Winter Fishing

Our approach to winter fishing tends to develop over time as the weather changes and the bait becomes established as a food source. When fishing a water regularly over the winter we will aim to have the bait going in from October onwards, baiting heavily in the deeper areas of the lake, with as much bait as we can. (boilie not particle). If other people are fishing we will often make the effort to bait at night or just before dawn. It becomes very easy to keep what you are doing quiet when no-one is watching the lake at these times! When actually fishing we've had a lot of success using just a light scattering of baits spread roughly over the area… get 'em searching! In a nutshell what we are doing is establishing a quality bait as a food source in an area of the lake they feel comfortable with, and then reaping the rewards when we fish.

This approach is kept up until the first freeze up of the lake, when other areas become more productive. We have had massive successes in this part of the winter from the normal summer spots; islands, margins, snags, weed beds etc. Shallow, sun-kissed margins in undisturbed areas with either snags or weed beds will be baited and fished even in the most evil conditions. Baiting at this stage of the winter will be kept lighter, but we will try to introduce bait at least every other day. Fishing is done with singles, pop-ups, bags and stringers etc. As for the bait used, for us it has to be a quality food bait every time. (Active-8, M8, Grange). These baits will out-fish lesser food value baits by a shocking amount when baited in a comparable way. Obviously we are not referring to high attract singles here.
There are many ways we can ring the changes with the hook baits, although colour is normally our first area to experiment with. Reds and yellows seem to be the most effective for us. Flavour levels will be kept the same in the hookbaits as in the freebies, but if an unexpected drop in action is apparent, then we may reach for the old faithfuls; either tutti and clove, or cinnamon and squid; both killers in the coldest of months.

Tackle will be kept as light and sensitive as possible until the action begins to subside. Then we can completely fox them with big leads and stiff rigs etc. More often than not the catches pick up again, it's just a matter of not letting them get away with it.

Snag / Weed Fishing

For this sort of situation we up the line strength to 12 or 15lb from a more standard 10lb. Stronger hook patterns and coated hooklength materials are also a help to reduce the likelihood of a loss through abrasion. Leads tend to be either in-line on a harder bottom, or fluted leads on lead clips for a silty or weedy bottom. If fishing weed with lead clips it is essential the lead can release VERY easily. Most of the lead clips on the market just don't achieve this. We don't have a problem with putting baits in weed as long as the lead is felt down onto the lake bed. One way to use the weed to your advantage is to use a balanced hookbait on a longer than normal supple hooklink with foam nuggets on the hook. Small, light food items such as response pellets, crumbed or chopped baits can then be fed into the weed in order to cause the fish to feed within the layers of weed instead of under it. When snag or weed fishing we usually fish locked up with rod loks. When a take occurs you immediately pick the rod up and walk backwards on a tight line to get the fish moving. In a short range situation the set up is simply moved away from the water to allow the line stretch to cushion the take. Some people advocate the use of braided mainlines in these situations, but in our experience we prefer to use the stretch in the nylon to our advantage.

Hooks

Favoured hooks vary depending on the time of year. Our all round favourite is the Drennan Super Specialist, the size matched to the bait being used. Carp R Us Nailers in 8 and 6 for bottom baits or snowman rigs, and ESP stiff riggers for pop-ups. Hook sharpeners are very rarely used because we've never got a hook as sharp as the factory can! Knots used are the 5 turn grinner, or the knotless knot, both 100 percent reliable.

Pop-ups

Cork balls used to be our preferred method, but since the release of Polaris we haven't found the need to use anything else. There are two reasons for this; firstly they stay popped up for days when prepared correctly and left to dry for 2 or 3 days. Secondly you can make a pop-up with exactly the same attractors as the freebies, but make the bait in a totally different colour. (big edge over everyone else). As for attractor levels over flavoured hookbaits have worked for us on occasions, but this has generally been in limited situations or on very easy waters. We have found it best if you want to increase the attraction to use a bag or stringer, or with singles wrap some paste round a 10-12mm pop-up to make a balanced bait. Devastating…

On the rig front we vary from each other constantly to try to keep ahead of the carp, but for larger 20lb+ fish the Terry Hearn rig is hard to beat in most situations. We alter it slightly by using braid for the pop-up section, and a small piece of shrink tubing off the eye of the hook to kick it round when it is inspected. The coated braid hooklinks can also work well with this rig, but the anti-tangle properties of an amnesia boom are far more reliable. When using the method or when fishing for smaller fish we will often use a tiny pop-ups, the rig being simply made with a 4 inch section of braid to a knotless knotted super spec. A split shot half way along the braid completes the set up. Simple but deadly effective.

