Hello All,
This is my first post so forgive me if I do anything wrong.
I got in to carp fishing 1-2 years ago and started doing short day sessions of a few hours at a local lake which held small carp of mainly single figure fish with the occasional low double. Getting a bite there proved relatively easy and also always resulted in a few fish regardless of conditions or time of year.
I have now moved away from that area and now live in Lincoln where I want to continue carp fishing but increase the size of fish I'm targeting. I have joined a local club and tried a few local venues but to no avail. I am stuck only able to fish for a few hours or a whole day at max with no chance of overnighters.
I am confident I can tie a rig and find a spot to present but haven't had a bite since moving to Lincoln, is there any advice in terms of changing approaches or methods to help me catch or is it just spending more time on the bank?
Any advice is welcome
This is my first post so forgive me if I do anything wrong.
I got in to carp fishing 1-2 years ago and started doing short day sessions of a few hours at a local lake which held small carp of mainly single figure fish with the occasional low double. Getting a bite there proved relatively easy and also always resulted in a few fish regardless of conditions or time of year.
I have now moved away from that area and now live in Lincoln where I want to continue carp fishing but increase the size of fish I'm targeting. I have joined a local club and tried a few local venues but to no avail. I am stuck only able to fish for a few hours or a whole day at max with no chance of overnighters.
I am confident I can tie a rig and find a spot to present but haven't had a bite since moving to Lincoln, is there any advice in terms of changing approaches or methods to help me catch or is it just spending more time on the bank?
Any advice is welcome
In reply to Post #1
Look for signs of fish mate, if you see them showing and you can then move onto them of if you see one show in your fishble water, put a bait on it.
Are you fishing the say way and bait as everyone else on the lake? Might be worth doing something different to the norm. Fish one rod on the bottom and another on a zig perhaps, specially if everyone else is fishing on the bottom.
Look for signs of fish mate, if you see them showing and you can then move onto them of if you see one show in your fishble water, put a bait on it.
Are you fishing the say way and bait as everyone else on the lake? Might be worth doing something different to the norm. Fish one rod on the bottom and another on a zig perhaps, specially if everyone else is fishing on the bottom.
In reply to Post #1
You've got to be on the fish if your fishing short sessions. Find the fish and don't scare them away. Try and note where other people catch fish from and if you can't see fish get in a swim which you've seen fish come from during the. day. Some lakes just fish better at night. Make sure your lake of choice has daytime form.
You've got to be on the fish if your fishing short sessions. Find the fish and don't scare them away. Try and note where other people catch fish from and if you can't see fish get in a swim which you've seen fish come from during the. day. Some lakes just fish better at night. Make sure your lake of choice has daytime form.
In reply to Post #1
I only fish days, short sessions of up to 8 hours, as the others have said it'a all about locating fish and for me baiting spots around the lake.
Get some polarizing glasses and spend as much time walking & watching and note down anything you see, after a while patterns will start to emerge of different areas, times of day & weather.
Enjoy it.
I only fish days, short sessions of up to 8 hours, as the others have said it'a all about locating fish and for me baiting spots around the lake.
Get some polarizing glasses and spend as much time walking & watching and note down anything you see, after a while patterns will start to emerge of different areas, times of day & weather.
Enjoy it.
In reply to Post #4
And travel light! That way you are more inclined to move if you do find fish.
And travel light! That way you are more inclined to move if you do find fish.
In reply to Post #1
perfect your float fishing technique you can rove around stalking and finding fish
and stick to that would be your best chances IMO
in a club I used to belong to a lad used to turn up early in the morning one rod and a net using bread mainly he used to creep round with his float rod and catch carp while the others were asleep in their bivvies he always seem to catch
LOOK SEE what others are doing and do something different
perfect your float fishing technique you can rove around stalking and finding fish
and stick to that would be your best chances IMO
in a club I used to belong to a lad used to turn up early in the morning one rod and a net using bread mainly he used to creep round with his float rod and catch carp while the others were asleep in their bivvies he always seem to catch
LOOK SEE what others are doing and do something different
In reply to Post #1
I only really fish days as well, due to a number of reasons, I can't session fish anymore. I'm on a couple of syndicates right now where I have to compete with people fishing days, if not weeks on end. The biggest challenge is getting on the fish when the time bandits are camping out in the better swims. But, as I have found, when you only fish days, you work MUCH harder and tour results, at least in my case, massively out perform others fishing the same water as a percentage of the time you put in. Even on some of the harder waters I have fished, I have still done well doing days only, even though many fishing such water think you have to bivvy up for a week to get a run...
