| #1  05-28-2010, 07:53 PM | |||
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| Senses as aids to feeding Carp have a similar sensory system to humans in that they are able to hear, touch, taste and smell items around them. This has great importance when deciding which rig to use and how its components may put the carp on its guard as it considers the hookbait. The senses of a carp are hearing – taste - smell – sight and touch. a) Hearing – although carp do not have ears as humans have, they can hear much more acutely than we can. The carp "hears" by detecting sound waves passing through the water. These sound waves are converted into messages in the carp’s brain and are translated into noise. The carp’s hearing is particularly sensitive and the tiny bones in their ears called ossicles can detect and amplify the smallest of sound waves passing through water. So although the splash of a rig entering the water may well attract the carp, the carp may identify this with danger eventually and treat the area with suspicion. b) Taste/Smell - these two senses are to be grouped together as they make up the carp’s olfactory sense. Carp can taste and smell items in the water and can do this in a number of ways. Nostrils near the eyes of the carp allow water to enter and the highly sensitive olfactory system can then pick up any substances which have been dissolved into that water. The carp will then identify this as a viable food source or not. When a carp takes in a potential food item into the mouth the lining of the mouth which contains chemically sensitive cells will send a message to the carp’s brain as to whether that food item is a viable food source. If this is so, the carp may then will continue to feed until satisfied. However, if the carp decides that the item is not a food item it will reject the item taken in and may bolt from the area. Although carp will take in many items as potential food items, they have the ability to reject them! c) Sight - carp have the ability to see through the eyes situated on either side of the head. Unlike humans who have a straight line of vision, carp see out of the water sideways and upwards at an angle of around 49’ through each eye. Anything outside of this angle out of the water will be invisible to the carp. In water the carp’s vision will be extremely limited in certain cases and extremely effective in other cases. If the water is deep, clouded, murky, full of suspended silt particles, the carp’s vision will be negligible. Clearly this is even less when light is at a minimum. However, in shallow, clear water with bright sun the carp’s ability to see items will improve. Be aware of this when using crude or obvious end tackles and presentations in such circumstances! d) Touch - the tactile sense of touch in a carp is utilised in two ways. In the standard form of direct touch where a carp comes across and brushes/takes in a presentation it can feel that it has done so. Nerve fibres in the carp’s skin send messages to its brain and if the carp does not identify the item touched as a viable food item it will reject it and may spook from the area. Secondly, the carp has an ability to sense touch through its lateral line. The lateral line on a carp which runs from its head to its tail is comprised of fine fluid filled tubes which open to the outside by tiny pores. Similar to hairs they can detect very slight movements in the water which assist them when locating potential food sources or detecting items to avoid. Carp can also "touch" potential food items with their barbules which are located either side of the mouth. Once a carp has located a food item it can use the barbules to touch the food source. It may well not be able to see the item with its eyes but it can assess it with its barbules just as well, if not better. The carp may well decide to take the food item in or may decide to reject it if that food item is attached to a carp rig! So what does all that tell us when all we are trying to do is to decide which rig to use? Simple! No matter how attractive your food item may be, to enter the carp’s mouth and to hopefully hook the carp it must pass the sensory test. Crude end tackles and presentations may be visually unacceptable and when touched may be rejected immediately. Carp are not stupid and will use their own senses for survival and survival means avoiding the obvious and dangerous. HOW CARP FEED? Having seen how the carp’s senses greatly influence how it feeds we shall now look at how the carp takes in food items. No matter what rig you use, in order to hook and land a carp by fair means the hook has to enter the carp’s mouth. Yes, occasionally an item will enter the carp’s mouth accidentally but most enter the mouth when the carp takes in an item to assess its value as a food item. Having "sensed" a potential food item, the carp will seek to evaluate it via direct contact inside the mouth. To draw in that item of food the carp usually takes it in as it would take in water to convert the oxygen contained within it. The mouth’s opened, the gill covers close and water is drawn into the mouth. Anything contained in the water which is drawn into the mouth will enter that area likewise. The mouth is closed, the floor of the mouth is raised and the gill covers are opened. Excess water is driven out and the carp uses its tongue to hold in food items if they are evaluated in a positive way. Clearly this sounds a very long winded process but in reality it’s very quick indeed as anyone who has watched carp feeding will know. Because the carp has the ability to draw in and blow out items contained in the water this is called "sucking and blowing" and this is a common way of feeding found on many waters. Carp can suck in a large amount of water (obviously dependent on the size of the carp and its ability to generate a vacuum inside its mouth) and items up to eight inches away can be drawn in with that water. When the carp "blows out", items can be displaced over twelve inches, again dependent upon the size of the fish and density of the items in question. As well as sucking and blowing, carp also have the ability to pick