salokcinnodrog

Carp will pick up and spit out even definite foods, I have watched it happen with maggots, bloodworm, sweetcorn, boilies. Sometimes they come back and take them again, sometimes they leave them. We choose foods by taste, carp don't have that recognition. What tastes good to us is not always what carp want, and what they like, I'm positive I don't think tastes nice; worms, maggots, slugs... Add to that your hook, if it behaves differently from the free baits, carp (and other fish) will reject the bait. Carp and chub are specialists in the identification of hookbait. To some extent the more free bait, the less chance of them identifying the hookbait, or more correctly the pre-occupation they feed with less wariness.

Interesting one this. Carp will eat animal matter, bloodworm, maggots, worms and slugs etc, they can easily be digested, and are a viable food source. In theory, meat and fish would also be good protein sources, however I think from memory carp and other cyprinids lack the enzymes to digest meat in its whole form. They can only utilise 'surface' nutrition. It gets excreted as most things do, a 'squidgy' mess. Carp have been caught on dead fish, squid, steak, liver etc; almost every year a pike angler has a carp pick up and get hooked on deadbaits. One of the best baits going years ago at Savay was a mix of liquidised squid and liver, stiffened with semolina, then boiled. It produced numbers of fish, and still works. I can't remember which bait company it was, but instead of using eggs was using liquidised wet fish with a bird food base. The bait caught plenty of fish, but could not be kept on the bank for very long, there was no shelf life version. A long while ago back in this thread I mentioned liquidising maggots and casters and putting them in baits. I was trying to give a natural amino acid profile while having the resistance to small fish. Again, it worked, but got time consuming. I think as I understand it, Once a meat or fish is processed, either liquidising or dried and processed into a meal, then it can be utilised by the carp. This also makes making boilies easier, we can work out a decent bait containing everything the fish need, vitamins and minerals, proteins, fats and carbohydrates. This brings us onto Fred Wilton The easiest way is to quote from Bait Evolution Fred believed that carp, like any wild creature, given the choice over time, would show a distinct preference for a food source that offered it the perfect balanced diet fulfilling all or most of it’s nutritional needs. Given the choice of a food source that is nutritionally nearly perfect against various much less nutritional food sources, the carp would show more and more preference for the nutritionally perfect food source, if it was applied to a lake consistently over a period of time. Flavours were only added to the baits as a ‘label’ and not as the primary attraction source. The base mix is what the fish wanted and the flavour simply allowed the carp to identify the food source and differentiate it from other food.

I won't join mainline to a leader with a loop to loop knot, I think that a proper leader knot is tidier and stronger. What knot I use is determined by the thickness of the lines being joined. If they are a similar diameter it will be a water knot or uni knot to uni knot, if the leader is thicker than the mainline it will be a shockleader knot; overhand knot in the leader, then uni knot through and down the leader, wet and pull tight. I have actually broken the hook when it stuck in rocks on the lakebed rather than my Amnesia leader cracking off! I did use TFG clear looped leaders for a while, they have a fused loop, even with them I would uni knot through and down the loop. Using large rubber beads I was sure if I smashed off, the rig and beads could be ejected. I do think that if you have to use a leader, that a helicopter set-up where the beads and rig can be ejected (never the lead) is safer than a lead clip. If you do use a lead clip then the lead MUST be able to be ejected if you smash up.

I know a lot of waters have not been producing many fish because of the hot weather we had for so long. Simple answer is walk and look for fish, put bait in, and keep an eye on it. I would be baiting up with pellets or Vitalin, even sweetcorn, then walking round and doing the same in a number of spots, and keep looking at them regularly through the day, maybe eventually dropping a hookbait in on the lift float. That technique has worked for me on plenty of waters, from heavily fished lakes, to lakes that are hardly fished.

Maize is tough, soak it for 24 hours, in water and the flavours, boil for about 20 minutes, it will still be hard, so a bait drill is handy before putting it on a baiting needle. You don't need the flavour, but anything is worth trying... I would be fishing for those Muskies and Northern pike in the northern states. I would suggest giving @buzzbomb our American moderator a message, he can probably help you far better with American style carp fishing and ideas than I can.

Indeed, that elastic through the method feeder could leave a fish trailing hook, and feeder if the mainline snapped, and aggressive takes could easily snap you up. Years ago I used to put a length of soft tubing over the hooklink swivel with a braid hooklink. Before the cast stretch the tubing down the hooklink, and allow it to retract. It would pull the hooklink back inside. On a take the hooklink would extend, an elasticated, or extending rig.

