit reel is filled with low diameter non-stretch, floating braid (Whiplash Pro) in 30lb breaking strain. At 30lb breaking strain the braid has the same diameter as 5lb mono which makes it easy to cast.

The braid having no stretch will allow you to feel the nature of the lake bottom, be that the “rattle” of a pebbles or the smooth drag of silt, the braid will transmit everything through to the tip of your rod.

Shimano Bigpit reel filled with low diameter non-stretch, floating braid

The spool must not be filled to the lip (as you would with mono) and should always be wetted before casting to minimize wind knots

Leads There are leads available on the market that are specifically designed for the purpose of feature finding. However, as long as the lead is heavy enough to cast to the range you are fishing to most leads will work.

Grubber lead from Wychwood - specially designed for feature finding Floats
A whole range of floats are available to cover most eventualities:
- Close up work
- Extreme range
- Weed
- Difficult light conditions

The float needs to be buoyant enough to pull the braid through the rig ring and rise to the surface, whilst not being too big so that it impairs the cast

The Setup The lead is attached to a 12″ stand off boom which comprises a quick connector at one end which the lead connects to a large eye ring at the other.

We have a stand-off boom to prevent weed from blocking the running eye. The eye allows the line to pass freely through and connect to the marker float.

How do you use a marker float? Once you have set up your marker-float its time to explore your swim. If you’re searching for a known feature then choose a point of reference on the far side of your swim or horizon, like a tree, pylon or church spire. If you don’t have any prior knowledge of your swim then fan out your casts in an arc to eventually cover the whole swim, making note of a point of reference for each cast.

Cast out your marker-float, overhead style, beyond where you think the underwater feature is by aiming for your chosen point of reference Once the lead hits the surface of the water quickly flick over the bail-arm and wind up any slack so that you’re in direct contact with the lead and marker-float. Keeping the rod tip high, let the rod gently lower as the lead pulls the tip down. Feel the lead and marker-float dropping through the water, this is where a braid shock-leader and main-line is advisable.

What can you feel?
When the lead touches down on the lake bed you’ll feel the vibrations traveling up the braid and down the rod to your hand. Mono has too much stretch which suppresses the vibrations. Touch-down The feel of the touch-down depends on what the lake bed consists of in that place. For example, if you feel a ‘knock’ then you’ve probably found gravel. If you feel a firm ‘thud’ then you’ve found clay. If you feel a soft ‘thud’ then you’ve found silt. If you feel the lead gently coming to rest on the lake bed without a ‘thud’ then you’ve found weed. Lead retrieval Once the lead has touched down you then turn side-on to the water, pointing the rod at 90 degrees to the marker-float and tightening up.

By using the rod only, pull the lead and marker-float along the lake bed about 3 yards at a time The feelings/vibrations that come up from the lead will give you an indication of what the lakebed consists of. For example, if you feel a constant knock, knock, knock, then you’re pulling the lead across gravel and the rod tip will bounce quite violently. If it feels like the lead is ‘sticking and skipping’ across the lakebed, then you’re pulling the lead across clay. If it feels like the lead is being pulled through ‘porridge’, then you’re pulling the lead through silt.

If the lead starts to snag up and gets harder and harder to pull along, then you’re in weed; you can actually feel the strands of weed snapping as you do this. When you’ve found say gravel, you can then explore how long or wide it is by casting past it or either side of it using your points of reference on the far bank or horizon and by using a marker on your line.

When you have found a feature you like the feel of, stop winding. Holding the rod at 90 degrees to the marker-float, loosen the clutch and pull line from the spool 12” at a time whilst watching for the float to surface.

When you see the float, make a note of the depth Continue this process until you have a good idea of the underwater features you have in front of you. Log these features and depths in a book so that you can quickly fish to these features in future sessions. Marking the range

Tieing a marker knot with pole elastic

Pole elastic marker knot now in position, slides freely through the eyes

Knot lays neatly onto the spool and does not impair the cast Master these simple techniques to ensure you get the best from your swim. With this knowledge you can ensure your rig is right for the type of lake bed and your bait is placed in the optimum position to ambush those hungry carp.

Tight lines! Ian Gemson is a PAA Qualified Professional Angling Coach offering training courses and one-to-one sessions for new and Experienced anglers alike. For more information regarding his services, please visit his website at SmartCarping.com

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So you’re thinking of starting carp fishing right? well, you’ve just come to the right place, this guide is packed with information and explanations about everything someone new to carp fishing should need to know so they don’t get ripped off too much in tackle shops.

A basic list of what you are likely to need

• Carp Rods
• Reels
• Rod support or pod
• Bite alarms
• Bite indicators
• Landing net & unhooking mat
• End tackle i.e. hooks, weights, line etc
• Luggage and tackle box(s)
• Bait

Carp Rods

There are a baffling array of rods out there on the market today with prices ranging from £25 to £300+ but a rod’s a rod right?….

