26.08.2015

Catch Carp On Small Waters!

Author: CC Moore
Categories: Tactics

The majority of my angling over the past few years has been on small waters, and by this I mean waters no larger than 10 acres in size, such as small intimate pools and medium-sized lakes.

The best aspect regarding these smaller waters is the rate at which your fishing can improve, as small waters are great places for honing your observational skills as you can quite easily stay in-tune with all areas of the lake at all times. The following aspects outlined in this piece are a brief guideline and areas I feel have had strong influence towards my angling success on small, generally quite pressured waters.

Spot- prepping

One highly effective technique on small waters is prepping a variety of spots around the lake, particularly marginal spots that can be checked back on a regular basis to determine if fish have been visiting that area. Prepping marginal spots not only significantly increases your chances of getting multiple bites, it also helps determine particular areas that the fish favour and at what times of the day fish have visited these spots. Making mental notes of productive areas can help build a better strategy for fishing the lake, as fish may prefer certain areas of the lake for example at first light when the sun warms certain margins compared to other areas throughout the day. Prepping a variety of spots will open options when staying mobile or turning up to the lake late in the day. Baiting marginal areas and watching fish being active over these spots can help indicate the behaviour of the fish on a given day, some days you may get multiple fish visiting a spot willing to feed, indicating that they are in the particular mood for a heavy feed. Whereas, other days, you may only get the odd fish drifting into spots, picking off small bits of bait, indicating that large beds of bait may not be the one on that given day and something like a small handful of bait here and there will lead to greater success.

Stealthy approach

It’s talked about a lot, but hardly ever practiced from my observation of other anglers, but being aware of your surroundings and adopting a stealthy approach will minimise suspicious behaviour from the carp and will not doubt lead to greater success. Not so long ago, I was stalking in a quiet corner on a small lake when a guy decided to thud straight up to me to ask if I had seen anything showing, while managing to scare every fish that I had feeding not 2ft from the bank away, not to be seen again for a good few hours. Just take your time to be aware of not only respecting other anglers fishing, but minimising bank disturbance such as being light footed, not casting shadows over the water and setting up back from the waters edge. These small, but highly important aspects are often overlooked, but vital when targeting carp on small waters. Furthermore, a stealthy approach is important in terms of rig placement and baiting, especially when targeting marginal areas. Lowing rigs into place slowly, avoiding any sudden movements and actions that will cause unnecessary vibrations, such as donking the lead down hard are aspects to pay close attention to. Carp are very in-tune with their surroundings and alien actions are likely to cause alarm, such as tight lines through a marginal area or rods placed directly over the waters edge.

Bait choice

Bait choice and how you go about baiting links very closely to the two aspects already outlined above, but is just as important, if not more when targeting small waters, as in many cases these fish are slightly more pressured and acute to anglers baits down to the size of the waters in ratio to the amount of anglers and bait they see per acre. From previous experience of watching fish feed over clear marginal areas, it’s quite clear that they are much more willing/ eager to feed on smaller, less obvious food items such as small pellets and particle. These baits are hard to present on the rig, so its important to minimise suspicious behaviour by using less obvious bait items such as chopped boilies and a mixture of pellet sizes. Not only does a mixture of bait release a constant stream of attractors as they break down, but they decrease the chance of carp avoiding obvious bait items including the hook bait.

These three areas have always had great influence over my small-water angling and have no doubt led to more bites in many circumstances. Being aware of the water you are fishing and tailoring your approach to maximise your chances will no doubt lead to greater success in the future.

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