Wintercarping can be one of the most sole destroying pastimes imaginable. What with the long cold nights, freezing days and with little chance of a fish anyone would be mad to fish through the winter months-wrong wintercarping can be one of the most rewarding and exciting parts of carpfishing, if you get it right. The fish are normally at their best weight and in excellent condition. The million dollar question how do you get it right in winter?
Firstly my definition of a wintercarp is one caught between 1st November and 1st March just to make it clear. Now that has been cleared up what makes the difference between success and failure?
I have winter fished for carp for well over 20 years, with some spectacular successes and some dismal failures. The problem with wintercarping is that there are few rules. (more…)
I enjoyed Russell Hall’s ‘Goldendale – The Forgotten Lake’. Those carp look like true old warriors and it goes to show there are still a fair few lakes out there which are temporarily forgotten. I think the longer you spend in this game the more it becomes apparent just how quickly some carp can appear to grow, but upon reflection they are often just slow ‘plodders’. Many lakes that I wrote off several years ago as not being worth the effort for the size of fish they held, have now produced some very big fish. You can easily forget how long it is since originally writing them off. Even with a relatively slow growth rate it is amazing how much the fish grow over a period of a few years. There are some real gems swimming around in waters overlooked for a long while. (more…)
Snag Fishing
Now then, back to the previous edition of Carpworld. I enjoy interview type pieces and like to see what makes certain anglers tick. Some come over a little bit cold, in my opinion, and some at the opposite end of the scale seem to absolutely ooze eagerness. I like to think that by the time I have finished reading an interview I have a rough idea what the angler is like, personality-wise. The ‘Big Interview’ with Jim Carpenter showed just how much he has sacrificed in the pursuit of carp over the years, but the one thing which really makes me take my hat off to him was quite early on in his piece where he said: “I learnt then that I would never be a snag angler, and to this day I very rarely do it. I think that many fish get damaged in those hook-and-hold scenarios and I prefer to keep the fish looking good.”(more…)
Stalking Fun This trip down memory lane ( see previous post) also triggered further thoughts. Due to my present circumstances (single with a dog and nowhere to fish where I can take her), I have spent most of this summerfishing very short stalking sessions. My beloved Free Spirit ‘S’ Range 10-footers have never had so much use, and some great fun has been had with proper eyeball-to-eyeball situations. Most of the carp I have caught this summer have fallen to hookbaits just a few feet out. In most of the cases I have actually watched the carp take the hookbait, which is all good heart pumping stuff, and I have really enjoyed doing this. From what started out as desperate measures in order to be able to actually wet a line, it has resulted in one of the most enjoyable summer’s fishing I have had for many years. I am positive the tackle I have used has heightened this pleasure. I love using short, soft rods and I get a big kick out of catching carp on centrepin reels. (more…)
![[del.icio.us]](http://www.questbaits.com/blog/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/delicious.png)
![[Digg]](http://www.questbaits.com/blog/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/digg.png)
![[Google]](http://www.questbaits.com/blog/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/google.png)
![[StumbleUpon]](http://www.questbaits.com/blog/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/stumbleupon.png)
![[Windows Live]](http://www.questbaits.com/blog/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/windowslive.png)
![[Yahoo!]](http://www.questbaits.com/blog/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/yahoo.png)
![[Email]](http://www.questbaits.com/blog/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/email.png)
