Carp Tactics

Carp angling tactics – I am writing this piece on the day after the five lakes show, and must say that it set precedence amongst all of the shows I have attended, well organised and the guest speakers performed their job admirably, absolutely brilliant show. However I must pass judgment on Simon Crow and Steve Briggs window dressing skills, the stand was impressive, the vast range of Angling Publications books were stood up in a regimental manner, on parade to the five lakes crowds, stacked one behind the other and to the sides, proud as punch, until yours truly made a bee line to the stand! As I went to shake the hand of Steve Briggs my finger clipped the front book, promptly sending it tumbling, which had a domino effect on the books to the sides and rear, Simon thanked me kindly for demolishing the artistic display! No problems mate anything I can do to help! Well, fancy placing the books so close together, we all know that there should be a splinter distance; if one is hit (knocked over) the others won’t follow – basics.

On reading the title you may be thinking I am about to describe the techniques behind the pendulum cast? In fact this article is not based on how to launch a lead. It is about tactical variations and a bit of psychology; the most successful anglers are able to swing the pendulum in their favour on a regular basis. A number of questions arise on how this can be achieved, the main one I will attempt to answer is: why are certain anglers more consistent than others? A wide and sweeping question but an interesting one, I’m sure you will agree. Additionally I will give a number of examples where lateral thinking can be tactically advantageous.

From the information I have read over the years it appears that successful anglers have a number of common attributes. The common denominators that make anglers consistently successful seem to be:  time spent on RECCE, location being a high priority – they think about their approach and work hard at finding the right spots to intercept their prey, they adopt methods that may give them a tactical advantage and they often think laterally, simple as that! That’s it then; you can stop reading the remainder of this article as the last sentence gives you all of the information you need to be successful! Off you go! Bye!………………………..
We all know it’s not quite that simple, they are successful and have gained knowledge through time spent on the bank, learning experiences and reading and then applying the knowledge. In fact it would take an age to analyse what makes the top carp fishers tick as there are so many affecting factors. Although I may not be one of them, I do believe one of my own strengths is due to being analytical; asking and answering questions, questioning the reasons for and against approaches “why, where and what” i.e. Why should I adopt a certain approach, where should I adopt it and what can I do to achieve it and an upper hand. The thinking is not unlike a military strategist outwitting the enemy. Wow, Deep stuff! Sounds complicated, it is not, I am trying to describe in print the psychology behind the approach, the natural thought process, subconsciously planning a line of attack. You may not be aware of it but you too carry out this thought process.

Carp Tactics

Instincts are naturally inbuilt within us all, the hunter-gatherers, and these instincts are hidden deep inside, almost lost in most of us, retained in others and re-learned for the pursuit of our quarry. Are the most successful carp anglers those that retain a certain amount of natural ability to outwit the target species?
Many years of carp fishing experience may not necessarily equate to the most skilled angler? Sure experience is gained through time but time is not the most influential factor in the creation of success.
A person with a few years of carp angling experience with natural ability who thinks hard, learns  and adapts to suit a multitude of situations will  be rewarded with more fish on the bank, in comparison to someone with 20 years of experience that has become mundane in their approach. Additionally there are those that have decades of experience that have continually worked hard and reaped the rewards, the majority are not on the latest super rigs just hard working and thinking anglers. I have the utmost respect for this group, and rightly so, they have been successful and have stood the test of time.

Achieving a tactical advantage

There are no set rules to achieving a tactical advantage as what maybe advantageous in a certain situation may not be good in another, what pays dividends on one lake may be inappropriate for the other. That last sentence sounds like a politician’s answer; nothing concrete for you to work with.
A number of anglers are very successful in some areas but not so successful in others, for example an angler that can cast over 150 yards will be able to use this skill set on lakes to pick up fish at distances that the vast majority cannot achieve. I recall fishing High Town lake near Ringwood 15 years ago, using my trusty old whisker rods. I was casting single hook baits into a bay where the fish felt safe and out of reach. Using 8 lb line and a shock leader I was able to encroach into their safe haven and pick up numbers of carp during the day using good tactics. All at a range that no one else fishing the venue was able to reach. However the next season a couple of the local anglers had observed the successful method and had been out honing their casting techniques, they soon became accomplished castors. Able to place a single hook bait at the edge of the carp’s safe haven, consequently having a very successful season. Why didn’t they think of that in the first place, why did it take someone else to demonstrate the advantages of the method on this lake? I saw a possibility to achieve an edge and went on to take advantage of it.

