Can I start fishing for carp in the margins yet? If so, how should I do it? YOU ER’S NEED HELP?
“The size of fish you’ll catch won’t change just because it’s colder”
ALTHOUGH it’s still a little cold to catch well in the edge, it’s clear to see that the carp are waking up and their behaviour is changing.
But while water temperature is important to how carp feed, daylight hours also play a huge part. That means you can catch in the edge, but there are a few things you need to take into account. It’s not going to be like July and August, when you can pull lots of fish into shallow water and catch them steadily.
Find the right depth
Most importantly, you need to think about the depth of water you’re fishing in. In the height of summer, you can catch in as little as 12ins, but with the water still on the clear side, carp aren’t going to be confident feeding in such shallow water. Instead, I’d be looking for a minimum of 18ins and would be happy with up to 3ft of depth.
Ideally, this should be tight to the bank, but if it’s too shallow here, I’ll plumb out until I find the depth where I feel confident about catching. In spring, the margins don’t always have to mean fishing tight to the bank – you could end up being a metre or two away from it.
Don’t go in too early!
Timing is also very important for edge fishing and when it’s warm, carp will often move into the edge relatively early in the day. At the moment, though, it often takes until the last hour before you’ll see any signs of activity in the margins. That means there’s little point in feeding an edge from the start – all you’re doing is wasting bait.
This doesn’t apply if you’ve drawn a noted edge peg, where there’s loads of cover and carp just naturally live there. I’ll normally look to feed my edge for the first time 30 minutes before I might want to drop in on it. Then it’s topped up again just before I go on it, so I know that I’m fishing over some bait.
Refine your feeding
On the subject of feeding, in the summer, I’d kick the swim off with multiple big pots of bait to draw the carp into the edge fast. At this time of year, though, I prefer almost to fish for one carp at a time. I’ll start with two-thirds of a big 300ml pole cup and then, before I go on it, I’ll top up with half that original amount.
From this point I’ll feed to bites and I might even consider using a big Kinder pot on the pole so that I can regulate my feeding a little better.
One thing I’ll say here is that in a match situation it’s important not to waste time in the edge. If I go down there and there are no bites or indications from carp inside two minutes, then I’ll re-feed and have a look again after 15 minutes. When the water’s still a little clear there’s always more chance of carp coming into the peg when there isn’t a rig in the water.
My top two margin baits
Bait choice is also worth a mention. Summer edge fishing can all be about dead maggots and groundbait, but right now my two banker edge baits are sweetcorn and pellets. Corn is such a good bait when the water’s a little clear because its bright yellow colour really stands out and gives the carp something to home in on.
With pellet, I like to feed wetted-down micros unless it’s a really deep edge. I think they form a better carpet on the bottom, which helps to hold carp in the swim for longer.
If I’m faced with a deep margin, then wetted-down 4mm pellets can be an option. Alternatively, though, I’ll simply feed the wetted-down micros in loosely squeezed balls. That way I’ll know they will get down to the bottom before breaking up.
Spring margin rigs
In the summer I like a heavy rig because, with lots of carp in shallow water, your float can end up getting washed all over the place if it’s too light. It’s a bit different at the moment though, so I prefer to use lighter rigs to give my hookbait, which is normally corn, that little bit more movement.
I’d be quite happy to use a 0.2g float in 3ft of water now, but in summer I’d opt for 0.4g to get the stability I need. With line and hooks, there’s very little reason to go lighter because the size of fish you’ll catch in the margins won’t change just because it’s colder. I’ve never seen the point in hooking carp on kit you can’t easily land them on!
I don’t think carp are that line shy either, so I’m still happy to fish a 0.19mm hooklength to a size 14 Guru XS Spade hook at the business end.