Autumn Carp - Baiting Tactics

With every gust of the chilling wind, leaves departed from the now, almost naked branches of the swaying trees.  Just days after the remnants of Hurricane Gonzalo had swept across the country, I realised that my winter carp campaign will not be an easy task and the cold wind continued to make my face ruddy.
Today was a stark contract to the last time I graced the banks earlier this month when the sun shone brightly, today I was met with a fine drizzle and a harsh wind with the morning passing biteless.  On arrival I catapulted about 15 boilies on each of my two chosen spots, my bait was the reliable Charwoods MPP.  

As mentioned in an earlier post my winter carp campaigns begin in autumn and I will visit the venue and trickle bait in whenever possible between fishing sessions, this will keep the carp feeding and searching for food.  My main tactic throughout the year will be a boilie only approach and I will stick with this strategy throughout the colder months, its only the amount of bait thrown in that will change.  These boilies are spread over an area the size of a pool table, on a bigger venue I would spread them over an area the size of a snooker table.  I am hoping to motivate the carp into searching for the next boilie which means the carp has to up end regularly instead of hoovering up a carpet of bait, I believe this also helps with achieving a good hook hold as the carp is constantly moving.  The venue I have chosen has a good head of carp and that is no coincidence, I want to enjoy my fishing when the temperatures drop and give myself the best chance of catching on a regular basis.

Just after midday I had my first run, apart from a few liners earlier on, the left hand rod burst into life as a carp made for the far bank.  It certainly knew its way around the lake and only a firm side strain kept it from reaching the sedges.  After a spirited fight a golden common carp slid over the net, short of my target double at 8lb 9oz a nice fish on a cold morning.

I topped up both swims with another dozen boilies and sat back to enjoy my sandwiches.  A winter flock of blue and long tailed tits darted from tree to tree picking off insects as they went, a true sign that the colder months are drawing closer.

The snowman rig has proved successful on this venue and I always keep a tub of pop ups in my bag especially in the colder months when single hook baits can be a devastating tactic.

I didnt have to wait long for my second bite this time the right hand rod ripped off and I was soon into another carp, this time instantly I could tell it was a heavier fish. Throughout the fight the fish stayed deep, regularly taking line, then I heard a bleep from the left hand rod alarm, the tip arched over and line crept from the spool as a fish picked up the bait.  There wasnt alot I could do, I was obviously attached to a decent fish, probably my target double, all I could do was give the some stick and try to bully it in the net so I could get to the other rod before I lost the fish to a snag.  

The carp continued to fight strongly and my first attempt to net her failed, as the fish turned at the last minute, on the second attempt I made no mistake and as soon as she was in the mesh I dashed to the second rod and lifted into another carp, double hook up!  Thankfully this fish was only a stockie and within a couple of minutes I had two carp in the one net.

I quickly slipped back the smaller and got to weighing the larger of the two which I recognised as a fish that I had the pleasure of catching back in the summer at a weight of 11lb.  A fit strong mirror which had gained weight as the needle proved at 11lb 7oz.  

With my target achieved I was pleased and I fished on until dusk with no further action.  As with carp fishing at this time of the year, all your bites can come in a short period, often the carp have specific feeding times and patterns, this is always worth remembering and keeping notes on as it may save you many biteless hours on the bank and you can fish at the best times of the day and increase your chances of getting a bite.

Before I leave any venue I always top up my swims to encourage the carp to feed and search for food.

In my next post I will go into more detail on my rigs and my reasons for using them.  Tight Lines