CARP-FISHING EDGES: 5 TIPS TO IMPROVE YOUR CATCH RATE
- STEP UP YOUR PREP FOR BIG HITS
The whole pre-session preparation ritual can feel a bit monotonous sometimes, especially when you’ve already spent what feels like forever charging a million different gadgets, sorting out your food, your clothes, your tackle and then loading all your gear on to your vehicle, but if you really want to experience more of those red-letter sessions most of us hope for every time we set foot on our the bank, then being 100% ready for that carp carnage you crave is vital.
Obviously there are a few exceptions, but in my experience, most lakes these days will provide you with an opportunity to catch multiple carp in a relatively short period of time at some point, and you’ll need to ready to react quickly.
Generally for a 48-hour session, my bait and rig prep would normally consist of at least five ready-tied, standard bottom bait/wafter rigs, five hinged rigs, five shorter braided rigs for solid PVA bag fishing and about 10 more different rigs, such as snowman rigs, chods, fluorocarbon hook link rigs and zigs. In addition to the minimum 25 or so rigs, I’ll make sure I have plenty of lead-free leaders made up with a loop spliced on to one end ready for tying onto my main line, and a good supply of leads just in case things really kick off. If I fancy using stick mixes, I’d probably make up about 20 to start with, or 10 to 20 solid PVA bags with the inline lead and rig already baited and popped into the filled bag with a leader attached, so all I have to do after each bite is tie the whole thing on to my line with a palomar knot and I’m ready to fish again.
The prep before filming ‘The Purple Patch’, which is available to watch on DNA Digital TV
Rigs at the ready
PB wafters in solid bags were my number-one choice
Getting that rig back out to your spot as quickly as possible after each bite is crucial if you’re looking for a big multiple-fish hit, as there could very possibly be more carp where you just caught one from. Wait too long and you might just miss your chance for another bite. Make sure you have plenty of waterproof clothes to hand and a small but organised area in your bivvy set aside for your camera, phone, scales, headtorch and additional lighting for night shots. Oh, and at least two nets set up at all times and you’ll be in total control when those bites come thick and fast because they do, sometimes!
A boat and two nets at the ready
- CHOSE YOUR SWIM WISELY
If your desire is to put more fish on the bank, are you doing all you can to get in those going swims? Sometimes setting an alarm for 2.30am to be at a lake by 4am can be what’s required to beat the rush. With the risk of upsetting a load of my fishing friends, I do find it amusing when they tell me how lucky I am that I am able to fish Sunday/Mondays most weeks. These have not only become two of the busiest days of the week on my syndicate water in recent times, but turning up early on a Sunday usually means waiting up to 10 hours just to get in a swim before the weekend angler goes home for his Sunday roast. It’s not all sunshine and roses, but effort does often equal reward in the carping world.
When your lake is busy and there’s just a few unpopular swims left, don’t threat; all is not lost. Carp always seem to know how to find those quiet areas away from angling pressure and lines, so turning up last or coming out very late in a dreaded swim draw can actually work to your advantage. When there’s heavy angler pressure, more often than not, carp will tend to move towards the ends or corners of a busy lake, or simply just move higher up in the water column where they become an easier target for those willing to switch to zig rigs.
This 46-pounder topped a crazy 18-fish Monks Pit haul that included 11 carp over 30lb. All the fish came from one of those quiet areas well away from lines and angler pressure
If you fish the same lake regularly, you should be able to get in tune with that water and start to see familiar behavioural patterns of the carp that inhabit it. Carp tend to have very routine patrol routes, feeding areas and even areas they will always show, but don’t always be fooled. Where they show isn’t always where they feed.
As I walked around a BCAC venue many years ago, prioritising swims before the draw, I saw two carp show in a swim I didn’t really fancy. A friend of mine walking the venue with me also spotted these fish. He came out much earlier than me in the draw and chose somewhere nowhere near the area we’d found fish. I came out late in the draw and chose the swim where I’d seen these shows. I was rubbing my hands together! My friend went on to win the match and eventually the whole BCAC tournament. I caught sod all. He gave me some great advice after that match that I’ve taken with me throughout my whole fishing career. “Don’t just go where the carp are,” he said, “go where you know the fish will end up.” How right he was!
- TO BAIT OR NOT TO BAIT
I’m presuming you are already using DNA Baits if you are reading this, so you’re already on your way to success. Half the battle is finding a good bait you have 100% confidence in that works wherever you go. Now all you’ll need to do is apply it with some thought. Here are a few things I always take into consideration before I decide how much bait to put out.
‘HAS SOMEONE JUST FILLED THE SWIM IN WITH BAIT?’
If they have but have caught one or two and I still feel carp are in the swim, then I may chose that swim and proceed to bait some spots but with caution until I got a bite or two. I’d try to bait lightly at first, away from the spots the previous angler had baited, if possible. I’ll always apply my free offerings just beyond my hookbait so any carp present aren’t feeding over my lines which could spook them away.
If I had an inkling the previous angler had just randomly scattered a ton of bait all over the place without catching a thing, I’d be avoiding that swim like the plague!
‘ARE THERE ANY NUISANCE FISH OR BIRDLIFE THAT MAY COMPETE WITH THE CARP FOR THE BAIT I APPLY?’
Whilst targeting carp, any other living thing trying to feed on our bait can be an absolute pain, but DNA has some solutions to some common problems that should keep the action coming from the right species. I remember switching over from 15mm S7 hookbaits to 22mm hookbaits a few years ago whilst fishing the Dell in Essex, after constantly being plagued by an influx of inbred 1-2lb carp. That immediately solved the small-fish problem and I went on to land quite a few of the lake’s largest residents that season, feeding nothing smaller than 22mm.
