15 Carp Fishing Paste Bait Tips!

Do your big carp catches need a boost?! Paste has always been outstanding carp bait and many carp anglers over-look so many great ways of applying it on hooks, rigs and exploiting it in many other ways. Why miss out on exploiting very crafty methods to fool very many more big wary carp! Here are 15 essential big fish paste tips to stimulate your thinking and your catches!

Paste baits have always been superior in many ways to boilies because they have no barrier to the release of all their attraction and in fact can be so effective in this release that they melt into the water pretty much completely; all this soluble bait is rapidly dispersed in the water and pulls the fish magnificently to the bait!

1. Fishing over paste baits means you can fish over broken down bait that more wary and more experienced big fish can very often find much more comfortable feeding with confidence over than with whole pellets and boilies!

3. Paste baits are very handy as they are sticky and can be molded around baits, hooks, leads and anything else you like so it is easily delivered by many means that carp will not have experienced much in the recent past.

4. You can use the dough from proprietary bait company base mixes and other ingredients to make your own homemade baits for relatively little cost compared to buying silly little amounts of paste at stupid prices!

5. You can easily begin by using ready made paste from bait companies that match your free ready made baits and immediately practice using pastes and catching on them!

6. Many anglers only seem how to make a fishing paste out of scalded trout or halibut pellets for instance, but this is the tip of the tip of the ice-berg! Dough type baits are one of the easiest and quickest carp baits to make quite apart from being exceptionally effective, and they can be made from the cheapest ingredients and still keep working for big fish (and you can make a unique and different bait every single time!)

7. You can vary characteristics of your bait so it is harder, softer, less or more resilient to nuisance fish like roach, more or less buoyant, have unusual textures and incorporate all kinds of things for special effects including micro pellets and crushed seeds and nuts like hemp and tiger nuts.

8. A very basic bread flake and yeast extract bait was common beginning for many carp anglers 30 years ago getting more into catching carp, and such very simple baits still work and prove you never need to spend a fortune on expensive baits!

9. To make a carp fishing bait dough a little unusual or alternative is very easy but to make a great bait dough takes some knowledge of carp senses and specific substances and ingredients and their components but you can make small economical amounts of bait using aquatic feeds for catfish, cold water fish and koi for instance.

10. A basic starter mix can be made by adding crushed aniseed-flavour Red Band bird food, crushed Koi feed or halibut pellet powder together, with eggs or even water in the mix.

11. The legendary bird food additive called Robin Red is great in soft pastes at high or low levels and there are alternative such as Cypry Red from Willis Worms among others!

12. You can base your homemade baits on proprietary base mixes with all the trimmings such as liquid foods, betaine, butyric acid, garlic concentrate, whey protein and casein, fish meals, enhancers and sweeteners like Talin and flavors and so on, or get all your ingredients from a supermarket often much cheaper!

13. Using odd-shaped soft baits gets around the fact that most wary carp find it very much easier to avoid and reject machine-rolled uniform sized and shaped boilies and pellets!

14. You can make your homemade paste baits on the bank so they are even fresher than most ready made baits can ever be - which is a very important point!

15. If you begin with experimenting with soft bait recipes which contain a high level of soluble sugars, marine, insect, fish, liver, yeast and milk and vegetable proteins for instance and your baits will release an explosion of carp attraction far quicker than your friends boilies - so you can expect even more action!

It is a fact today on many carp waters that the so-called smaller species have grown big by consuming expensive ready made baits used in such volumes. This change of behaviours and dietary preferences in many waters shows the impact of the nutritional attraction of boilies and this attraction and your catches can be seriously multiplied by boosting certain levels of substances in your baits!

This especially includes the concentrations and levels of very specific natural attractors, feeding triggers and appetite simulators for example. For insider information on homemade bait making and recipes, see my dedicated bait secrets site Baitbigfish now; why not improve your catches for life!

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5 Carp Fishing Tips For Beginners

Tip 1. Choosing a suitable carp water

Choosing a water to carp fish on is heavily dependent on what you want to achieve from the sport. Whether you are looking for some peace and quiet in the countryside, a tough challenge or just to catch as many fish as possible there is a water for you.

Club waters - These are waters available to fish upon joining an angling club or society. These are usually one of the cheapest ways of getting carp fishing with angling clubs all over the UK from as little as £40 a year to fish. Clubs are very variable though and your enjoyment of the sport will often depend on the other members and types of fishing they prefer. e.g. If you join a popular club for match fishing you can often expect your fishing to be curtailed on a Sunday morning by a match fixture. The best approach is often to contact a club and ask if it is possible to walk round a venue to get a feel for the place and chat to a few anglers.

Day ticket waters - These are now the most common waters for carp angling and typically offer the easiest way to catch that first big carp. The downside of day ticket waters are many though, they can be expensive to fish regularly, very busy so strategic carp fishing is difficult and are often not the most pleasant surroundings as high angler turnover lends itself to more bank erosion and littering. Overly easy angling also limits skill development if you are hoping to go on to better things so a few forays onto day ticket waters before joining a club is often a good way of

Syndicate Waters - Although not usually the first port of call of the beginner carp angler, syndicates do hold most of the countries biggest and most prestigious carp. Syndicates are operated on a limited ticket basis depending on the size of the water and many of the best have waiting lists many years on. Whilst probably not the best choice of first waters to start on due to expense and catching difficulty it is often worth getting your name on the waiting list for when your abilities have devleoped a few years down the line. Famous syndicate venues include the Yateley Car Park Lake, Wraysbury 1 and Conningbrook.

Rivers - There are free and paid stretches of river to angle throughout the country holding some great carp but due to the nomadic nature of river carp, currents, and other challenges, not the easiest waters on which to begin a carp angling career.

Tip 2. You don't need to spend a fortune on tackle but you need to spend a bit!

