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Carp Fishing Q&A: What’s more important; bait, tackle or approach?
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Written by Andy Ormrod
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Thursday, 23 September 2010 19:50
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Question: Dear Northwestcarp, I’m new into carping and have a best of 8lb. I want to get better at all parts of carp fishing and have read a lot of stuff on your site. I know it’s all long term but which parts should I work on first to improve my results; bait, tackle or approach? Thanks. James.
Answer: Hi James, Firstly welcome to the world of carp fishing and congratulations on your pb. I would say the best way to improve things would be to keep things simple, learn the basic techniques really well before trying lots of different things. Another important aspect is selecting a water where there are lots of fish; it’s easier to improve if you are catching fish reasonably regularly you will see gradual improvement in terms of size of fish and the number you are catching over time. It’s also important to be comfortable on the bank and to enjoy your fishing, a warm dry angler catches more than the cold, wet, hungry one every time!
In terms of tackle, a couple of 12 foot 2.75 test curve rods with baitrunner style reels loaded with 12lb to 15lb line is a good starting point. There are also loads of relatively inexpensive, reliable bite alarms on the market so don’t go mad and remortgage the house to pay for the tackle. You get what you pay for with tackle so steer away from the very cheapest and maybe look for a good second hand set up, the for sale section on the NWC forum is a good place to start or you could always put up a post in the wanted section explaining that you are starting up carp fishing and would like a few ideas of what people have to sell. Always remember that carp care is top of the list in terms of importance and a good landing net and good sized unhooking mat are essential.
"There are also loads of relatively inexpensive, reliable bite alarms on the market"
I would start fishing with basic tubing and lead clip system with a well tied hair rig. You can buy tubing and lead clip systems already set up in your local tackle shop, all you have to do is attach a lead and baited rig and away you go. With regard to rigs, the shop bought ones are fine but you will get a great deal of satisfaction in catching a carp on a rig which you have tied yourself and they work out much cheaper in the long run too. A basic hair rig is all you need, I would use a coated braid material to tie the rig which should about 7 inches when finished, a size 8 hook (if you are using 16mm-18mm boilies) and just make sure that when you tie the rig that there is a gap of between 5mm and 10mm between the back of the hook and the boilie. I would try using pva mesh too, learn to tie small golf ball size bags of pellet or crushed boilies and attach one when you cast your rig out, you do this by simply nicking the mesh bag on to the hook.
I recommend using one bait that has a solid reputation instead of buying loads of different flavoured boilies, use one and learn to present it well and you will become confident in using it. I would start by using shelf life boilies as they are easy to keep and are relatively inexpensive as they keep for a long time. I would use either 16mm or 18mm sized baits as you get plenty in a kilo bag. When fishing don’t go over board on feeding the boilies into your swim, use either a light scattering or just use the pva mesh bags, this should will do the trick.
Your approach can always be helped by research, books, DVDs and websites are good but here is no substitute for visiting your chosen water as often as possible. Watch the water and see where the fish seem to spend most time, or get caught from most often. Talking to anglers is a good way to find out what’s happening, but always remember some anglers won’t want to give you all their secrets.
In summing up I would say practise rig tying, read or research as much as you can and get out there and give it a go, those carp will be at their best weights in the coming weeks!
Helpful links: Carp Rods / Carp Reels / Bite Alarms / Rig Making Materials / PVA / Shelf Life Boilies
Good luck.
September 2010
Andy Ormrod is a Professional Anglers Association qualified Angling Coach offering a wide range of services across all angling disciplines: http://www.improveyourfishing.co.uk
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