Short Visit Day Ticket Waters

Swim selection depends greatly on the time of year and angling pressure. If there are any pads, weed or snags we will look there first because fish will naturally head for these areas. Light baiting is normally all that is needed, and a classic trap for this sort of situation would be a bag of Active-8 crumb, fished with half an Active-8 bait on the hair. Quiet corners will probably be the next port of call, especially in the margins. Out of reach areas can also be exploited if you have the tackle to reach the fish. As to baiting levels, find the fish, fish to them, and adapt depending on the action you get. Don't pile a load of bait in just because you've had a fish. Fish for one run at a time, and build the swim up gradually. Try watching the match lads at work on this one. We always use a quality food bait, though there are also situations which call for high attract baits such as mini tuttis and of course the yellow perils the pineapple pops! If particles are allowed we will always take hemp, sweetcorn and chopped tigers.

Feature Finding

On a water we are planning to fish a lot we will go to any lengths to find out as much about the bottom as possible. We have found out more in an hour with a snorkel than you could find in a year with a marker float. If the water is too deep or cloudy for diving then a boat can be used with a number of long canes strapped together and a lead 'foot' attached for feeling around on the bottom. If the lake is shallow it's into the wetsuit again and you can then walk / bounce about to feel the bottom with your feet. This is obviously only advisable if you can swim very well, and always have a friend on the bank who can also swim well and who can then take notes and line up far bank markers and judge the distances. Shallow silty lakes are ideal for this - the differences in bottom make up are amazing, but a buoyancy aid is vital as it is also dangerous to be wading about in thick silt. Plumbing is the other option if all the above are impossible.

We will spend a lot of time plumbing and looking even on an easy fun water because we don't think you can even begin to weigh up where the fish are on a certain day in any fishery until you know where all the features are. If on a day ticket water for just the one day and for the first time then much can be learned by using one rod on braided mainline and cast about with singles or stringers feeling the lead down every time. When reeling in the lead can also be bumped back along the bottom feeling for any features. Why waste a cast by reeling in fast?

On a lake we know well the marker rod use depends on the fish; if they are in the swim we'll rely on previous experience and just feel the lead down to ensure it lands on what it should be landing on. On the other hand if there are no fish present or they are not feeding at the time and the trap needs to be set bang on the money then the marker rod comes out and everything can be set properly for the next expected feeding time.This is particularly effective on night feeding waters if the traps are set by 12 to 2pm then left alone instead of the usual disturbance at dark.

Tackle is standard but we do use permanent markers made from old film cases for open water fishing a lot. It is a massive edge to be able to know the exact position of the feature or baited patch, and you can also bait up very accurately and without the extra disturbance of the marker float each time. These can be positioned very easily up to about 80 yards with standard tackle. The best way is to find the feature with a marker float, cast a lead tight to it, then clip up and reel the lead back in. The film canister has a swivel inside it with the correct 'depth' of light line attached, and this is wrapped round the canister with a 3oz lead on the end. Place this package inside a pva stocking type bag, seal it up and then attach it to a clip on the lead rod (instead of the other lead). Whack this out to the marker, and as it's clipped up you should hit it first time… Within 30 seconds the marker has usually emerged and the jobs done. No need to use the marker rod for the rest of the session.

Our marker set ups are standard, always with braid for the extra feel, and with a lead boom to help the float rise. A small poly ball can be pushed onto the top of this boom if the weed is bad.

Fish Spotting and Watercraft

We both consider watercraft to be the most important factor in fishing. Not just carp fishing but every type of fishing. You have to learn as much as possible about your quarry and the environment in which they live. Once you know how they live, where they rest, where they feel safe, where they feed and when they feed etc you are then very close to catching them. If you get this part of angling right, then apply a sensible rig for the situation, and a good quality bait in an acceptable amount for the fish to feed on, you will catch any fish you want. All this does not come easy and it can't be learned from a book. You have to look and look and look. You need to be at the water every minute you can spare, (depending on how far it is from home). Make the most of the winter and the closed season if you have one, when the water is quiet. Find the fish and observe them feeding as much as possible, you cannot learn enough about their responses to different baits and feeding situations. A days plumbing in the winter is not wasted time, it is more experience and knowledge to arm you for the future.

If we are traveling a long way to fish a venue or it is somewhere we rarely visit, then we make far more effort to take notes and photos to remind us of fish activity, swims, captures and weather patterns. Keeping tabs on the water then becomes more efficient as we have the notes to refer back to. Everyone will tell you this a million times, but those who actually make the effort described are few and far between; give it a go, put the effort in and the rewards will follow - sooner or later!