Carp are big and demanding fish to catch. Additionally they are easily damaged so appropriate care must be taken when fishing for them. Cheap tackle is usually false economy as it will often struggle to last a season and make angling less pleasureable. Some great tackle is available on the cheap though. On the flipside you don't need to spend a fortune though, despite the best efforts of the marketing men. Mid range tackle spending about £50-£70 on each rod and reel usually offers a good performance range which will serve you well for a number of years.

Tip 3. Get a head start on a water by spending time there and asking the right questions

When fishing a new water it can be daunting at first. If you go about it the right way though you can pick up all sorts of useful pieces of information on how to approach the water without even wetting a line. If you have a free evening rather than sit in front of something bad on the TV go for a walk a round the lake. One of the fundamental principles of becoming a successful carp angler is understanding the behaviour of the fish in the water you are fishing. Carp are creatures of habit and in different weather conditions, or at different times of the year or in a combination of both can 9/10 be found in certain areas of the lake. By spending time at the lake watching the water, look for feeding signs like bubbles and mud clouds, leaping fish, or fish cruising on the surface, you can get a good headstart on where to fish under different conditions.

Other anglers are also a good indicator on this. Whilst deluging other anglers will questions will usually earn you a reputation as a pest if you approach it slowly and considerately you can learn a lot over time. Effectively making friends and aquaintances at the lake in a relaxed manner over time. Never sit quizzing someone though as they will eventually end up wanting to get rid of you or feeding you duff information.

Tip 4. Choosing the right bait approach

There are two main successful ways to approach fishing from a baiting perspective. Either creating specific areas of feeding confidence for the fish or fishing where they alreay fed confidently. As previously discussed muddy clouds, bubbles and fish movement are a good indicator of the latter.

It's all too common as a beginner to plot up and chuck a rod randomly out into the lake. Whilst this "pub chucking" approach will pick up the odd fish and even a fair few in easy heavily stocked waters with hungry fish, a considered approach is far more effective.

Try combining your evening visits with some baiting up, always with consideration to other anglers and lake rules. Building an area of feeding confidence where the carp learn they can find food again and again is probably the fundamentally most successful long term tactic.

Whilst boilies can be very expensive for long term baiting up cheaper particle baits such as properly prepared hemp seed and tiger nuts can be very effective.

Tip 5. Learn to use a marker rod

As already mentioned a pub chuck approach is not a method that will bring long term angling success. As you will learn on any water fish prefer to eat in certain areas and this varies. Therefore it is important to understand what type of lake bottom you are fishing from. Fishing tangled in a big ball of weel of in rotten leaf litter is not usually successful on most waters but sweet silt or the edges of gravel beds often are. There are a range of guides available on the web on correctly using a marker rod around but needless to say mastery of this tactic will enable you to catch more carp.

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Fishing for carp in autumn/winter

The weather conditions will greatly effect carps feeding patterns. We have to change our strategies to suit the time of year.
Your normal rigs and methods will catch in winter, as at any other time of year but there are certain points to remember. Dropping temperatures at the end of the summer will trigger the carp to feed quite heavily. The once plentiful natural food will slowly start to disappear.

The carp will try to gain as much weight as possible to help them survive the harsh British winter. As with any cold blooded animal, low temperatures will slow them down a great deal.

There are a few different schools of thought regarding the movement of carp in cold conditions. From my own experience, I suspect that the fish will move around as little as possible.

As natural food becomes scarcer the fish tend not to move around so much, therefore preserving their energy. It can mean the difference between surviving or not. For this reason it is important to try to locate the carp before starting to fish.
Once you feel you have located the fish, baiting should be kept to a minimum. Start off adopting a little and often approach, offering about 15-30 baits over a session. Loose feed these a couple at a time at regular intervals of about 30 mins. Try to keep the baits in as tight an area as possible. Using a marker float will help acheive this.

Try not to spread the bait around too much. Would a carp finding such a patch of bait cover all the area using lots of energy, or would he sit on the edge of it, eating from a very small area? Try to consider the importance of energy conservation to a feeding carp when baiting in the winter.
Choice of bait is really down to you. The biolie isn't the only bait but it is my first choice because it works so well with carp rigs, and it gives me added confidence over soft baits.

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Fishing the River for big Carp

One of the most important points to get right when river fishing for carp is to know exactly where to fish. In other words, location, location, location!

You want to locate a good feature somewhere along the river. These can be very similar to those found in lakes and ponds. Places where carp can hold up in piece and quiet are good places to start, especially if there is some kind of coverage.

Some features worth looking for are:

reed beds
overhanging trees
flowing water
water outlet or inlets

Overhanging trees and reeds can be common along a river so you may need to find those that have further potential to them. As an example, overhanging bushes or trees that are in places where the river meets another water body may be productive features. The currents often help deposit food sources around the edges where both the flows meet together.

Weed beds and lily pads can be some great features to find on rivers as well as in many lakes. The weed beds help "catch" and hold food items in place, thus, there is a reason why carp may come back to visit them on a regular basis.

Fast flowing water can be great places in the summer, the water gets oxygenated at these places and as a result draw in many carp. Weirs can also be a productive feature for carp fishing on rivers as well as large groups of moored boats. These offer carp some security and warmth, as well as food sources so don't be afraid to fish by moored up boats, especially during the colder months as boat owners may not use them as much. This makes these areas fairly quiet for carp to become settled for a few months.

Fishing the river margins can produce good results to. River margins will often drop-off quickly to form a shelf where food items can gather together and provide fish with regular supplies of food. Placing a fishing rig at the bottom of the shelf can produce numerous carp catches.

Other areas that can gather food items are in the snags. Margin snags on rivers will hold food items as they try to pass through. Snags also provide good shelter for many river carp. Learn more about fishing snags for large carp.

