New to carp fishing... Help!

[drew2006]

Has anyone got any tips i have failed to catch a carp yet!
I am now going to float with a boilie near a margin.
Many people say use sweetcorn but i haven't caught anything on sweetcorn yet.

I am a impatient person (im sad to say) and i would like to catch a carp within the first 1 to 2 hours.

Sorry i am impatient.

[tjnorton]

When you go to a fisherie dont just walk to the first swim and set up. When you go to a lake you need to think

which way is the wind blowing?(try to fish the bank the wind is blowing to)
best places for cap i.e. roots over hanging trees(pref in the are where the wind is blowing)
fish movement on the top(anywhere on the lake)

Once this has beem est you the need to pre bait the area you are goin to fish. This is done so that you get the carp feeding confident mood so casting of baits will not spook the fish. On a warm or hot day try to get the carp feeding on the surface. bread or dog bikkies.

tj

[drew2006]

shall i bait it with ground bait or loose feed?

[samtheman]

well a tin of sweet corn leave it 5 mins and add another tin put in your hook bait and bobs your on it he he but some times you ant geting anything it happens to us all,if you havent had a carp yet yu need to go to a easy fish.get the feel of a carp if you go to small lakes loads of fish thats were your sweetcorn will work go for a size 12 hook, if its hot you got to fish the top,size 8 or 6 floting crust or chum mixer use a controler i prefer to use bubble floats watch the bait not the float just use the float to get you out if the fish are feeding you will watch the fish take your bait, you dont have to cast far cast so you can see the bait but the strike is the thing floating of the top is fast you cant put your rod down keep hold of it tip of rod low and you will catch, go for the 5lb 10lb fish first nothing worst then not knowing if you just ant fishing right or the fish ant there, not every one catchs the big ones first learn how the carp feed how thay must think you will enjoy a 5lb or 10lb carp as your first carp, took a lot of years to get my p.b sam

[Twiddler]

You can also soak the sweetcorn in hempseed oil, always does the trick for me. Now it's coming up to winter time, the fish intend to find their food through smell, as alot of waters are not that clear anymore.

Always remember to feed two swims for a couple of hours before casting into it....it'll get the carp to feed with confident.

Tightlines
Claudia

[master_angler11]

Surface Rig (with controller float)

Surface Controller Surface RigPossibly the most visually exiting method of carp fishing, I have spent many an hour trying to catch a wily old carp off the surface. Carp will feed off the surface as readily as they will feed off the bottom, if the right conditions exist. If you have never tried this then give it a go, and I am sure you will love it

How do I do it?

Slide a surface controller up your main line, followed by a leger stop. The leger stop is there to hold the controller in place, and create a "tail" of line to your hook, where your floating bait awaits. Strong line is needed for carp fishing, with rods reels and hooks to match.

Why does it work?

Carp will feed from the surface generally during warmer months (not that we seem to be having many of them at the moment), and careful presentation of a floating bait might just catch you one. It is extremely important to grease your line between the leger stop and the hook, to ensure that it is floating clear of the water. This not only aids striking, but stops the carp being spooked should it brush the line before it gets to your bait. Controller floats generally allow you to cast floating baits further, but if fishing in extremely close try freelining. You would be surprised how far you can cast a well soaked chum mixer. Freelining in the margins has often produced me fish when other methods fail, especially if you stalk the carp.

Hooking Boilies

Hair Rig

Basic Hair Rig

A hair-rigged boilie is now certainally the most common bait of modern day carp anglers. Hair-rigs were devised to fool carp who had become wary of the side-hooked boilie, pictured below. Hair-rigging also greatly impoves bait presentation, for not only boilies but for other particle baits, including pellets and naturals.

How do I do it?

Most hair rigs are tied via a knotless knot, and this method of tying hairs has always proven strong enough for me. Finish off the other end of the rig with a swivel of appropriate size. I usually prefer to use braid for my Hair-rig hooklengths, due to its extra suppleness and strength for it's diameter.

Why does it work?

As explained above, hair-rigged baits give better presentation, crucial for tempting those larger carp to bite. When carp feed, they will mouth baits and then eject them. Hair-rigged baits leave the hook free to prick in the carp's mouth upon rejection of the bait, causing carp to bolt and signalling runs. As most carp anglers fish with tight lines to bite alarms, getting the carp to bolt to signal a run is vital. Following this text is Chris Shaw's explination of how he prefers to use the basic hair rig.

From Chris Shaw : The hair rig is the basic type whereupon the hair is a length 1/2lb - 1lb nylon about 1/2 - 2 inches in lengthand the hooklength can be either nylon or braid of about 12 - 16 inches. Hook size 10 - 8 for a 16 - 18mm boilie, I would not go bigger but then I suppose it would dependent on the size of the fish that you expect to catch. I have caught carp to 25+ on the size tens, A friend of mine has seen carp to 30+ landed on size tens as well.

Semi-Fixed Running Rig

Semi-Fixed Running Rig

Made by Fox, this set up can be used as a semi-fixed bolt rig or as a running rig depending on where you position the main run ring.

The main run ring can be pushed into the recess to become semi-fixed or the main run ring can be left to slide as a running set-up.
This set-up can also be used as a semi-fixed set-up without the main run ring, but using the notches on the rubber to hold the swivel on a lead in position.

The tubing, in this case E.S.P. sink link, which sinks the mainline in the feeding area and prevents tangles.

Gaffer

Safety Inline Lead

Safety Inline Lead

Made by Fox this inline system will allow the lead to detach itself when snagged. On purchasing this set-up, make sure that the insert can slide through the inner bore of the lead to ease discharge.

The slit which runs down the side of the lead can be opened up with a screw driver to allow the insert to release the lead easier.

