Silt observation

[Pete Springate's Guns]

27 minutes ago, Carpmaster said:

Lol I have been even if it takes 4-5 recasts I’ll do t till I’m happy 

Wouldn’t worry about 4 or 5 mate, I’ve taken 20+ on occasion🤪

[bluelabel]

I've found that finely crumbed boilie lightly wetted so it gets sticky can work on the method and if you are using a bait that Bream won't take, you could use something like an 18grm method feeder and not plug it into the silt... one thing the match world has taught me, is NEVER move the lead or feeder once it's landed, of course this method's not going to work if you need a long chuck, but 20 -30 yards and it can be a goer....

[yonny]

10 hours ago, bluelabel said:

NEVER move the lead or feeder once it's landed

This.

I thought that this had been established as best practise 20 years ago lol.

[Carpmaster]

4 minutes ago, yonny said:

This.

I thought that this had been established as best practise 20 years ago lol.

Lol I’ve opened a can of worms here lol if I’m not sure I check especially on ‘‘this  water reason why  If it’s not in the right place and you can’t feel it down how you going to know if it’s fishing 6hrs after when you check your rig or when the hookbait is still suspended 
some of these spots are a kids plate in size 

[yonny]

10 minutes ago, Carpmaster said:

you can’t feel it down

Why can't you feel the lead down buddy?

[Carpmaster]

3 minutes ago, yonny said:

Why can't you feel the lead down buddy?

Distance mostly and wind there’s usually a bad crosswind that picks up your line

[Carpmaster]

Just now, Carpmaster said:

Distance mostly and wind there’s usually a bad crosswind that picks up your line

This particular water it’s like it’s got it’s own weather system whatever the weather man says prepare for the opposite lol it’s 2800 feet above sea level in a large valley between a few mountains 

[Carpmaster]

1 minute ago, Carpmaster said:

This particular water it’s like it’s got it’s own weather system whatever the weather man says prepare for the opposite lol it’s 2800 feet above sea level in a large valley between a few mountains 

Something else to think about is the water pressure increased the higher up you go or is it the same???

[yonny]

Imo pulling the lead back is the kiss of death. There is a significant chance you'll foul or even blunt the hook, regardless of what substrate you're fishing over. The obvious answer is to go to a heli set-up with the top bead set to cope with any of the substrates out there. You mentioned that everyone is doing this - there is a reason for that.

By all means keep your options open in terms of differentiating yourself from others, but make sure you have the very basics (presentation of a bait to a carp) right first.

13 minutes ago, Carpmaster said:

Something else to think about is the water pressure increased the higher up you go or is it the same???

You're over-thinking it imo mate. This water sounds tricky enough without coming up with new problems. Keep it simple. The focus needs to be on presenting a bait to a carp. If you spend the coming weeks trying to do that whilst watching the water like a hawk, the carp will give you the clues you require to fine-tune your approach in terms of location and tactics.

I think you're getting ahead of yourself by creating your own problems ("the silt furrows", "the fish don't act right", "the weather doesn't act right", "chods are for sheep", "it's too far/windy", "the water pressure....", etc, etc....).

Whack a couple of baits out where you have seen signs of carp, sit down, watch, and use the info that nature will give you if you look hard enough. Keep it simple. Enjoy it.

And get rid of the Fish-Spy lol. After all, that is what started this confidence issue you seem to have. No electronic device can ever be as effective as an angler tuned into the natural environment imo.

[carpepecheur]

3 hours ago, Carpmaster said:

Something else to think about is the water pressure increased the higher up you go or is it the same???

It is not clear what you mean by that question. The atmospheric pressure at the water surface will be less compared to waters at lower levels and will vary with current weather conditions.

Hydrostatic pressure will increase with depth of water in the same way as lakes at lower levels. What effect from pressure are you worried about?

Edited September 17, 2020 by carpepecheur

[Carpmaster]

I was just wondering if the water pressure was the same at this height

[elmoputney]

3 hours ago, yonny said:

Imo pulling the lead back is the kiss of death. There is a significant chance you'll foul or even blunt the hook, regardless of what substrate you're fishing over. The obvious answer is to go to a heli set-up with the top bead set to cope with any of the substrates out there. You mentioned that everyone is doing this - there is a reason for that.

By all means keep your options open in terms of differentiating yourself from others, but make sure you have the very basics (presentation of a bait to a carp) right first.

You're over-thinking it imo mate. This water sounds tricky enough without coming up with new problems. Keep it simple. The focus needs to be on presenting a bait to a carp. If you spend the coming weeks trying to do that whilst watching the water like a hawk, the carp will give you the clues you require to fine-tune your approach in terms of location and tactics.

I think you're getting ahead of yourself by creating your own problems ("the silt furrows", "the fish don't act right", "the weather doesn't act right", "chods are for sheep", "it's too far/windy", "the water pressure....", etc, etc....).

Whack a couple of baits out where you have seen signs of carp, sit down, watch, and use the info that nature will give you if you look hard enough. Keep it simple. Enjoy it.

And get rid of the Fish-Spy lol. After all, that is what started this confidence issue you seem to have. No electronic device can ever be as effective as an angler tuned into the natural environment imo.