Remember that seeing carp jump out the water may not be the best way to select where to fish. On a river the carp can move out very quickly. I feel it may be best to stick to those features that have the potential to hold carp, such as those which offer a regular food source or coverage rather than waiting to see fish jump. By all means, cast to fish that jump once you are fishing, but I wouldn't use that sight as to where I choose to set up.

As a baiting tactic, I feel it's very important to pre-bait a potential swim 2 or 3 days before fishing the river. This is a great way to hold any passing carp in your chosen area. Pre-baiting also helps to "clear" the area from the smaller fish, and you can then present a bait better for when carp move in.

Keep in mind that river carp are much more active than those in lakes. This is because they need to constantly adjust themselves due to the water currents, and means they need to ingest more energy, and thus food. For this reason, a very good spot that provides them with regular food will be a potential river hotspot!

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Night Fishing - Part II

So, you've read part 1 of the series, you haven't been frightened off, you are going night fishing and want to know what to take. Basic tackle remains the same as daytime tackle pretty much, so I won't go into that here. What I will discuss is the extras that I take with me to make the night trips more enjoyable, comfortable and hopefully more successful.

Take Cover

I have already discussed clothing in my previous piece, so I won't go in to that again, but if you do want to stay warm and dry, then a bivvy is invaluable. You can shelter from light rain and wind under an umbrella during a day session, but at night you are also dealing with damp, mist and condensation which can soak every piece of gear you have with you as well as your self. That's assuming that the perfect evening you set out on hasn't turned to torrential rain and wind. If you are even considering winter fishing, then a winter skin and maybe storm porch is a must, unless your bivvy comes supplied as standard with a twin skin and some protection from the elements.

A sleeping bag is nice to have on hot summer evenings and a must for any other time of year. If you are fishing winters nights, then a 5 season bag is required, otherwise a 4 season will suffice. You will be surprised just how cold it can get at four in the morning, even in June. This is the time of night when the body is at its lowest ebb, and believe me you can feel very cold indeed.


Time For Bed

Of course, a sleeping bag is of no use on the floor, the cold will rise up straight through it. What you need is a bed chair. There are some cheap ones on the market and there are some very expensive ones. What you need to look for is a bedchair that you are comfortable to lie on, that will support your weight without splitting, and that won't tip up every time you move. It also needs to be light enough for you to carry round with you. Some of the 3 leg models, although less likely to tip up, do tend to be heavier. Go for the best you can afford that you fell comfortable in and think will be reliable and hard wearing.

Lighting up Time

OK, so now you can sleep, what about doing some fishing. Well, as I mentioned above, the basic tackle required for night fishing is the same as daytime tackle, but with a few exceptions. If you are thinking of float fishing, then you can buy floats with night-lights that fit inside the tops. These are a bit like miniature versions of the glowing things you buy at fairs and concerts, where you break the inside by bending them and they then glow bright green for several hours. This method of fishing can be tremendous fun at night as long as you can stay awake. These come in packets of one or two and are about a pound or so.

If you want to spend a bit more, you can buy beta-lites. These look similar but will say lit for the rest of your life-time. They are more often used for fixing permanently to pieces of tackle that you need to see in the dark, such as bite indicators, landing nets, pods and swinger arms. They are more likely to cost over 10 pounds each; a bit expensive to set in a float perhaps, but I wouldn't be without them on some items of tackle. I have even known anglers fix one to each bivvy peg, so that they don't trip on them in the dark, a bit excessive perhaps, but a useful addition if money is no option.

Talking of pods and swingers, I would consider these items essential for night sessions. You can make do during a day session with a few rod rests and a make shift bite indicator, but at night, you want to be able to set everything up in a tidy manner and be able to relax away from the rods until a bite occurs. If you fall asleep, you want a bite alarm to wake you and to be able to look and tell which rod it is quickly and easily.

A torch of some description is essential, unless you are fishing in a full moon and the headlamp types are excellent and leave you hands free. Don't forget spare batteries. Also a camera with a flash, is useful.

Everything Stops For Tea

Now to what in my opinion are some of the most essential pieces of kit you will need. They are a kettle, cooker, fuel, water, tea, coffee, sugar, milk, cups and spoons. Soup, pot noodles and the like are also good to have and I personally consider a packet of digestives a must. What I am saying here though is that if you can make a hot drink then a cold night can seem so much more bearable.

And if I am lugging that stuff around, then I reckon it's no extra trouble really to carry a frying pan and a bit of bacon.

Marginal Vote

Well, we are comfortable, we can see, we are warm, dry and well fed. Now let's catch some carp. What are the best methods to use at night time? Well, much the same as day time really. Although there are some things I will try at night that I wouldn't always during the day. When other anglers go home after a day trip, they often chuck any left over bait into the margins. Carp will ignore this during the day, but when it is dark and they feel safe, they will often patrol the margins and mop up any left overs. For this reason, I always like to have a rod fished really close in at night. Sometimes I will fish within about 3 inches of the bank. If you don't believe this, put some bait into the water right against the bank. If the splashing and slurping of the carp doesn't wake you up during the night as they hoover it up, then have a look in the morning and I bet it will be gone. Just think what could have been had your bait been amongst it.

Another margin method I like is to suspend a crust right under the rod tip at last light. Carp will nearly always patrol the margins at this time, picking up any bait that is floating close to the bank. Watch out for the old ducks and water rats using this method though. I've known some screaming runs from ratty that have caused a fair bit of chaos.

Make it Smelly

At night I like to use a bait with a high flavour leakage, and ignore the brighter coloured baits. Obviously the colours can't be seen at night, but highly flavoured bait is much easier for the carp to root out. In the summer, I like to use baits with a fish oil content as this has high leakage and some of the the waters I fish contain catfish, which will often go for these baits.

