It can often be difficult for fishermen to fish regularly due to commitments such as family and work, that’s why it’s essential to try and get the most out of your fishing trips. There are many ways to increase your chances of a session of a lifetime without even getting the rods out. But, finding a good carp fishing guide will help with it all.
Pre-baiting
One of the most overlooked edges in carp fishing is pre-baiting, Carp will often visit the same spots from week to week, and knowing where these spots are can dramatically increase your chances of catching.
Firstly it’s a good idea to walk a few laps around the lake to try and the spot where the fish are held up, climbing trees, or using polarised glasses to see through the water layers can be a great help. Carp will often be residing in snags, weed beds, and gravel bars.
Once you have spotted them it’s time to regularly bait up the swim, dedicated anglers will often go to the lake before or after work for weeks before their trip to put the bait into the swim. It’s a good idea to purchase large bags of mixed particles (maize, sweetcorn, hemp) instead of using boilies; which can become very expensive. Another Tip to make the bait even more irresistible to carp is to add some oils or flavorings. The margins are great locations to pre-bait, however, if the spot is further out you can use catapults or Spombs to get the bait out.
After a few weeks, you should notice that fish will feed on the spot regularly without being spooky and hard to catch.
Fishing Weather
The weather on a fishing trip can make the difference between having a large haul of fish or blanking. Carp love to feed during low air pressure, you will often find them at the bottom of the lake feeding when the pressure is low. If the air pressure is high the carp will tend to move to the upper layers of the water and so changing your tactics to match this is critical. Using floating bread/dog biscuits on the surface or changing to zigs can often bring in results. When fishing with Zigs it’s a good idea to have a few different rods out with each fishing at a different depth, once you get a bite on one of the rods changes the other rods to match its depth.
The wind can be an important factor when fishing, Carp love to follow the wind (this is mostly due to food on the surface being blown and concentrated into one location). Some of my most eventful carp fishing trips have come from fishing bays on a lake where the wind is pumping into it.
The outside temperature will usually have a big impact on the fishing, when its cold out carp will tend to move about a lot less they will also only eat small amounts at any given time So it’s best to keep pre-baiting at a minimum and to use small hook baits such as maggots. When the water temperature is warmer carp will each much more, it’s not uncommon for them to clear large amounts of bait in minutes off the lake bed. During this time it’s best to bait up spots with large quantities of bait and to use PVA bags or PVA mesh with bait on your hook.
Lastly, rainfall can have a very positive impact on a session as the water dropping into the lake oxygenates the water, in turn, making the fish more active.
FishAdviser is one of the top websites to generate a carp fishing weather report. The report will also contain a bite rating for the specific day which is calculated from the pressure, wind, precip, cloud cover, and temperature.
Rigs
Carp fishermen will often use a large range of rigs such as (360 rigs, slip d rigs, blowback rigs and zigs) for different lake beds (gravel, weed, and silk), presentation, and hook baits. So trying a selection of these before your trip and putting them in a rig box will save you valuable time on the bank.
Another good tip is to put a selection of boilies into pots and every week add flavoring liquids into them such as Vanilla, Citrus, and Strawberry and then put the lids on them. This will make the bait more potent which is sure to get you more bites.
