3CARP

WITH my grayling adventure over it was back to bite alarms and bolt rigs, but high pressure and lack of activity on my arrival at the water suggested I had more than the usual challenge on my hands.

Carp play a big part in my autumn fishing. I love those cool, moonlit nights where the sounds of boshing carp and the cries of coots echo across the lake.

I needed to trigger a response, and this would be boilies introduced as regularly as clockwork, rather than in one big initial bombardment.

This technique is common when using maggots but is rarely used in carping. Trust me, the steady plopping of boilies on the surface can work wonders, especially when they have a long fall through deep water.

Given that we are now at the time of year when the carp are at their most wary I swapped my standard Tungsten Loaded hooklength for 15lb E-S-P Soft Ghost. I did, however, stick with the standard size 5 Gripper and a Sticky 16mm Tuff bottom bait.

My plan relied on me being patient, and I had 48 hours ahead of me to be just that. Fortunately I didn’t need

that long to begin catching.

On the first afternoon the alarm burst into life!

I knew this carp wouldn’t be the last, provided I kept feeding, because I had created competition between the fish. This manifested itself as clouds of sediment billowing up off the bottom.

I was kept busy for the rest of the trip, feeding and landing 20lb and 30lb carp, and by the end I was shattered. When I finally swapped my bedchair for my own bed at home I fell asleep with more great memories to dream about.

A big carp with colours to match autumn leaves.

I fed boilies little and often to gain a response.

This is a mouth for serious feeding.