Locating Carp in featureless Pits.

[grouter]

Keep your eyes peeled mate.Ive had sveral good fish over the last couple of years casting single hook baits to bublers.Lots of anglers never seem to watch the water especially when they are in there sleeping bags til 9 or 10 in the morning.Good luck.

[carpmeister]

How does one distinguish carp bubbles from other bubbles?

[grouter]

Experience!

[Dog Fish]

Fish into the wind the carp love a good south westerly

http://www.carp-uk.net/

Gravel pit carp by Jim Gibbinson

 

[ 20. February 2005, 08:27 PM: Message edited by: Dog Fish ]

[CARPBUTT]

comus sorry about the delay on reply been on holiday but here goes. At this time of year if u spot a fish at a certain time say 9.00am it is a good thing to try a bait in that area u may get a take straight away saying that u may not get a take for a couple of hours.Carp tend to be very dormant during winter months but the fish will still feed but it may only be for half an hour or so during the whole day. A friend and i fished our local lake two years ago twice a week for the whole of the winter (day sessions only)and after a while realised that any action would always come at the same time of the day you could almost set your watch by it it was always around 2.30pm and would last for half an hour some times a bit longer and then it would go dead again.Fishing can become a bit of a chore in winter but if u keep at it eventually u will get to know the lake better. Talk to other anglers on the bank to see if they are catching and try to find out at what time they caught and note the genral area they are fishing also watch them to see where they are casting and make a mental note (this may have to be done without them seeing u but it has to be done sometimes ahem lol).If u see fish at 9.00am u could catch them from the spot at any time u just need to be there and try. As to whether they move around much i believe they do but weather conditions will dictate. You get some very sunny days during winter and the shallows will warm up quite quickly and if carp feel more comfortable they will often move into these areas so on the right day these areas have got to be worth a try. I also believe carp will hold up in certain areas of the lake and u will fish these areas for a couple of hours, and after recieving no action reel in and try a new area beleving that this area is void of fish when in fact the main reason u dont catch is because u wasnt there at the right time . One important thing to rember is that the carp are wild animals and therfore behave as such making it very hard to know exactly when, where ,and what they will do and everything i have just said may not work for u on ur water but i think if u stick at it it might just start falling together .Right now is a good time to get out there and have a go because feb and early march can throw up some really special results ( and then again maybe not )but that is carp fishing and thats why we love it.....

[rabster]

CARPBUTT:

another good way of locating carp without using marker setups is to watch the water as much as possible walk around the lake looking for signs of fish topping  it doesnt happen much at this time of year but it does occasionally and when they give them selves away like this it is always worth putting a rod on them i have found some of the best spots on my lake doing this and when explored later with a marker rod later could not find anything unusual about the area just try and get down to the lake as much as possible.....

Interesting, I tend to work on the basis that if I fish a water I know (which to be fair is the norm for me) then I bait up a few swims regarded as hot spots & fish to these, you know, a swim in the margins, one on an island & one on a silt bed or gravel bar.

 

When it works, it usually works very well & I stick to that format even if I can see fish topping elsewhere, working on the basis that even if it's a slow start, the trap is set & the fish will come. But, when it doesn't work, it's a bit of a bugger that I've watched fish showing themselves elsewhere whilst I've sat blanking. I think the problem I have is convincing myself that it would be beneficial, after hours of putting bait into a selected few swims, that moving would be better.

 

How/When do you make the decision to leave the baited swims you've set up & adopt a more roving approach? I always find it a toughy.

 

By contrast, when carp are taking off the top, I'm quite happy to leave all my gear behind & stalk them with just my rod, a bag of chum mixers, catapault & landing net.

[steve17]

interesting, i have not the patience nor time to sit and wait for the carp to come to me i fish short day sessions of maybe 5 or 6 hrs at a time and stay mobile, sometimes i find them, sometimes i dont. Generally alot harder this time of year as they arent moving or feeding as much and very rarely give away ther position.

[CARPBUTT]

prebaiting works well in summer months but in winter i dont know not done it. i dont think i would have time to wait for the fish to come to me as i only fish short day sessions at this time of year.as for fishing to topping fish i always have 1 rod out of 3 that i am prepared to move just in case even on a water that i know because usually on a particular peg u have spots that u fancy more than others.i.e Rod 1 a spot that you would call a banker Rod 2 another good spot but you dont think it is quite as good as ROD1. and Rod 3 which i am prepared to rove about to find another hotspot hopefully...

[Comus]

Thanks for the replies Chaps.Carpbutt,hope you had a good holiday.

On the subject of marker rods, as discussed earlier, I read in another thread that we anglers are ripped off by buying branded marker rods as a sea rod will do. Which rods are these that do the same job?

I can't really afford too many rods and would like to start spodding as well. Is there a cheap, powerful sea rod that can be used for both?