Success? or me, location is everything. I once spent 6 hours walking a big pit before casting a rod. Then just put one rod out into a small bay where I'd seen fish going back and forth... I had one run, 42.10 common. There were people on that pit who'd not even caught a fish that season, I kid you not. A very memorable day for me and just shows that half hour in the right spot is better than 3 days in the wrong one. I much prefer day only fishing and it's kept my passion for carp fishing alive. I think if I still session fished I would have quit and taken up golf or something. Oh and I note the oft quoted, travel light comments when talking about day only fishing... you don't have to and in a lot of cases, don't need to. Just use a barrow and fish off it, that way you can take all the gear you need. Some waters I fish are a rucksack, sling and low chair job. But others mean I need 3 rods, plus maybe a spod rod and even a marker rod. I might be fishing particles, so that's a bucket to carry and if rules ask for cradles or high sided mats, then I half to take one of those... get the picture? You take what you need. So, travel light is a bit of misnomer IMHO.
I only really fish days as well, due to a number of reasons, I can't session fish anymore. I'm on a couple of syndicates right now where I have to compete with people fishing days, if not weeks on end. The biggest challenge is getting on the fish when the time bandits are camping out in the better swims. But, as I have found, when you only fish days, you work MUCH harder and tour results, at least in my case, massively out perform others fishing the same water as a percentage of the time you put in. Even on some of the harder waters I have fished, I have still done well doing days only, even though many fishing such water think you have to bivvy up for a week to get a run...
Success? or me, location is everything. I once spent 6 hours walking a big pit before casting a rod. Then just put one rod out into a small bay where I'd seen fish going back and forth... I had one run, 42.10 common. There were people on that pit who'd not even caught a fish that season, I kid you not. A very memorable day for me and just shows that half hour in the right spot is better than 3 days in the wrong one. I much prefer day only fishing and it's kept my passion for carp fishing alive. I think if I still session fished I would have quit and taken up golf or something. Oh and I note the oft quoted, travel light comments when talking about day only fishing... you don't have to and in a lot of cases, don't need to. Just use a barrow and fish off it, that way you can take all the gear you need. Some waters I fish are a rucksack, sling and low chair job. But others mean I need 3 rods, plus maybe a spod rod and even a marker rod. I might be fishing particles, so that's a bucket to carry and if rules ask for cradles or high sided mats, then I half to take one of those... get the picture? You take what you need. So, travel light is a bit of misnomer IMHO.
In reply to Post #1
lots of good advice already here
I mostly fish days only - get yourself familiar with the water and the fish behaviour - there are a couple of venues I fish where I know that I'll pick up maybe one or two between dawn and about 10.30 then it'll go quiet until about 3.00pm when the margins are the place to be.
Only know this through spending time there and paying attention to the water in front of me.
be prepared to use different tactics and bait - a feeder full of maggot can be way more effective than spodding for half an hour on some places. As said already - bread is a great daytime bait that can be fished on the float / hair rigged / zig rigged depending on where the fish are feeding in the water.
welcome to the forum and keep asking - there's no such thing a s dumb question... (well mostly)
lots of good advice already here
I mostly fish days only - get yourself familiar with the water and the fish behaviour - there are a couple of venues I fish where I know that I'll pick up maybe one or two between dawn and about 10.30 then it'll go quiet until about 3.00pm when the margins are the place to be.
Only know this through spending time there and paying attention to the water in front of me.
be prepared to use different tactics and bait - a feeder full of maggot can be way more effective than spodding for half an hour on some places. As said already - bread is a great daytime bait that can be fished on the float / hair rigged / zig rigged depending on where the fish are feeding in the water.
welcome to the forum and keep asking - there's no such thing a s dumb question... (well mostly)
Start off with a very simple rig.
Running lead, mono hook link, knotless knot and snowman bait. ( bottom bait with small pop up on the hair).
Running lead, mono hook link, knotless knot and snowman bait. ( bottom bait with small pop up on the hair).