The beauty of the 22mm baits is not only do they single out the bigger carp but the seagulls, coots and tufties just can’t deal with them. It can feel very strange switching to such large hookbaits at first, but don’t be put off by the size, as you’ll get used to it, and the freebies fly out like a dream with a decent catapult.
I also went through a stage of using 24mm baits on both Lakelands and Darenth back in the day to negate the unwanted attentions of small tench and bream respectively. They totally eliminated that problem and the carp loved them. I even had a few double-figure carp on the 24-millers, not just giant carp. If their mouths are big enough, they will eat them, trust me!
There’s always a few bags of chopped boilies ready for action in my bait freezer
DNA even makes 26mm baits, so don’t be scared to go large! As for crayfish… well, thankfully that’s a problem you’ll encounter a lot more when fishing in France than over here. The Hard Hookers from DNA are an awesome way to frustrate the crays and they’ll also withstand the attentions of silvers nipping away at your hookbait. All I’d advise if you’re fishing Hard Hookers in a lake with crayfish present is to redo your rods about twice a day, as they will soften up slightly given enough time left in water.
S7 Hard Hookers with crushed S7 sticks – simple but effective!
‘ARE THE CARP HARD ON THE FEED?’
I’d love to say you always need tons of bait to catch loads of carp, but the fact is, you don’t. There are no doubt times when a nice big bed of bait will keep those buzzers singing, but in reality, there are also times when carp simply don’t want or require a massive load of food. Be sensible and think carefully before you fill your swim in because, as they say, once you’ve put it in, you can’t take it out. Sometimes, a well-placed stick mix, solid bag or even a single solitary pop can be all that is required to get you the bite you’re after, particularly in the colder months.
A single pop-up with a small stick mix was all it took to trip up this recent Elphicks 30-pounder
- FINE TUNE YOUR WATERCRAFT
Zipping up your bivvy and sticking a film on your tablet in the luxury of your nice, comfy sleeping bag is all very well and good, but if you want to catch yourself a few bonus fish, you’ll need to stay focused on the water as much as possible. The telltale signs of carp giving their location away can be subtle sometimes, especially in winter, but if you find them, there are sure to be a lot more nearby and big hits are there to be had.
A small amount of fizzing/bubbles on the flat-calm water or a gentle, silent roll on the surface may be all you’ll get as a clue. Even a small movement of marginal reeds, a wary-looking swan or birdlife suddenly spooking from a spot can be a telltale sign that carp are present. If you’re lucky enough to see fish lunk out in your swim, it’s always worth chucking a rig at it. I’ve lost count of the amount of bonus fish I’ve caught by quickly winding in a rod and casting a single pop-up at a showing fish. It always baffles me when I see a carp angler sitting outside their bivvy at 5am looking ultra-carpy, watching the water. Then a carp shows in their swim but they do nothing about it and the next time they see you they tell you they had fish in the swim but not where they had the rods, so they blanked. Why even bother looking at the water? May as well just zip up the door and bung that film on!
Casting at a showing fish just before dark resulted in this cracking 49lb 6oz linear the following morning
- TRY TO BE DIFFERENT
I don’t like the term ‘being a sheep’ when referring to carp anglers, as there’s no set way anyone has to fish. Let’s face it, we all copy to an extent, otherwise we’d not be using hair rigs, boilies and the like, but when it comes to trying to improve your catch rate, I do believe just trying to fish differently to the majority of anglers on your chosen venue will help you bank more carp.
Take bait size, for instance. Reminiscing back to those Darenth days, there was a big craze emerging for using small baits and they were catching some very large carp all year round. However, once I switched to the 22mm baits to avoid catching the bream, I rapidly chalked off the A-team carp that seemed to confidently feed on the rarely seen, larger baits. Fast forward 20-plus years and I’ve tried to maintain this mindset by trying to fish the opposite way to the masses. If the going method is to use small solid bags, I’ll use large bags. If everyone’s fishing zigs, I’ll fish on the bottom, and vice-versa. If most choose to use braid, I’ll use mono. When most people use lead clips, I’ll use inline leads, and so on. It takes a lot of stubbornness to go against the norm, especially when it doesn’t quite work out, but there’s so much satisfaction to be gained from doing things your own way in carp fishing when you do get the success and that’s never more the case than when it comes to finding feeding spots.
Since returning to Monks Pit a few years ago, I’ve tried to find at least two spots in each swim that, as far as I know, no one else fishes. They aren’t always the obvious, firmer areas or areas with dramatic depth changes, but they are definitely in the carp’s regular patrol routes and they are definitely confident enough to feed on these less obvious areas. With regular and accurate baiting to these areas, you can create new hotspots that will be unique to you only.
The other way I try to be different is to fish as normal as possible. Huh? I’ll explain. I’ve had great success in recent years simply using a bog-standard, braided bottom-bait rig with a non-tipped boilie hookbait and freebies applied straight from the bag. If I’m feeling really adventurous, I’ll add a stick mix of crushed S7. It sounds as boring as hell, don’t it, but it works. In fact, it never stopped working, and in these times of endless flavour combinations, tipped hookbaits, fluoros and all-singing, all-dancing wonder rigs, ‘boring’ could be the new ‘different’ that might just improve your catch rate.
A 55lb 12oz PB mirror from April 2024 on the S7. I never have to worry about whether my bait is any good!
