carp fishing - feel free to copy and paste providing links are retained
Something Different Part 2 – Rod Simpson
Sinking Dog Foods for carp fishing Baits
“What was the 32 caught on Rod,” was the statement from a fellow carp angler, “dog food,” I said “off the surface then mate,” he remarked as he rambled of through the scrub. At which point I said to myself by way of a whisper under my breath, “on the bottom mate.” It was his and probably the majority of angler’s perception that dog foods are surface bait, how wrong you are. Most associate pet foods such as chum mixer and the like with floater fishing. How many have used sinking pet foods? Not many! Match anglers use tinned cat foods and many swear by their use. I seldom see UK carp anglers using sinking dog foods!
The lake was quite busy with no less than 8 bivvies and several day anglers, as far as I am aware my common was the only fish to grace the banks that day. So how did I catch when the majority struggled? By going against the grain, doing something different. The carp in swan valley are easy to observe when they are in the top bay, the water being very clear. Staying quiet and feeding the carp at close quarters taught me a lot about the way in which they were feeding, picking up small baits and being very wary when doing so. This gave me the feeling that the only way I was going to get a pick up was to use a bait and approach that they associate with danger. The rig was the cam rig which I wrote about in the last issue, so will refrain from going into to much detail, but have included a photo just in case you missed the previous issue, it works very well for rig shy fish.
Let me take you through a short account of how the fish was tricked into submission. I was looking at options in which I could improve my chances of a take, so decided not to use baits that the carp would recognise as danger. My thinking being that they are rig shy and wary of picking up little round balls of bait. This was clearly evident as I sat motionless for 2 hours watching the fish at close quarters. Heart in mouth, as a finicky common would visit the area, pick up the odd morsel and disappear back into the depths, 2 metres from my position. Not boilies though, only the odd piece of high life dog food! At least I now knew that they would have no hesitation in taking it, I was gaining the upper hand. I left my hide after placing a handful of the chopped worm shaped pastes next to the bush, allowing the swim to settle for a while. On my return a silt cam rig with a single hair rigged high life morsel was delicately lowered next to the bush, several pieces were flicked nearby. Slack lines with bobbins lying on the ground, this allowed the line to settle on the lakebed “cam effect”.
A few minutes passed, but seemed like an age when the indicator edged upright from lying flat immediately followed by a sharp lift and a powerful curve of the rod. Well! The result was a 32 LB + common; on my first ever visit to the lake, only 10 minutes after lowering the rig.
Was it luck or a combination of factors, I would say the latter. The fish had not seen high life dog food, they had not encountered the cam rig and the deceptive properties of it, the common was a cagey fish of that I am certain, but did not detect danger by association with the new found food items, and as a result it was picking up the baits without hesitation.
High life dog food is only one of a number of sinking dog foods currently available, the most well known but still rarely used in the UK being Frolic. Frolic is quite different in texture and shape; it has the consistency of a fairly hard boilie that is principally meat and cereal based. Its aroma is, as you would expect, a meaty dog food smell. It has been used to great effect on the continent for many years, I recall sending Simon Crow some pictures of it to accompany one of my articles that was featured in carp world several years ago. But I have only recently seen it used by UK anglers. It has caught many fish on some tricky European waters including the Orient and Cassien. There is no reason why it should not do just as well in the UK. Nonetheless when using it on smaller pressured lakes I would prefer to break the polo shaped feed into small pellet sized pieces. It is bait that will catch on the most difficult waters and very under rated, give it a go you may be surprised, it will work well on any water where it has not been used. The composition is as follows: Cereals, vegetable proteins, meat meals, minerals, milk and milk products, various sugars, fish and fish proteins. As you can see it contains some good carp catching ingredients at a cost of £1.69 per 800 g box. The pack is re-sealable maintaining freshness; it can be purchased from most Tesco stores.
High life dog food for carp fishing
Whilst wandering the isles of Tescos with the wife for the weekly shopping ritual she tried to gain my attention as she had gone through the checkout, she needed my credit card to pay for the weekly shop, in spite of this I was not interested in the throwing of her arms and her raised voice to attract my attention as I had discovered a new dog food that had caught my eye! I was so engrossed in reading the ingredients of High Life Dog Food. The outer showed the feed came in two shapes, a small triangular shape and a small chopped worm shape and a couple of different flavours. By this time my good lady was becoming not so good as a queue was starting to build up. I quickly grabbed a box of each and threw them onto the counter. The complete silence whilst travelling home in the car was a bonus! It gave me a chance to inspect the innovative new carp bait that I had discovered. I remember the discovery quite well as I went on to catch a lot of carp over it, hence the reason the day has been etched in my memory and that of my significant other’s!
