21lb winter scaly

Winter is always the hardest part of the year for catching carp. This year I have been adjusting rigs and fishing different hook baits to try and get me that extra bite. I’ve been using pop up rigs lately and having some good results. The best fish being a stunning 21lb scaly mirror.

Last winter was a very hard time for me as I did about 30 sessions and blanked them all. I Lost fish so I was doing something right to get the bites but I just couldnt land them! Having so many blanks in a row really got my confidence to a very low point. That’s why this year I wanted to up my game and try and get a few fish.

So far I have had 7 fish in 7 sessions. Fishing on my local club water and a few day ticket waters, I have fished lakes about 2-3 days after they have thawed out and knew it was going to be tough I have also fished lakes that have been half frozen when I’m there  and I have still managed to get amongst a few. This just shows how much the carp love the Quest Baits I have been using!

Another winter 20 falls to Quest Baits

I have certainly had a better winter already than I did throughout the whole winter last year. When Shaun approached me to be part of the Quest Baits team I felt priviledged to be part of a company that makes such a fine quality of bait. I have had most of my fish this winter on Fruity Trifle. Although I did have a couple on Ghurkka fluoro pop ups including a 20lb mirror.

I am really going to put a lot of effort into fishing in future sessions, I can strongly reccomend to anyone who finds the winter months a tough time to catch carp just to chop and change rigs baits and the spots you are on.You can often have one rod over the bait and one rod you just cast around every 30 minutes to an hour this can make such a difference as the fish normally group up in the winter and once you have found the you should get a few! My killer tactic this winter has been chod rigs and pop up rigs with the fluoro Ghurkka pop ups (yellow).

All carp are most welcome at this time of the year.

Also I used a snowman rig with the fruity trifle bottoms and the chilli chocolate fluros (orange). Around the hook bait I scatter 20-30 baits just so if a few carp do come along it keeps them occupied going from bait to bait. I think bright baits are a very good thing to have in your armoury in the winter because they are brilliant to chuck anywhere and they catch the fishes eye, alot of fish take out of curiosity in the winter. Many lakes ‘shut up shop’ at this time of year as most anglers say. But if you are willing to put the effort in looking for any signs of fish and are prepared to try anything to catch them you will get a couple you can ask most professional anglers about winter fishing and they will say if you dont  think your on the fish move to where you think they might be. After watching a few winter vidoes of the man himself ‘Shaun Harrison’ http://www.questbaits.com/docs/videovault/videoList.php?category=Shaun’s%20Fishing%20Sessions it taught me that going light on tackle so you can move alot easier and bait a few spots to keep your options open.

All of these things can get you those extra couple of fish so the biggest thing I can say is be mobile keep your options open and dont be afraid to experiment!.

 

Thanks Lee Wheeler.

 

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