items up in their lips. By extending their lips and using a very slight sucking movement, the food item is gently taken in. In effect this is a moderated/careful form of sucking and blowing and is not a completely dissimilar feeding style. The mouth of the carp is purely and simply a hole which allows food items to be taken in. Once inside the mouth, if not rejected, the teeth (identical to human’s teeth but a little smaller) located in the throat and known as pharyngeal teeth will grind the food item against the roof of the mouth in order to break it down before passing it into the digestive system. Carp do not have a stomach as we do and food in the digestive system is broken down by gastric juices known as enzymes. Food, once broken down, is absorbed and used in the carp’s body for survival. Always remember that when you use a carp rig the hook has to enter the carp’s mouth to hook it. Seek to make the hookbait as attractive as possible so that the carp wants to feed on it, make the rig one which allows the food item to be taken in rather than detected before entry and ensure that once in the carp’s mouth if the carp seeks to reject it it is difficult to do so. That process of finding a rig which will satisfy all those criteria is known as choosing the right rig. FACTORS AFFECTING THE CARP’S FEEDING Unfortunately it’s not possible to say with absolute certainty how a carp will feed on any given water and which rig to choose. The carp’s feeding behaviour will be affected by many criteria and these are as follows:- 1. The personal characteristics of the carp – this would be its mouth shape, mouth size, body shape and so on. Carp are similar to human beings in that they have their own individual characteristics. Not all carp feed in ideal feeding conditions and not all carp stop feeding in poor feeding conditions. At times they may well be predictable but not in a way that anyone can predict with certainty how to outwit them. 2. Angler pressure – when carp have been caught time and time again on a particular type of rig or bait or even in a particular place in the lake, they may change their normal feeding habits to avoid being hooked. For the purposes of this book it explains why certain rigs seem to "blow" when numbers of carp have been caught on one particular form of presentation. Carp seek to avoid this and may feed in such a way that the rig is not as effective as it used to be. You would then have to vary your rig to outwit the carp. Not only does angler pressure over many years come into play, it also has an effect when many anglers are fishing one water at the same time. An abundance of free offerings may well fill the carp up before they even encounter the hookbait. Numbers of lines across the lake may well spook or panic the carp, so making positive feeding unlikely. Recasting time and time again could panic the carp as they start to associate leads crashing through the water as a danger signal and so on. 3. Confidence in the food item – we will cover this in more detail in the chapter on hookbaits but it’s vital that you recognize that confidence or otherwise in the hookbait is of paramount importance. If the carp is confident in that food item it may well take it in positively which can only increase the likelihood of hooking the carp. However, if the carp is wary or unsure of the food item, it may approach its feeding in a cautious manner no matter what rig the hookbait is presented on. 4. Time of year – whilst carp do feed all year round they do not feed with the same voracity all year round. If the carp are feeding strongly in the summer months they may take in food items confidently, but in winter in less than ideal conditions feeding may be sporadic and cautious. Whilst you should always use the best rig possible, once feeding conditions are less than ideal it is an idea to ring the changes to try to outwit the cautious and wary feeders. 5. Barometric pressure – this has a great effect on the feeding of carp and the consequent effectiveness or otherwise of your rig. During high pressure weather, which is known as anti-cyclones (red hot still days, clear and colder nights) usually the carp will not feed as strongly no matter which rig you use to present your hookbait. With low pressure which is known as depressions (overcast skies, mild south-westerly winds, rain etc.) the carp’s feeding should increase due to increased oxygen levels, water turbulence and lower light levels. In such conditions a good rig should produce and if you are not receiving action you should look critically at your rig choice. If the carp are confident in your bait, there is little angler pressure, feeding conditions are good, carp are in your swim and you are not getting takes, you will need to look very carefully at the rig you are using. If the carp have not built up confidence in the bait, if feeding conditions are less than ideal, if angler pressure is extreme and you are not sure about where to locate the carp, don’t automatically think your rig is to blame! A rig will only catch carp if: a) it is where the carp are prepared to feed b) it’s there at the time they are prepared to feed c) it has a hookbait on it that the carp are willing to take in. DON’T ALWAYS BLAME THE RIG!  I may get a few more points for this one  Last edited by NICK R; 05-29-2010 at 09:18 AM.     |
| #2 05-29-2010, 05:21 AM | ||||
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| Re: Senses as aids to feeding wow ! what a mass of info,nice one nick |
| #3 05-29-2010, 09:16 AM | ||||
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| Re: Senses as aids to feeding Some great info. |
| #6 05-30-2010, 05:01 PM | |||
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| Re: Senses as aids to feeding Quote:
actually its not some of do actually know a thing or two |
| #9 05-30-2010, 05:12 PM | |||
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| Re: Senses as aids to feeding I was asking a question m8 not starting an arguement it doesnt take much to anwer a question! but know some people gotta comment on everyones post to make them look like a good angler! hhmm, aldi sugarpuff hey!!! cool! |
