Hi all,

I've fished on an off for years but never really campaigned a water before.

Next year I plan to join a local club and campaign one water for the full year with the goal of catching a 30lber which is achievable in the lake.

Having never done an actual campaign does anyone have any advice or tips they've picked up for focusing on one water?

Thanks

Scott

Get down there as much as you can, even if you're not fishing. And keep bait going in regularly on a few spots you know that the fish feed. If you can do the bait thing with religious regularity you'll do fine.

In reply to Post #2
Have to agree with post 2.

But if you can get your own spots going and not known spots, you'll be even better off!

As post 2 says but also if you can bait at night away from prying eyes. Keep it secret squirrel and make sure people don't see you regularly baiting certain spots

Thanks for the reply's, I will try get there as much as possible and get some baiting going in.

May be difficult away from prying eyes as it's a busy club water but will try establish a spot that may get overlooked in the hope I can get back in the peg when I come to fish it.

Jesus H Christ this stoopid military language *campaign* being piped into the modern carp lexicon. Enough already. What next, "I spent the weekend in a combat situation, like 20's and 30's all around me man, hostile s hit, should have been there bruh." Catch too many carp and get PTSD? Don't want to ruin a perfectly good well intentioned thread, just get off my chest something the really boils my piss.

Fixed it for you O.P

"I'm going to fish a water for a period of time in an attempt to catch a 30lb carp...." over to you O.P and best of luck in you attempt to achieve a personal goal that I hope you fulfill.

In reply to Post #6
you ok ?

there always a listening ear available via the samaritans

In reply to Post #6
Bullying takes many forms. Somebody not sure of themselves asks a sensible question and you are straight in, trying to get in their heads with embarrassment and uncertainty.
The guy almost certainly doesn't need my input to deal with your sly nastiness. However somebody might so just flagging you up for what you are. Not the first time.

In reply to Post #6
Really valued comment

In reply to Post #6
Says the guy who gets a hard on in all the army surplus threads

Come on, admit it, you're in the TA aren't you..

In reply to Post #10

In reply to Post #10
Yeah Total ********

Decide on a bait that you have confidence in and stick with it. Chopping and changing will just be frustrating, introducing a decent bait regularly will be a definite advantage.
If you don't get immediate results, stick with it, you'll have your 30 eventually, and it'll mean even more to you if you've waited a while.

Most of all ... Have fun.

Ignore the d i c k comment mate.

Be single minded about the water you've got in your sights. It's all too easy to have a weekend away if you're not doing well and sods law will dictate that one weekend away is when the lake goes off!

Spend as much time there as you can, marker every inch of the lake - using good etiquette of course.

Get to know the guys already on there - you'd be surprised how helpful other anglers tend to be if you don't give it the big un straight away and come across as a nice bloke who just enjoys his fishing. Be happy for people when they catch one and get the bailiff/s on side.

You say it's a busy water, in my experience baiting areas can be a bit of a waste of time and effort unless you can fish midweek when hopefully it's not so busy. On busy waters my preference is to try to avoid the popular areas although of course that won't work everywhere. Be consistent in your approach.

And when you do visit the water without the intention of fishing ALWAYS have a basic set up in the car, you'll be kicking yourself when you see the one youre after with it's tail up in the margins and you have no means of putting a bait in front of it.

In reply to Post #8
I mearly made a comment about the use of language that I find annoying, that's all. Zero bulling here I can assure you of that, and as you can see at the bottom of my post I wished the O.P well.

Back to O,P's post

Here a great tip: be consistent in what you do. If you're going to put bait in, keep getting the bait going in and don't waiver. Use the best bait you can so that you can dial the fish onto your bait which they'll actively search out and the fish you're after will eventually slip up at some point.

In reply to Post #15
Whether you find it annoying or not is there really any need for your post

In reply to Post #16
Likewise, what's the need for you to comment on my posts. See how that works?