In reply to Post #1
One thing I would add is to think about your bait/s, IMHO what you want from a good day fishing bait is quick attraction. For me that is pellets, paste, really soft boilies even groundbait, anything that is going to quickly release its goodies into the water and get the fish down feeding on your bait.
As others have said as well, NEVER forget the margins and if I'm fishing 2 rods on days I always have one right in my margin. Also I do think that if you are staying mobile / finding the fish / fishing the margins that being very quiet is essential.
One thing I would add is to think about your bait/s, IMHO what you want from a good day fishing bait is quick attraction. For me that is pellets, paste, really soft boilies even groundbait, anything that is going to quickly release its goodies into the water and get the fish down feeding on your bait.
As others have said as well, NEVER forget the margins and if I'm fishing 2 rods on days I always have one right in my margin. Also I do think that if you are staying mobile / finding the fish / fishing the margins that being very quiet is essential.
In reply to Post #1
Due to Covid bollox, my fishing has been curtailed to very short sessions (4hrs). What's worked for me is baiting a spot repeatedly, then when you fish location is taken out of the equation. Granted you can't do this on a lot of waters due to numbers of anglers..
Due to Covid bollox, my fishing has been curtailed to very short sessions (4hrs). What's worked for me is baiting a spot repeatedly, then when you fish location is taken out of the equation. Granted you can't do this on a lot of waters due to numbers of anglers..
In reply to Post #1
i fished a day only water called capesthorne hall back in the 90's, i liked that style of fishing so much i never really went back to doing nights, most of the last 25 years have been days only, sessions of 5-8hrs in length. what everyone else says is right, travel light, stalking, floaters, spend your time looking, it all helps
i'd add to that 'bite time', at least one poster has hinted at it in this thread, every lake has one, that time of day when the carp seem to switch on and get caught, dawn, dusk, mid morning, mid afternoon, each lake is different, find the bite time and fish your sessions around it. it would be no good fishing the afternoon/evening on a water where the majority of fish come out between 1 and 3am for instance, you'll just get crushed specially on the lower stocked/harder venues
it's worth watching them very closely, look for patterns in their behaviour, for example they may turn up in a certain swim at a certain time each day and you can capitalise on that with a short trip
venue choice and timing is important too, pick them carefully, well stocked waters are always good for a bite but don't neglect the harder big fish waters either, if you know bite time you can still get amongst the fish, i tend to target harder waters in late march/april/may. you know they are due out after winter and they are vulnerable to capture during that time, same for a water with an old close season, often they'll be vulnerable for the first month so it's worth selecting your venues to make best use of your time
i fished a day only water called capesthorne hall back in the 90's, i liked that style of fishing so much i never really went back to doing nights, most of the last 25 years have been days only, sessions of 5-8hrs in length. what everyone else says is right, travel light, stalking, floaters, spend your time looking, it all helps
i'd add to that 'bite time', at least one poster has hinted at it in this thread, every lake has one, that time of day when the carp seem to switch on and get caught, dawn, dusk, mid morning, mid afternoon, each lake is different, find the bite time and fish your sessions around it. it would be no good fishing the afternoon/evening on a water where the majority of fish come out between 1 and 3am for instance, you'll just get crushed specially on the lower stocked/harder venues
it's worth watching them very closely, look for patterns in their behaviour, for example they may turn up in a certain swim at a certain time each day and you can capitalise on that with a short trip
venue choice and timing is important too, pick them carefully, well stocked waters are always good for a bite but don't neglect the harder big fish waters either, if you know bite time you can still get amongst the fish, i tend to target harder waters in late march/april/may. you know they are due out after winter and they are vulnerable to capture during that time, same for a water with an old close season, often they'll be vulnerable for the first month so it's worth selecting your venues to make best use of your time
In reply to Post #12
Excellent advice,used to fish like that and still do.👍
Excellent advice,used to fish like that and still do.👍
In reply to Post #1
There isn't enough info in the carp mags aimed at people like us who can't spend days on end and pump tons of bait into a swim and just wait for a bite!
There isn't enough info in the carp mags aimed at people like us who can't spend days on end and pump tons of bait into a swim and just wait for a bite!
Spot on and this is why some of the lesser known anglers are more enjoyable to watch in YouTube for example.