I fish Hockley Angling Club and am having trouble locating the bigger fish that the water holds. There are carp up to around 26lbs, but I can only seem to catch fish of 2-7lbs. I’m not ungrateful for these fish, it’s just that I want to improve my pb.
What methods (i.e. baiting/baiting arrangements) have worked for you during short sessions? I usually fish Saturdays for about 10-12 hours, so I really have to go with a swim that i think will hold carp .
Thanks,
Lee White age 13
In my experience, big Carp are attracted to a feeding frenzy of smaller fish, but would stay on the fringes because they are more careful, allowing smaller naïve Carp to compete with each other and make the mistake of picking up a hookbait. Rarely would a big Carp bully its way in amongst competing Carp to feed. Instead, they would either keep at a distance waiting to move in when they are more confident, or they would pick off food from the edges of a baited area.
If I fish a water that contains a large head of smaller Carp, then I tend to bait one spot quite heavily with smaller baits such as Sweetcorn, mini-boilies, pellets or maggots and fish with one rod on in the middle of the baited area and the other rod just off the baited area with a larger bait. The rod just off the baited area, in my opinion, would almost certainly produce the bigger Carp. When this happens fish both rods on the edges of the baited area to pick off the bigger Carp, but keep topping up the baited area to keep the smaller Carp occupied and competing.
Another method would be to use bigger hookbaits from the off. You’ll be surprised how big the mouth is of a 26lb Carp! Don’t be afraid to use 22mm or 24mm boilies if you are using boilies.
Tight Lines,
Gaffer
