Autumn Carp - Preparing for a Winter Campaign

Although my window of opportunity was short it felt good loading the fishing gear into the van, I had been looking forward to enjoying some time on the bank for months.  My rigs were tied the night before and I checked my gear dozens of times however it still felt like I had forgotten something, as was the length of time I was last on the bank.  The last few months have been a difficult time, with me and my wife separating and having to be responsible for my 14 month old son, not for the first time in my life, angling had to take a back seat whilst I sorted a place for myself and William to live and make sure he was looked after as best I can.  Now a few months on myself and William have settled into a new place and my family support has been over whelming for which ill be forever grateful.

So here I was, travelling down the M4 heading for a small carp pool hoping to entice a carp or two onto the banks, what ever the outcome I was going to enjoy the afternoon, especially as the forecast was for warm sunshine.

Although I had not fished here since my last visit in June when I landed the venue record, I had not been a stranger, I had kept trickling in the MPP boilies hoping to keep the carp interested and searching for my bait.  I enjoy Autumn, especially when I'm chasing fish, its a season of change, falling leaves, darker days and hopefully fat fish.  This season doesn't always bring the heavy feeding spells that anglers talk of, however as I have a winter campaign planned on this venue, I will keep depositing the bait in little and often over the coming months hoping to keep the carp interested throughout the short days of winter.  I will always start a winter campaign in Autumn, it gives me an idea of the carps movements and habits and also gains the fishes confidence on my chosen bait, Charwoods MPP boilie.  Its a great year round bait and proven fish catcher in the colder months, being a milk protein it is easy to digest and gives off an attractive candy aroma.  I will go into my baiting tactics for the coming months in future blogs as the winter progresses.

All I required for my session was loaded on my back and carried to the lake and I was soon casting out in the confidence that my chosen areas had recently been primed just the week before.  I was sure to of missed a feeding spell in the morning however I was hoping that the carp would feed again this afternoon in the warm sunshine.  The hours around midday are normally the most unproductive and so it was today with the first couple of hours passing without any action except for a couple of liners.

My first run was a real screamer which found the carp making its way towards the island and managing to tie the line around some under water roots.   The line pinged as I played the fish and both carp and the entangled root came towards me.  It was a peculiar fight, I was not in direct contact with the carp due to the accompanying vegetation, I slowly managed the fish towards my bank and as the fish swam strongly around in front of me the roots hung in mid air clinging to my main line, I leaned out and grabbed them and expected the fish to come adrift as I snapped the roots to free my main line as I came into direct contact with the fish for the first time.  

I could see it was one of the originals as it wallowed below the surface a chunky looking Common soon slid over the net.

An immaculate fish registering 9lb with a stunning colouration and huge tail for the fishes size showing where all its power came from.  I managed another 2 carp, both stockies which the club stocked earlier this year at 2-3lb and both now weighing over 5lb.

Going into my winter carp campaign I have total confidence in the rigs and bait I'm using, which is the most important factor.  This leaves me to concentrate on locating the fish and learning their winter feeding habits.  As I mentioned earlier, I will go into more detail on the rigs I will be using, baits and tactics throughout this winter campaign.  I intend to enjoy the remainder of this mild Autumn we are experiencing before the long  nights take over as I have another session planned in the next few days.  If the rain arrives as they have forecast you may well be reading about me barbelling on my beloved Wye.