Have A Spare Ready

One more tip for night fishing. I have said before that it is essential to have everything to hand, but I like to include a couple of spare rods in this as well. I usually have my two main rods set up ready for bottom fishing, and a spare set up in case I get broken during the night. This saves re-tackling, and you can get straight back out there without having to worry. The other I have set up as a free line rod for crusting or stalking, just in case. Or you could have one set up with a float rig. As I said earlier, thi scan be great fun at night, and you will usually decide you want to have a go when it is too dark to set up another rod easily.

Have Fun

In summary then, night fishing is great fun. As long as you stay warm and dry, have food and drink and play safe, you will enjoy it. The fishing is often much better than during the daytime, especially in hot weather and on crowded pressured waters. If you get it right, you may catch that fish of a lifetime. Remember though, if you do, have everything ready, including a camera, take care of the fish and return it safely. Then come back to this site and tell us about your experiences. Post your pictures in the galleries with your story and write about the fishery in the venues section. Most of all; have fun. Part 1

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Night Fishing - Part I

We all know the feeling, the sun is sinking in the evening sky, the day's fishing almost over. It's been a good day, plenty of runs, a few average sized carp, but you just know that the fishing's about to get better. And that inevitable task that we all hate is now just around the corner - packing up.

The weather's muggy and there is an absolute mountain of gear to get back to the car, which is parked as always at the other side of the lake. Just another 10 minutes, see if that last run of the day appears and produces the fish you've been waiting for. Ten minutes passes. Fifteen. Nothing. "I'll pack everything up that I don't need; leave the rods out". 30 minutes later; nothing. The carp are beginning to splash around on the surface, laughing at you, in the knowledge that you are about to leave and they can move in close and mop up the bait you have dropped into the front of your swim.

Well, now it's time to fool them. Forget going home to sit in front of the TV. Forget the boring journey home and the unloading of the car. Tonight it is sleepover night. With a few simple additions to your gear and maybe an understanding partner, it's not as hard as many anglers think to enjoy a nights fishing and maximise on that time of the day when the fishing and the lakeside can be at its absolute best. Even if your partner's not understanding, they have probably realised long ago that you are completely barking anyway, most of us carp anglers are, or maybe they will even join you.

So, what are the essentials for an enjoyable nights fishing?

1.Organisation

During the course of a day's fishing, your tackle tends to get spread around the swim a bit. The landing net at the back of the swim where it was put after the excitement of the last catch. The baiting needle is, at best, under the chair, or somewhere else laying aroud the swim, the boilies in their bag on the floor, somewhere, and the scales and sling are behind the tree just out of sight. Sound familiar? Well this is fine during the daytime. It may not be ideal when you hit that run with one hand, holding a coffe in the other and a half eaten sandwich hanging out of your mouth, but you can get away with it. At four in the morning, this ain't gonna work! You need to be organised. You have to know exactly where everything is in and around your swim and be able to reach it in a hurry. It doesn't matter how long you have waited for that run, it will always happen at the most unexpected and downright awkward moment possible. Pour a drink, light the stove, take one shoe off, bite into a soggy sandwich which requires both hands to keep it intact or worst of all, retire to the nearby bushes for a call of nature. All guarunteed to produce a run. Unless you are ready for a run. Then it won't happen.

So what do you do? What your mother nagged you to do for the majority of you childhood. Go and tidy your room. Keep everything close to hand. Landing net, unhooking mat, scales, weigh sling and maybe forceps at the front of the swim, keeping anything sharp away from the mat of course. You need to be able to reach the net and get it into the water without losing the fish and without taking half a tree branch with it. Everything you may need to re-bait or re-tackle should be kept tidily in the bivvy and you should almost be able to find everything blindfolded. Remember, not every night is a full moon, and it can get very dark away from the towns and streetlights.

When (if) you land the fish, you must be able to get it straight onto the mat without damaging it or placing it at risk. You may then want to weigh it, and again everything needs to be close to hand. A small pocket torch can be useful here, but whatever you choose, you don't want to be leaving the fish flapping around on the mat while you search the bivvy for gear.

If you plan on a bit of night photography, a camera close to hand is needed, especially if you are alone. Make sure it stays dry of course. I find the zip up plastic bags available in supermarkets are great for this purpose and for a lot of other uses as well.

OK, hopefully your fish has been landed, carefully unhooked, weighed and photographed, and is ready to return to the water. One last thing to remember now. Where is the edge! Again a torch may be useful here. I do mean a torch as well, or better still a miners type headlight so that you can work hands free. What I don't mean is an anti-aircraft search light like I have seen some anglers with. You want to see a part of your swim, not half the county, and other anglers don't want to see it.

So your fish swims gracefully away, and it's time to re-bait. If you got it right, you can now go straight to the right place to find bait, baiting needle, dips, boilie stops, pva, whatever you need, without emptying out your entire bag onto the floor ready to be trodden on with the next footstep. If you got it wrong, your pva is dissolving in the nearest puddle, your dip is running downhill fast towards your spare clothes, monster crab flavoured socks - not nice, your boile stops are .... somewhere ... , your baiting needle is in your left ankle and that nice family of water voles you were watching earlier are just making off with your last boilie.