Moving on; Polaris float fishing is little practiced but highly successful method for short session carping, more so than sitting behind indicators. I believe it is effective due to the sensitivity and the float keeping the majority of the line within the surface layers with only a short length of line from float to lead. We understand that carp learn by association? How many times have carp associated long lengths of line travelling through their patrolling level from rod to a lead? Would it be advantageous to keep as much line as possible out of their patrolling level? We automatically presume that pinning the line between the rod tip to the lead is the right thing to do? Back leads are appropriate in many situations but maybe not so good for all as the main line is often pegged up above the lake bed due to running across obstacles such as bars, weed and debris. If the carp are patrolling lower in the levels the result is a large amount of visible line in their patrolling depth, more than one would perceive. There’s a thought. An open question leading on from this; should we not look at keeping the line in the surface layers when the fish are deep and as close to the bottom when they are in the upper layers, thus avoiding line running through and across their motorways.
In addition, the sensitivity of a float is far greater than that of any alarms. Think about it, if for example the depth is 10 foot: that is only 10 foot of line that a bite signal must travel through before an indication is seen? In comparison to a far greater distance that the signal must travel through for an alarm indication, even then it may only be a single bleep. I don’t normally hit single bleeps but would hit the same amount of indication transmitted to a float, interesting.

I have wandered off track a little within the previous paragraphs, where was I? Oh yes, thinking to fish effectively. Placing a hook bait where they do not associate danger will give you an advantage. This can be accomplished by looking for suitable spots i.e. I recall a session on Somerly near Ringwood where an edge was achieved via dropping the baited rig close to a rope within six foot of the bank and near to a snag, it was not possible to cast to the spot due to overhanging bushes, however it was possible to drop the baited rig through a small gap in the bushes, near to the snags, then crouching down in order to pass the rod around two trees to the pod. This little extra effort often resulted in nettle stings to the derrière but was worth it. I went on to land over 30 x 20 lb fish and 4 x 30s that season including the lake record, a carp named Billy Boy, most of them from that one little spot. Bare in mind the period I am referring to was around 1994, a good result on any water back then. My success was soon noticed, but due to pointing the rods towards the centre of the lake and keeping the top two feet of the rods under the surface it was difficult to spot exactly where I was placing the rig. I had the spot to myself for many months until an angler saw me place the bait, soon after the spot was blown as he informed others and the old falling domino effect took place i.e. don’t tell anyone but I know where he’s having the fish from, he tells his mate and so on. Hence the reason I was deceptive at the time.
I have since noticed many methods being employed to achieve an advantage, including the use of roach poles with a small plastic cup glued to the tip, the rig and bait is then placed in the cup and the pole extended to the desired spot and tipped. It is often used in spots that are difficult to cast. Is this method altogether ethical, I would not like to pass comment and will sit on the fence? The pole or wading will allow you to accurately place a rig and bait and are good methods in certain situations.

Anglers that are new to a venue occasionally do very well! You may recall occasions when the new person on the block out fishes the regulars. This may be due to them not being aware of the vogue methods. Due to the new member not being aware of what the majority are doing and baits that the regulars are using. The new angler tends to turn up with a fresh set of eyes and ideas, approaches the lake using a strategy that the carp are not accustom to and catches them off guard. The regulars often look on, unaware of the fish having grown wise to past successful methods, failing to notice that results have slowed. Jumping on the bandwagon will place you pretty much on the same level as the majority on the venue, but may not be the method for the best results, something different and copious amounts of analysis may give you an advantage.
Some of the top UK anglers do a lot of tree climbing; it allows the angler to get above the water which in turn reduces the amount of glare. Many of them practice tree hugging on a regular basis as they can observe fish habits, this gives a greater understanding and feel for what is happening sub surface, do you climb trees?
I cannot detail all of the possible edges due to their being an infinite amount; however I do hope that I have been able to give some pointers in the right direction.

Conclusion on angling tactics

Within this article I have covered two areas that are not often covered: the psychology behind success and thinking to achieve. They are but a fraction of what can be used to be successful. I have purposefully presented you with many open questions and not too many direct answers in order to get your mind working. If you wish to improve your chances then take a leaf out of the most successful angler’s books. As stated within my recent articles doing something different may catch the carp off guard, don’t put all of your eggs in one basket, test and adjust for maximum results.
The initial question within the first paragraph was: why are certain anglers more consistent than others? Answer: They work bloody hard at it and think about what they are doing! If you too work hard and think about your approach, you too will swing the pendulum in your favour.