Improve Your Coarse Fishing (UK)
STEP UP TO THE BIGTIME
Moving from a well-stocked water to a venue with a small head of big carp has its challenges, but Sticky’s Jonny Fletcher shows you how to single out and catch specimens from even the toughest of lakes
LAST spring I found myself fishing a large lake with a low stock of carp. It emphasised certain points in fishing that I needed to get right if I was to catch some carp. As with any time of year, location is everything but this is even more
important in the spring and on a large lake of more than 50 acres. The carp will often be quite localised, held up in big groups, and when the weather changes or their mood alters, they can move at the drop of a hat.
Remember your binoculars
Keeping your eyes glued to the water is vital and studying fish movements and patterns will enable you to stay one step ahead. If I see a disturbance or anything that could possibly be caused by movement from a carp I use binoculars to study the area for further clues. It may be subtle signs such as a few bubbles coming up in a line where the fish are moving, or a dorsal fin flicking out on a warm afternoon. Without binoculars it can be almost impossible to see these signs. Physically seeing them jump out is the obvious thing to look for, but carp won’t always show themselves like this so you have to think a little outside the box.
Download a weather app
Studying the weather forecast can help you make educated guesses as to where the fish might be. You can then visit these spots and rule them in or out. If you check all the shallow water spots then the back of the wind and the bays of the lake and there is no sign of carp, the chances are they will be sat in the open water. Quite often, when we do get warm spring days, the fish will head to the shallow areas because these are quickest to heat up. After months of cold weather, fish won’t waste any time moving close in to make the most of the warmer water. If this is the case, get your rigs
out in the morning in preparation for when they do arrive. If you try to position rigs when the carp are already in the area, they are much more likely to be spooked.
Don’t fill them up
Once I have found the carp, I don’t want to risk overfeeding them before they’ve taken my hookbait. I am a big fan of bright hookbaits at this time of year and they have been responsible for the majority of my best sessions. A bright bait that leaks out plenty of attractors will grab the attention of a feeding or passing carp. They don’t seem to want to hold in areas to feed at this time of year and prefer to graze in certain areas. I mix the colours, but orange has done me proud and you don’t see many people use it these days. I find this strange because a decade ago it was colour to use. For some reason, though, it has gone out of fashion. However, fish obviously still like it because it gets me more bites than any other colour, especially when fished as a single hookbait. If I do put out some free offerings, I use a catapult to spread a few boilies around. I like to use Manilla boilies, soaked in the matching liquid, because they release a heap of attraction and are visual on the bottom. I have had some really good results using a Signature hookbait over the Manilla and it’s my go-to bait for this time of the year.
Rigs to fish anywhere
I am not really looking to fish a specific spot as such, more a general area that I believe holds fish or where I have seen carp showing. A pop-up rig on a helicopter system is perfect for this. I can adjust the top bead depending on how soft the drop is. If the lead goes down with a solid crack and I know I’m fishing over a firm lakebed, then I lower the bead. If it feels soft I raise the bead so that the rig can sit higher up the leader. The hookbait is also critically balanced, so it slowly sinks and settles on top of any weed or debris. I use a Ronnie rig, due to its fantastic hooking potential and how low the pop-up sits to the bottom. I use one of the soon-to-bereleased Thinking Anglers curved point hook too, which is different to the usual curved shanked hook its famous for. The reason for this is the wider gape, and I like that beaked point. I am yet to lose a fish on this rig, which just goes to show how effective it is.