2.Comfort

So, it's time to stop being Mum now, enough nagging, your room's so tidy you can even see the floor, and it's time to be ... well er Mum again. This time it's "Are you dressed up warm?" It's fine to wander round in shorts and T shirt during the day, and even into the early evening, but it can get extremely cold at four in the morning, you'll be surprised, even in June, and there is nothing worse than being cold, tired, hungry, wet or maybe even all four. You need to be prepared for the worst of everything. Being comfortable is key to a succesful trip. Remember, this is England, and the weather can, and quite likely will, do its very best to catch you out. If you don't have a bivvy, you can survive, but be prepared to get cold, wet, bitten or worse. Good waterproof clothing and plenty of layers underneath are the answer. With a few layers, you will stay warm, but can remove just some to suit the conditions. Trainers are fine during the day, but at night, your feet are often the first thing to get cold, and if they get wet, they will stay wet. A change of socks doesn't take up much space. I always keep a pair in my fishing bag just in case. A hat is always worth having as well. A ;arge amount of body heat is lost through the head, and however silly it looks, a warm hat will keep you warm. Anyway, no-one can see you at night.

A good bedchair is also worth its weight, and prices now seem to be dropping all the time. Try and go for a fairly lightweight model, some I have seen weigh an absolute ton. If you can afford it, go for a three legged version, they can save a lot of embarassment when you try to leap towards the rods in the middle of the night, forgetting that they have a habit of upending.

Hot drinks are always welcome, but taste even better in the early hours, especially if you can convince your mate to make them! A kettle, stove and tea and coffee making equipment are, to me anyway, absolute essentials. Some stoves run on unleaded fuel, so you won't be caught out with an empty gas cylinder just when you need it.

If you've got the stove, may as well take a frying pan and some bacon as well. A fresh cooked bacon sandwich at dawn tastes like no other sandwich ever tasted before, believe me. Again, even better if someone else makes it!

The key is, stay warm, dry and comfortable. You will fish better if you feel good. If you are cold, wet, hungry or tired, you will probably end up going home miserable.

3.Safety

Back to Mum again. Fishing at night is great fun. You have a whole world of different sights and sounds to get used to, you're not stuck indoors getting bored and the fishing can be great. Now it may sound like I am nagging here, but get it right and you will have a great time. So just one more thing to consider - safety.

You are in the dark, at the edge of maybe deep water, you may be tired and you need to be able to move around without taking involuntary swiming lessons. A few simple steps can make the experience much safer and more enjoyable. Remember, keep tidy and you will be in much less danger of hooking yourself or stabbing yourself with a baiting needle. Make sure bivvy pegs are not sticking out all over the place, and guy ropes are either out of the way or visible. In the wet, don't take risks on a steep bank. Make sure you can either see the edge of the lake or you know just where it is.

If possible, fish with a mate, or at least make sure somebody knows where you are. If you have one, take a mobile phone, so that you can at least call for help if needed. Don't however spend half the night chatting to mates on it, you are likely to get thumped by other anglers. That goes for radios, tape players and the like as well. If anybody else can hear it, it's too loud. Better still, leave it indoors.

And one final but very important safety point. NEVER cook or light gas lamps inside the bivvy. I have read too many times in the angling press of anglers who have been killed doing this, either gassing or burning themselves to death. It's dangerous - don't do it. If it's raining and you want to cook, tough. Wait. It won't rain forever altough it may seem like it. You won't starve to death, but you may die if you are stupid.

If you follow all of the above advice, you will have fun even if you blank. There's nothing like playing boy scout on a nice summer evening, and with the right gear you can extend this throughout the year. So, what about gear? What do I need for night fishing? Part 2

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The Nailer Rig

The nailer rig as it name suggests literally nails the point of the hook into a carps lip.

When this rig is sucked into the mouth of a feeding carp the bait slides along the shank of the hook towards the bend and like the nailer forces the tip of the hook outwards aligning with the inside of the lip, instantly the carp senses the trap and tries to blow the whole thing out forcing the bait back along the shank of the hook. The bait hits the eye and hammers the tip of the hook into the carp's lip.

This simple hooklink extremely hard for carp to spit out once picked up and offers tangle free casting.

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The 'D' Rig

The 'D' rig takes its name from the small d-shaped section of hooklink material that is attached to the back of the hook shank. This 'D' shaped section of material replaces the bait mounting hair used in the previous rigs.

This extremely effective hooklink requires the addition of a small ring, easily found in any tackle shop or outfitters.

Simply take a length of line or braid about 12-inches long, tie a swivel to one end and your hook to the other.

Next, cut a small length of the same material and tie one end to the shank of the hook just below the eye, then thread a small ring on and tie the other end to the hook, just above the bend of the hook to form the 'D' rig.

To mount your bait simply use tie a small length of fishing line around it and then tie it to the ring as illustrated above.

The 'D' rig is a great hooklink for intermediate Carp fishermen and works well with all baits on all waters.

Although this hooklink takes a little longer than others it will reward you by giving you a real advantage.

Why go to the trouble of constructing this hooklink? Well, the 'D' rig offers you some real advantages that out-weigh the hassle of constructing it.

By removing the hair from the set-up and tying the bait close to the hook instead you are eliminating the risk of tangles while casting out and the bait is less likely to fall off ensuring the best possible presentation.

The biggest advantage of this hooklink is the way it aligns the hook with the inside of the carps mouth. Once sucked in it is almost impossible for the fish to spit it out again. Imagine a feeding Carp sucking this rig into its mouth, due to the shape of the 'D' the bait will be taken in first with the hook following. Note in the diagram how this would force the point of the hook away from the bait and create a claw shape inside of the Carp's mouth. If the fish tries to move away or spit the bait out the hook will be set firmly inside its lip.

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Supple Hooklink

The supple hooklink is a great all round hooklink that is perfect for the beginner. It requires no specialist accessories to construct, is almost impossible to tie incorrectly, works very effectively on any water and is cheap and simple to make requiring only a length of braid, a swivel and a hook.

When used at close to medium range this hooklink is almost 100% tangle free so you can fish confidently knowing your hook bait is being presented correctly. When using supple hooklinks at long range you will need to add a length or rig tubing to your fishing line to avoid the hooklink tangling when you cast out.

