Carp Fishing Holidays

The majority of my fishing of late has been on carp fishing holiday lakes in France, new lakes in the UK and abroad, on venues that needed a little research in order to have an idea of how they should be approached. Although they were new to me I caught from many of them on the initial session, maybe it was luck; perhaps it was due to approaching them in the right manner. I recommend some research prior to the initial session, this research may aid with location, methods, hot spots, baits, swims and features, as the saying goes forewarned is forearmed. Within this article I will attempt to portray a simplistic no nonsense initial approach, whether it be for a holiday trip or the first session on a lake you have not fished or even set eyes upon. Carrying out a little research will answer many questions before the initial session. Carp fishing can be over complicated with all of the successful methods and advice available? Many of the new comers to our beloved sport must suffer that acute illness, “paralysis by analysis”! That of confusion brought about by the many variations of successful advice. The majority of the information is useful; however what you must not get away from is the fundamental key to success on any venue, finding the fish, many blanks are a result of poor location

Baits for fishing

Many options open up to you when you use a range of different forms of baits together, such as pellets, hemp seed, crushed boilies and maggots all together in a PVA bag. The art of ground baiting is largely forgotten, but then this is not surprising as most carp anglers today began their fishing in the boilie dominated days after ground baits were far more predominant. Ground bait is most often referred-to as the mix used as method or stick mix or spod or slurry mixes; and incorporates some bread crumb element as part of the attraction and attractive binding ingredients.

New Carp Lakes for Holidays

Research prior to fishing Information can be gathered for carp Holiday sessions from many sources including the Internet, magazine features and word of mouth, if possible make contact with those that have been there before you. There are few lakes in the UK where you cannot source information, after all how did you hear about it in the first place? The initial steps should be to build up a mental or written picture including , size, stock and features, from this you can make an assumption of possible approaches; for example I would probably think of long range tactics on the bigger lakes, to reach the spots. On smaller lakes that are weed and snag free the approach would be more delicate and gearing towards highly pressured fish, being aware of angler to acre. Both large and small venues can be difficult in a different manner e.g. carp in smaller lakes tend to be rig and bait shy and equipment and tactics would be chosen to suit. This is not to say big lakes are easier to catch from, only a different approach needed. Longer-range tactics can be productive on larger expanses as more water can be covered to reach the fish i.e. that magic zone of security, the spots that the carp believe to be a sanctuary and out of range. There are many reasons why a visit may not be feasible: perhaps it is closed to visitors until a ticket is purchased, maybe it is a Holiday venue or too far to travel. If possible an enquiring visit will be an advantage, and speak with those who are already in the know. Whatever the reasons there is information that can be gathered from a number of sources prior to a trip. The internet is a good source but also one you should be apprehensive of, use the information super highway but do confirm the validity of the information; I recall reading an article on the internet, as a result decided the lake warranted some time and effort, unbeknown to me the information was out of date. The article was based upon a lake near Rotterdam of 400 acres which held some rather large commons, on the first two nights I slept under the stars, only too be informed on the third day that the lake had been drained the previous year and all carp removed, be wary of the validity of Internet information, it can be well out of date. Catch reports are very good sources of information, especially within carp talk; often rigs, baits, and methods are detailed. The methods described to catch a particular fish were successful or that fish would not have graced the pages? A number of anglers retain scrap book cuttings of particular fish, a series of captures of the same fish not only gives us an idea of its size but maybe the captor gives away other details, such as rig, bait and methods. On closer inspection you may even be able to pinpoint the swim it was caught from, keep a beady eye on the background foliage and scenery. It is a lot easier than one may think to match the scenery to a swim. The more information gathered from different sources the greater your knowledge prior to fishing. It will give you a baseline and an idea of how it has been approached in the past. If your research is thorough you should now have an idea of depth, stock, Size, rules, features and past successful baits and methods.

