winter pond fishing and how to avoid carp

[John Weddup]

As in the recent topic winter pond fishing we discussed the methods to get the roach feeding and how to improve catch rates.

The main consensus of opinion (and quite correct) is regular accurate feeding of small amounts and fishing light. This is great for the roach but I have one lake I visit occasionally that has a very good head of quality roach and lots of carp.

 

For some reason the carp seem to feed in the coldest of conditions. You can fish for roach for about 2 hours and have great fun then the carp move in and they seem to be lining up to take your bait.

 

I am running out of idea's to avoid them.

 

Any suggestions would be most appreciated.

 

john

[gozzer]

As in the recent topic winter pond fishing we discussed the methods to get the roach feeding and how to improve catch rates.

The main consensus of opinion (and quite correct) is regular accurate feeding of small amounts and fishing light. This is great for the roach but I have one lake I visit occasionally that has a very good head of quality roach and lots of carp.

 

For some reason the carp seem to feed in the coldest of conditions. You can fish for roach for about 2 hours and have great fun then the carp move in and they seem to be lining up to take your bait.

 

I am running out of idea's to avoid them.

 

Any suggestions would be most appreciated.

 

john

 

If you find one John, please let me know. I've had too many days (summer and winter) spoiled by the things, as I've said before, put a piece of s--t on the hook and they'll take it. These are not 'commercials' either, just association waters, subject to bad stocking policy.

The only sure way I have found, is to not fish there in the first place.

 

John

[Dick Dastardly]

Definately a problem with modern stocking policies that I suppose only really affects us old farts!

 

So frustrating that so many waters that do have a dissproportionate level of small carp now also produce such good roach.Only this sunday I took my grandson to a local club pond.Its not really my cup of tea as its in a small park in the middle of a housing estate and stocked like a modern comercial.It is a good bet though obviously for a bit of action on even the coldest of days.Taking charlie out it was obviously important he got a few bites as he is only 8 and Im still "weaning" him on to fishing.We caught small tench,small rudd,perch and small roach at first.Charlie was just having a break and I had a go with the whipp.Caught a lovely conditioned roach of around 12ozs I was well impressed! so was Charlie.He soon ended his "break" and was keener than ever he soon caught a similar (allthough we both agreed it was bigger than Grandads!) sized roach in great condition.But as I had been trickling the feed in the dreaded pasties soon moved in!

 

First one of around a pound certainly pulled the elastic out and got him excited but he was a little dissapointed when I netted the carp for him and it wasnt the mother of all roach! we carried on for an hour or so more but the carp were in and had pushed the good roach out. charlie enjoyed it as lets be honest small carp on light gear are good fun but it did my heart good when he told his mum all about it to hear him enthusing more over his "beutifull big roach" than the great fight that the carp had given!

 

Hope yet for a new generation of anglers?

[gozzer]

That's music to this 'old farts' ears Budgie, try and keep him thinking like that.

 

My fear is that with the current obsession with carp, the future of our waters is in jeopardy.

To paraphrase a thread on non fishing, I can see the influx of these immigrants causing 'rivers of carp', pushing out other species. Already I see a lack of small fish in some waters where carp are over stocked. This leads me to think, that maybe they are causing a problem relating to the successful survival of fry. Maybe increased predation on fry, or just grubbing about in the spawning areas and eating the eggs. If my pessimistic views are right, then these 12oz fish are relatively 'old' fish, and if there are fewer fry surviving, then the future is very bleak. (or should that be carp)

I would like to see a survey on the effects that carp have on other species in the same water, with the age/weight ratio of the other species taken into account.

 

Has there been one? If so, has anyone got a link?

 

Cheers

John

Edited January 24, 2007 by gozzer

[Squiffy]

As in the recent topic winter pond fishing we discussed the methods to get the roach feeding and how to improve catch rates.

The main consensus of opinion (and quite correct) is regular accurate feeding of small amounts and fishing light. This is great for the roach but I have one lake I visit occasionally that has a very good head of quality roach and lots of carp.

 

For some reason the carp seem to feed in the coldest of conditions. You can fish for roach for about 2 hours and have great fun then the carp move in and they seem to be lining up to take your bait.

 

I am running out of idea's to avoid them.

 

Any suggestions would be most appreciated.

 

john

 

I agree.

 

Carp make such bad Livos, that catching quality Roach of the 1/12 - 2lb mark to stick on snap-tackle can become a real problem!

[Steve Walker]

I would like to see a survey on the effects that carp have on other species in the same water, with the age/weight ratio of the other species taken into account.

Has there been one? If so, has anyone got a link?

 

There has been plenty of research into the effect of carp on native species in countries where they are recognised as a pest; North America, Australia and New Zealand in particular. Google "cyprinus carpio pest" to get as much reading as you want. The main concern is with habitat degradation caused by rooting in the mud, though some think that carp tolerate degraded habitats rather than create them. Brian Moss did some well-known research on the adverse effects of carp, bream, tench and roach on plant growth, but his findings were more to do with the effect of predation on zooplankton leading to more algae and thus to more turbid water and less growth of large aquatic plants. In this respect, small carp and roach are both similar in devouring zooplankton.

[gozzer]

Thanks Steve

 

John

[RUDD]

All you can do is feed a seperate carp line with something like cold water pellets and hope it keeps them away from the maggots etc

[Steve Burke]

I agree that carp on such overstocked waters can be a pest. They even regularly take 4inch deadbaits!

 

I briefly fished such a water for roach whilst fishing the other rod for perch. As Rudd suggested I fed another area to entice away the carp. It worked up to a point, but was by no means a total solution.

 

As a matter of interest most of the roach I caught came to worm, including whole lobs! These were originally intended for the perch, but I found that I got less carp on worm than on other baits. However, as on other waters, carp were a pest even on worm if I fished off the bottom.

 

It's the only time I got sidetracked from perch at such a venue. Normally I don't fish such waters for anything other than perch as they're too artificial, with the non-predators having to eat anglers baits just to survive. There's therefore not the kind of challenge to interest me.

 

However, I can see that sorting out the roach would be an interesting challenge to others. I'd therefore be interested to hear how you get on.

[Anderoo]

Have you tried hemp and tares? Less attractive to carp I'd have thought (as long as you're only trickling them in). You could try that (fishing gently on the drop) and also feeding a couple of other lines either side of you with corn/meat/etc to try to keep the carp away.

Edited January 24, 2007 by Anderoo