MAXIMUM ATTRACTION WITH THE MINIMUM OF FUSS
For cold-water action, mini bags and bright baits are the way to go
AT THIS time of year on many venues the fish can be shoaled up tightly, but get your location spot-on and the action can be fast and furious.
To keep the bites coming it’s important to understand how carp behave in winter. They will often be close to cover, and one of my favourite spots to target is bushes that overhang island margins, providing a sense of safety for the fish sheltering underneath. Reed beds can be equally as good, because the folded stems often form a canopy the fish can tuck themselves away under. There will be a lot of detritus on the lakebed in these spots, meaning that the fish will sometimes be sat up in the water slightly, rather than hard on the deck, and for this simple reason popped-up baits can be a good choice.
However, that’s not always the case, and in order to be consistent you need to work out whether the fish want the bait on the bottom or just off it. This can differ from day to day on some venues, so I always pack both types of baits at this time of year.
BOOSTED BAGS
One of my favourite winter tactics is to use tiny PVA bags containing sticky pellets that have as much attraction as I can coat them in. The smaller the pellets, the better, as these won’t feed the carp – most will be consumed by silverfish. Sticky pellets are best prepared the night before fishing to give the attraction time to soak into the surface. By morning the pellets will have softened slightly and be dry to the touch, with a light dusting of powder. I then make the pellets up into tiny PVA bags, which I nick on to the hook prior to casting out to really boost the instant appeal around the hookbait.
I nearly always use a bright wafter on the hair to draw maximum attention to the area, and it’s worth having a range of colours to hand and to ring the changes as the session unfolds, as this will often bring extra bites. If there isn’t an obvious feature to target, then you can cast
around the swim looking for groups of fish when using these tiny sticks without worrying about spreading bait all over the place. A good tip is to time how long each rig has been out there, as I’ve found that the attraction starts to wane after about 20 minutes. At this point I like to recast with a fresh bag.
POP-UP VARIABLES
So, when should you use a pop-up over a bottom bait?
Some venues respond to pop-ups better than others, but I would tend to start with this approach and bin it after an hour if no bites are forthcoming.
The reason? Because you are not introducing lots of loosefeed you can cast this rig around searching for fish without trying to pull fish down to the bottom by laying down a bed of feed.
I like to cast more regularly with pop-ups – 10 to 15 minutes is long enough to see if there are
any carp around.
You don’t necessarily need to use shop-bought pop-ups. Bread discs can be a superb buoyant bait to use at this time of the year, and three 10mm discs will hold up a strong but small size 16 hook very well.
Alternatively, small marshmallows from the baking section of your local supermarket are well worth a try, and among my personal favourites. These soft baits are very buoyant, can be fished on a Quick Stop rig very easily, and can even be ‘dipped’ to add some additional flavour. What’s
more, a bag of them big enough to last all winter will cost just over a pound, making them a very economical bait indeed.
Even when there is cat ice in the margins of the lake, carp can still be caught if you get your tactics right. If you can fish two rods, why not try one with a pop-up and the other a bottom bait? The fish will soon tell you which one tickles their fancy on the day!