Supple hooklinks can be constructed from supple material like braided fishing line. Braids come in many styles and colours but they all work in the same way.

Braided lines are low diameter and very strong. Some carp specialists believe that braids offer superior presentation due to the way they allow hook baits to move naturally in the water when disturbed by a feeding carp. This natural movement avoids the detection of the rig and makes your hook bait move freely among the free offerings in your baited area.

Braids are very resistant to abrasion which is an advantage when fishing very gravely waters. Good strong knots can be tied easily with braid.

Choosing a braid for your hooklink allows you to vary your bait presentation and you can also use super glue to stiffen sections of the braid to make combination rigs avoiding the use of expensive manufactured combi rig materials.

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Multi Strand Hooklink

Multi strand hooklinks are made up of hundreds of extremely fine strands. The advantage of multi strands is that they are almost un-detectable due to the strands separating when squashed.

A good link for fine presentation although it can pick up debris between the strands after some use, making the link prone to tangles.

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Combination Hooklink

Combi links are a combination of supple and stiff rigs. Supple sections of the link can act as a hinge, allowing some movement of the hook bait.

The stiff sections can make the bait very hard to eject. You can make your own combi links by tying a stiff mono like Amnesia to a soft braid, but attaching the two together can be tricky as stiff mono nylon is hard to knot.

The best way to tie your on is to buy one of the materials available in shops. These consist of an inner and outer core. The outer core can be stripped off to expose the supple inner core.

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Stiff Hooklink

Stiff links can be constructed from high breaking strain fishing line, 20 Lb+, or by using one of the many manufactured stiff Hooklinks available.

Unlike supple hooklinks stiff rigs are rigid from the hook to the swivel and do not allow the hook bait to move naturally when disturbed by a feeding carp.

Stiff Hooklinks are a double edged sword in your carp fishing armory as they work in two very clever ways. Firstly

Stiff links contradict what some say about supple links because they do not move naturally when disturbed. They do offer one big advantage though. Once in the mouth of a carp they
are very hard to eject.

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Ornamental Carp (Metalic carp)

Ornamental carp have been bred for their looks. There are hundreds of variations from ghost koi to the koi carp we keep in garden ponds. Some can grow to sizes of 20lb+ in the UK and fight no less ferociously than the king carps.

Not many places stock ornamentals, probably because of the extra cost of stocking compared to King carp, but it is a nice surprise when we do catch one, guaranteed to make a happy memory.

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Grass Carp(Ctenopharyngoden idella)

The grass carp originated in Asia/China and is like no other carp in appearance. Its scaling closely resembles that of the chubb, with a rich golden brown colour. The grass carp's eyes are set lower than other carp and its mouth is noticeably smaller.

Called a grass carp for its love of aquatic weed, this fantastic fish was introduced into the UK on the advice of local water authorities. Intended to be a measure to control soft weed growth, our climate was not warm enough for them to gain enough size to make a difference.

Although the bulk of the grass carp's diet is aquatic weed, it loves to bask just below the surface and will readily take food floating on the surface. This is probably the best method of selectively catching grass carp, as being a new stock fish they are very timid alongside a good stock of king carp. This means that they will rarely get to the bait before the other carp.

Being a timid fish it will fight ferociously when hooked, and will give it everything it has got to evade capture.

For this reason special care must be taken after banking them. The fish must be fully recovered before being released, sometimes this will involve getting in the water with the grass carp and moving it back and forth to push fresh oxygenated water through its mouth and out through its gills.

Use common sense while handling this shy creature i.e. no loud noises and bright lights etc.

If you intend to fish for this species for the first time, then it is advisable to seek further info from books, tackle shops or baliffs etc.

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The Mirror Carp(Cyprinus carpio)

The mirror carp is slightly different in shape to the common carp. As a rule, mirror carp have a fuller, more rounded shape. A huge swollen belly is not uncommon in some larger specimens, although some can be quite slender if food is not plentiful.

Its golden brown skin is covered with varying amounts of different sized scales, these fall into six different scale pattern groups:

The fully scaled mirror : Fully covered in different sized scales.

The Leather carp : Completely scaleless, occasionally has a line of small scales on its sides.

The Plated mirror : Has a one or a group of huge scales on each side.

The Scatter scale : Normally has a line of scales running both sides, flanking the dorsal fin and odd scales dotted at random.

The Linear mirror : Long line of scales along lateral line, small groups of scales at tail and dorsals.

The Star burst mirror : Basically a scatter scale with the addition of small scales in a star-burst pattern on the lower half of the body.

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The Crucian Carp(Carassius carassius)

The Crucian Carp has been in the UK since about the 18th century. It is the smallest of all the carp that we fish for and has a unique appearance.

The body of a Crucian Carp is very rounded with an even pattern of small scales covering it.

Colour can vary from gold to bronze. With rounded fins and a cheeky face this species is a favorite among youngsters fishing small ponds, although many adults enjoy catching them too.

For their size, average 2lbs in the UK, they are hard little fighters, and a specimen of 5lb is not uncommon.

This carp swims in a curious shoal of same age fish, all of around the same weight, and is best fished for on light tackle.

Locating these fish can present a problem but once found they will provide some excellent sport.

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Common Carp (Cyprinus carpio)

King carp have been bred in Europe for about the last 300 years. In countries where they were popular to eat, they were originally bred to grow faster and be more full bodied.

The Common carp is similar in appearance, but not in shape, to the wild carp. It has a fully-scaled body and a golden/silver colour. Generally the common carp has a sleeker body shape than its fellow mirror carp.

The common carp is a ferocious fighter and usually screams off, like no other fish, when hooked.

The current British record for a Common carp is over 60lb!.

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Special Winter Carp Fishing Tackle and Bait Tips!

