Winter Carping

[Slyder]

Smalltincup - Late Sept into early October can be really productive, but you either have to put in serious bank time or be very lucky with timing. Despite our seasons being a bit off wack the last few years, the carp do still retain the instinct to have a pre-winter munch up. When they go off on one they really do leave themselves open to capture. High food content baits, or old fashioned stuff like really fatty meats are what they search for to put on some winter padding. It can be spectacular though. Timing is a bit like waiting for the pre spawning feeding frenzy though, you have to be around to see the signs that they're moving round looking.

 

Newt - I'd love to provide links, but its just stuff that i've read on various forums and in magazines over the years and retained in the many spaces in my head! I'm not even a carp angler really, its more a case of just finding stuff interesting. The warm water thing is definitely a goer for fish location. There have been stories over here of all sorts of fish, even illegally stocked (dumped) tropicals, being caught in warm water outlets into canals from factories during the cold weather.

[Newt]

Tropicals - that I can vouch for. The WWD from the Duke power plant on the North Carolina/Virginia border has a resident winter population of Tilapia. Summers they are in the main lake I think but winters are way too cold and they have to stay in the WWD area to survive.

 

Interesting fishing for US anglers in that we have a pressured population where the incautious ones are often kept for the table so they are near impossible for us to catch using traditional US rigs and methods. I've always wondered what a good UK angler with your rigs and skills could do with them. Hard fighting fish to around 4lbs that I've managed to catch - which hasn't been often. I have not ever managed to catch more than one on a given day either. They will go crazy for pellets or bread on top but anything that acts different (so any hookbait) is totally ignored. The WWD area is narrow and clear so the schools are fairly close at times and easy to see the fish when they near the surface.

 

Note that they prefer 82-86º water, don't grow below 68º water, and die if it drops below 50º. The main lake used for the WWD freezes in the dead of winter and water temps stay below 40º from late December through February so the fish absolutely can't survive outside the WWD area then.

 

[ 15. September 2005, 05:00 PM: Message edited by: Newt ]

[*Ant*]

I remember reading an article a few years ago by an angler/fisheries scientist. He had found carp holding up in a corner of a lake during the winter but couldn't catch them. The article went on to explain that the water was clear and no matter what bait he chucked in next to these carp, the bait would remain untouched and still be visable after numerous weeks.

[Slyder]

quote:

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They will go crazy for pellets or bread on top but anything that acts different (so any hookbait) is totally ignored

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God, isn't that the most frustrating thing in fishing? Met a guy a couple of seasons back on a stretch of small river known for its barbel and chub. He'd spent a couple of hours lowering bait dropper after bait dropper of corn about 3 feet from the bank. Each load was immediately devoured by a group of three barbel, 2 of which were probable doubles. Each time he put a hooked sample amongst the loose the fish would come in as usual, hoover it all up causing clouds in the water. When it settled again there was his hooked grain all alone in the water. He was pulling his hair out!

[fantasticfisherman]

is it true that autumn carp fishing is good because the carp are bulking up for winter much like any other animal?

[Slyder]

Seems to be the case FF. A big munch before spawning and another before the onset of winter. Would be nice to know exactly when in advance though!! The height of the feeding frenzy only lasts a couple of days, and you can guarantee you'll be working those days!

[smalltincup]

Lets hope that i get the day right, would love to pull out a couple 30+. Cheers for that