River fishing

[Salfordcarl]

I understand that location is by far the most important thing with all fishing. Especially river carping.

Now, I have nothing against walking the banks and looking, spending the time there, but what are the signs I should be looking for?

I have a couple of spots locally I think look likely but have never seen carp there or any fish for that matter. It’s fair to say my watercraft is somewhat lacking.

 

Any pointers?

[harpz_31]

glad you've asked this question carl because I'm looking at doing a season on the trent next year.

from what I've read river carp can very nomadic so fishing likely looking swims wont cut it but looking in certain places like slow deep swims for signs of carp will cut down bank time.

what people say on pre-baiting seems contradictory so its a personal choice but one ill be looking at.

[chillfactor]

Really depends on the type of river your fishing. The faster shallow & more natural rivers can be easier to work out where a good plsce to start is . As you might have a field or two of shallow fast moving water which then slows & deepens for a bit , always a good place to start for any specimen river fish where it first deepens after a shallow run ,  also on these rivers quite often there will only be one possible route for big fish to use in the shallower sections again another good place to set traps. 

On the deep slow coloured rivers it can be tricky like your finding spotting fish day to day , you might get lucky & one crashed out while on a wonder or you get to spot a couple in the margins but in my experience that's not that common , so it's more about picking somewhere out the way features or not & start baiting if there in the area there get on it . But wier pools old snags overhanging trees,  undercut banks etc are all worth a bit of bait . 

At work now so got to log out 

[Salfordcarl]

I’m going to bang some bait in and see. 

 

Its a almost still water bay near a bridge and island. Lilly’s a gravel bed. Near a boat moorings. Looks right so we’ll see what happens. 

[Salfordcarl]

15 hours ago, harpz_31 said:

glad you've asked this question carl because I'm looking at doing a season on the trent next year.

from what I've read river carp can very nomadic so fishing likely looking swims wont cut it but looking in certain places like slow deep swims for signs of carp will cut down bank time.

what people say on pre-baiting seems contradictory so its a personal choice but one ill be looking at.

I don’t have a ticket for mike and mike of river. Just dayticket stretches here and there. 

 

I may may be wasting my time but I’m going to give it a bash. 

 

 

Its its got to be better than a dayticket lake full of idiots casting all over the place, radios blasting etc

[The_Viking_Angler]

5 minutes ago, Salfordcarl said:

I’m going to bang some bait in and see. 

 

Its a almost still water bay near a bridge and island. Lilly’s a gravel bed. Near a boat moorings. Looks right so we’ll see what happens. 

From my experience, anywhere on a river or canal that has regulur boat moorings will usually hold fish. Many boat owners throw left over food directly into the water and the fish learn this. 

I would prebait the area over a couple weeks if feasible and then fish it. Don't over do it with the bait though as remember they'll likely have left over food from the boats too. 

[hnv]

Hi Mate,

The likely looking areas already mentioned are good places to start to locate river carp, especially any permanent boat moorings.

River carp can be somewhat nomadic in their travels but they are also creatures of habit. In my experience, most populations of river carp have a 'home' that will return to after their travels. If you are lucky enough to spot a carp in a stretch, that area is definately worth targeting. If you happen to see a feeding carp, then get a rig in there!