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Carp Balling Up (4 posts / 947 views)
badger_1 badger_1
Posts: 306
Post #1 27 Jan 2022 11:40
0
Keep hearing about how carp ball up in the winter when they arn't moving around and feeding much.

Sorry if this sounds like a daft question but I honestly do not know the answer.

If there are say 1000 carp in a lake. Does the term balling up mean that all 1000 of them group together somewhere in the lake, or are there pockets of fish balled up in different areas of the lake?
wandle1 wandle1
Posts: 7,469
Post #2 27 Jan 2022 12:55
0
It's a good question..

I can tell.you what I have seen over the last few weeks..

A water I know very well has approx 50 carp,It's a compact water..I found there are distinct groupings or variants,(gotta love that varient word) anyway I'm seeing small groups of up to 10 carp just cruising around ,not feeding,but not lethargic..either..

I note some larger individuals,that don't go with the groups much..
Most of the bigger boys,or girls are holed up in the spawning snags and not moved much at all..

But the other day,it was windy ,with a chop on the surface,I counted virtually every fish in the lake in the shallows..

Fishing ,catching wise,there is a significant window,this last for less than a few minutes,when it's proper dimpsy,and small fish start to top ,that's when action is forthcoming
scozza
Posts: 18,421
Post #3 27 Jan 2022 13:16
0
In reply to Post #1
Keep hearing about how carp ball up

I'm guessing somebody is using the hormone

Carp habits will vary from water to water depending on size and stock but they will shoal up. Posted on here a while ago now when the topic came around last time. I know a canal that has carp in it and at one end it opens up to a shallow bay that the sun burns in on during the morning, used to see them laid up like sardines in a tin some mornings. not big fish but lots of them!

Another example, saw the second biggest fish in the lake around a metre from the back under thin broken ice that was dropping through tails up puffing away at the silt on a freezing cold day!

Once read on another forum that had a guy had seen a massive shoal of carp in France balled up

Ultimately, bit of a no brainer for me, cold blooded creatures so they will sit in thermoclines and look for warm spots rather than sit in 4 degree, as we should

Canalcarper71 Canalcarper71
Posts: 1,389
Post #4 27 Jan 2022 16:56
0
In reply to Post #3
Ive found them stacked up when I've put my deeper out in February 2 years ago they looked like rows of fish sitting on top of one another i screen shorted it and sent it my brother as he was curious as he's a match angler and never saw this happen before.
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