Improve Your Coarse Fishing (UK)
FIVE-POINT PLAN FOR EARLY SEASON CARP
Dynamite Baits’ Paul Wright reveals his five major tips for catching big commercial carp while the water still remains cold...
THERE’S a saying when it comes to early-season carp fishing in cold water that if you find one, you find ’em all. Having been a match angler for many years, I know better than most how it feels when you’re not on the fish! But, when you’re pleasure fishing, it’s not all about the draw. You have the advantage of fishing any peg that’s free, and even moving if things are not going your way. And to help you catch, I have devised a five-step plan that will enable you to keep those bites coming.
1) Cast around methodically
Regardless how good your rigs or baits may be, you can’t catch what isn’t there. My first point of call is to target the open water but, rather than casting to my limit, I start close in and work my way out as the session progresses. Similar to how a lure angler approaches a swim, I cast around methodically, fishing each area for a maximum of 15 minutes before trying a new spot. This will be to my left and then to the right. If I still haven’t had a bite, my next cast will be back into the centre of the swim, only this time casting five yards further. There is no point only going a few feet past because it won’t make much of a difference. That’s why I find five yards is perfect. Generally, my first cast will be 30 yards. As the water is still on the clear side, it is rare that the fish will be any closer to the bank than this. I also select three permanent far-bank markers so that every area is lined-up and accurate. Today I’m fishing at Lindholme Lakes on Loco Lake. This 50-peg venue is quite deep in the middle, going down to 10ft at 13 metres, and is fairly flat after that. Although the deeper water is usually more productive, there are times in the day when shallower water can produce, but this is generally an exception rather than a rule. If you stick to the deeper water you won’t go far wrong.
2) Use pellets and mini boilies
For me, there are only two baits for targeting big carp at this time of year – pellets and mini boilies. Groundbait is too fine a particle to hold the big fish that I’m targeting, although I still take it along because if I’m not looking to catch carp and F1s, I can use a groundbait approach for silvers. Pellets help to hold big fish for longer because there are more individual food items to pick over – a small bed of micros can keep carp grubbing around for hours. Pure groundbait, on the other hand, is dispersed too easily by the fins and tails of big fish. When it comes to pellets, ideally I’d be using Dynamite Baits’ new 2mm Swim Stim F1 pellets. At Lindholme, however, you have to use fishery pellets, although I do have a few tricks up my sleeve for these. To prepare the pellets I place a quantity into a bait strainer, before completely covering them in lake water. To ‘pep up’ my loosefeed, I add two capfuls of Dynamite’s F1 Pellet Soak liquid to the soaking water. This works just as well for carp and silvers, especially in the winter, as it does for F1s, so it’s a great all-round additive. Not only does it add a beautiful sweetness to the pellets, but the liquid helps the finished moistened pellets to bind so they work better when used on a Method feeder. Another flavour I use is XL Scopex which is brilliant all-year round.
3) Cast a bright hookbait
In the colder months, bread is a definite winner, but I don’t find it as effective as other baits. When I’m sitting it out for big carp, I can’t be confident that it hasn’t come off the hook or been nibbled away by tiddlers. I find it is more effective to fish a banded Dynamite Match Mini. In the cold, clear water these baits really stand out from the loosefeed. The addition of the liquid into the loosefeed helps draw the carp, while the bright hookbait induces the bite once they are in the swim. Because corn is used a lot, my first choice is often a Betaine Yellow, but White Amino is also perfect where bread is working well. The final one from the range – pink Antarctic Krill – I use as an alternative if the first two fail to catch as quickly as I’d like.
4) Don’t scale down too much
Loco is quite a large lake and I may find that I’m fishing at relatively long range by the end of the session. I therefore use an 11ft 8in Dutch Master rod, paired with a large-spooled reel. The mainline is 6lb Daiwa ST, which is robust and casts well. My feeder choice is a 36g Medium Guru Hybrid. I like these because they have sides which helps protect the pellet payload on the cast. I’m using a medium feeder as the fish in Loco are large, running to 20lb-plus, and the feeder is set-up free-running with a 4in, 0.19mm (7lb) hooklink to a size 14 hook that perfectly matches my 7mm or 9mm hookbaits. There is no point scaling down too much because you want to land these big fish, especially when bites may be at a premium. The 0.19mm hooklink is also quite stiff so the fish find the hookbait hard to eject.
5) React to line bites
With all the bait and tackle ready, I approach the session very methodically. As I said earlier, I cast every 15 minutes, working distinct areas of the
swim, looking for either bites or line bites. If I get a liner rather than a proper bite, I will place a few turns of line back on to the reel. The amount of line will depend upon the severity of the line bite itself. Experience has shown that if the liner is quite subtle, between three and five turns is generally a good start because this means they are closer to the feeder. Conversely, if the line bite is savage, I will put around 10 turns back on the spool, as this shows that the fish are much closer to the bank because they have picked up more line, so the line bite is more pronounced. Although this is not totally foolproof, it is a way of helping you find where the fish could possibly be shoaled up. Once I get a fish, I will remain fishing to that area. You have to remember that when the water is cold, as it will be right through early spring, you still need to go to them – they won’t come to you. The addition of flavours and bright hookbaits will help, but you still need to fish well and sensibly to put a good bag together. So, what are you waiting for? Get out there and give it a go!