The Same but Different - An Approach to Fishing Pressured Carp Waters
by Kieron Axten.

Part one.

Introduction

The chances are if you’re fishing a water with some decent fish in, is that they have seen every trick in the book. Or have they?

Pressured waters can be very frustrating to fish, but extremely rewarding when you do well. You know what it’s like, you turn up at the weekend and all the best swims are taken, so you can’t get to the fish. Confidence is low before you’ve even started. You chuck the rods out to the middle and hope for the best, we have all been there. There are so many things you can do to increase your chances if only you can be bothered. Wouldn’t you rather go home, knowing that you did the best you could under the circumstances, even if you blanked?

Which craft?

Watercraft often goes out of the window on really pressured waters as swims can be totally stitched up, and moving might not be an option. Your best chance of a good choice may be getting there very early or during the week. Stay sharp though as likely swims may become vacant. All the rules still apply with regards to fish showing etc. Keep an eye out for ignored swims or swims which have been rested for any period of time. These can attract fish seeking a bit of peace and quiet.

Don’t be embarrassed to climb trees. I once turned up for an afternoon session at Kingsbury Pine Pool, to find a lot of anglers had chosen to fish a shallow weedy bay on the left of the causeway. I climbed a tree to see what all the fuss was about. I was amazed at the view. Through the clear water I could see everything. Not a carp to be seen in the whole bay! I then walked round the lake, spotted some fish and proceeded to catch nine carp up to 23lb 8oz.

Try to remember when it comes to casting, that your first choice will more than likely be everybody else’s as well. You might well catch carp by fishing tight to the island or putting one on the gravel, but don’t put your money on them being the lakes cleverest residents. Fishing tight to regular spots can often result in smaller fish. A “bad” cast to the island can often be a better one, particularly when there are no overhanging features for wary carp to cling to. They will more than likely hug the bottom of the drop off.

A quick word about rigs

Let’s presume that you have already tried every terminal presentation under the sun. Sure, things like the Withy Pool rig and the Anchor rig can be killers, by all means use them, but I am trying to suggest that it may not be the only answer. Have you tried running leads? (If you’re worried about losing the “bolt rig” effect then tie a power gum stop knot a foot or so above the lead.) Small leads can make a big difference too, anything over an ounce or so on our canal in holding areas can be the kiss of death for hours, sometimes all day.

The title of this article refers to being different while still using contemporary “lead and boilie” methods since that’s what most carp anglers insist on using most of the time. So let’s take a look at what can be done to ring the changes when it comes to using boilies.

Size matters

In order to get a point across, I need to tell you about my first visit to Warmwell in Dorset. It was the week of the first winter frosts during late October. Only three fish came out all week between a dozen or so carp anglers bla..bla..bla!. Okay I’ll cut to the chase. I had two of them from different swims on opposite sides of the lake. I am only mentioning this as I am sure I was the only one using 8mm baits (air dried 10’s.)In conjunction with size 10 hooks, 8lb Silkworm, and 1oz leads. Coincidence? I am positive it was not!

If you are worried about using such small hooks, then you can up your hook size and use multiple bates or a snowman to nicely balance things out. Personally I would rather have a chance to lose, than to have no chance in the first place.

My largest fish on a size 10 barbless was a 27lb 4oz mirror, and I am sure that far bigger fish have been landed on similar hooks. Just ask Terry Hearn!

Chop and change

I can’t tell you how much of a fan I am of chopped and crushed baits. PVA bags, Grange crumb, single hookbait, small boys, jumpers for goal posts, mmm! Also the butterfly rig is hugely under rated. In case you haven’t heard of it, simply cut a bottom bait and a pop up in half and put them back to back on the hair, with the pop up on last so it sits up in the water. This has the advantage of extra flavour leakage and an amount of difficulty for the carp to mouth without getting hooked, not to mention the “critical balance” that can be achieved. The same goes for mounting small pieces of bait on the hair, something not done very often but well worth taking the time to do.

Some of my best results at Cuttle Mill where at a time when the fish where heavily into trout pellets. I made my baits into pellet shapes using a piping nozzle which was too small for the table, something which I bet many people have done by mistake. These big tasty pellets were at times devastating, in fact on the first occasion, my friend and I had twenty eight fish on them in just two days. They all came from an area the size of a snooker table and included several upper twenties. Also the freebies on this occasion where not boiled but simply dried for two nights, this is something which if you can get away with, I would highly recommend. Paste, even wrapped round a boilie increases the attraction enormously.

Bait shy?

Pressured carp can become very aware of beds of bait. It has been found by many good anglers that when fishing over large quantities of bait, bigger fish seem to come not from the middle of these beds, but from the outsides. Sometimes a single hookbait can be all that is needed.

Carp fishing literature is full of contradictions. This is because conditions are rarely the same twice, different lake, different pressure cycle, different day, different fish! It’s up to you to weigh it up the best you can with the knowledge you have, taking into consideration the level of angling pressure on the venue, amongst a myriad of other things.

Another thing I am convinced of is the old bait syndrome, Les Quis being a prime example. It’s rare that things kick off straight away there, Tob, (one of the owners) reckons that people aren’t really doing things right for the first couple of days. This is true, as people are usually still finding there feet. However there may be an added reason to this. Most of the baits used there are rock hard to avoid attention from crayfish and poisson chats, people might fish over it for two or three days, then give up in favour of trying another area. This is a mistake in my experience (five weeks fishing at Les Quis.) Tob will be the first to verify the effectiveness of his re used hookbait catching fish after fish on the same bait. It stands to reason that they will be less wary of the softer baits, starting to smell not as good as we would like, but the carp might! It has often been said that “lower” flavour levels can work wonders on pressured waters. Food for thought isn’t it?

Check out Part 2 of 'The same but different - An approach to pressured waters' when Kieron gives us more ideas on how we can keep ahead of the rest and put a few more fish on the bank. Click here to read more!