| Winter Bait Application | |
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Unlike humans, a carps need to feed is purely instinctive; they feed to fulfil a nutritional requirement. As the temperatures drop the carps metabolism slows down and their need to feed becomes less frequent. Having worked in a tackle shop for nearly ten years, I regularly found myself answering questions from customers who were somewhat unsure about certain areas of carp fishing, and more often than not the area of most uncertainty seemed to be bait, or more specifically bait application. This can be confusing for any angler, no matter how experienced, but at this time of year baiting levels become much more critical and the dividing line between success and failure becomes finer. “How much bait should I put in?” is not an easy question to answer, not only because each venue is different, but also there are many factors to consider before we can come up with a solution to the problem. All too often I see anglers giving no thought whatsoever to their bait application, and on crowded or highly pressures venues their careless approach can prove detrimental not only to themselves but to other anglers. After location I feel bait application (especially at this time of year) is the hardest aspect of carp fishing to come to terms with. In this feature I hope to highlight some of the important factors for you to bear in mind before bringing the catapult out to play during the colder months. Stock: Establishing a good idea of just how many fish are in your chosen venue is a wise first move. Apart from carp, what other species are present? Tench, bream, crayfish, etc…can all consume bait intended for carp. Also, how big are the carp you are fishing for? It goes with out saying that a group of 20lb+ carp can consume more food than a group of single or double figure fish.
Target: What are you goals? Are you targeting a one big carp or numbers of carp? If you are fishing for numbers of carp on a heavily stocked venue then more bait may be required in order to hold the fish in your area. If a single big carp is your target it may pay to do your homework prior to your visit. Looking back are your target carp’s previous captures, it may become possible to determine a favoured or preferred feeding area in which to concentrate your attentions. In this instance small amounts of bait in a recognised feeding area may be the best approach. Size of Venue: From my experience carp residing in larger venues tend to be more nomadic than their smaller water counterparts. In such instances more bait may be required in initially attract the carp in to your area and also keep them there. Small-water carp may require small pockets of bait offered in likely or recognised feeding areas. Angling Pressure: Are there many other anglers fishing your chosen venue and what quantities of bait are they using? When was the area you are fishing last fished, and has the area received much bait prior to your visit? Both are valid questions and yet too few anglers seem to give them much thought or consideration. At this time of year jumping in to an area that has recently received large quantities of bait might not be the best move. While it is not always possible to know how much bait is already in your swim, it is worth having a look around the peg or even in the margins to see if there is any evidence of anyone having recently vacated. If you have chosen a popular swim or you are casting to a known mark or visible feature, then chances are there are other anglers baits out there. In such instances, especially if I only had a short session ahead of me (24-hours or less), I’d probably favour a single hookbait or PVA bag / stringer trap. Any longer than 24-hours and I’d probably introduce some “background” feed into the swim. This is when it pays to have a rough idea of the stock in your venue to try and ascertain how quickly bait will get eaten. Weather: I always check out the long range weather forecast before embarking on a session. It may be mild at the start of the session, but that may only be short lived By having a good idea of what the weather has in store it may make it easier to formulate your baiting strategy. Timing: What time do the carp feed in your venue? Feeding times will vary from water to water and may well change from week to week, but being able to ascertain a possible feeding time makes it possible to plan your baiting situation around it. Ideally I would like my swim to remain undisturbed for at least one hour either side of a potential feeding spell, and I would avoid casting or baiting up around these times. A carps inactivity during the winter months means that if a fish is spooked away from your baiting area it may take far longer to return than during the warmer months. Bait Choice: My choice of bait for the winter months doesn’t change from my summer bait. Its important to have 100% confidence in the bait you are using, I do, however, favour smaller baits during the winter period, with my preference being baits of 10mm; the reason being the smaller baits mean the carp needs to work harder to fulfil their nutritional requirement. Also, I feel fifty 10mm free offerings looks much more appealing to the carp than a dozen 15mm baits.
Once a boilie has been broken open the attracters inside the bait flood out, jut like the tea bags! Crumbed and chopped baits feature heavily in my baiting plans at any time of year, as only a small amount can create an attractive feeding situation with little risk of over feeding. I also like to incorporate hemp into my baiting strategy. I find that just half a dozen small spods of hempseed is enough to create and attractive highly appealing feeding situation, which provides the carp with enough food to maintain their interest with out the danger of over feeding. I like to further boost the attraction of my hempseed by adding a small quantity of crushed Mainline Hempseed Pellets plus a big squirt of Mainline’s Pellet & Particle Syrup.
Quick breakdown pellets are a very good choice of bait for cold water carping. I like the idea of there being the “scent” of food in the swim to in an attempt to get the carp working harder to find the actual food source.
Baits such as maggots and casters prove increasingly popular with many anglers at this time of year. It may sound a strange statement, but on waters where species such as roach and bream are present, a regular trickle of maggots or casters can soon get these smaller species competing for food. As a result of which, the activity from these feeding fish can often bring the inquisitive carp in to the feeding area.
/PIC-5.jpg) In conditions like these, you really need to thinking carefully about your baiting approach! No doubt in recent weeks you will have read a great deal about winter carp fishing in the various carp angling magazines. Each writer will have their preferred winter approach or baiting plan for this time of year, and it is inevitable there will be disagreement or conflicting opinions. As I mentioned earlier each venue is different and as well as the factors listed above, length of session and the degree of difficulty may also come into the equation. I guess the best advice I can offer at this time of is to err on the side of caution. Once the bait is in the swim you can’t take it back out again! Putting in only a small amount of bait at the start of a session gives you the option to increase accordingly. It’s never going to be easy going at this time of year, but I am sure if you get your location right, think carefully about your baiting strategy I am sure more carp will come your way. Source: Mainline Baits |
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