I have just got back from a week’s social in France with my non-fishing kid brother David. He wanted to see what all the fuss was about fishing in France. I was his gillie for the week, finding clear spots, placing the baits etc. I must have done a decent job has by Tuesday he was already asking me ‘where are we going next year?’

We travelled down on the Friday and stopped in a lovely little campsite right by the side of the River Marne in Epernay. It was obvious from the brown colour and the height of the river that France had, had a very wet spring like the one we have just had. This became even more apparent when we got to the lake and found that the water level was actually coming over the front of the stagings.

The lake was very weedy at our end and was very much uniform in depth ranging from 7 1/2 feet to 9 feet in depth. It had steep margins that just fell straight off to about 8 feet. On arrival I spent a couple of hours leading about and marking the lines for the first night. Whenever I get to a new water I never put much bait in on the first night and this was to be no different has I put no more than 40 boilies over any of the rods. I put 2 rods each in open water and one rod each to the far margin at the bottom of the shelf. Baits were a mixture of the Quest Rahja Spice and Magnum White Boilies. The first night produced 2 upper doubles to my far margin rod but nothing to any of the other rods.

The next day saw me out in the boat, trying to find any obvious feeding spots in amongst the weed. I found what looked like a ‘dinner plate’ for a carp on David’s right hand side and 2 good looking spots to my far left margin. These 3 rods produced consistently for us all week, although it was most noticeable that 99% of my bites came between 10.30pm and 4.00am whereas 99% of my brothers bites came during the hours of daylight. I fed pretty lightly due to the conditions, adding about 60 to 80 mixed sized boiles along with half a dozen handfuls of pellet and pigeon conditioner after each run. I continued with the open water rods all week for both of us (if the open water kicks off you can get some really big hits), but they never really got going, I only had one fish on mine all week and I think David had three on his. It was a case of making sure to get back on the same clear patches on the bottom of the marginal shelf to ‘build’ these spots up to keep the fish coming.

There were fish in open water – but they wouldn’t feed!

One thing I must comment on was the incessant noise from the frogs during the week, I have never  heard anything like it, am a light sleeper anyway, but this racket made sleep pretty much impossible, in fact I have been back home 3 days now and am still getting over it LOL!

It wasn’t just the frogs that were noisy – one of our other visitors.

The weather was really hot until Thursday, the fish were more interested in grouping up and following each other about (early stages of spawning)than feeding hard, in fact

A male common shedding milt.

three of the male commons we had were shedding milt on the mat.

But by being sensible and not over feeding we still managed to put a reasonable catch together. David finishing with 10 carp to 35lb 10oz and me with 17 carp to 36lb 4oz. To put things into perspective the other 2 anglers on the lake had 10 carp between, so it shows the conditions were tricky.

My biggest of the week at 36lb 4oz

David’s biggest at 35lb 10oz

On the bait front 3 of our fish fell to Magnum White with the other 24 falling to the ever reliable Rahja Spice.

Pic 6 –    The biggest of some nice commons at 29lb 8oz

It was a really enjoyable chilled out week, and it was great to spend some quality time with my brother. It also brought home to me how when

The biggest of some nice commons at 29lb 8oz

you have been fishing for many years, you can start to take the fish you catch ‘for granted’. By this I mean that by spending a week with someone who doesn’t fish you can see their reaction to the size of the fish you are catching and I could see that at times David was ‘blown away’ by the sheer physical size of the carp he was catching. I was worried before the trip that he may get bored spending a whole week on the bank, but he loved every minute of it and was fed up (big time) on the Friday when it was time to pack up.

Now I’ve just got to come up with a good venue for next year!

Cheers,

Pat Gillett

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I chose to start off in the deep water swim 31.

With my Grenville season fast running out I was desperate to get back over there after the events of the past couple of weeks which had been kind to me despite very few fish coming out. I knew they were turned on and tuned into the Magnum White. I just needed to get myself there and into a swim that gave me a good chance of action.

Friday I started work particularly early to hopefully clear my desk and allow myself an early escape. The journey went without hitch and a hour and a half after leaving home I was driving along the track to the car park. My heart sank, I had arrived early but it looked as though everyone else had the same idea as me but arrived earlier. There were over 15 anglers already pitched up.

I looked where each person was set up and the two swims I fancied from what was left were either 25 as there was plenty of space either side still, or 31 simply because I’d had the suspicion the fish were holding up in the deeper water and with a drop in air pressure more would do too.