In reply to Post #17
Is it only me that thinks you come across at times a complete bellend.You have done it on this thread and on the one about the shimano reels,there is no need for it at all.

In reply to Post #18
Just doing god's work 👍

In reply to Post #19
What is it about soldiers that makes you all flustered?

In reply to Post #18
Nope, bellends are going to be bellends, they can't help it.

In reply to Post #6
Strange that because I clearly remember some of the old boys referring to their 'campaign' back in the seventies.

In reply to Post #22
Me too. I think Richard Walker may have been one.

In reply to Post #1
Plenty of good advice already, I'd add, consider a particle approach if the water is mainly boilie fished (as most are) and definitely look at less popular swims.

Thanks for all the advice didn't expect this much !

Looks like consistent baiting approach is mentioned time and time again so will focus on that, been looking at salmon and peach from perfection groundbaits looks like has a good track record from the testing stages.

Good idea with keeping essentials in the car to fish if find fish on a walk hadn't thought about that so good idea.

Didn't realise using the term “campaigning” like majority of people do when spending a lot of time on a water would annoy but hey ho.

Thanks again

Scott

In reply to Post #24
The looking at less popular swims has paid off for me numerous times especially if the lake is busy.I have found fish within a few feet of the bank away from all the pressure and caught well

In reply to Post #25
Doesn't annoy 99.9% of people so please keep using the term. One idiot thinking he is so important and his opinion matters above everyone else's that you need to not use a term that is widely used in carping says a lot about them.

A little tip that hasn't really been said, if you the overlooked and underfished swims aren't present, sometimes on busy club lakes nowhere is safe from prying eyes, then fish spots in between swims that are relatively close in. If you can find any they are often overlooked being at odd angles from the swim and not dead straight out.

In reply to Post #27
You will be fishing against people as much as you will for carp.

In reply to Post #25
campaign
/kamˈpeɪn/



verb
work in an organised and active way towards a particular goal, typically a political or social one.
"people who campaigned against child labour"



noun

an organized course of action to achieve a goal.
“to go fishing on the same venue until you catch a 30”


Stick to it and listen to the advice here.

I hope you get plenty of good fish out.

I think to be honest the choice whether to fish one lake continuously, or to fish around various venues is entirely down to the angler. Although I have not used the term campaign in my fishing, it is probably a correct term to describe my fishing one water until I feel I have done what I can.

Sometimes my thoughts change on the water as I fish. I might plan on fishing just that one water, for a few years, but things can change my mind; other anglers, maybe a fish passing on, or just needing a change of scenery.

I suppose you could say I did long term campaigns on Earith, Taverham Mills, even Ardleigh and Alton.

I try to find as much out about the water as I can, depths, features, spots where specific fish may come from. I choose a food source boiled bait that I think will work, and stick with it after I have seen the (positive) fishes reaction. If they eat it readily, I know it will work and I will catch, so a bit of prebaiting before I start to fish. Don't chop and change your bait, unless you know the fish simply aren't eating it.
I know that some carp are caught on attractor baits, they do work, but I'm not sure that on a long term plan they will produce the biggest fish. The carp may stop taking them!

Every trip, at the end of my session, I put in the last of my bait, all the remaining boilies, so I take at least a kilo more than I will 'fish with'. This is done not just where I'm fishing, but in other spots and areas as well.

When I fish I have a good walk round first, looking for signs of fish. If they show, I set up on them, if not, it is down to weather, feelings and a hunch.

I mentioned specific spots, normally I am happy catching any carp, but sometimes, if you want a specific fish they may be resident and stay in a particular area, so you have to fish that area as much as you can, other anglers permitting.
Other waters the fish may all move around, so 'the biggie' can be caught from anywhere on the lake.

In reply to Post #1
Generally there will be a trend on the way it's fished, it could give you opportunities to do things differently.

Past information on bigger fish captures, when, where, conditions, etc.

