ASK THE EXPERTS
Dear Panel
I am currently fishing a 22-acre pit which, due to a nearby river, is constantly changing in depth as a result of flooding. This results in some swims being unfishable. Will the carp investigate these ‘new’ areas which were previously grassy areas of bank or bushes above the water line prior to flooding, and are these fish catchable in these areas?
Many thanks
Bob Benson
Solihull, West Mids.
Dear Bob
The first thing to remember is that carp, by their very nature, are very inquisitive creatures and anything new in their environment (such as the areas you have mentioned) is sure to be investigated by them. As for being catchable around such spots, I would think that because they are new areas, the fish wouldn’t treat them with as much caution as other areas of the lake, where they are fished for normally. I remember Terry Hearn, a few years ago, fishing a lake that had flooded, and if I remember rightly, he found a few fish in a flooded area and when he lowered his bait in it actually landed in a cow’s footprint! However, Tel being Tel, it wasn’t long before one of the fish made a mistake.
Personally, I would treat it like any other lake – try to find the fish first, because location is the key to success. If possible, have a good look in the flooded areas to see if you can spot some telltale signs of fish, maybe trickle in a bit of bait to try to get them used to feeding there, and then have an angle for them.
A mid-20 mirror from Frimley, caught right under my feet in the margins. I saw it roll, dropped a bait on its head, and within minutes I was away.
The only sort of experience I’ve had of this type of thing was when fishing on the Golf Course Lake a few years back. In the summer months the water was pumped out of the lake to water the golf course, which meant that the water level could go down by 2ft+, and when you consider that the average depth was 4-5ft, this made a big difference to the fish. On the flip side of the coin, in the winter the lake would fill back up very quickly because all the water that fell on the golf course was channelled back into the lake, which meant that the fish could get to areas which were previously only a few inches deep. Being a very silty lake, a lot of the areas held a lot of natural food and, once accessible to the fish, they would be natural larders for them to feed on.
Hope that helps, and let us know how you get on.
Be lucky
Steve
