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OFF THE BARROW! Posted by John Kneebone

WE FOLLOW SOUTH-WEST CARPER, JOHN KNEEBONE AS HE TRIES TO TRACK DOWN A WINTER CARP BITE FROM A SHORT DAY SESSION!

Theres no doubt about it the winter months can be difficult when it comes to catching carp, not just because it's harder to negotiate a bite from the carp, it's just as hard for us as anglers to actually place ourselves on the bank. The day are shorter, the hours of darkness are far longer, its cold its wet, and can often be a miserable experience being ‘bivvy-bound' due to these winter elements. That said there are some benefits too, such as the banks being much quieter and the sight of a well-earned fish resting in the landing net perhaps that little bit more rewarding. And of course, we the angler still have that that itch to wet a line that still needs to be scratched.

So personally, I like to negate many of the negatives to winter carp fishing by simply changing my fishing trips to shorter, day sessions. It's really quite liberating being able to take less gear, and fish in a more active way and an ‘off-the-barrow' style. For me there is also one other thing that is important, which is targeting the right water - fishing well stocked venues and those with good winter form. So, for this latest session, I had decided to visit Jennets Reservoir, an 8-acre lake near Bideford in Devon. A prolific runs water in the summer, with a large stock of mid to upper-double carp topped by larger fish to thirty-pounds. So, a venue that should still provide the chance of bite on a winter's day - well that's what I hoped…

06:30

Any trip to the days-only Jennets normally begins pretty early, as you want to be first on the gate, which won't open before 6:30am and give yourself the best chance of racing to a good swim ahead of other anglers. Generally, the scenario in the warmer months, but in a cold, windy, rain filled December day, it wasn't too much of a surprise that I was the only one there.

Once I'd negotiated the steep slope to the top of the dam wall and the access to the lake, I dropped the barrow in what I already knew to be a descent swim from previous sessions. With a good area secured and the sun still not yet providing enough light to cast proficiently, it was then a simple case and having a look a little further up the lake or rather listening for any signs of carp.

07:15

The lake was pretty quiet. I'll rephrase that; the lake itself was quite noisy from the sound of gallons of water constantly running over the dam. Not the best sign if I'm honest, as it meant a lot of water had been running into the reservoir. In my experience reservoirs and similar venues take a while to settle following a large influx of water cold water at this time of year. So above the sound of water rushing down the dam wall I'd only heard to possibly noise of one fish jumping - not much to go on, but this had happened in front of the area where I'd parked the barrow.

07:30

With swim choice made, well to begin with anyway, I set about getting the rods ready for action, as there would soon be enough light to cast accurately. I needed a decent bit of light as I'd be casting to one of the lakes main features - a large section of no fishing bank and far margin lined with over hanging trees. The Jennets carp love to patrol this area, maybe not so much because its free from anglers, it's probably more because the area receives most of the angler's bait and provides a steady source of food. Either way, it's a fantastic feature, as well as a visible one, meaning you can keep the barrow a little lighter by leaving the marker rod in the van.

You did however need to clip-up the rods with precision so you could cast tight to the far margin, so that's what I set about doing next. Initially casting short of the opposite margin then playing out a little line, clipping up and casting again. Repeating the process and edging closer to the mark each time until I had the exact distance on the clip. Once I was happy, I wrapped the main line around the distance sticks down to the line clip, noting the number of wraps. 15 and ¾ wraps on the right-hand rod cast to an open area between some overhanging bushes and the dam wall, and one more wrap for the left of the two permitted rods at Jennets, fished to some overhanging bushes, left of a large overhanging tree.

08:00

Rig-wise I'd opted for my ever faithful Simple Wafter Rig, armed with a Cell Fluoro Wafter long with a small PVA mesh bag of 10mm Cell boilies with the whole presentation glugged in Smart Dip. I wanted to cover as many bases of attraction as possible, as there was little visibility in the water, chocolate brown in colour with so much water draining into the lake from the surrounding land. Again, far from ideal, but hopefully a bright hookbait set within some food items all coated in Smart Dip giving off high levels of attraction throughout the column could be enough to manufacture a bite!

