river carping

[scott bradley]

hello peeps

just wanted a bit of advice theres a river near me that i know contains carp i was chub fishing there and hooked into one unfortunatly i got broke off. i spoke to the baliff about it and he says theres been a few rumours about match fishermen hooking into them. ive caught river carp before but its been on a still rivers so ive just treated it like a pond but this is flowing like mad so dont really have the first idea how to tackle it. any help will be greatly apreiciated.

thanks scott

[Newt]

River carp can handle current as well as any trout so the fish can be almost any where but it is much easier for anglers to bait in the stiller areas so if you can find slack water, it would be a place to try.

 

I would suggest fishing a little ways downstream of your groundbait and possibly putting some of the bait in a loose mesh bag.

 

Simple rigs will be best.

 

For me, the takes are usually very direct and solid which I assume is becaue the fish know that current can move food out of the area pretty quickly so when they find some, they want to eat it before it vanishes.

[Peter Sharpe]

Find the areas where the bream are and then fish much closer to either bank than you normally would do for the bream. Fish at night.

[Dick Dastardly]

Find the areas where the bream are and then fish much closer to either bank than you normally would do for the bream. Fish at night.

 

Thats an interesting reply Peter and the more Ive compared it to my experiences the more truer it sounds.

[scott bradley]

thanks guys im going to give it a try when the river lowers from flooding because its still a bit high but ill tell you how i get on

thanks scott

[The Tangler]

Also look for areas that have over hanging / fallen trees lillies and/or reeds, even outer bend areas where food stuff can collect. Prebaiting for a few days can incress your chances as well.

[carper_AJ]

I WAS FEEDER FISHING AT OULTON BROAD(CONNECTED TO RIVER WAVENEYIN SUFOOLK),FOR SOME BREAM AND WITNESSED A FISHERMAN IN THE NEXT SWIM,SAME TACTICS AND SAME BAIT AND HE CAUGHT A 10LB MIRROR. OKAY NOT A MONSTER BUT THEY DO GO BIGGER IN THE PAST THEIRS BEEN 20'S OUT.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!BUT RIVER ARE HARD TO FIND, LET ALONE CATCHING THEM!!

[seph]

River carping is down to 2 things really. Firstly location, find them, then you can go about catching them. I have seen it so many times when people arrive and start fishing for Carp when I have never heard of one caught, or seen one myself.

 

Secondly, pre-baiting will get you better results rather than tryimg to catch them straight off. Get them use to the bait going in. Don't spend a fortune on kilo's of boilies but use things like Vitalin, groats etc along with pellet and a few boilies.

[Anderoo]

It depends on what the river is like really. If it's a small, shallowish, clear river I'd avoid prebaiting as all you'll do is fill the swim up with chub and bream (and crayfish if they're in there). For rivers like this look for steady water with snags/cover and perhaps some deeper water nearby. Carp use the channels between weed (especially streamer weed) so those are good ambush points. Areas where feeder streams enter are also good. Location is absolutely vital but on rivers like this you can sometimes see the fish, which helps!

 

For bigger, deeper and murkier rivers, prebaiting can help to encourage them to stop off at a certain area on their travels but again you'll probably find your swim full of chub/bream/tench. I'd look for areas downstream of weirs (if there are any) especially where the bottom is gravel, and often you'll find carp right in the weirpool itself. Other areas worth investigating are shallow weedy bays.

 

Location is key, but if you've lost one that's a good start. River carp are not that hard to catch if you know where they are. I'd use a simple, strong running leger setup and use whatever bait the other fish tend to leave alone!

[Dick Dastardly]

I totally agree with Sephs post. Ive always found river carp very easy to catch if you get the two points he mentions right.