I cast the marker into 25 and two of the spots that had been kind to me in the past appeared to be weeded over so they weren’t being fed on much. With other anglers arriving by the minute I dropped into 31 which put me on the end of a line of fellow B.C.S.G. members Phil Calloway and Paul Miller. Phil had received action earlier in the day and although his swim was only 2 away from the one I chose the swims are well spread so as to not interfere with anyone else’s water. At least I knew there were or had been fish in the vague area. In fact both Paul and Phil had seen a decent show of fish at first light.

I lit the chip pan and left scampi and chips to get on with cooking themselves whilst I finished preparing the traps.

I left the Scampi and chips to cook themselves

I decided to fish just hook baits only the first night on my middle and right hand rods as the spots I had caught from before were a little too far out with the awkward for any half accurate baiting. My left hand rod I kept within catapult distance and that had a scattering of 10, 15 and 20mm white baits over it. The more I am using the white baits the more I am spreading the baiting working on there being more chance of more fish noticing a few in the clear water and then hunting more out. It is working well anyway. Rather than the relatively bright baits spooking fish it seems to be having the opposite affect. The Grenville fish spend so much time under the birds that I am sure the colour white which will resemble bird droppings from both ends that carp eat are probably acting as a natural attractor/food signal.

Saturday dawned with me fish less although both Paul and Phil had caught again and both were over bait at range. So, I took advantage of a slight change in the wind direction and Spombed a loose carpet of bait at range and

I took advantage of a slight change in the wind between storms.

dropped one hook bait right amongst it and another as far as I could put it past the bait. I had also let fly with the soon to be released Midi Spomb a few times so there would be a scattering of bait out there too. With baiting in over 30ft of water you know you are going to be getting a decent spread anyway.

Rigs were my usual combi rigs with 2 on pop-ups being fished reverse combi style (stiff part at the hook end) and the bottom bait on a conventional combi rig.

Saturday threw all sorts of weather at us with the wind swinging and storms coming and going, we even had a short burst of hail at one stage! It really was a moody type of day.

Saturday threw all types of weather at us.

I turned in early Saturday after quite a tasty Paella I had cooked and looked forward to a hopeful first light feeding spree by the carp. At least I was feeding well.

At least I was feeding well.

I laid in until 6am then leant over to turn the radio on to listen to Fisherman’s Blues on Talksport. I was thinking about getting my legs out of the cosy bag and putting the kettle on when suddenly the rod tip on the baited spot at range whipped around, the line pulled out of the clip and I was into what was so obviously a good fish from the moment I hooked it.

Brook didn't want to get up!

Out there in 30 plus foot of water whatever I had hooked seemed intent on putting as much distance between itself and where the pull was coming from as it could. Lots of line left the spool but in that steady speed and very little in the way of head shaking I always associate with the larger fish.

We have all read countless accounts of epic battles so I will skip all of that now and simply say ‘eventually’ my opponent was coming ever so slowly, agonisingly slowly towards the net cord. I could see in the gin clear water it was a good fish and that tiny hook I prayed would stay in.

Paul Miller had joined me and wielded the net and did a superb clean netting job for me. We had a little debate on our estimations of the size of it in the net. I’m pleased to say I was a little closer on my guestimation but when I lifted the fish from the water and onto the mat Paul was quickly agreeing that the fish had grown from his initial guess. The scales as usual reduced this carp to simple numbers but at 37.06 they were numbers I could live with despite it being down in weight since its previous capture. I didn’t

My reward, deep water success on the Magnum White.

care it was a good fish on a week-end that had only seen 3 of the 20 other anglers catch.

My next move surprised a few. I didn’t re-cast but instead moved up 2 swims as I had a feeling the fish would be moving that way. I had just got my third rod cast when a double Magnum White Pimple Pop (6-8mm pop-ups) was picked up by another good fish. I played the fish back  from range but unfortunately it started to kite and ended up in the margin to my right and managed to get the line stuck on a stack pond pipe being suspended out of the silt. For a further 10 minutes I was able to gain line and the fish was able to take line but I couldn’t get the line free. Eventually with the fish tired and swirling on the surface the hook pulled free. I felt so frustrated by this. The fish was beat but the only obvious snag in the swim and the fish had got the line stuck on it without it actually wanting to head for it itself.

Hey ho, you win some you lose some and I could hardly bee too upset having landed a 37lb fish only an hour or so earlier. At least I know my baits and my rigs don’t need tweaking.

