STAY LOCAL AND UP YOUR COLD WATER CATCH RATE!
Julian Cundiff reveals the steps that you can take to help you keep your lockdown blanks to a minimum
THANKS to a bit of last-minute lobbying from the Angling Trust, 2021 has not started as badly as it could have done for us anglers.
Sure, we are pretty restricted, but hopefully when you’ve read this piece you will believe that even locally, during the day and in cold conditions, carp can still be caught consistently. Here are my top tips that will hopefully work just as well for you as they have for me.
STAY LOCAL BUT DO YOUR RESEARCH
As soon as I knew we could fish, I looked long and hard at the waters I had locally. Although I had to set my sights a little lower with the size of the carp, there were plenty to go at. If you do a bit of research on the net or by ringing around, I bet you can find somewhere.
MAXIMISE YOUR TIME
With night fishing prohibited, then providing the fishery allows it, you’ve got from one hour before sunrise to one hour after sunset... more than enough time at this point in the year. When you get to the water you want to be fishing as soon as possible, so your rigs need to be tied, PVA bags made, everything where it needs to be and so on. All I need do is knot the hooklength to the end tackle, add my hookbait, nip on the bag and ensure that first cast is on the money. Every minute counts, people!
BE MOBILE AND KEEP ACTIVE
Unless you absolutely know where the carp are holed up, you may need to move about to get on them. I always try to either fish off my barrow when
I’ve got multiple rods, or I will take the minimum of tackle, one rod and go stalking. As long as I can get it on the barrow and push it, then I take it, ensuring it is packed and organised properly. I do have a brolly and low chair but unless it rains a lot, it stays in the rod bag and I sit on my bait bucket. The better it’s packed, the easier it is to unpack and pack up, even in the worst of weather.
BE CLINICAL
No matter where you fish at this time of year, the carp will be a lot harder to catch than from the spring onwards... but they can be caught. Because they move less and feed less, they make fewer mistakes, so you need to absolutely be on your game. Pin-sharp hooks, accurate casting, feathering the lead down and watching the water at all times means you leave nothing to chance. If it’s not the best you can do you will be punished results wise. If you
can’t give it 100 per cent once a week for maybe 10 hours, then remember there will be someone who will... and he will be holding that carp!
FISH FOR A BITE
Yes, it’s an overused nugget but by god, at this time of year, it’s a golden rule on most waters. If you get your location and timing right, it may be that the carp your hookbait lands next to has very little desire to feed and one mouthful is enough. Spreading bait around with a catapult, throwing stick or Spomb will cost you fish – less is more! Stick to single hookbaits as the ‘solid’ food item and boost its attraction with a little mesh bag of boilie crumb no bigger than a golf ball.
WHERE THERE’S ONE...
Winter carp like the company of others, and one thing they tend to do is shoal up tightly. There will be a reason why a carp favours a particular spot and that carp won’t be alone in its thinking. As soon as I catch one, I leave the carp in the net and get another baited rig back on the spot ASAP.
You’d be amazed at how many bonus fish this will catch and when bites are hard to come by, two is a result! Small windows of opportunity need capitalising on when they arise ....