Bass Fishing Books

Winter Carp fishing tips – and helpful Bait and Big Fish Approach Tactics

Location location location!

First find your fish and they can indicated by other anglers catching fish, or come from where you caught previously. Past year's records of hotspots and over – wintering areas can be very useful. But these can vary depending on a season's dominant prevailing winds directions and temperatures.

Also fishing pressure, food availability, changes in the lake bed caused by moving / feeding carp, other fish present, eg large over – wintering catfish etc can alter inventory locations! Spitz the water like fallen trees, rocks etc, silt beds, gravel bars, old water lily beds, dying weed beds, water currents can overhanging trees and shrubs all teams fish and all are worth trying.

Also investigate cut – away banks, undercut margins, shallow margins in shade or sun where rolling / bubbly fish can be observed in winter at the end of a warmer wind or the back of a northerly wind.

Reed beds, underwater humps, troughs, 'food traps' along the prevailing wind direction lanes, dips, smooth hard areas may well indicate a feeding area as will old clogged areas with bloodworm beds that produced fish previously in warmer times of the year.

Try places where there are sudden changes in depth as many port attractive natural food. Especially gravel slopes, mud humps and ledges around islands and on the edge of weed beds. Casting around to find water debris and old dying weed can help locate fish also, as these areas harbor natural food.

To study quietly or under-fished areas, 'un-pressured' areas can be very revealing. Often the biggest fish are often caught in the areas where most bait goes into a lake. I know the big fish man Dave Lane would agree on this, on his British fifties!

Often in winter carp can be placed in maybe 1, 2 or just 3 areas of a lake, and will be shoaled up close together. Casting all around lake with a small lead and braided line methodically until you feel 'bumps' as you wind (which is next cast) could be fish!

Moving your hook baits every hour may be productive, you may find this roving approach lands right next to a fish or disturbs them into fresh activity / or hearing, "your bait land and investigate out of curiosity.

Some say use smaller baits on the hook in winter, and I agree here. I've had more takes on these and I use small baits in PVA bags or on stringers, especially using pastes and par – boiled baits mixed with quick resolution bait / fish meal pellets.

Biting winter can be very disappointing indeed and your indicators should ideally be set at maximum vibration / sensitivity as often only one or two "beep" could be a hooked fish spinning or shaking the head trying to spit the hook while just 'sitting' in the water static without running.

"Rod blow 'can really produce carp that were perhaps only lightly hooked; Try quickly 'twitching' your rig with a quick pull on your line by hand to hook the fish!

I've found that the old traditional ground bait composed of broken up old bread with loads of extra highly attractive additives and extracts, such as those containing alkaloid substances you would use in your boilie base mixes work very well.

This kind of ground bait is not used so often these days in Britain. Added 'live feeding as maggots / worms bring much needed activity to the mix, and often will attract other species to feed first which stimulates the carp to follow just in time for to polish off your hook bait!

On that note with a plastic 'feeder cage lead' wrapped in fast dissolving / breaking down ground bait as in the popular "Method" is a great way to "build – up 'and feed your swim with fast acting attractors importantly, without feeding up the fish!

This so often can produce smaller fish too, eg using 'artificial maggots or sweet corn' on the hook, but I was at "Rainbow lake" in France when Martin Locke (Head of the Solar deal "caught his very first 60 pounds of carp on the 'method'.

Find your fish and give them some bait!

While fishing ideally use quantities of fast dissolving baits that can really make the fish at feeding without filling them up or suppressing their appetite! A period of pre – baiting quantities either while fishing, or introducing bait into areas where warmer winds drive into or afternoon sun can heat up, not fished at the time, or while not fishing.

Or any area that potentially could hold or be a feeding area or a "safety area 'where fish may move to de – leach themselves or bask in top water levels as sunshine hits the water, or in / adjacent to ends, etc. I can remember one winter finding fish literally 'stacked-up' close together in a depression in a large weed bed of dead 'Canadian pond weed. "Shot at Gate Reservoir, Essex, England The 1984th

These fish were very easy to catch a half – hour period each day and this time I was like 'clockwork in a period of about three weeks in December. Every day feeding time changed by about 10 minutes so it could be charted and 'kick-off can be predicted very accurately. It was exceptionally fruitful and exciting fishing and I kept action started using lots of basic, simple small roughly chopped 'par-boiled' and paste balls, yeast based milk protein baits added coffee and chocolate drink powder. (For extra attractive 'alkaloid' content – they're addictive!)

I think regular baiting is the main factor in the long term consistent big carp fishing success, especially in winter!

Fish pulling methods to trigger fish feeding:

Try using of a solution baits, Poly Vinyl Alcohol (water soluble) stringers with baits or PVA bags. These are excellent for delivery of large quantities of bait, maggots and even oil based liquid attractors into your swim, or even fine ground bait or pellets etc.

Add some natural butyric acid to boost your winter baits: For great added attraction, simply add finely grated parmesan or blue cheese. This is just the "tip of the iceberg!

By Tim Richardson

About the Author

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