Best fishes
Shaun Harrison.

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This weekend I approached a new water. I d didn’t have time to grab the actual fishing rods but with a few hours spare I thought I would take the marker down and do as much homework as possible to get a good head start. On arriving at the water there were only 3 anglers. All in the deeper water (or so they told me). obviously not wanting to disturb them I worked my way round the lake looking for areas of silt or gravel and holes in old weed as well as depths etc.

This blog was meant to be about doing your homework but it turned into something a bit different. With a strong wind blowing into the deeper area of the lake most anglers were bivvy bound or seeking shelter. Whilst I worked my way round the lake I scared numerous fish with the marker rod. The fish were shoaled up in the shallower water (only 2ft) indeed it would have been the last place I would have expected to find them. It goes to show how important fish location is. There is no point sitting behind rods fishing blind when the fish are not in those areas.

Finding the fish is the biggest tip I can ever give anyone. If the fish aren’t in front of you, you can’t catch them!

Stuart

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Words and pictures by Pat Gillett:

The River Dove is in there somewhere!

I don’t know about you, but I can’t believe the end of the ‘river season’ has come around so quickly!

Looking back on the season it has been a bit of a strange one really and I can’t recall ever spending less time on the river bank. The season started with a month of flooding which saw some of my local rivers peaking at record high levels. Because of work commitments and the timing of the high levels only one trip was possible during the first 4 weeks of the season.

July proved to a very productive month for me on the River Dove, but only because I fished an ‘unfancied’ area that other anglers very rarely bother with. I believe that due to the fact that the early summer was so wet and at times cold, the barbel were very late in spawning and as such many of the usually productive early season spots were devoid of fish. The area I found was very shallow but absolutely full of streamer weed, ideal barbel spawning grounds. Five short afternoon / evenings (total 30 hours) produced 14 good sized barbel which included 10 doubles, during which time the guys fishing the usual spots had next to nothing (it always amazes me how anglers continuously go back to their ‘favourite swims’, even if the fish aren’t there). An invaluable

12lb 12oz from a very productive July

lesson learn’t about barbel location for future seasons if we have a cold / wet early summer. Interestingly as well, nearly all of the bigger fish fell to the ever faithful Special Crab boilies.

During August I tried ‘a new stretch’ on the Upper Trent, which again proved worthwhile and provided knowledge for the future, has I have now found a stretch where you can still fish reasonably comfortably when the river is carrying a bit of water and there is loads of the ‘dreaded Trent weed coming down’. Special Crab again produced some fish. Some nice fish were again caught from the Dove including a very rare full moon capture of 12lb 6oz.

Towards the end of October I made my first forays on the River Derwent. The first couple of trips were really eventful. On the first visit I weighed and witnessed what is the current river record, a

An early 14lb success on the River Derwent

cracking barbel of 16lb 3oz. On just my second visit and fishing about ½ mile away from where the record came from I was fortunate to land a cracking brace of barbel of 14lbs and 11lb 2oz. Once again both fish falling to the Special Crab.

I thought I had found a new barbel fishing ‘mecca’ but 3 more trips before the end of the season haven’t produced a single barbel even though the conditions were pretty good. It may be too early to tell, but judging by my results (and that of some other good anglers fishing the stretch), I don’t believe there are many barbel there and they move about a lot, making location even more key to success. I just wished I lived local to these rivers as this information would be learned so much quicker.

Well November through till the end of the season saw me only venture out barbel fishing 5 times, a mixture of very cold weather, high water levels and some ill health contributing to me doing next to no winter fishing. We keep hearing about ‘global warming’ but this is the third winter in a row where we have had really prolonged periods of way below average temperatures. This is

Special Crab for me = 100% confidence!

something which can make barbel fishing in particular, a waste of time.

I am not really one for statistics (in fact if it wasn’t for my diary piece on this blog, I wouldn’t have a record of what I had caught), but just to prove the effectiveness of the Quest Baits range for barbel, a total of 25 trips during the river season (150 hours) produced 29 barbel of which 15 were doubles (5 x 12lb +) up to 14lbs. This just goes to show what you can achieve even on limited time if you have 100% confidence in your bait and methods whilst still learning some invaluable information for future seasons. Roll on June 16^th.

Cheers,
Pat Gillett

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During the colder months I use a completely different approach to the rest of the year for a few simple reasons. Throughout the winter there are only two main rigs I use, one is a zig rig and the other is a very simple pop up rig.