Spending time walking & watching the water and trying to put answers to what you are seeing.

Can only echo the number one factor and that is enjoy it.

Pre-bait,pre-bait and pre-bait more = success IMO (assuming the bait is decent and you know what you are doing in terms of rigs and location)

In reply to Post #1
It's simple mate - all about time, nothing else. If you can string together a lot of days fishing coupled with trickling bait in, you will catch.

Don't get wrapped up in the word "watercraft" - most of it is a myth. It isn't rocket science if you have a bit of outdoors blood in you. As long as you keep quiet on the bank and tread lightly, you have already cracked 2 thirds of so called Watercraft.

Time is the biggest edge in modern day carp fishing despite what others (usually people that fish 4 nights a week) say.

Be lucky.

In reply to Post #33
I have to disagree with you buddy.
Time helps any angler, especially someone that knows what they're doing, but it is far from the "biggest edge".
Time cannot make a rubbish angler decent.
As for keeping quiet, I agree, that goes without saying, but if you're not on fish keeping quiet wont help you in the slightest.

To the OP, I agree with what some others have said. Keep some bait trickling in. But, keep your eyes open and don't be afraid to ditch your spots if you see an opportunity elsewhere.

In reply to Post #1
This raises an important question for the OP that will probably affect how you have to approach your fishing.....

How much time can you dedicate to actually fishing each week / month?

How many visits for baiting / watching can you dedicate each week/month?

I have had success in the past fishing just one overnighter per week, but was baiting 3-4 times a week as the lake was fairly local to me.

In reply to Post #33
Are you actually serious? 5 minutes in the right swim is infinitely more effective than 5 days in the wrong.

In reply to Post #36
Yes but with all that time you will not have problems being in the right swim...

In reply to Post #37
Unless there are also lots of other Time Bandits

Some interesting reading in this thread.

Carpfishing nowadays is a very level playing field, ultimately you are only as good as the bait you are using and quality baits are available to all now. Couple this with with an endless supply of information most people can competently ledger 3 baits and catch carp

The only people who want you to believe different are the ones trying to be famous and scrounge a living from the pastime

It's a no brainier, a bait in the right spot will catch a carp, it's also a no brainier that the longer you are at the water the more chance you have of getting a bite. The wrong spot can become the right one pending fish movements

Carpfishing has got to be the least skilful of all course angling pastimes, it's lobbing some baits out and hoping something gobbles it up, the bait element is taken care of like I have already said.

I have seen more people catch massive or decent carp over the years and they have not got an absolute clue what they are doing if the truth be know, why, because they have bought a quality shop bought bait and dropped it in a spot where a carp has come along and ate it. Watercraft does not come into it, the pub chuck does!

Forget about the skill factor for a minute, some are just kids who have no experience whatsoever, skill does not come into it, it's called pot luck, hit the spot, hit the jackpot

Right bait, right spot it will happen, right bait, wrong spot and it can happen if you are there for long enough and the fish come on to it

In reply to Post #39
A great angler with a piece of black foam will catch more than a crap angler with the best bait in the world imo scozza.

Edit: I agree a poorly skilled angler will get lucky eventually but a great angler will have caught what he wanted and moved on by that point in 99% of cases.

In reply to Post #33
What nonsense

In reply to Post #37
Yeah, but sitting on a pile of bait with a bright fluro pop which they've been hammered on endlessly and which they spook at the first sight of for instance?

How pressured the fish are plays a huge factor and how big or small a water is. Generally speaking, small waters are always tricky regardless of how good an angler you are. What sorts the wheat from the chaff is adapting to what you observe.

In reply to Post #39
Agreed Scozza. It's why I love it. Don't have to work too hard to have average results.

In reply to Post #40
Define a great angler Yonny?