Winter carp fishing can very often be more productive in many ways with less anglers on the bank and more possibility of multiple catches of fish in a very short space of time. Prepare well for big rewards in winter and spring and some of the biggest fish can be yours now so read on!

When water temperatures drop to under about 16 degrees Celsius carp metabolism and feeding is markedly affected leading to changes in behaviours that differ to summer for example. We can exploit such changes and make winter catches much easier. For instance, the first winter I seriously winter fished almost no carp were caught during certain months, but the syndicate members on this lake were just getting started.

While at Agricultural College in the early and mid-eighties I recall using the UK meteorological office data from the previous 30 years on winter temperatures. I used this to help me chart winter temperatures and pressures and spot current patterns to exploit in terms of best probable fish feeding conditions.

In doing this I guess I may have been described as one of those who accidentally noticed the effects of global warming but the sudden rise of winter temperatures I noticed at that time and ever since that time really had me puzzled. When global warming was being discussed as an issue and not yet accepted as fact back in the early nineties I already knew a cover-up was taking place!

In fact as I worked outside for my living for majority of the past 30 years and rain patterns, dry spells, extremes of temperature and these effects on plants and animals just cannot be ignored. I began seeing the warmer seasons extending, starting earlier and ending later with some winters with such little frost that certain deciduous trees and shrubs actually kept some of their leaves on all the way from summer to late spring.

Much as I thought warmer winter temperatures for carp fishing was a good thing at the time, it has in fact meant for many that winter fishing has become harder due to various factors. At many waters, the traditional late autumn feed in preparation for the onset of winter seems now to be much less noticeable, or much earlier than before. September can be even more productive now and Late April and May are 2 periods I am especially keen to exploit now.

Everyone is now aware of altered migrations of birds now and to see roses in full bloom in the UK and geraniums lasting outside in sheltered microclimate positions for instance are now more common signs we are moving towards a more Mediterranean climate. Some common birds species are not even wasting energy by migrating for the winter and are remaining in various locations in the UK all winter!

The mass use of high oil highly nutritious fish meal boilies and marine halibut pellets for instance definitely has provided UK cap with far higher levels of stored energy reserves. This can mean reduced requirement for many fish to feed during the colder months. Despite the possibility of reduced feeding due to such enormous mass use of high energy pellets for instance at most carp waters, incredible winter catches are there to be had for everyone and every fish is an individual with different needs.

It is not uncommon to catch winter and spring carp covered in leeches and with leeches inside their mouths that have build-up as a result of very low carp activity levels. You will notice too that often the colour of winter carp are fantastic. It perhaps is no coincidence that antioxidant additives and substances that contain colour pigments that boost the immune system are very successful in winter time.

In winter you need bait that will not fill fish up prematurely and stop them feeding. What you need is food that is very highly digestible with excellent soluble nutritional attraction. (I include in the attraction of highly potent antioxidant substances.)

Spices and herbs and many other natural products packed with bioactive and antioxidant substances are really well proven in low temperatures, and a whole new generation of baits and bait and ground bait-making ingredients are now available and especially good for winter use.

Milk powders have always been great in winter and products like supermarket milk powders and also Vitamealo for example are great in hook baits and ground baits, spod and stick mixes and paste etc. Although many anglers discuss the advantages or disadvantages of milks in terms of how far carp digestion might actually deal with their elements, milk ingredients have been in use in most of the leading readymade carp baits for decades for very good reasons. (Some of these have nothing to do with nutrition at all!)

Soluble nutritional attraction is vital and the predigested additives and ingredients in winter baits can make all the difference. Summer boilies designs that are high in predigested protein ingredients that last just 3 hours on an immersed hair-rig in warm water, might well last 6 hours in winter conditions. A mixture of 50 percent whole egg powder with Vitamealo, and fermented shrimp powder (European) from Ccmoore for instance, makes a great bait especially with their Marine Amino Compound at the rate of 30 millilitres per kilogram of bait for instance.

Fish can move so slowly and so little in winter it is amazing we get any bites at all sometimes. Moving your baits every hours on a water searching out every possible spot, is often much better than casting out and waiting for bites from fish that may be in the vicinity, but just will not move!

Even 30 years ago it was common for me to catch fish in winter on rigs I knew were probably tangled (this was before the predominant usage of rig tubing, lead core leaders etc.) I was unwilling to move these rigs however, having cast them exactly onto known tight feeding spots. Many of these tangled rigs were effectively only 2 or 3 inches long at best but they more often than not caught fish.

It reminds me of the short length of the now popular so-called helicopter style chod rigs for example, where the hook link is very short. Years ago I used light leads mostly under 2 ounces in weight and I found the fluted flat-bottomed Arlesey bomb types of 2 ounces or under to be great fish hookers. These would end up in a tangled rig frequently, but would often not bury themselves deep in bottom silt and the short tangled rigs teamed with 5 bait stringers really worked!

I recall cutting special roller wheels for my Optonic bite alarms that had about 24 slender arms to trigger the light beam inside and indicate the least possible lime movement from very shy biting carp in winter. Using the higher vibration and sensitivity settings on modern digital alarms for example and exploiting new refined bite indicators with adjustable line pressures etc, all add up to more winter fish!

Location is of paramount importance and that is all about knowing your lake at all times of year and only personal experience can give you an instinct for this and sometimes you are right and other times wrong, perhaps due to changes in fishing pressure on a particular area, pre-baiting by other anglers, or slightly different prevalent autumn winds building-up silt and carp food items in different locations to previous years.

Fish location is an art form that requires extremely sharp senses sometimes but you can leverage bating and lines and bite alarms to locate your fish. Often in winter you might get not a single bite sound from your bite alarm. Casting around until you do get some kind of feedback is very useful indeed and from this you might locate fish, or fresh silk weed, green Canadian pond weed, or even bloodworm.

