I've been putting a good few hours into Carping recently. I've had a few sessions here and there, and I've banked a good few fish along the way. A fair amount of doubles and a few smaller fish too boot! I even managed to catch a new pb. At 16lb I'm still a little way off catching my first 20.
All fish were caught on the the 'method' Some have been caught on light gear, 8lb line and 6lb hook length, and a few have been caught on purpose Carp gear.
I've been experimenting with various baits until I found a combination which was absolutely deadly. It can be hard to move off a bait when you've started to get results on it. Indeed why change it if it's working for you and you're landing fish? But that's exactly what I did.
The night before my last session I went to my local river and observed some Chub. I took it upon myself to take them some food and I threw in some free offerings. I had a selection of around half a dozen baits and I what I witnessed was truly fascinating. There was one bait in particular that they homed in on. They would suck up the bait and quickly blow it out - repeating the process two or three times, before finally losing interest and leaving it. Soon enough another fish would come along and the ritual was repeated. Interestingly after quarter of an hour or so and up until the point when I left - the bait was still there. So of course this got me thinking! Would the Carp on the water I was to fish the next day do the same? There was only one way to find out...
I'd had two fish landed before I decided to experiment. A very hard fighting Ghost Carp of around 6 to 7lb's and a Common 5lb's or there abouts fell to my old faithful cocktail.
The new bait was hair rigged and had been in the water not 5 minutes when my rod screamed off. Something had fallen for it. That something was a 12 and a half pound Common. An hour or so later and I was in again. A smaller common perhaps a scraper double was landed.
Unfortunately the weather turned from perfect overcast conditions as the sun came out. This killed the fishing as all the Carp came to the surface. Fishing off the top on this water is banned. Alas I had to spend the rest of the day watching the fish rather than catching them.
All fish were caught on the the 'method' Some have been caught on light gear, 8lb line and 6lb hook length, and a few have been caught on purpose Carp gear.
I've been experimenting with various baits until I found a combination which was absolutely deadly. It can be hard to move off a bait when you've started to get results on it. Indeed why change it if it's working for you and you're landing fish? But that's exactly what I did.
The night before my last session I went to my local river and observed some Chub. I took it upon myself to take them some food and I threw in some free offerings. I had a selection of around half a dozen baits and I what I witnessed was truly fascinating. There was one bait in particular that they homed in on. They would suck up the bait and quickly blow it out - repeating the process two or three times, before finally losing interest and leaving it. Soon enough another fish would come along and the ritual was repeated. Interestingly after quarter of an hour or so and up until the point when I left - the bait was still there. So of course this got me thinking! Would the Carp on the water I was to fish the next day do the same? There was only one way to find out...
I'd had two fish landed before I decided to experiment. A very hard fighting Ghost Carp of around 6 to 7lb's and a Common 5lb's or there abouts fell to my old faithful cocktail.
The new bait was hair rigged and had been in the water not 5 minutes when my rod screamed off. Something had fallen for it. That something was a 12 and a half pound Common. An hour or so later and I was in again. A smaller common perhaps a scraper double was landed.
Unfortunately the weather turned from perfect overcast conditions as the sun came out. This killed the fishing as all the Carp came to the surface. Fishing off the top on this water is banned. Alas I had to spend the rest of the day watching the fish rather than catching them.
Allan's 7lb+ Common
12lb 8oz. The worse self take ever? Possibly :)
The hard fighting Ghostie
13lb + Mirror
16lb Common and a new PB
A cheeky visitor
The hard fighting Ghostie
13lb + Mirror
16lb Common and a new PB
A cheeky visitor
