I’ve recently made the decision to stop using frozen baits altogether and start using shelf life for all my fishing throughout the year. So far what may seem at first a drastic decision has paid off and I have had some great results to show for it. Questdips and glugs are a great way to enhance your shelf life boilies, simply place your boiles into the plastic container, I usually put about 2kg of bait per container and add the same flavoured dip as my chosen boilies. Then put the lid on and give it a good shake, this will coat all the boilies which are instantly ready to use.
Carpfishing has certainly been developing at an amazing rate over recent years. Just the other day I was sat having a chat with a good mate of mine and we got on to the topic of bait.
Now this conversation went down the route of how much bait you would use in certain circumstances, which has got my brain really working.
In my early days this bag would have lasted me weeks
Going back to the late eighties and very early nineties I would knock up a four egg mix and expect it to last me a couple of weekend sessions at the very least. Well I reckon that a four egg mix equates to about a pound and a half of 14mm baits, which would be a couple of hundred at the most. Generally that would be it, no pellet, hemp, corn or anything else. On arrival I would generally put in a couple of pouch fulls and if I caught I would add another pouch of boilies and so on. I remember putting in half a bag one day and worrying about ruining my chances. It’s crazy to think that way now but I was naive at the time and having come from a coarse background of fishing a few maggots and the odd grain of corn, 14mm boilies seemed so big.
Between our group we would commonly use the term I have filled in when in reality we weren’t even scratching the surface of what they could devour.
Over the years I have witnessed some occasions where I am certain you cannot over feed them. On one occasion I watched two Carp that probably weren’t even doubles munch down 2 pints of maggots in no more than a few minutes. That same day on a commercial fishery I had probably 300 Carp climbing over each other to get at my floaters, they were in a complete frenzied state. (more…)
Top Frenchcarpangler Bruno Médou has just sent us a report from his latest trip to the central ‘Morvan’ region of France, and area rich in carp waters and renowned for the large fish that populate its waters.
The region is heavily forested with a large variety of pines, and as Bruno says it gives it a Canadian feel. The beauty of the setting contributed immensely of the pleasure of his trip.
Bruno had the good fortune to spend his trip on three different waters, which had never seen carp anglers before, and was fortunate to bank specimens on all three over the magical 15kg mark (33lb).
By roy van goor All anglers are waiting for the first sunny days, when the temperatures are going upwards and the lake shows more and more fish activity. The warmth of the sun is responsible for more carpmovement and often you can catch them fairly easily on these mild days. A few tips that can be effective considering the early time of the season:
1) Fish often don’t respond to heavy baiting: Under these circumstances, try to fish bags and single hookbaits. Bait that has gone in, can’t be taking out. So be careful with free offerings.
2) Always try to get your rods on the bank where the first sunlight falls on: This side of the lake will warm up faster and on a lot of occasions the majority of the fish will be hanging around in that part of the lake.
3) Don’t ignore the margins: Most of my early season captures are hooked just a few feet of the bank, right in my own margin.. (more…)