Wrong, it’s all about quality (and sometimes though you’re paying out for a brand name). A reasonably good quality carp rod can be got for around £60-£100 each, now one term that crops up regularly is Test Curve or TC as it’s commonly stated, the test curve of a rod is a guide to it’s action and power.

It is usually meant as the weight required at the tip to bend the tip through 90 degrees from the butt. The ‘action’ of a rod can really fall into three categories which define how the rod bends under load. Firstly there are Through Action rods ’slow taper’ which are softer meaning that the rod will bend throughout it’s length right through to the butt which is ideal for close-up work but will make it harder to control a fish at distance and not very suitable for casting larger leads over any real distance.

Secondly there are Medium action ‘medium taper’ rods that are slightly more rigid towards the butt meaning that they have more power to play fish and control a fish at some distance, are capable of casting medium size leads at reasonable distance but are still supple enough to control a fish under the rod tip (most people opt for this type of rod as a good all-rounder).

Finally there are Fast Action ‘fast taper’ rods tend to have more power in the butt and mid-section of the rod making them ideal for distance casting as the rod compresses less under weight, they tend to have a higher TC than slow or medium taper rods, overall this means the rod is a lot stiffer and as such can make controlling a fish at close range a lot more difficult. With that said, spend time in the shop with rods fully assembled and fitted with your choice of reel to get a feel for the rod and check that the rod doesnt have a ’sloppy’ action.

Reels

Shimano revolutionised carp fishing with the ‘baitrunner’ system which allows a separate drag to be switched in effectively allowing the reel to free-spool and in turn allowing a fish to take line with a closed bail arm. This has made things much simpler for carp anglers and nowadays most carp reels have this facility incorporated usually under a different name.

There are several good reels out there such as the Shimano Baitrunner and Fox Stratos but there are plenty of cheaper alternatives which are pretty comparable in performance from brands such as Okuma and Zebco.

Big Pit reels are designed with huge line capacity in mind for fishing extreme distance but from personal experience i’ve found that many of these big pit reels dont feel well balanced when fitted to certain rods so it’s worth trying one fitted to the rod before considering purchasing.

Rod Support & Rod Pods

Now, when it comes to rod support you have two choices really here, go for a rod pod or banksticks and buzzer bars. Now assuming you’re coming to carp fishing from a general coarse fishing background then you’ll already be familiar with banksticks but probably less familiar with rod pods.

A rod pod is a effectively a framework with banksticks that normally offers considerably more support than banksticks and can be used on rigid surfaces such as concrete without needing to be pushed into the ground like a bankstick does, the downside is that they can be a real pain to set up on steep banks where banksticks would be much simpler.

If you decide to take the bankstick route then try to get the screw-in type as they are much easier to get into dry mud banks that normal push-in types are and the much greater ease of use far outweights the small additional cost.

If you decide to go for a pod then there are several good pods out there made by a variety of manufacturers such as Solar, Fox, Nash and many others but be sure to check that everything is pretty solid and be sure to see it assembled in the shop due to the fact that although there are plenty of good quality pods out there there’s also plenty of rubbish ones too.

Bite Alarms

These days bite alarms are an invaluable tool in carp fishing providing an audible and often visual indication of bites. There are many brands and designs out there with varying features. Most typical designs (typically used by Nash, Fox, Wychwood) work on the roller wheel principle which has been in use for many years and often internally the alarms have a segmented disc attached to the wheel and this operates a beam-break sensor, the only downside being that due to having a segmented disc a certain degree of movement is required before the alarm actually provides an indication of the line movement.

Then there is typically one other design that is currently in use (used by Delkim) which works by sensing line vibration, this requires no moving parts such as a roller wheel. Features to look for are Adjustable Volume and Tone, this way the volume can be adusted down to be less annoying to other anglers during daylight hours. The tone adjustment can be handy as you can adjust the tone in case other anglers are using similar sounding alarms.

Try to get alarms that allow provision for attaching an external sounder box, there are mainly 2 ways to achieve this

1) through a wired connection plugging in to a socket on the alarm

2) wireless via a radio transmitter either built into the alarm or as an additional module that can be purchased separately.

If option 2 appeals to you then its best advised to check the price difference between the external transmitters versus the alarms with them built in.

For example Delkim TXi alarms cost around £120 incorporating the transmitter but to purchase a Delkim EV alarm is £60 but the transmitter module costs around £55 making a total cost around £115 so for an additional £5 you could have the alarms with them incorporated which makes the units more compact.

Bite Indicators

Bite indicators are really a necessity although this is mixed opinion but can make registering a bit a lot more positive and can give good indication of what a fish is actually doing with your bait. For example a rising indicator would indicate that the fish is moving away from you where a dropping indicator would indicate what is known as a drop back which means the fish has picked up the bait and is moving towards you with it, without an indicator this type of bite would be hard to register and may not even cause the alarm to sound as there would be nothing applying tension to the line the reel side of the alarm.