There's only one thing for me, results. I know a lot of anglers, a few are good anglers and some are purely punishers, respect to them though, they put the effort in and catch a lot of fish

As for the black foam, I would put an average angler on a mainline bait for a season, same length of time as the black foam man and I would be confident who would catch the most over a season, unless it was a big hole where they spent a lot of time up in the water, but that's a tactical choice based on experience and the venue I guess?

Carpfishing is FULL of bull**** and there are not many who will tell you the real story, all people see is a couple of pages of heroism's and a couple of pictures, it's not the true story

I know one bloke, TOP Knob Rod on one water, over 270 nights for 6 fish, legend, or he thought he was lol

What people don't appreciate is these “top” anglers are banging some serious time in compared to the working man doing 24hrs on a weekend. They can put the equivalent of 10 years of effort in, in comparison in a couple of years!

Said it many a time, unless we get a clockcard on the gates of fisheries we will never know who the real TOP anglers are, the ones who do the same everywhere. In the meantime, take everything you hear with a pinch of salt unless it's a trustworthy source is my feedback to anybody

In reply to Post #39
100% bang on Scozza.

In reply to Post #44
There's an idea -

open a venue with a clocking in/out system where the angler with the best catch / time ratio gets a free ticket the following year

In reply to Post #44
top anglers by my definition are the ones who go home from the lake happy... got nothing to do with how many fish they caught... every single time you go down to the lake individual situation is different...

In reply to Post #44
Define a great angler Yonny?

For me a good angler has the ability to capitalise on the opportunities available (be those found or created).

Imo most time bandits don't even look for opportunities. They just sit there waiting while what I consider to be good anglers work their way round them catching the fish

Edit: I'm sure I remember having this exact same debate with you 2 or 3 years ago scozzza

In reply to Post #6
The word campaign has been used in this context for years and years, at least 20 odd I'd say, probably nearer 30... It's nowt new...

In reply to Post #44
It is with great sorrow I have to agree. Even worse is the fact that the venues are increasingly designed, managed stocked and marketed to make carp fishing pathetically easy. More and more venues lost to angling and managed and stocked for catching.

In reply to Post #48
Cycles Yonny, same topics again

In reply to Post #50
I agree with the sentiment, although some places I know of that are stuffed full of carp can be pretty tough as they've seen every trick iin the book.

In reply to Post #50
The measure was lbs and oz until these places started with their crazy stockings and water tampering for me

Merit will always be there for me though, the fish, the water, the history etc

Perosnally I'm not really interested much in the carp scene nowadays, it makes my **** itch a lot of what I see and hear

The worst thing I could imagine is having to fish a circus water surrounded by bait buckets where getting onto fish is not a choice but a lottery!

In reply to Post #53
There's plenty of 'proper' angling out there you just have to look harder for it

In reply to Post #54
That depends where you live and how much money you have got. The prices for it are going up and the availability is going down. This is only going one way.

In reply to Post #55

In reply to Post #55
That's it mate - a lot of coin to be made now with Syndicates rammed up and 10 year waiting lists. Even clubs around my neck of the woods have ceased selling tickets.

Lots of blokes are just going to sit tight on their syndicates for the foreseeable. Different thread all together but i do wonder where Carping will end up in 5-10 years time.

I know a few guys in the trade and the profits for the big firms have quadrupled this year, they cant get the kit out of china quick enough hence lots of items being out of stock in retailers, past whispers of "the carping bubble will burst" could not be further from the truth - it's growing at a monumental rate.

In reply to Post #57
it's growing at a monumental rate.

Due to Furloughed carping increased demand for camping spots nowadays

In reply to Post #57
With the shortages of product I don't believe the big players have quadrupled profits, fact is though they have hiked up prices to increase their profit margins and the shortages has allowed them to get away with it. Remember some years ago the ceo of a large Japanese company saying its better to sell a million items with five hundred dollars profit per item than two million with three hundred dollars profit per item, why because it takes less staff and overheads and more important maintains demand.

