Cant get 'em!!!!!!!

[Babar]

Sometimes i go to a venue not too far from where i live called "Riverside Farm Fishing" in Haigh.

My problem is, i can see the carp and so can everyone else but we cant get them. The baliff said no-one has ever caught one. Why is this?????

All we ever seem to get is big perch and roach. The pond has alot of Crayfish in it and i was wandering if the carp were feeding on those?

The baliff says ther are Tench and bream n as well but the only thing anyone has ever caught is perch and roach. The pond has been open for about 20 years now so it is not new.

Also there are massive perch in here that i would like to catch. How should i go about this, baring in mind the crayfish are on the bottom?????

I read the Angling times but i dont want to be fishing all the fancy rigs etc.....

[Steve Burke]

A few questions before I answer, Babar: is the water clear or cloudy? What sort of depths have you got? Are there only a few fish of the various species or is the water heavilly stocked? Are there any bans on lure fishing or live/deadbaiting?

[Newt]

While you are waiting on a longer post from Steve, I will say this.

 

Crayfish = Carp Candy

[Babar]

The water s quite cloudy, it alot of silver fish in it, its around 7ft deep in places and thre are no luring or livebaiting etc... allowed??????

[RUDD]

I cant belive the other species dont get caught.

I think someone may well be spinning you a yarn.

Either they get caught but the anglers keep quiet or they dont exist and it is just a ploy to get you to fish there.

There may be carp but how many?

If there are only low numbers they will be hard to catch. They could also be grass carp that are very hard to catch.

I have fished the same lake for almost ten years and have caught one.

[Guest NickInTheNorth]

Is that the one that you access from near junction 38 of the M1, then along Huddersfield Road, past the Old Post Office and under the motorway?

 

If so then back in the dim and distant past it certainly used to be a very good venue.

 

I used to fish it a lot about 25 years ago (I think it then had a spell as a put and take trout fishery).

 

The carp (and tench) used to be caught fishing tight into the margins alonside the reeds using nothing fancier than sweetcorn or bread.

 

I know that there used to be a groundbait ban and if that is still the case then just loose feed in the margin and float fish over the top of it. I used to use the lift method with good success using about 12" of line between the shot on the bottom and the hook.

 

Best fish I ever had from there was 14lb, but a friend of mine had one of 19lbs.

 

They were never easy fish, and there weren't many of them, but the tench used to be good sized and offered good sport.

 

And unless it's changed a lot there is probably a good chance of a 2lb roach. It's a very rich spring fed man made pool, and the fish certainly seem to grow very well.

[Babar]

Yeh its the same place and yeh there is massive roach there still. I'll try your tactics.

[Steve Burke]

This answer is specifically about perch - I'll leave it to others to advise you about the other species. You'll also need to experiment as all waters are different. It also depends on whether you're after a mixed bag or specifically targetting the perch.

 

If it's just perch you're after and you can't use lures or livebaits this leaves worms and freshwater deadbaits (perch don't seem to like seabaits although carp and tench do). Even then you'll catch these species on small freshwater deadbaits, so you may have to go up to 5" baits to avoid them.

 

For worms I'd start with large lobworms, although you'll likely to catch big roach, not to mention tench when they wake up properly. You'll again possibly catch carp, especially if you fish off the bottom at this time of year.

 

Of course if you're after a mixed bag, maggots and casters will also catch perch, particularly if flavoured with something spicy. My favourite liquid flavour is Archie Braddock's Perch Magic, whilst Garam Masala from the supermarket is a good powdered additive at this time of year. Both these will catch you other species, especially roach, but there's likely to be a higher proportion of perch than with unflavoured maggotts.

 

As far as methods/rigs go there's nothing to beat float fishing for big perch. You'll have to find the tasking depth, which almost always depends on the underwater light level and so will vary throughout the day. Basically the dimmer the light, the shallower you're likely to catch.

 

I'm afraid I'm not qualified to give you advice about avoiding crayfish as I haven't fished much on stillwaters that contain them. All I would say is that crayfich quickly make themselves scarce when big fish, of whatever species, are around!

[LewisRJ2]

I'm targeting perch this weekend, and have been told that a twitched lobworm near features such as reeds & drop-offs should prove irresistible to the perch.

 

I was going to use a couple of swan shot and move it around until I find a shoal, but would I be better off with the float?

[Steve Burke]

Hi Lewis. I find it very much depends on the water, plus of course what you enjoy.

 

In general I use the hunting approach on waters with a lot of features. Where the venue is relatively uniform, and especially if it's heavilly stocked, I tend you use the trapping approach and draw the perch to me by attracting small fry.

 

If you take an Avon type rod with you both styles can be fished. You could perhaps start with twitching a worm back, and then switch to the float if you find the fish.

 

Alternatively, if you're not fishing at range you can switch a worm back on float gear, and then concentrate your feed in the area you find perch. However bear in mind that the biggest perch will often feed on the edge of a shoal of baitfish and pick off the stragglers.

 

Another tactic is to bait up various swims with chopped worm and fish each in turn. Very often the first perch out of a swim is the biggest in the shoal, especially if you use a big bait.

 

As you can see there's lots of strategies, and all can work on different waters on different days. Good luck with whatever you try.