Location On the initial visit adopt a basic common sense approach applying the main principle of success, Location! Get this wrong and you will struggle anywhere regardless of bait, methods and rig efficiency, yeah, yeah, heard it all before! Yes you have heard it before, location, location, location, it is foremost in my mind when approaching any lake, even if it means wandering the banks looking and listening for carpy splashes, even at times when most anglers are tucked up in their carp duvet. On arrival watch and listen for signs of carp without unloading the gear, there is no point setting up in the first available swim if the majority of the carp are at the other end of the lake. The only piece of equipment I carry whilst searching for signs of carp is a bait bucket. Once they are located the bucket is left reserving the swim whilst the fishing tackle is collected from the car. During the stroll round look for fish movement, normally the best time of day is morning and evening. During hot summer days they may be seen cruising in the upper levels. Tree climbing presents a much better view and allows the angler to view deeper into the water as the reflection is reduced. As we know carp love weed, reeds and snags, these are obvious spots to look but do tread carefully or risk spooking them. Good quality Polaroid’s reduce the amount of surface glare thus allowing us to see further into the depths, an indispensable aid. Fizzing is an obvious give away, normally created by tench or carp, I have heard anglers say that they can tell the difference between carp and tench fizzing! I find that difficult to comprehend, as the size of the fizzing bubbles is dependant upon the type of bottom and its gaseous content rather than a different feeding manner of the species? On some lakes carp will give away their presence a lot easier than on others, I know of lakes where they very rarely show themselves and are difficult to spot due to the colour of the water. When no fish can be seen, previous experience must be used to aid location. We know that they like to follow the wind; we also know that they are frequent visitors to lake features, especially bars and plateaus. A simple process of elimination may guide you to their whereabouts. During a warm wind there is a good chance the carp will be in the windy half of the lake, if so the area in which they are likely to be has been reduced somewhat, thus narrowing the search? The search is then concentrated to likely areas, if features are found in the windy half then I would probably fish to spots along those features. Its not a rule of thumb but a guide if you fail to visually locate carp. Once you have fished a venue a couple of times, knowledge of fish habits and routes will guide in location, however this article is about the initial trip or even a holiday session rather than using built up knowledge as a guide. Speaking with others can assist even if they have blanked, it may rule out a particular area or method.

Moving Carp Swim – Holiday carp fishing

I would be reluctant to move into a swim where others have blanked unless I know of a prime spot that the vacating angler was unaware of. If however the weather forecast predicted a change to a strong warm wind blowing into the swim then a take over is worth considering. Anglers that are catching is an obvious giveaway, the swim close by with reasonable features may place you in the general vicinity. There are few lakes that allow the use of boats in the UK, the continent is somewhat different as most public lakes their use. On the larger continental lakes I use a fish finder on a regular basis, however they are a guide and guide only as any species will appear on the screen not just carp. I prefer to turn the fish signal/alarm of and use it for feature finding. Once carp are located visually or tactically you have achieved the prime principle of success. I know you have heard it again and again, get location wrong and the best, rigs, baits or methods will not work. On second thoughts please do plonk your bivvy in the first available swim as it leaves the swims free for me!

Factors affecting the approach There are a multitude of baits, rigs and methods available, so many that it can be difficult to decide which ones to use. In addition there are a multitude of factors that affect the approach, the main ones being lake size, features and rules. Lake size Smaller lakes tend to respond better to the lighter approach; in general carp tend to be more rig wise than their counterparts in larger lakes, consequently I would opt for a finer more delicate approach and adopt small water tactics. On larger lakes, say over 30 acres I would probably opt for my long range set up and stiff rigs to reduce the chances of tangles. Bigger lakes are often difficult in a different manner, finding them is important on any lake, more so on large expanses of water. Features Heavily weeded lakes may mean an increase in line strength, fishing over sharp bars or range casting may require a shock or abrasion resistant leader. Silt rigs may be beneficial on soft-bottomed venues. Fishing in the vicinity of snags will require an increase in line breaking strain, as more pressure will be applied to prevent the carp from finding a snag. Once carp are located your chances of a pick up will increase if the rig is placed in the right spot not necessarily on their heads:

Locating carp on holiday lakes

During a recent trip to a large water I located fish within a few hours of looking, however they were in the surface layers in 45 feet of water. In order to entice a pick up baits were placed on a plateau, 80 yards from where they were seen were crashing I was aware that they were unlikely to feed on the bottom in that depth, the plateau was 16 feet deep on its pinnacle and the producing spot. What am I trying to say? Locating them is the key, finding a spot in that area where they are likely to feed is a secondary step. Rules Be sure to find out the rules prior to a visit, there is little point in tackling up with big rods and shock leaders or lead core only to find out that they are not allowed. Particles are not allowed on all lakes, its pointless boiling up a load if they have been banned. Remember I mentioned the seven Ps in an article last year, prior preparation and planning prevents p… poor performance! Conclusion Carp fishing is not rocket science, after all a cyprinids brain is so much smaller than ours, therefore outwitting them should not be a problem? Yeah right! Don’t suffer from paralysis by analysis, go with a basic no none sense approach baring in mind that location is fundamental to catching carp. Adopt simple but effective rigs and baits you are confident in. Choose a strategy that suits the particular venue and you will increase your chances considerably.