The concept behind using these two rigs for the majority of the winter is simple. During the winter months the water temperature drops dramatically causing the carp to become torpid (this means the move a lot slower and there whole body slows down this causes them to eat less and see less effectively).

Within this time the carp spend most of there time in groups in the mid- layers of the lake not really doing much so this brings me to the reason for using the zig rig in the winter because they are torpid they will sometimes be unwilling to drop down to the bottom to feed so the ‘zig’ lets me have a rig in the zone where they feel most comfortable.

The reasoning for the other rig is that because their body is running at a slower rate I believe they will also feed in a different way to the summer. In the winter I think they feed slower taking one mouthful at a time and rising up away from the bottom between mouthfuls. This means that a pop up rig will be more effective firstly because it is risen off the bottom so they are more likely to see it and secondly  because of the way I tie the rig only wrapping around the hair five times the hook point is always presented towards the flesh of the carps mouth as they rise up from the lake bed another thing I do is use a very large peace of putty more than enough to weigh down the bait this is because it will pull the hook in to the carps lip.

The other main thing I do on both rigs I use bright baits for instance my favourites at the moment are Magnum White and the Ultrabrite fluorescent yellow Ghurkka Spice ones also glugging the hook baits is always a massive edge and the longer they are glugged the better (so put yours in the glug now for next winter!!).

Thanks

Laurence Evershed

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4 hours on a February afternoon.

I’m sure when Shaun was designing the new ‘Absolute’ range he didn’t have barbel in mind, but as soon as I saw and smelled Absolute Seafood I had to try it.

I had no intention of fishing today, but the weather was mild and I knew the river was fining down. A quick check of the river level on the EA website and I knew exactly where I wanted to be. Sorry but I can’t tell you where!

http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/homeandleisure/floods/riverlevels/default.aspx

It took minutes to load the gear in the car, a couple more to pick up the sandwiches from the garage and within an hour I was there.  Then disaster, there were four rods, a bivvy and a team of car door slammers in my banker swim.  I walked downstream around the bend to get as far away as possible and found another slack area, no back eddy here but a steady flow that was manageable and a clearly define crease running along its edge.

The rods were already set up; four ounce open ended feeders clipped on and filled with finely crumbed boilie, Marine Halibut Ground bait, and Quest Bait Glug.  I want to attract but not feed; everything has to be as fine and as pungent as possible.  The ground bait has its own smell and attraction but it is also a great flavour carrier soaking up loads of Glug.  The feeders are packed tightly to ensure that the flavour trail is release exactly where I want it, on the bottom.  Recasting on the same spots; one upstream with a large bow in the line and one downstream with both on the crease providing a stream of tiny attractive morsels.

The downstream rod was the first to go with two tiny knocks and then the rod pulling down a fraction of an inch and holding. I hit it, felt the fish and just as quickly felt the hook pop.  No time for heads down or analysis, I was sure the fish were still there and the feeder was soon back on the spot.  It was quickly tapping again with constant activity around the hook bait. Then bang, while I was concentrating on the going downstream rod the upstream bait took me by surprise.   Straight out into the flow and fighting at double its weight I eventually netted a 7lb Barbel.

All was quiet for a while and I recast the loaded feeders two or three times to build up the flavour trail.  Whack and both rods arched over and confusion reigns.  I don’t really know if there’s any truth in it but I have a theory

2 in the net at once Absolute stunners!

the upstream rods produce more barbel and the downstream rod more chub so I hit the upstream rod.  It immediately snagged me in the middle of the river.  While I tried to free it I reached over and put a few clicks of pressure on the other reel to try and tire the other fish which was quickly emptying my spool.  It was useless and eventually the rod went back on the rest while I attended to the fish that was now about 70 yards downstream and still going strong.  Luckily it avoided any snags and after a prolonged tussle was in the net.  I secured the net with a bank stick ensuring the fish was pointing head into the flow and returned to the snagged fish.  I yomped downstream trying different line angles to release it to no avail. Upstream about 40 yards and the correct line angle allowed the fish to pop out of the snag.  Very quickly there were two barbel in the net, I’m so grateful for quick release hook links; which were quickly unclipped so that I could move the fish to safety and deal with them on the unhooking mat.  Nine plus and a six; I was well pleased with the result.