The other thing in your favour is (I presume you are in the USA), most of the carp you are fishing for are pretty much unpressured, very little angler pressure. As a result they will eat most things as so few people are fishing for them. Even then, you have 'best' baits, maize is cheap and easy to use, and boilies in America harder to get hold of, mostly imported or homemade. Maize and sweetcorn are actually high in the amino acid lysine, which I believe is a feed inducer in its own right. Certainly when things are tough, I know sweetcorn, even in a temperate UK winter, daytime temperature of around 4-5 degrees Celsius, (I wasn't night fishing), was at times the go to bait, producing fish when boilies didn't. Nick

6 years in my flat for me. The no wife and no (actually grown up) kids is bitter sweet for me. When Liz and I were together, I thought it was for life, sadly she didn't see it that way. I ended up homeless and living on the streets. Because I have been down and out I think myself lucky that I do have my flat, so I am happy with every day, even if it is not the best. @fangus15 enjoy every day Mate, throw those flies, and in the winter drown the deadbaits. Take care and never give in

Only 1😉

Same here, 4 or 5 turns of the leader on the reel

Yonny, The Poles have actually started their own breeding program, back in the 1970's, and have moved away from the original Galician strain. Males were collected from the Vistula, and females from Golys, they are now into the 5th generation (breeding years 1973, 75, 86, 90 and 93), to improve the growth rate. Standard colour is yellowish brown with mostly irregular mirror scaling. Since the rise of carp fishing, and farming (for food and fishing), many European countries have gotten into carp breeding.

Kev, To be honest I think my ability to recognise swims is down to my memory and being in the autistic spectrum. On many waters I have fished, I have walked it so often I know almost every swims bank features, although swim trimming does occasionally confuse me. Heck yes. If you know a particular fish comes from a particular area, if you are targetting that fish you can get a head start by knowing the swim from the picture.

As much as I agree, I'm the person who can recognise swims by what is behind on a number of waters. I can't remember who it was on here, but somebody put a picture taken at night and I told them the lake and peg the picture was taken in. (Taverham Mills, peg 25) A mate of mine locally has taken to cropping his night taken chub pictures to remove background not to stop me finding his spots, (I know many of them myself anyway, we regularly bump into each other on the river), but to stop other anglers. If you have flag iris in flower on your water, that really brightens up a shot. The yellow flowers do look good.

I can get reasonable night pictures on my phone, but definitely prefer the camera flash. The mirror was taken on the camera, good flash, no extra lighting, the common on my phone. I don't think the common picture is as good, you have a 'merge' between my t-shirt and the background, whereas with the mirror, same colour hoodie (and they are even now) you can see the difference. I can definitely see the benefit of video lights, heck my dad used them years ago when filming television programmes at night (he was a vision mixer, cameraman and studio designer for London Weekend Television, and used them on outside broadcasts), but I do find I already take so much gear that extra lighting is too, too much. My current camera is a Canon Eos, no bells or whistles, just flash and self timer, which to be honest I have gotten used to. I was on Fuji Finepix, but water killed two, so picked up the Eos for £5 on the bay.

My Spomb is hit the marker distance, clipped up and then sorted. I do prefer mono on the Spod/Spomb rod.😉

Can be a very good idea. Google a place can throw up some very interesting maps or satellite images. Does anyone remember this one?

There is a 'but' in that: all animals require nutrition, be it vitamins and minerals, protein, fats and carbohydrates. Bread is a ball of carbohydrate, pretty much instant energy; the first nutritional requirement to be fulfilled is energy. Carp will eat most things, or try them. Forget the word bait for a minute, change it for food. There you have the nutritional requirement, protein, fats, carbohydrates. If you can provide a food that the carp can eat long term, you are supplying (as an example) every week, then they may actively search it out. In fact, you can prove this with farm fish, throwing pellets in, they are ready and waiting, and will eat them every time. No fishing pressure, but a food. Now swap it back in as bait. A fair few years ago at Taverham I baited up a fishmeal bait every day in a particular spot and time. (The joys of running the place). There were fish that were there almost every day, and feeding as soon as the boilies went in. I could drop boilies in on top of them, and they ripped the bottom up. Another area I baited regularly, the carp would feed heavily in the area, not just my bait, but tearing up the bottom for bloodworm as well. I could fish this bait in pretty much every swim, and know the carp would take it readily if they found it. Now we come to why carp may stop taking a particular boilie. You simply aren't feeding enough to get them to eat comfortably. They have become wary. They know the food is good, but if every time they eat it a big predator hooks them, stresses them out and lifts them out of the water, may start to leave it. Prebaiting again regularly may be enough to get them feeding and taking the bait as food again, or in many anglers cases it is the reason to change baits. I have tried using baits made from liquidised maggots, casters and worms. The real thing produces more fish than boilies, but small fish can be a nuisance.