In reply to Post #57
How have they quadrupled their profits with barely any supply chain for the last months? I'm calling bs

In reply to Post #59
I haven't noticed any prices being increased other than on eBay, which is down to the seller not the manufacturer. What products have you seen that have had their prices increased?

In reply to Post #61
Fox rx+, most top of the range rods, aqua and trakker bivvies, the only stuff cheaper than it was eighteen months ago is the stuff they couldn't sell.

Some manufacturers have also supposedly upgraded a product at very little cost to them but hiked up the disproportionately.

In reply to Post #44
Any capable angler with time will catch from any venue in the country, and especially doing midweek time...
Being capable and doing it on limited time, especially at weekends, is a whole different ball game.
Judge your results by your own barometer, not that of those who have more or less time than you... The total rod hours per bite on some venues is really quite astounding... And the lower this figure is for the individual, I'd suggest is inversely proportionate to capability... Some with time camp/bore them out, others use it properly, and they are the anglers who more often than not end up with the thickest photo albums... 👍

In reply to Post #60
Because since furlough the lakes are rammed with blokes not working, it isn't rocket science.

In reply to Post #64
And my question remains, if the supply chain has been so poor as it has, where does this stock come from? 4 times as much as usual? The extra people on the bank is one thing, but if the stuff isn't there for them to buy then where do the extra profits come from? The amount of people fishing because of furlough isn't anything to do with the supply chain is it?

In reply to Post #65
I'm not going to start arguing about it, I go by what I see with my own eyes.

Laters

In reply to Post #66
I've seen more on the bank too. There could be a million extra people on the bank every day, it doesn't change the fact that if there's nothing in the shops for them to buy, how can they buy it and therefore boost profits? Especially by 4x? They can't. Its not rocket science is it?! 😂

In reply to Post #67
Sales and profits rise for Angling Direct:

Angling Direct, which has shops at Halesowen and Willenhall, saw sales rise 21 per cent to £32.1 million in the six months to the end of July.

The specialist fishing tackle and equipment retailer has grown during the Covid-19 pandemic despite temporary closure of its shops for 12 weeks.

Sales across all channels from June 15 when the shops reopened are up 95 per cent.

Pr-tax profit for the six months has risen by 250 per cent to £1.4m

In the UK revenue is up 62 per cent to £14.8m and website visitors are ahead 54 per cent to 3.7 million.

Executive chairman Martyn Page said: "The group's first-half performance demonstrates considerable resilience, with strong growth achieved through our online business at a time when Covid-19 has posed significant challenges.

In reply to Post #68
So the biggest company has made profits nowhere near the 4x claimed. One company. And nowhere near 4x. So I'm right, the claims being made are bs.

In reply to Post #69

In reply to Post #70
Why the laughing?

Sales across all channels from June 15 when the shops reopened are up 95 per cent.

Pr-tax profit for the six months has risen by 250 per cent to £1.4m

Those figures show he is correct, the biggest on line tackle retailer sales up 95% a long way off the 400 claimed, more interesting profits up 250%.

In reply to Post #71
Exactly. The biggest retailer with the biggest buying power and the biggest stock reserves isn't anywhere near the 4x, how can anyone else be lol

In reply to Post #71
My main point was the supply chain, or the stated lack of it.

I don't see anyone struggling to sell, I do see massive profit and okay, not the 4x.

I'm not going down the road of pedantic arguing so I'll leave you to your keyboards.


Laters

In reply to Post #73
It's well documented on here, and why do you think used tackle prices have rocketed? Supply and demand chap, supply and demand.

In reply to Post #74
Back to the campaigning
I'd suggest finding the best swim and spend as much time as possible 😂

Once had a chap asking me questions while fishing the stow
“Are there any snags “ etc
Then went on to tell me that the members on his last lake
left a sign in his swim saying “p'off u winker “
I did laugh 👏 and still laugh to myself whenever I think of it
Seriously we do take our hobby far too seriously
It's just fishing👍🏻