The light was starting to fade

The light was starting to fade; my favourite time and the sky turned pink then red.  Right on cue a four pounder with aspirations nearly pulled my rod in. Just time for one more cast I thought then home for tea.  I didn’t have to wait long for the rod tip to lurch forward and bounce violently in the rest before the clutch grudgingly allowed the line to spill off the spool.  This fish was seriously intent on making the snag in the middle of the river and I was equally keen on stopping it.  After a few minutes of toing and froing it was dark and I was the victor with a large fat barbel slipping into the net.  11lbs 4oz and I was delighted.

11lb 4oz

Absolute Seafood looks like it will be a permanent feature in my bait bag for a while. There’s a couple of weeks of the river season left and some trips on the Wye planned for later in the year so my order will be on its way soon Shaun.

I love short session fishing, very intense but brief enough to concentrate 110% and great fun.  No preparation; just keep your eyes and ears open.  River levels check, clarity check, temperature check……………Well what are you waiting for?

Four hours fishing and six barbel hooked on a stretch that didn’t produce another bite to several other anglers. There is something just a little bit special about that Absolute Seafood!

Best wishes
Ron Key

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Rod bending action on the first day of the year.

I am not one for making new year resolutions but I guess deep down for a while now I have promised myself a little more time angling on my local patch and to try and not keep pestering the carp week in and week out. It is so easy to find yourself in a routine simply because it suits. For years now I have pointed my Land Rover bonnet south or west and driven for a couple of hours for most all of my angling and in doing so I invariably pass so much incredible fishing along the way.

It wasn’t always like this. I started to travel simply because I had to travel if I was to be able to fish for the size of fish that used to seem so important to me. But as the years have moved on and I have grown, the fish have too and now I have fish on my doorstep which are much larger than the fish I used to have to travel for a couple of hours to reach. Having said that, I’m not size motivated at all these days. I haven’t been for years as in my mind the venue, the methods, the people and to a certain extent the security, come much higher on my list of priority than the size of the fish these days. Okay, obviously it is a massive bonus if I can combine everything and still have big fish to angle for. 

It does amuse me how a few fellow anglers seem really surprised after I have chosen to mention some of the waters I tackle, particularly when I tell them there isn’t anything much larger than whatever irrelevant weight in there. I guess in a way it is a blessing as I can continue to enjoy myself with little fear of crowds descending.

As well as promising myself a little more time on the local front I am also determined to spare more time from chasing carp to angle for a few other species. I pride myself on fishing for most species in fresh and salt water, coarse and game but I keep getting dragged back by my beloved carp and as the years slip by I am constantly aware that the salmon rods never came out again, I never stepped foot on a boat, I didn’t manage that frosty grayling session etc.

New years day 2013

So Tuesday January 1st 2013 dawned and where was I? Yes, setting up on a carp lake I had driven for over an hour to reach! I had gone along for a social with Ron Key and Andy Smith and we all struck lucky with Ron and myself both catching 6 carp apiece to upper doubles which is great winter sport and a lovely start to a new year.

Great to see the cheaper Absolute range holding their own.

What was particularly pleasing was catching several on the soon to be released ‘Absolute’ range of baits which brings Quest Baits boilies into a slightly lower price bracket for the first time. Not to be mistaken for simple synthetic flavour carrier baits, these cheaper boilies still contain essential oils and the feed stimulants we like to think we know a little about. Well, we have won the best by test in the independent Carpology tank tests for the past two years. Various companies who are brave enough submit their baits for these totally independent tests. Two years on the trot we have come out on top in both the stimulation tests and the prolonged aggressive feeding tests. Quite simply the carp show what they prefer.

Wednesday and Thursday passed and my usual morning river walk was showing the river to be in fine fettle with the temperature steadily rising and the levels dropping to become almost fishable. Friday, I wandered out from my office whilst enjoying a welcome cuppa and the song from the birds was incredible. The air was so unbelievably mild and back at my office desk I was struggling to concentrate. My tiny local river was calling me. There are no monsters in there but ‘it’ wanted me there. I gave in, grabbed a rod, grabbed a tub of Rahja Spice paste and convinced myself I was simply popping out working, a little research and development you understand – well I do have to keep making sure the baits I sell still work.

Within the hour of grabbing a rod I had dangled a piece of Rahja Spice paste wrapped around a trimmed Rahja boilie  into a couple of likely looking holes and extracted two chub that had possibly never been caught before. One of them was probably just short of 4lb which looked particularly large coming from what is little more than a stream and believe me I am sure it thought it was fighting for its life.