If you know your swims in very great detail and keep this knowledge very regularly up-dated, then you will also notice changes in the bottom silt and in leaf and other detritus or chod deposits. Use of a braided line and specially grooved feature-finding leads to feel for clay, gravel and silt characteristics that indicate positive changes made by carp activity are invaluable.

The lake bed hardness and textures and even depths and consistencies and smells of silts can very frequently be caused by feeding carp and be identified and exploited. Some of the changes in the bottom of a lake caused by carp activities can be far beyond the belief of the average angler! Location of certain of these features have lead to great breakthroughs in winter and early spring fishing results for me for sure.

One prominent example of the nature of winter fish location was while fishing an exposed and apparently featureless clay lined reservoir. I remember fishing 2 baits on a particular spot in a swim in early February following a period when there had not been a single carp caught for 5 weeks. This spot was only place discovered to produce fish on the whole lake for quite a while so it was kept very quiet! Using a knowledge of the food-rich thick weed beds that existed in warmer months, I could locate the edges and channels made by the old weed beds that fish used to navigate and feed along.

Much repeated casting was required to get the baited rigs tight up against the old dead weed on the bottom were the fish would feed. Often of 2 rigs cast out (less than 3 feet apart,) only 1 rod would consistently produce fish 99 percent of the time indicating the fish travelled to this spot from one angle and on a very tight path. On one occasion this spot produced 4 fish in just under an hour for me, which was a very rare winter achievement at this time on the water.

As an experiment a friend cast his rod into the spot from a different swim having blanked for days and had a take before even putting his rod in rests. Such is the nature of winter fishing!

Winter fish can feed like clockwork in various spots habitually, and inducing and exploiting this behaviour with pre-baiting is a massive edge if you have the discipline to do it regularly enough! Pre-baiting holding areas and areas that you have observed fish visiting and feeding in winter such as snags and reed beds, and swims that are warmed by afternoon sun for instance, can really make catches very much easier.

Using particle type baits and finer ground baits can be a great option in winter and you can soak them in all kinds of additives and liquids you would use for boilies. Some substances are ideally suited for maximum effective water dispersal and fish feeding stimulation in low water temperatures.

Using your own creative thinking is a very big edge most especially in regards to bait and its application at this time; when some of the biggest carp in your water are most vulnerable to capture...

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How to Fish for Carp

Carp fishing can be both awesome and frustrating. Carp will suck in all kinds of bait, even if it's suspicious. But if they don't like a bait, they'll just blow it right back out without becoming hooked. Yet it's awesome, too, because all the action can happen in a split-second as you hang onto a loudly trembling reel.

Carp are known for being bottom-feeders, but they will gladly feed near the surface if you keep the food coming. Put out lots of bait: pellets, biscuits, bread, corn...pretty much any kind of Southern food humans will eat, they'll take it. Keep putting out bait, without hooks, until the carp start feeding.

Let the carp get comfortable around the bait. Then they won't be so picky. This can be used effectively with zig rigs.

As soon as they start actively feeding, that's when you add your hooked bait to the mix. Cast the baited hooks, but make sure not to drop them right onto the carp. Instead, cast away from the feeding area, and slowly pull the bait into position. While the bait is still hanging, keep throwing un-hooked food into the feeding area so the carp stay around. They won't know what has hooks and what doesn't until it's too late. If the carp start managing to steal your bait, you can up the ante by super-gluing it onto the hooks!

Here are some ideas for your carp-fishing setup:

Use a hair rig to improve your chances. Carp taste food first instead of just gulping it down. If they don't like it, they won't come around it again.

A 50-lb test spider line, with appropriate leader material, is another good bet.

Thread the bait with a baiting needle and hook the hair loop. You can also dip some foam into flavoring to make the bait seem tastier.

You can make a baiting needle out off a long shank hook. Straighten out the hook, slide the bait up the shank, then slide it up onto the hair.

It helps to use a float so you can get better distancing as well as spot the location easier.

A controller float rig is good too. A 3-foot long mainline of 10lbs Drennan double-strength can be attached to the swivel, with the leader on the other side. A low-diameter mono-filament line can do the job if it floats well enough to see it.

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Carp Fishing Tips

Carp have been considered in China as a cherished fish for many years. One colorful member of the carp family is the Koi, sought after for their strength and beautiful color. Carp seem like gentle fish, but when caught on a rod and reel they will give you the fight of your life.

You can see carp rolling around the edges of streams, ponds, and lakes in the spring. They will be spawning and not interested in anything else. Seeing a 20 pound plus carp along the bank spawning and rolling is not unusual. These are the big ones you want to go for. They are giants that will fight like no other fish. They will go to the bottom and fight to stay there. Even 10 pound plus carp are common and can be a real challenge to land.

Use a heavy rod and reel when fishing for these giants with a 15 pound test line. Also a heavy action pole as the lighter outfits will get broken time and time again. You need a heavier action pole that can take a lot of action. These are the largest freshwater fish found in North America and well worth the trouble to catch.

There are a lot of different baits to use to catch these big ones. With night crawlers you can't go wrong. You can also use dough balls and catch a lot of carp, although the ones caught with the dough balls tend to be somewhat smaller in size than the ones caught with night crawlers. So the worms should be your primary bait. Use a sliding rig for best results, a sliding sinker above the bait with an o-ring connector between the bait and the sinker. Use this particular rig to fish the bottom where carp are most likely to be.

Fish the mouth of streams, spillways, and rivers and also pools in streams are good spots for these fish. If you want to strike it rich with the big ones, then fish the deep structures such as rocks, trees, plants, points, sand bars, etc. In the summer a good spot for catching the large carp is an underwater sand bar of approximately 15 to 20 feet down. It is easy to hook into a 20 to 30 pound fish, which will keep you busy for a long time.

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