There are many designs of indicator and none are really technically superior or better than any other, the most popular seems to be the Fox or Solar swinger designs but conventional bobbin designs are just as good, be sure to look out for designs that allow you to incorporate a starlight or isotope to help you out when night fishing, recently more designs are being introduced that can be connected to your bite alarms allowing the indicator to be electrically illuminated for night fishing, normally you would have to use an indicator that is compatible with the type of alarm you have and is worth discussing with your tackle shop.

Landing Nets & Unhooking Mats

A good quality landing net is essential, not just for making things easier for you but more importantly for the welfare of the fish you’re landing and handling. Large coarse mesh will damage the fish, lift scales and abrade the body scraping off the protective mucus. Using a fine mesh good quality net will help to reduce this and this is often a rule imposed by many angling clubs and day ticket venues.

For this reason a good quality unhooking mat is also an essential, again it is often a requirement of most venues, there are many types but all are essentially the same, just the quality changes with price. It is possible to get combined unhooking mat and weigh slings which make handling larger carp a lot easier as there is no need to transfer the fish from the unhooking mat to the weigh sling and the same sling is often contored to support the fish for carrying back to the bank for release, although these are a little more pricey it’s worth the extra money for the peace of mind that the carp is not being exposed to any additional stress from excess handling.

Carp End Tackle

Well, there’s no point having shiny new rods, reels and everything else without anything to put on the end of them

First main consideration here is your main line, there are a bewildering array of lines to choose from, a line that has proved very popular for many years is Daiwa Sensor and so is Berkley Trilene but it is quite common nowadays to use braid in place of conventional line which offers many advantages, firstly braid is less likely to get damaged by underwater snags and mussels and the and has very little memory meaning that it doesn’t retain its coiling effect and has very little stretch but in many places braided main line is banned.

If you prefer to use a traditional monofilament line then you may want to consider using a flourocarbon line as this appears transparent in water and is less likely to be obvious to fish (typical examples are X-Line).

Be careful to follow the manufacturers instructions on loading your spools as you dont want to introduce any line-twist as this is the biggest cause of tangles ‘birds-nests’ on reels, normally the procesure is to lay the spool on the floor with the label side up and thread up through the butt section of the rod and fit the reel then fill it that way.

Weights, carry a wide variety of leads to suit various distances and conditions, I tent to prefer to go as light as possible for the distance as in my honest opinion (many will probably disagree) there is no need for heavy leads for distance casting if you’re using a PVA bag as the contents of the bag add enough additional casting weight.

Hooks are another important matter and again are mainly a matter of preference as to size and shape but the latter is really dependant on the design of the rig you’re using, for more information on rigs check out our rigs section which has tutorials showing rig designs.

PVA products come in very handy for baiting at distance as you can ensure that the loose feed is being delivered very close to your hookbait but we’ll discuss that elsewhere in further detail.

Hooklink material is an important choice, you can use flourocarbon but in my opinion this is a bit to stiff for a normal hair rig although it’s often used very successfully however I prefer to use a braided hooklength material such as Fox Coretex or Suffix Snakeskin which is a coated hooklength material.

Dont forget to get a pack of hair stops and a baiting needle too as these are essential for making and putting bait onto a hair rig.

Well, that’s pretty much the minimum of what you’ll need to get you started in carp fishing, obviously you can go with higher/lower quality items to fit your budget but please try to go for decent rods and reels otherwise you’ll only regret it later on and end up having to spend more in the long run.

This invaluable information should help you on your way to catching your first carp.

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Pete Castle looks in detail at mass baiting and carp bait campaigns to catch carp in the summer months.

Mass baiting is a strategy best described as arriving at the lake with the aim of putting out something like three-to-five kilos of boilies and a good sized bucket of mixed particles or pellets to fish over for the coming session. Some people seem to like to fish over lots more bait than others and anglers that regularly fish over a lot of bait are generally more confident in this approach than when they are fishing light, as they see their tactic as the best way to stimulate the fish into confident feeding.

Heavily baited spots are something that I really like fishing over every now and again and this technique has produced some fantastic results for me in the past. There are definitely certain lakes that fish well when you put out loads of bait, but even on those lakes you have to make sure that you mass bait only in the right circumstances. There is no point filling in any water if the fish are off the feed. However, if conditions are right and the fish look like they’re having it, then have a go at mass baiting because this baiting strategy can not only catch out the odd fish, but it also regularly produces multiple captures.

Bait Campaigns

A bait campaign is often the chosen baiting strategy for many of the leading carp anglers. With this technique the aim is to establish your bait as a main food source so that the carp are literally hungrily looking for the chosen bait. It can sometimes take weeks to establish, but when the fish start to see the bait regularly then your hard work will start to take effect and you will begin to enjoy the benefits with hopefully outstanding results.

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