Anyway, fix over I was soon back at my office desk – nice work if you can get it.

Saturday 5th January. After my usual morning dog walk I started to sort out a bit of heavier gear for the mighty River Trent, I was finally going to spare a few hours trying to tempt a barbel. It had been a few years since I had last caught any Trent Barbel much preferring to target barbel on the smaller rivers like the Derwent and the Dove. But, with the river running so close to my home I can’t keep ignoring it.

Another pleasing start to my local campaign.

I was lucky, just as the light faded I landed a barbel just short of double figures which liked the smell of the Rahja Spice paste I had used for the chub the day before and again this time it was wrapped around a apple cored boilie for it to grip and fished in conjunction with a cage feeder containing equal amounts of  Naked hemp, broken Rahja Spice Boilies, Rahja Spice Maximum Action Pellets and Quest Baits Mixed Pellets. These were put into a sieve and then had a kettle of boiling water poured over them to make the resulting blend fluffy and sticky enough to hold in a cage feeder then trickle a small stream of goodies down towards the hook bait.

Sunday 6th January I awoke with that lovely smug feeling I wake with after succeeding in doing something I had meant to do for a long while. I had a few things to sort but promised myself

My cage feeder mix

another few hours later in the day back on the mighty River Trent.

I had to wait quite a way into darkness this time before a chub pulled on my string. I was pleased to see this as the chub seem to be on the decline on the Trent. I

A 3ft twitch on the rod top!

swung my bait back out again and shortly after I had a tiny 3ft twitch on the rod top and found myself playing another barbel. This one really was an incredible scrap with line being constantly stripped from the reel. Eventually though it was on the bank and I felt the need to reduce this fine fish to numbers. The numbers said 10lb 6oz.

I guess 7 days into the new year and not many hours actually on the bank I feel particularly delighted to have landed some nice fish, from my local patch and more importantly for me have managed to notch up 3 different targeted species.

I wonder what the next 358 days will have in store for me?

Best fishes
Shaun Harrison

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I managed to get out for a couple of hours on a small river and was rewarded with a couple of nice chub. Really nice fishing wandering around with one rod and lowering apple cored Rahja Spice boilies with a Rahja Spice paste wrap into various likely looking holes. Really rewarding and ‘proper angling’ with me feeling really content after getting out there and finding the fish rather than sitting and waiting for them to find me.

Later in the day after getting a few jobs out of the way the rivers were still calling so I decided to spend a couple of hours trying for the barbel on the River Trent. The Trent is still quite high so I was going to have to anchor my baits in place and build a swim with big cage feeders.

The feeder mix I put together was as follows…

My Rahja Spice cage feeder mix

1 part Rahja Spice Maximum Action Pellets
1 part Rahja Spice broken boilies
1 part Naked Hemp
1 part mixed pellet

These were put into a sieve and a full kettle full of boiling water poured over them then immediately transferred to my bait bucket and the lid put on in place. This ‘scalding’ helps to release the flavours quicker and is enough to make the mix sticky/fluffy enough to stay in a cage feeder during the cast without the need for ground bait plugs.

My first barbel of the year

I hadn’t been fishing long when the tip hooped around in a classic 3ft barbel twitch bite and I found myself battling away against my first Trent Barbel of 2013. The Free Spirit Big Water Barbel rod and Okuma reel did their jobs superbly and soon I was looking at a nice fish in the net.

I left for home shortly after again feeling really content with myself for reading the conditions and making the most of the little time I had available.

The following day I was naturally desperate for some more river action but it wasn’t until just before dark that I was able to get back onto the Trent.

I sat through the period that had produced my barbel from the previous day but no signs of fish being home on the rod tips at all. I decided to stay longer and recast one of the rods to explore and fish further upstream than I had been doing. It hadn’t been in for long when the classic drop back of the rod tip signalled a fish had taken a liking to my Rahja Mix. Not a barbel this time but the chub that was attached was still very welcome.

10lb 6oz just as I was beginning to think about leaving.

I decided to give it another half an hour and was just thinking about wrapping up when the rod tip on the upstream cast again suddenly flicked straight. I wound down fast and knew straight away that I was into a barbel. The fight it put up was incredible with lots of line being stripped from the reel. Eventually though I won the day and another nice barbel of 10lb 6oz slipped into the waiting landing net.

I wonder if I can get away for an hour or two again to-night whilst this weather is how it is?

