(All loaded & ready to go)
On one of the lakes I fish you need to place your baits out a good old distance and in a good size amount. But not having to worry too much about placing them exactly on the same spot every time but being able to create numerous feeding beds. So my initial approach was to opt for a simple throwing stick, and dot boiles around a marker, but soon came to realise that it was an option that had serious disadvantages. On one hand there is the limit to the bait that can be used and on the other hand there is the annoyance of seagulls. Many of you reading this most
likely at some point have experienced seagulls picking up your boilies in mid air or as they hit the water. Gulls have come to recognise the sound of the boilie as it
leaves the throwing stick and quickly gather in large flocks
ready to pick up the bait in flight; those baits that escape are soon picked off as soon as they hit the surface of the water. Therefore I decided to give myself more of a fighting chance and get the trusty spod out.
(Gulls that’s what you get when living by the sea!)
Just got back from a day session on a local water of mine and have managed to surprise myself by the amount of thought that was given to my baiting tactics. I was only there for what could only be described as a few hours but I probably spent an equal amount of time deciding on and preparing the bait. Just thought I’d mention two approaches I used, which I’m positive is nothing new to anyone but sometimes overlooked in favour of new and improved methods.
Paste is a brilliant but underused bait and when used the results can be devastating. There are loads of self pastes on the shop shelves you can buy these days but it still can be a minefield choosing the right one. The one I go for is Quest BaitsFruityTrifle, a bait I can use all year round that doesn’t let me down even in these colder months of the year. I like to wrap 15mm boilies with paste on my hooklink alongside small paste balls mixed with the pellet in a PVAbag.
A lot of people ask me how I got into carpfishing, how long I’ve been fishing, why do you seem to catch carp on a regular basis?
Where do I start?
Well it was five years ago when I met my partner, he had just come back from working at Dream Lakes in France, and never stopped talking about it. I finally gave in and said I would go fishing with him to see what all the hype was about, but we lived in the lakes (Cumbria) where there was not many carp around so I went on a 3 day trip down to Suffolk with him where he let me use one of his rods. I had a couple of smaller fish out that trip and much to my own amazement I was hooked. That year I went on my first French trip to Abbey lakes, where I landed my first 30lb carp. What a week fishing and sun bathing a perfect combination if you ask me.
That week I saw my first Mercedes bait boat, yes you heard me right!
by Elie Godsi If I were to ask you to come up with the ‘ultimate’ test for a new carpbait - like Shaun’s Liver B8 - what would it look like? Maybe you would fish that bait on one rod alongside your other baits and compare your captures? Maybe you could compare your results with other anglers using other brands of boilies on the lakes you fish? Maybe you could fish it on a lake that had never seen that particular bait and see what your catch rate was like. All well and good but what about the ultimate test? (more…)