Same here. While fishing Nazeing I would sit looking at pictures of 16.11, going through the times of year she came out and what swims she was caught from. Never got close. Other people caught her fairly quickly, I fished the lagoons for 5 years and avoided her and the other 40's. I caught other fish, but nothing over 32. I fished the same as them, no big fish. I did my own thing, same result. I think I posted it on here before, I fished Bromeswell one day, was chuffed to bits with a carp going just into double figures. I fished Nazeing for a couple of nights, and I caught a 10lb mirror, which was a let down. The other thing that may be relevant is that I don't often fish waters for specific fish, Nazeing was an exception, but even there almost any fish was a good fish. My best session on there was a winter session, where I had walked around before I started. 3 20's and a double after the lagoons thawed, I was pretty sure I had found fish when I set up.

I am humming and haa'ing about splitting this topic up as Elmo and Yonny have put in a very important view, that I follow. I go onto almost every water, even every session, knowing I will catch. My confidence is in my bait, which I know works, I know my rigs are effective. That does not mean that I am using the most up to date super fashionable rig, but that I can find the fish, put my rig in front of them and create a feeding situation that works to get them to take my hookbait. Strangely at Nazeing, on The Central and South, at times I think I was not confident in what I was doing. I was beaten before I arrived. Yet the times I caught I had had a good walk round, seen fish and set up on them. I wasn't able to spend time there when I wasn't fishing, so may have missed out. On Alton, I didn't necessarily see them, but somehow knew I had got it right, possibly because I had spent so much time round there. It is 5miles from my home compared to 70.

No point in being unhappy, it doesn't get you anywhere, says the person who can suffer from severe depression😖😉 Single, reckon most of the time that is better for me. Work, surviving, got a few things on the burner, one of which could see me at my last place of work, even if it is a step down in responsibility, but possibly going onwards and upwards again. Friends, that is good, related to fishing, a long time fishing buddy and I got into the syndicate we both wanted. I was able to repay a long time favour. Years ago when I was struggling he lent me the money to join Earith, which he allowed me to pay back over time, think it took me 18months for £300. This year as he is self employed and not earning until the end of August, I was able to pay his syndicate fees, which I'm not in any hurry for, when it comes it come, if it does. (Not being funny, but I am not worried if he doesn't pay it back). Fishing, I do have to wait until 1st September to get carp fishing on the syndicate, but I have been looking at the Wensum, and keeping in touch with a couple of big barbel areas. Like Elmo I find this coronavirus rationale boring, along with the disagreements mask or no mask, lockdown or freedom. You make a point and keyboard warriors are looking to cause trouble. I have had to work with it. Hygiene has been a way of life, tissue or napkin over face when sneezing or coughing, washing hands after binning said tissue, before serving every customer, in the restaurant or bar, social distancing in the restaurant and bar.

No Mate, that is the length I found worked for me on that water. I would say the fish were regularly pressured and fished for.

I would play around with inline leads, and found that rubber tulip beads would hold better than the Korda insert. A couple of manufacturers rubber buffer beads also hold inside the lead. I did go through a stage of neoprene sleeving on the (original) Korda stiff plastic insert to hold onto the swivel. This is a rubber tulip bead in an inline lead. Think that holds pretty well, I'm lifting the lead up myself from the worktop.

Totally slack line, or as slack as you can get it. I cast out, and tighten to the lead, which sounds wrong, then I put the rod tip under water, pull line off the spool as I get the rod on the buzzer, keeping the tip under water until the last second of lifting onto rest, with as much slack as possible. I put indicator on, knowing it will pull slack out of the water, so pull more line off reel, until indicator goes straight down. The line after I have finished will be running over every rod ring, and should be dropping straight down from the rod tip. It may take a while for the line to sink, and settle, so you may need to pull a little more line off the reel a couple of times. If your indicator starts lifting you will see you need to give a bit more slack.

Even if you 'land' on gravel there is often a layer of silt on it. The lead plugs in, you drag it free, then you tighten the line. Best bet is to cast, gently reel in, slowly, until the line tightens, do NOT move the lead.

Don't forget that water transmits vibration differently to air😉 I watched the semi-fixed lead, and the inline lead that pulled off the swivel; neither of them is a true running set-up. Got bored at that point as what happens on the bank is not what happens underwater. A true running lead needs to be fished slack line, and an inline lead has some increased resistance over a run ring, more so on tubing! You can get single bleeps from (small) fish hitting the line hanging from the rod tip. I found with running leads I got a couple of bleeps then a screamer. My preferred way to fish a running lead with slack line is put the line in a clip above the reel as well. Thought I still had a pic hanging around. This was my running lead on tubing set-up I used on Nazeing, and still use now.