Improve Your Coarse Fishing (UK)
Carp Q&A
QI’ve heard that carp like salt. What’s the best way to incorporate it into my fishing? David Coleman, via email
STEVE CLIFF: I use salt but not in large volumes. I pay more attention to the natural fish salts, as opposed to table salt. Liquids such as L-Zero 30-T or Pure Krill liquid are crammed full of natural salt. When using Krill in warmer months, my hookbaits (even Pineapple pop-ups) are soaked in L-Zero. Fish love salty, fishy baits in the warmer months.
Q I fish a lake that averages 8ft-10ft. Do I need to clip up my fishing rods further than my spod rod? Or should they be clipped to the same distance? Kevin Davies, via email
DAN WILDBORE: I used to wrap everything up the same, but after watching a few very good spodding anglers, I have tweaked it slightly. I actually pop the marker float up over the spot. I then tend to clip my spod up to the marker float. I use an old Korda Skyraider spod and clip that to the wraps. Then I fill it with water and cast it to the float. If it looks slightly behind, I reel it in so that it hits the float. I then do a couple of casts to make sure it is bang on, then dispatch an oily spod at the float. You’ll see how close you are to the float and I want it ever so slightly behind it.
Q Is there a technique for casting long zig rigs? Mark Reed, via email
JAKE WILDBORE: I like to fish my mainline straight through to a lead clip set-up. I then make sure to have an anti-tangle sleeve on the other side of the clip with the zig line going through it, covering the knot. This will help kick the hooklink away from the lead. Make sure that you trap the line when the lead lands. This will allow the lead to go in first, kicking the hooklink out behind and you will see a second slash. If it all goes charging in together, it will wrap around the mainline.
Q If I see fish rolling in different areas should I cast towards them or is it best to focus on one area? Warren Page, West Midlands
MYLES GIBSON: This all depends on the lake and the weather conditions. Casting singles to them is a great shout for the first couple of hours. If nothing happens, then I would try and find a spot where the fish were showing. It is then a case of investing a little bit of bait to the area and hope that they come back. Quite often the fish are just waking up and eating the new natural larder coming through. A bright hookbait cast among them can be deadly. It is also worth putting out a couple of zigs. If there are few bites for other anglers fishing on the bottom, then the fish may be up in the water.
Q I want to start a prebaiting campaign but my bait budget is limited. Can you suggest some good cheap baits that will hopefully get the carp visiting my spot? Ben Jones, Southampton
TOM MAKER: The first and most obvious would be hemp or pigeon conditioner. I use a lot of hemp and occasionally particles too. They will increase in weight once they have taken on water, so 20kg of dry hemp will go to over 35kg when wet. I simply add some liquids to my particles, such as Krill Liquid or Aqua Amino to give them a kick. The other simple but cheap way of using boilies is using a smaller size. A kilo of 12mm baits will offer you so many more freebies than a 20mm bait. I use 12mm boilies all the time and even break them in half too. If you get shelflife boilies, you can use them as and when you want, never wasting any. Pellets are also a great bait that is underused, yet offer good value for money. I use a lot of pellets because carp love them and it enables you to get loads of small food items in the swim, which will keep the carp feeding for a long time.
Q How long is a shrink tube kicker over the eye of the hook? I’ve seen pictures where it’s really short and others where it is much longer? Is it personal preference? Andrew Baker, via email
SCOTT LLOYD: It’s all down to personal preference, but I like it really aggressive. This is often found, depending on the pattern of the hook, but using a long piece of tubing. I use it with a wide gape pattern and use the shrink tube to increase the gape of the hook. It always flips and turns really aggressively and I think the fish find it hard to deal with. I like to shrink it down and then create a curve at the bottom, to form almost a huge
bent hook, which are often banned. This gives you the same hooking potential but is flexible, so won’t t cause mouth damage. It depends on the hookbait too. I sometimes change it depending on how I want the rig to sit. It the hook is sitting like a claw, I like a shorter bit of tubing. If the bait is slightly balanced with the hook on the bottom, I use a longer piece of tubing.