Improve Your Coarse Fishing (UK)
Oz Holness
Lakebed types: gravel
“Carp use these bars as patrol routes around the lake and can often be seen gliding across the warm tops of these”
AGRAVEL pit is essentially an old quarry that was dug for aggregate and subsequently flooded to become a lake. Many of them are then stocked with carp and other fish to create a leisure facility. Of course, many lakes contain gravel in their substrate to some degree, but they may not contain the big features such as bars and plateaux which are the main recognisable elements of gravel extraction pits. Fishing these waters is a really interesting subject. There’s a huge amount of variables, often creating an element of confusion for anglers struggling to come to terms with the rugged nature of these venues and the features they contain.
Determining the features
Gravel areas within the pit are generally discovered by using a marker rod and braided line. By dragging the lead gently across the bottom, you may feel the gentle tap, tap, tap through the tip of the rod as the lead trundles over the stones.
Anyone who has learned to ‘ feel’ the drop when casting will know the distinct difference between the lead landing on weed or silt – this delivers a cushion- like feeling – and the solid crack of landing on a gravel spot. Those vibrations through the rod are unmistakable.
Once found, the next stage is to determine the size of the gravel area and whether it is a raised feature or a flat seam. We do this by repeatedly casting a bare lead to find the extent of the area and with a marker float for determining the depths we have.
Exploring the surrounding area will inform you whether you have found a bar, a small raised feature or a huge plateau, as well as some indication as to which direction it runs. Once the gravel feature has been explored, we have to decide how to approach fishing it. This can be dictated by many variables.
Weather and time of year
Let’s assume that we have found a gravel bar running parallel to the bank. Firstly, I want to know how wide the top is and how long it runs for. This is achieved by more marker work and should ideally be done in the quieter months, with your findings jotted down in a notepad.
Secondly, we have to decide where to place our rigs. The time of year and weather generally plays a part in this decision, although there are no strict rules. If it was high summer and we had daytime temperatures of around 25 degrees, I would begin by fishing all my rods with single hookbaits spread across the top of the bar. Carp use these bars as patrol routes around the lake and can often be seen gliding across the warm tops of these shallow features.
They may not be feeding hard, but a bright single hookbait may just catch their attention as they cruise past. If the bar is situated in deeper water and surrounded by weed, it would be a good idea to bait the top of that bar for the following morning’s feeding spell. This needs accurate application and I would suggest that chopped baits, pellets and particles are most suited for fishing over or on the sides of gravel bars. Round boilies have a habit of rolling away into the depths or into weed.
Taking the same situation later on in the year may require a different approach. In late autumn I would most likely aim to fish at the base of the bar, on the first few taps of gravel coming out of the gully. Larger build- ups of natural food will gather here and yet you still have a clean area to place your rig over and are on the edge of a major feature.
Natural spots
Big areas of flat silty bottom can contain the odd seam or patch of gravel. These are often the by- product of natural feeding areas for carp. Either they have already cleared the zone of natural food and shifted the silt away, down to clay or stone in their quest for food items, or they may have been flanking off parasites and digging out the bottom for minerals.
This creates large, bowl- like patches, which eventually crater down to the gravel. These areas are great for a clean presentation and will often be regularly revisited by carp.
Look in the edge
Margins are my favourite places to target the gravel spots. Generally, gravel pits have tapclear water and you can observe the favourite haunts of carp quite readily, especially with a good set of polarised sunglasses. With margin fishing, you can clearly see the spots polished off by the carp and it’s obvious exactly where they like to feed. You may notice many gravel areas are covered in a layer of silt or fine weed and the same situation will often be found on the bars and gravel zones out in the lake.
Never be fooled into thinking it’s all polished clean stone out there just because you feel gravel through the tip of your marker rod!
Rigs and approach
My rig approach remains much the same for the bulk of my fishing. A leadcore leader is fished helicopter style and my rig choice is dictated by the baiting approach and how clean I think the bottom is. For fishing over gravel spots, I place my top bead on the leader close to the lead as there’s no risk of it plugging in like it would on a soft lakebed. I use a beaked point hook when fishing over gravel spots because the beaked shape somewhat protects the point from being damaged on the stones.
If I think the spot is really clean and polished, I would present a bottom bait and a good bit of bait to encourage a further feeding response. If there was a covering of weed and debris, but the fish were starting to use the area, a low pop- up and a light spread of bait would be the way.
When fishing in the margins or dropping my rigs from a boat I would use a heavy inline lead,
FIN DING GRAVEL a hig h vantage By gaining easily spot point you can in res ‘ g low ing’ gravel featu cond itions... clear water
“Big colonies of mussles can infest the sides of bars so I always use the toughest kit I can get away with”
hand- placed and with a short hooklink so I can dictate how and where it sits. I don’t like casting these presentations on to gravel as I have seen the swivel and hooklink damaged at times by the hard stone.
Tough hooklinks and leadcore are my standard approach having observed the vast array of debris that can be seen on the sides of bars when viewed from a boat – old steel cable, bits of machinery etc from the extractions days. Plus, big colonies of mussels can infest the sides of bars so I always use the toughest kit I can get away with.
Gravel has always been a big draw to anglers, with the possibilities of clean presentation and the fact that they are often big underwater features and a magnet to carp.
They may not contain the amount of natural food as weed or silty zone, but they do hold many appealing plus points.
Lots of the shrimps, larvae and nymphs will seek refuge among the stones and gravel on the sides and tops of bars at certain times of the year and so we always have to keep our options open when we are fishing gravel, silt or weed.