When I first started reading this I thought you Carpmaster are making it harder than it needs to be, I totally agree these days keeping it simple is the key to everything, I learnt the hard way last year 😁

Find the fish, Feed the fish, present a bait they can eat, and keep refining it until you think you understand what's going on, and stack all the little % in your favour, 

I bought a fishspy, I sold it after trying to use it once,was a right chore,didn't connect properly and didn't seem to help, I just needed to scratch that itch but it turns out I was better off before just using a lead and or marker float, I might be presenting my bait in what appears a great substrate but the reality is it may be less than perfect,I can't see it so I won't know 100%, but I am happy with that, ignorance is bliss sometimes, if you feel confident you will fish well, seeing too much will make you lose confidence or make it seem impossible.

I do remember something you said to me a while back, it is better to do the basics well rather than overcomplicate things and do them less well (or something like that) 😁

But for me the difference has been staggering between this year and last, and all because I've been consistent and kept it simple, learnt from the blanks and learnt from the triumphs,

So as someone who has been down this rabbit hole and still peeks occasionally, keep it simple, they are still carp, just slightly different to some others 

Good luck 

[Carpmaster]

1 minute ago, elmoputney said:

When I first started reading this I thought you Carpmaster are making it harder than it needs to be, I totally agree these days keeping it simple is the key to everything, I learnt the hard way last year 😁

Find the fish, Feed the fish, present a bait they can eat, and keep refining it until you think you understand what's going on, and stack all the little % in your favour, 

I bought a fishspy, I sold it after trying to use it once,was a right chore,didn't connect properly and didn't seem to help, I just needed to scratch that itch but it turns out I was better off before just using a lead and or marker float, I might be presenting my bait in what appears a great substrate but the reality is it may be less than perfect,I can't see it so I won't know 100%, but I am happy with that, ignorance is bliss sometimes, if you feel confident you will fish well, seeing too much will make you lose confidence or make it seem impossible.

I do remember something you said to me a while back, it is better to do the basics well rather than overcomplicate things and do them less well (or something like that) 😁

But for me the difference has been staggering between this year and last, and all because I've been consistent and kept it simple, learnt from the blanks and learnt from the triumphs,

So as someone who has been down this rabbit hole and still peeks occasionally, keep it simple, they are still carp, just slightly different to some others 

Good luck 

Thanks elmo

[NorthWestCarpCatcher]

I too fish a lake with a very silty/sandy soft bottom. When you watch the fish close in you can see the bottom pluming up just off their tale movements. I use a 2oz lead on helicopter set up utilising leadcore leaders. I have my top bead set to around 3 feet though. The leads plug so much so that you can't really pull back, I use this to my advantage though as I feel it only helps to drive the hook home further on the take. I use a stiff coated braid as the hooklink and a balanced wafter as the bait so that when the leader settles on the bottom the hooklink finds its natural position on the leader and kicks away without being submerged into the silt, a small pva mesh bag of around 5 crushed boilies also protects the hook point. And I have to say it's worked so far, I'm getting no funny indications and every fish I've caught is absolutely nailed bottom lip. My concern is if the rig is picked up and ejected and this soft bottom is pluming up so much that then a chance of another bite may have gone, as the rig has the potential to be submerged into the silt. So I tend to recast atleast once more that day for the night if I haven't had any action. I also tend to use boilies and tigers as feed as I feel like smaller particles will just be engulfed by the bottom with any disturbance in the area, bigger baits have more of a chance of staying above the sediment. It certainly took a while to get used too after fishing weedy gravel pits. Not a spot of weed in this lake though, which is nice. 

[emmcee]

On 14/09/2020 at 14:13, Carpmaster said:

I have been fishing in the silt I have been wondering if it’s that obvious to me where the lead is how obvious is it to the carp 

Way over thinking this in my opinion.  If as you say in a later post the lead leaves a crater in the silt then being inquisitive creatures the Carp would be more than likely to investigate it than be wary of it. 

Chod rig all the way for me on that kind of lake. 4 or 5 oz lead so it plugs in the silt deep to set the hook firm. 

I used to fish a lake that, at one end where the gravel workings used to be the sandy/silt (more like sludge) was upto 3feet deep in places (I know this as I was stuck in it once in my chest waders, quite frightening if I'm honest). Plenty of anglers fished the area for little reward.  You would see the big plumes of coloured water when the fish were there. My first time in there and I used Chod rigs on 6foot of lead core,  4oz leads on and caught half a dozen. 4oz lead in silt becomes a pound of lead or more, sets the hook, job done. 

[framey]

Use the silt to your advantage 

if the lead plugs it’s extra weight to set the hook Just means you can use a lighter lead than normal

[NorthWestCarpCatcher]

27 minutes ago, framey said:

Use the silt to your advantage 

if the lead plugs it’s extra weight to set the hook Just means you can use a lighter lead than normal

Exactly my thinking mate. Or experiment and use heavier leads and see how that affects your hook holds. If you've caught a few already that is.

[salokcinnodrog]

The lake I'm fishing is a mix of silt and weed, very few hard areas other than a Causeway through the middle of it. 

There are two types of silt, under the trees, (basically one end) there is black smelly silt, the rest is sandy coloured. 

 

I have waded out into it, (most of the lake is no deeper than chesties) you can see or step into, fish cleared deeper holes, they will dig into it for food. A day after wading out, you can see your trails from the previous walk. 

Hemp sits on top, or just slightly under the top, yet I think boilies can sink in. 

I have not yet seen a boilie the day after putting them in, even by hand. I do not know if this is fish (very few silvers) or sinking in, but I think it's them gradually sinking into silt. 

I have not found any problems with 3oz leads plugging, and sticking, you can reel in with no issues, unless you hit weed. 

I don't pull the lead back on any lakebed. I may feel it down, but never pull back.