Best fishes
Shaun Harrison

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Or do they?

They do to me. I must admit to feeling a relative smugness inside me during the winter months and can easily warm to many memories of winter success over the years. It is a fact that most of my personal best carp over the years have actually fallen during the winter period. The majority of times I have slowly upped my best has been during the winter and I truly believe this is the best time of the year to sort the bigger fish out. Undoubtedly the fish slow up and rest up for much longer periods when the water is cold but the larger fish tend to keep that little bit more active. If everything is active then all well and good as every winter carp I catch seems to feel just that little more important to me than the same fish in the summer. Winter carp certainly give me a buzz!

So let us look at one of the little tricks I employ which can make all the difference between success and failure.

Warning - don't leave them soaking outside - they freeze!

Pre-Soaking

Pre-soaking your boilies has several advantages, particularly in the cold water slow metabolism days of winter. Carp are cold blooded and as such their metabolism is governed by the temperature of the water. I have written this countless times in the past but it is so easy to forget. The colder the water the slower the world is to the carp.

I like to put my free baits (loose offerings) into water at least 24 hours before going fishing. I use either the water from the lake you are fishing (take a bottle home with you after each trip) or bottled spring water. In the past I have used the water from other natural waters but no longer do this for fear of spreading disease. If damp nets can spread infection just think what pre-soaked baits could do. I have found bottled spring water works perfectly well – certainly better than tap water which is often tainted with various chemicals.

There are several reasons I like to pre-soak my baits

• Makes them look safe and washed out
• Easier to eat
• Quicker to digest
• Helps stop them taking on the smell of the surrounding area i.e. silt etc.
• Fire out further in a catapult
• Very different to what most anglers offer in the winter
• The carp are more tolerant of them in the area they are resting up.

So, let us look at these one at a time.

Makes them look safe and washed out

Certainly on most pressured waters these days the carp have learned to associate freshly introduced boilies with danger.  Generally if fresh bait is in the swim then the chances are a baited rig will be there too. It is becoming more and more

I love winter carping

common for carp to take a couple of days to move onto and start feeding upon beds of boilies. How often do you hear of the angler who moved in after someone else then proceeded to catch a shed full of fish? It happens a lot.

Easier to Eat

I truly believe the carp prefer to eat washed out baits regardless of how much pressure they are under. Everything the carp eats in the natural world is to a large extent liquid. The only semi dry foods the carp consume is our bait. You will see once you start experimenting with pre-soaking baits just how long the water takes to penetrate the skin and reach the inner core. Obviously the larger the bait the longer this process takes. Even after 24 hours submerged in water most 15mm boilies are still semi-dry in the centre.

Now I can’t help but think it can actually become a problem and make the fish feel a little uncomfortable eating too many fresh (dry) boilies. I do like to bring the human analysis into these situations and the thought of eating dry cream crackers comes to mind.

Pre-soaking will help keep bending the rods

Certainly, the longer I have soaked baits the quicker they have appeared to work. It is easy to say that the reason for this is possibly too high a flavour level in the first place which has now washed out. I don’t think so. I am sure it is down to the simple fact that the bait is simply easier to eat.

Quicker to digest

By offering the baits pre-soaked the carp should be able to digest them much more quickly once eaten thus the sooner they come back on the feed again.

Helps stop them taking on the smell of the surrounding area i.e. silt etc.

This is a massive advantage if you fish waters where the baits come back tainted with the smell of silt and in some cases weed. All boilies as purchased have been dried to a degree. This is why when you wind your rig back in after a period out in the lake your bait comes back larger than it was when it was first cast out. Quite simply the bait is re-absorbing the water around it. Now if the surrounding water is slightly tainted then your bait will be as well which makes you think how much your bait is standing out to the fish if the first millimetre of skin smells the same as the surrounding area.

By pre-soaking your boilies you have already given them a drink so to speak and any flavour which has leaked out into the water is naturally seeping back into the bait too. Fire these out when they are already full of liquid and they aren’t going to become quite so tainted as baiting up with fresh baits.

Fire out further in a catapult

A small added bonus of pre-soaking the baits is that you are then able to catapult them a little further due to the extra weight of them through taking on water. The slight downside to this though is that if you soak them completely through to

Another one to the pre-soaks

the core they are likely to explode out of a throwing stick.