With the rods now in position, I gave to chosen spots a light feed of 15mm Cell boilies. Around a dozen or so baits over each rod and along the far margin dispatched with the throwing stick, and another tactic I find useful in winter. Not only does a throwing stick add some stealth to your baiting up by removing the disturbance of a Spomb, which is worth avoiding where possible on short sessions, but it also allows you to spread the baits a little. Not a thing when you're when you're trying to encourage winter carp to feed. What's more, the quieter throwing stick approach would also allow me to feed more frequently - firing out a few baits on a little and often basis to keep introducing some fresh smell into the swim.

10:00

The beauty of short day sessions and fishing off the barrow, is you're not so tied to one swim, spot or area, so to add to my fishing options I decided to bait a spot along my near margin that I could perhaps fish later in the day. Throwing in some 10mm Cell boilies coated in Cell Smart Liquid just in front of some brambles and marginal tree on a small bend in the bank. Not a lot of bait and small items, but plenty of attraction with the Smart Liquid - just enough food to get the fish grubbing around.

HOW TO SUPER-CHARGE YOUR BOILIES!

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BONUS TIP!

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HOW TO TIE THE SIMPLE WAFTER RIG!

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SMARTEN-UP YOUR HOOKBAIT ATTRACTION!

10:15

Just as I was perhaps beginning to think about my plan should be for the day, and when should I contemplate changing tactics and/or moving, I received a heavy drop back on the left-hand rod - although hitting into the rod resulted in nothing more than reeling back my rig. I suspect this occurrence was most probably a liner where a fish hitting the line had seen my lead slip back, down the marginal slope, causing the drop back on the bobbin at my end. Nevertheless, it was a good sign that fish were active and in my area.

10:30

With the left-hand rod now back in position, I topped up the spot along with the right-hand spot with another dozen or so Cell boilies per spot with the throwing stick. Zipping some of the baits in low so they'd hit the water around 20 yards short of the far margin but then bounce like a skipping stone in under the overhanging features. As I said earlier, freshening up the food-source signals of the area.

11:15

Another liner on the left hander more violent this time with the rod tip quickly pulling around and snapping back along with a drop and returning lift on the bobbin - raising the anticipation of a bite!

12:00

Although I've been watching as much of lake as possible from my swim, since the liners my focus has been on the water in front of me where I have seen two fish show - one of which was possibly a large bream. The only strange thing was that these shows were more towards the open water and not close to the far margin where you expect to see the fish?

13:00

It's all well and good having liners and a high expectation of a bite, but so far nothing has materialised. So, I've decided to make a tweak to my approach by reeling in the right-hand rod and changing the Simply Wafter Rig for a Hinge Rig with a boom section slightly longer than standard. My thinking being, now that the far margins trees are bare and their leaves fallen the marginal area below could now contain much of that leaf matter, which could potentially mask my wafting hookbait laying flat to the bottom. Whereas a Hinge Rig with a long, supple boom section should lay nicely over any debris with the short stiff section also holding a bright pop-up above any hookbait hazards.

With already causing some mild disturbance from recasting, I also took the opportunity to redo the left-hand rod. Just I case the hookbait was now badly positioned from the aggressive liner earlier. Once both rods were back in position I again reached for the throwing stick and topped-up the spots with a few more Cell boilies.

14:00

Yes! Any elements of doubt are pushed aside as the left-hand rod still fishing a wafter is away and I'm into a Jennets carp, which steadily kites from the far margin to my own. After a brief plod under the rod tip the fish well hooked with The Simple Wafter Rig takes a few gulps of air and slides over the cord into the net!

14:45

The rain that had been threatening to fall through the day with every passing cloud has finally hit, causing a mini drop in temperature, giving the lake a dark and gloomy feel. It can't be helped and weather-wise the day has been the best of a bad bunch in recent weeks. Although I'd much prefer stable conditions even if it's really cold for example. I generally find that much better than a frequently changing wind and the sun out one minute and a heavy rain shower the next. Carp will settle into harsh yet stable conditions, which in turn gives you a better chance of finding a winning approach. So, if you can look ahead with the weather forecast and choose your sessions, I'd target any few days to a week where the weather is similar each day and stable.

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