Carp fishing is one the most popular styles of fishing. More often than not they will offer anglers a good challenge and should make your time by the water enjoyable. At Taskers Angling we though we would share some tips on how best to catch carp including information on how carp will be attracted to bait, what can trigger carp to feed and hotspots on the water to look at.
Once you have chosen your bait there are plenty of ways to get the target to come towards it. It is important to consider things such as location, water depth, the time of year, the weather and how the carp feel. How do carp find food and baits though? There are a number of ways they do this. Their mouth helps them to vacuum up sediment off the bottom which separates the edible particles from the debris, its teeth never get in the way when unhooking but carp do have shape of strong molars. One other tip that is helpful is that their eyes provide them with amazing vision thanks to them being either side and higher up on the head, this way they can also look out for predators in the water.
It is now important to look at what triggers carp to feed. A lot of natural environments can trigger carp to feed. One way is the time of day, carp tend to feed mostly during daytime hours but the right bait will hopefully work as well in the night. The weather is another factor to look out for as the sun will trigger the carp to feed on the surface particularly during winter and autumn months. A high wind pressure or a windy day can also increase carp activity. Also keep in mind the water temperature as the warmer waters will attract more fish.
In terms of where carp tend to feed there are hotspots you should consider targeting. First of all if you are fishing by a river try targeting the mouths, where river merges into a large body of water and the bends, where the water is naturally quicker making a big pocket in the river. Shallow bays are also somewhere to consider targeting as the water here will draw in carp during the spring and autumn. As well as this carp can seek refuge from the faster water in calmer backwater areas so it is wise to cast upstream and allow your bait to go there.
Finally what depth do Carp feed at? The answer is all depths depending on some of the previous points outlined earlier. Most anglers though will look at the bottom of the water as carp will naturally feed on lakebed organisms. Boilies, corn, pellets and hemp seeds are just some of the baits which will work best at this depth. On a calm warm day carp will mostly be on the surface looking for insects or floating baits.
We hope that this blog will help you be better prepared to catch carp! As we head into the warmer months a lot more of you will be out and about fishing and we hope to see you all land as many big catches as possible.