Prebaiting for River Carp

[Houseplant]

I've decided to start off the season trying to bag a river carp. I've never had one, so thought it would be a nice idea. Other than carp on the fly, it's the only aspect of carp fishing that really interests me.

 

I will be fishing a small, deep river which is about 25 feet across and very slow moving, static more often than not. I've spotted a few mid-doubles and as far as I know, no ones goes after them, so don't think I'll be wasting my time. From what I've read, prebaiting seems to be the way forward. I really can't be arsed with soaking/boiling particles, so have decided to prebait with pellets. This really isn't the kind of fishing I do normally, so my questions are:

 

1. Are pellets OK for prebaiting? Any alternatives that don't involve preparation?

 

2. What's the minimum length of time I should prebait for?

 

3. How much prebait should I use on each visit?

 

4. What size of pellet?

 

Cheers guys.

 

Andrew

[Guest Brumagem Phil]

Tell us the venue and we'll give you all the advice you need..........hell, we might even prebait it for you.........in fact come to that we might even catch em for ya too!

[FishyFraser]

If it were me I would pre bait the day before with marine pellets (I prefer Swim Stim) and make sure they are feeding confidently in the swim. Fire out more bait for a few hours before legering a hair rigged pellet and waiting. You could try nicking on a PVA mesh bag with the same pellets.

[seph]

If I am correct Andrew will be fishing the Leam. Andrew, you have done the hard work and that is locating them. I would prebait with a mixture of vitalin, pellet and boilies. I would be tempted to do it every day for a week then cut down to every other day for a week and then every 3 or 4 days. In the last week before the season, I would bait it at the begining of the week and the night before you fish it. As for quantity, really depends on the head of fish but say a couple of kilo at first then drop it down to a kilo. Once they get used to the bait going in they will not venture too far from it anyway.

[Houseplant]

Cheers, just needed a rough guide. Good luck with your 16 June endevours.

[Peter Sharpe]

Just my opinion, but pre-baiting for river carp will do very little to draw them to you. You really need to find out where they feed and then just pre-bait sufficiently to get them to recognise your bait, preferably right in the margins, where many other avoid. Remember to bait up at the time of day that you will be putting your bait in when fishing. Bear in mind that you might just end up with a swim full of chub or bream.

[Anderoo]

I'm with Peter on this one - if you've already found the fish (the hard part!) I think pre-baiting will only draw more nuisance species like chub and bream into the area. I'd fish for a bite at a time with PVA bags only, cast quietly into areas where you suspect the carp will be - usually around cover like boats, trees, snags, sheltered margins, etc. I'd be tempted to scatter a little hemp over the rig, but nothing more. For bait, I'd stick with 'instant' baits like worm, pellet or sweetcorn and leave the boilies at home. River carp aren't that cute as they're generally not fished for, so there's no need for clever rigs or baits. Location is the only really important factor, and as you've got that sussed, you're pretty much there! The other option is to use floaters on a nice warm summer evening.

 

It's worth bearing in mind that river carp can be quite nomadic, so don't be surprised if they're not always in the swim you've seen them in.

 

Good luck!

[Kappa]

It's worth bearing in mind that river carp can be quite nomadic, so don't be surprised if they're not always in the swim you've seen them in.

 

I think I would prebait as I'd worry that your fish might move. I would try to find a bait that was quite carp specific so I wasn't pestered with smaller fish! Also are there crayfish in your river? If so you might find they will influence your choice...

 

 

Rich

[Anderoo]

Good point about crays! They drove me to the point of insanity on the Thames last year, even a bit of loosefeed was enough to fill my swim up with them. I'd go for a bit fake corn in that instance, I think, and hope for the best. Or floater fish.

 

Or give up like I did!

[Houseplant]

no crays as far as i know. shame, they're very tasty

 

would not be adverse to catching chub or whatever else comes along, so that isn't going to bother me too much.