The Tubing, in this case E.S.P. sink link, sinks the mainline in the feeding area and prevents tangles.

Gaffer

Running Rig

Running Rig

This simple run -rig allows the fish to run freely with the minimal of resistance.

The rubber bead protects the mainline knot from the swivel.

This set up is prone to tangles during a long distance cast.

Gaffer

Pop-Up Rig

Pop-Up Rig

This is a pop-up rig made of Braid and a 'Depth Charge' weight, although a single shot would do the job.

The positioning of the shot determines the height of the popped-up, buoyant, bait from the lake bed.

Gaffer

Hinged, Pop-up, Stiff Rig

Hinged, Pop-up, Stiff Rig

This rig is an adaptation of the Terry Hearn 'Hinged, Pop-up, Stiff rig'.

The rig shown has used swivels with attached rings rather than tied loops and has 'Heavy metal' putty to add additional weight to the swivel for holding down a buoyant bait.

This rig is particularly difficult for the carp to eject and has excellent anti-tangle properties because of the stiff (25lb) hooklink material used.

Gaffer

Standard Hooklink/Combi Hooklink

Standard Hooklink/Combi Hooklink

Shown on top is a standard braided hooklink with a knotless-knot.

Shown below is a Combi-rig which incorporates a stiff flourocarbon 'boom' which aids anti-tangling, with braid for suppleness.

Gaffer

CV Safety Rig

CV Safety Rig

Here is the original rig that I used to use. At the time I was fishing the Valley waters a lot and the "helicopter"rig was the in thing for long range work.

I was disturbed by the number of "crack offs" and "cut offs" people were getting. All the other rigs would not allow the shock leader knot or the lead core splice to pass through them. After a lot of messing about, me and my mates came up with this idea. A lot of the lads put a lot of effort into making this safe rig work.

Certainly dated now, but I honestly believe that it is still the only rig of its type that will leave just the hook, hook link and swivel in the fish. All the others seem to just dump the lead.

Budgie

Helicopter/Silt Rigs

The Helicopter rig

The Helicopter rig was originally used for sea fishing and later adapted for carp fishing because of its anti-tangle properties.

The rig was named the helicopter rig after its helicopter blade like motion in flight.

The baited hook-link rotates about the main-line axis by the use of the loose fitting hook-link swivel, usually on anti-tangle tubing or lead-core.

The Helicopter rig is probably the most commonly used rig when trying to achieve extreme distances because of its anti-tangle properties and it’s aerodynamic set-up.

The Helicopter rig is best used with a two or three bait ‘Stringer’, a ‘Stringer’ is usually free offerings of your hook-bait that are threaded onto dissolvable P.V.A. string and tied to your hook

Helicopter Rig

The Silt rig

The Silt rig is basically a Helicopter rig in it’s make up, the only difference being that the rubber bead is slid up the anti-tangle tubing or lead-core to the depth of the silt that you are fishing in.

In doing this the hook-link isn’t pulled into the silt burying the hook-bait.

Helicopter Silt Rig

To find out the depth of the silt you use a Marker-Float set-up with a length of white wool tied to the lead with the other end tied to the swivel which runs on the shock-leader/main-line.

The link between the Marker-Float lead and the running swivel that is on the shock-leader/main-line must still be of a suitable breaking strain material with the wool accompanying it, not instead of it.

Once set-up cast out to the silt and leave for ten minutes or so then reel in, the depth of the silt will be stained into the wool.

Considerations

The Helicopter/Silt rig does solve many problems, but not without having it’s own inherent ones.

Firstly when playing a hooked fish you do not have a direct pull on the fish, in other words the strain of the fish is being taken on the rubber bead or sleeve of the lead and the anti-tangle tubing or lead-core, not the direct tension of the main-line.

Secondly the Helicopter/Silt rig is not particularly weed friendly, as it is prone to snagging.

Once the lead is snagged the hook-link can slide up the anti-tangle tubing or lead-core making the problem worse, hence the need for a more direct pull and/or a safety-lead set-up.

Finally, for fish safety, make sure that the rubber bead, which acts as a depth stop, can slide easily along the anti-tangle tubing or lead-core.

In the event of your main-line snapping the hook-link must be able to slide up the anti-tangle tubing or lead-core pushing the rubber bead/depth stop with it as it slides off to free the fish from the lead. hope it helps




Tightlines


MA11

[dougwoolcott]

Hi
I have found that the more "technical" you get while carp fishing, it's not only harder work but lots more expensive. I have had good results over the years using basic tackle and methods and never used a boilie in my life !
For surface fishing, I use crust freelined with the hook "sewn" through the bread and a piece of compressed bread squeezed around the hook so it dangles about half an inch below - this method helps keep the bait together and also attracts fish when the bread gets waterlogged and the baited hook
slowly sinks.
For bottom fishing I prefer a cube of luncheon meat about 3/4" square freelined, with the hook pushed through and a blade of grass slid under the hook bend, with the hook pulled back the grass helps stop the bait falling off when casting.
If all else fails a nice big lobworm again, freelined can give results.
regards
Doug

[Greenheart]

A man after my own heart Doug. I've been catching carp for years using the same tactics. Only recently treated myself to some proper speciemin rods & bite alarms & now I feel like a total novice. Still can't tell a spod from a pop-up

Nice to have another Pink Floyd fan on the forum too mate..... Set the controls for the heart of the sun......

[Logix69]

i dont know if any of you in this forum have tried it but using rag.lob worm works wonders with carp just cut up a few and losse feed them over your bait and yopu will have a cracking time, i have just broke my personal best twice in one fishing session is recently stood at 12LB but i had caught a 23LB 6oz Carp and then a 26LB 6 oz it made my day i am going back there for a 48 hour session on the 4th of june so i hope do do well again

[Banana Steve]

Well done on your PB