Since damaging my elbow several years ago I am unable to now use a stick so this has never been an issue to me. I do all of my baiting with either a catapult or a spod but it is something you will need to bear in mind if you are a regular user of a throwing stick.

Very different to what most anglers offer in the winter

It seems to be almost common practice for anglers to use bright and heavily flavoured ‘in-your face’ type baits in the winter. Now these baits catch carp but I have my reservations as to whether or not they are the best way to go.

I guess it’s partly due to the fact that I am naturally very stubborn and don’t like to follow trends. If I can do things differently I will. I always try and avoid common denominators. If anglers are generally using small baits then I will use large baits. If people are using bright baits I will use drab baits and vice versa. I am sure by adopting these tactics I have caught a lot of carp off guard.

I would put my head on the line here and suggest the majority of carp anglers in this country during the winter months simply offer ‘in your face baits’ and or stringers with few freebies. If you want to be different – try some of the above.

The carp are more tolerant of them in the area they are resting up.

Now here is a little food for thought and is very much a follow on to the above and something very much worth bearing in mind.

The carp might have proper teeth but they do like soft food - particularly the older ones.

I am real fortunate in having a natural pool in my garden at home. By natural I mean there is no liner at all the water is natural and feeds through the pool. Because of this I have all the usual natural life you find in your average carp lake so I very much get to see the habits of un-pressured carp doing what carp do and choose to do on a daily basis 12 months of the year. Naturally I do all sorts of experiments with my fish (carp of course). During the coldest periods of winter they shoal up very tightly and are often touching each other making some of the fish appear much larger as you are actually looking at several fish seemingly joined. They can sit like this seemingly un-moving for a couple of days at a time. Now if you drop a heavily flavoured bait close to them they slowly melt off and sit elsewhere. Drop a washed out, subtle flavoured bait close to them and they will tolerate it and stay put. Eventually if I keep going for a look the washed out bait will be gone.

Need I say more?

Footnote…

Hook baits

Finally I must mention my hook baits. Obviously if long casting is the norm then soft washed out baits are going to come off on the cast. In this instance you can do one of two things.

If short session fishing simply make a few rigs up with baits on a few days before you go fishing and freeze them. You can then transport them to the lake in a flask, a cooler box or my favourite and less bulky way is to freeze the baits and rigs down then wrap them in silver foil, bubble wrap and a final coating of silver foil before returning them to the freezer. This way you aren’t having to handle your baits and semi thaw them with the heat from your hands whilst removing them from the freezer.

The other method I use is to simply pre-soak a few baits for a shorter period then freeze them and take them out as I need them.  This is the easiest way and they still look washed out but retain a firm centre to withstand casting.

Best fishes

Shaun Harrison.

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The River Trent in a raging flood

With the shocking river conditions we are experiencing at the moment with widespread floods everywhere we posed a question to top Barbel angler Pat Gillett…

Question:  After all of these massive floods we have seen this past week with it being impossible to get near the natural banks of the rivers what would your approach be once it is possible to get back on the banks?
Would you be looking for areas in the flow, on the crease or out of the main flow?
Similarly do you think the make up of the bottom is important? Are you happy fishing over mud/silt or do you prefer harder gravel and stone?

Pat replied: The most important thing for me is the flow and the nature of the swim, whilst flood water fishing. If the water temperature is high enough then the extra water will really get the barbel on the move and on the feed.

With this in mind there are two approaches I believe that are best to employ. The first one is to spend your session in just the one swim (knowing that the fish are on the feed and will probably come to you). This is a method I tend to employ at

This seems to be becoming a familiar scene

this of year, when the feeding spells can be small, therefore I won’t miss the feeding spell by being on the move. For this static approach I will want to fish just into the flow, with preferably a backwater or tree / bush on the inside, which makes presentation so much easier.

Pat with a superb flood water capture

The other approach can be to fish lots of swims but not stopping in any for more than 30 minutes unless you get some action.

As for the make up of the bottom, I really don’t think it matters, it is more about presenting a bait where the barbel feel comfortable. Some of the biggest flood water barbel caught off the Lower Severn (for example) were caught over area’s that were flooded grass fields.

The problem with this latest flood is that it is going to coincide with a severe drop in temperature. In my experience high river levels and sharply falling temperatures are the worst conditions for barbel. If the weather was mild, I would be off like a shot, has very often the biggest fish are caught in the high water conditions.

I have rambled on a bit (if we can’t get out fishing, next best thing is talking about it), but I hope this helps.

Cheers

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