HOW TO GET SCREAMING RUNS FROM THE FAR MARGIN...
On highly pressured waters the carp will have seen it all by this stage in the season. WAYNE IZSATT reveals a few tricks to keep the bites coming from such venues…
AS WE move into late summer, the fishing at many day-ticket venues become a little tricky, especially on those holding an abundance of natural food.
Five months of solid, round-the-clock angling pressure can mean that the areas of water in front of many of the more popular swims – often the most angler-friendly and comfortable swims – are treated as serious ‘no-go’ zones by the carp.
In such a scenario, a little ‘thinking outside the box’ is needed to locate the areas where you stand a better chance of a bite or two.
AREAS OF NEGLECT
Over the past few seasons on a gravel pit that I’ve been fishing, I’ve noticed that come late summer the carp will hold up in areas that don’t tend to see a hook from one year to the next.
These neglected areas are created by the boundaries of the casting limits from neighbouring, popular swims. Overhanging trees or reeds at the sides of such swims effectively cut these areas off, and the carp soon learn to capitalise on the relative safety that they offer due to their being ignored by anglers who have become complacent and just fish their ‘usual spots’, which might well have produced for them earlier in the season.
Like most, I’ve been guilty of this kind of complacency down the years, but in the past few seasons I’ve been exploiting these little ‘safe zones’, and with some success too. All it takes is a little extra effort.
EFFORT EQUALS REWARD
If the fishery permits wading, then often that is all that is needed to widen your casting boundary. We all know that waders are a bit of a chore to keeping putting on and taking off for every cast, as well as for baiting up, and again, most anglers won’t bother to make that effort.
If wading isn’t allowed, then ‘side sweep’ casts can get you bang in the zone. This takes some practice to master, but like anything else, practice makes perfect – or possible, in my case! Remember, the more awkward the cast, the less likely it is that the spot has seen heavy pressure, and the more likely it is to be favoured by carp that are seeking sanctuary from anglers’ attentions. These same areas can also be stalked, with baiting done by hand and a rod poked through the foliage if it is safe to do so, and fishery rules permit.
BY FAIR MEANS OR FOWL…
Some areas receive little attention simply because they are a headache to fish, for example, heavily reeded margins favoured by diving waterfowl.
One such example is a swim that I’ve fished a fair bit over recent summers. Due to there being two reedy bays along the far margin, it was home to
several families of coots and a pair of swans. The coots were constantly diving on my spot, often removing my hookbaits, which meant a lot of recasts and rebaiting. Understandably, the swim didn’t get fished very often by other anglers, but the carp loved the area, so I had to find a way of combating these feathered pests.
WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN
The first thing I tried was to feed them off, away from my baited area. I’d hoof in loads of cheap, visual baits, such as chickpeas and corn, all around their nests and in the reeds, to keep them occupied in the hope that they would not venture out and visit my spots.
It worked to some degree, but the areas close to the reeds, along the far margin, were still getting visited by the coots as they mooched up and down the margin. The carp were there in numbers, too, so I began to think… how does a farmer keep birds off his crop? Then it came to me – a scarecrow, or ‘scarecoot’, more precisely!
Coots are cautious creatures and don’t like to be in proximity to humans. So, after a quick rummage in the back of my truck I found some duct tape, long bank sticks and a hoodie. Hey presto…‘Kevin’ was created. Those anglers who, like me, were obsessed with A Passion for Angling’s ‘Redmire Legends’ episode will know why I called him Kevin! Anyway, Kevin has since gained a face, in the shape of a ‘Scream’ mask, which has an expression sufficient to scare an ostrich away!
I know this is starting to sound a bit like a wind-up, but trust me, it really does work and with the scarecoot in place at the back of my far-margin spot (out of the carp’s eyeline) the coots didn’t go anywhere near it and I could crack on with fishing the spot properly.
ULTIMATE ‘CONCEALMENT’
Another big edge when angling for pressured and ‘cagey’ fish is to conceal your line to the extent that it’s impossible for the carp to see or bump into it. There’s one method that allows you to suspend your mainline out of the water – the ‘washing line’ – and if you’re not familiar with it, I’ll do my best to explain how to set it up. You’ll need a storm pole, a landing net pole, a hair band and a grass stem. First thing to do is remove your hooklink and cast your lead on to the far bank, next to where you want to present your rig. Then, position your rod on the buzzer, with the tip as high as possible and a tight-fitting butt grip rest on the rear. Set your reel clutch tight, then walk round to the far bank, pick up your rig and reattach the hooklink. The storm pole, with the hair band wrapped tightly around it near the top, needs to be placed firmly into the ground behind your far margin spot.
Next, use your landing net pole with the rig hanging just down from the ‘V’ on the spreader block and ship it out directly over your spot, all the while keeping the line in your other hand. When you are happy that your rig is hovering above the right spot, carefully pay out line with the other hand and lower the rig into position. If you’re not happy with the drop, you can always pull it back it up and go again.
Once you are satisfied, step back to your storm pole and pull the line to the rod-tip tight so the line is lifted out of the water completely.
Next, form a loop in the line and push it through the hair band, before securing the end of the loop with the grass stem (acting as a semi-fixed hair stop). Ensure that the grass stem breaks and pulls through the loop with ease when a fish bolts when hooked, and also that it is durable enough to withstand gusts of wind.
Finally, return to your rod and clip your bobbin on to the tight line. That’s the trap set, and should you get a bite, you will first receive a big drop-back as the line frees itself from the storm pole.
This should persuade the fish to swim in the opposite direction to the margin, as they generally bolt away
from the initial direction of pressure. Most of the time, the fish will head into open water, and this makes it a better method than just casting over to a farmargin spot, where they are more likely to bolt into the reeds once hooked.
When setting up this method you’ll need a mate (or bailiff) to stay by your rod if your spot is away from your rod.
I know the chance of a carp picking up your bait in the short time it takes you to return to the swim is very slim, but rules are rules.
GOING ‘OFF MENU’…
My final tip for tricking up wary carp is to use alternative baits to the norm.
By late summer they will have seen countless thousands of little round boilies, so going ‘off menu’ can be all it takes for them to drop their guard.
Three of my favourite baits in this respect are pre-drilled garlic pellets, Meaty Fish Bites and the tinned water snails Dynamite Baits sells. The first two are worth trying simply because no other angler is likely to have tried them on your water, and the snails mimic the carp’s natural food perfectly. Why they aren’t more popular is beyond me. I hope that some of the ideas I’ve suggested here have given you sufficient inspiration to put your thinking cap on.
That’s often all it takes to turn a blank session into a bumper one!