Once home I disappeared into the study to carry out a few tests on the carp in my tank and also to establish the breakdown period in water. My carp are only small so I crumbled up the chopped worm type, I watched as the fish hoovered them up and mooched around for more. Step one was a big thumb’s up; the fish in the tank loved them! It was still not a true test as these fish are in a false environment. Fish in tanks respond different to those in a lake, what is tolerable to aquarium fish may not be acceptable to carp in wilder surroundings.
carp fishing
The chopped worm shaped morsels that were placed in a bowl of water went soft after 2 hours at a temperature of 7 degrees centigrade; they left an oily halo effect just above the feed. If oily attractants could escape in that temperature then without doubt they would be a good bet for the winter! However they did not break down like pellets, but remained intact and in shape, somewhat like a boilie paste in the shape of chopped worms. Maybe their worm like shape and colour has something to do with their effectiveness?
First use and first blood came from a small overstocked fishery near Salisbury. The kind of lake dug for match anglers and stocked with carp from 4 – 26 lbs, the vast majority being in the 4-12 lb bracket, perfect for testing baits. No boilies being allowed, I was armed with high life on its maiden voyage on a bitterly cold winter’s day. The match anglers were out and had grabbed the better swims prior to my arrival so settled for an un-favoured peg, fishing to the centre island at 30 yards range, it’s only a pool. Two PVA bags full of high life and a single hair rigged grain were cast. Carp started taking a preference to the baits within 15 minutes of being cast, the roach pole anglers could only watch in awe as I landed several carp to 12 lbs in 5 hours of fishing, one of them came over and politely informed me that no boilies were allowed. I gave an arrogant smile as I left for tea, knowing that they believed I was breaking the rules and out fishing them using boilies.
carp fishing
From that day high life has been one of the main baits I use for both feed and hair rigged, it remains one of the baits in my carp angling armoury, in fact I have used it for the majority of my sessions since Christmas. It also makes up a large percentage of my loose feed when fishing abroad, the other percentage being crumbed mainline boilies and various pellets. A recent session in France has further increased my confidence in high life, my 17 year old son Gareth and his friend Daniel have just taken 1.2 ton of carp in 6 days, including 70 over 20 lbs with the biggest at 40 lbs 8 oz using a combination of maple 8, high life and pellets. I am about to send an article off to International Carper detailing this hit.
When fishing in good old blighty I regularly fish at least one rod using high life only, the fish in the majority of lakes have not seen it, increasing the chances of the carp feeding confidently on it.
carp fishing
If however I am fishing a lake where the hook bait may receive the attentions of nuisance fish or crays I opt to fish a much harder high life pellet shaped hook bait. Preparation is quite simple and in for an hour’s manual labour in the kitchen you will have enough hook baits to keep you going for some time.
Ingredients of high life are as follows: beef, high fructose corn syrup, soy grits, soy flour, wheat flour, calcium carbonate, brewers soluble, salt, cheddar cheese and methionine. The cost per 1.5 kg is £2.99.
To make pop ups and harder bottom baits follow the recipes below, I used mainline Polaris pop up mix and their high leakage 50/50 base mix for hard bottom baits, they came out perfectly.
Pop up high life - carp fishing
1. Crumb quarter of a sachet of high life in a blender or by hand.
2. Mix thoroughly with twice the amount of mainline Polaris pop up mix (other pop mixes may achieve the same effect)
2. Crack one large egg into a mix bowl.
3. Slowly add the dry powder mix, until a firm but workable paste is achieved.
4. Roll to desired size and shape then boil for 2-3 min’s.
5. Leave to air dry in a warm place for 24 hours.
6. Your pop ups are now ready for use.
7. Air-dry for a longer period for long-term storage.
High life sinking hooks baits
Follow the recipe above exchanging the pop up mix for mainline high leakage base mix, roll to the required shape and size and boil for 2-3 minutes. The finished hook bait smells and looks the same texture as the original high life worm shaped pellets. They work a treat fished in a PVA bag of high life.
There may be other sinking dog foods out their that I am not aware of, in my opinion the pulling power of high life will take some beating. It can be applied as a bait using a multitude of methods including the bag or stick methods.
Frolic is available from most large super markets abroad, if you run short of bait whilst on tour, it is an option. I tend to use boilies over the top of high life on larger waters and high life on its own with a high life pop up on small or highly pressured lakes.
Both manufacturers supply in much larger boxes than shown here, I have seen high life sold in 5 kg boxes in the UK and frolic sold in 10 kg bags on the continent. I have presented my findings on both products for all to see, if you choose to ignore this article you will be missing out on a bait that is now at the top of my list for loose feed. I have not seen high life featured in any magazine or article. You know where you heard it first!
Friday 14 March 2008
Carp fishing tackle
Carp fishing
You may copy and paste this article providing the links are retained.
Something Different Part 1 - The Camouflage Effect
How many times do we read that old cliché, do something different? The definition of the term is difficult to accomplish as the majority of methods have been used on many of our pressured carp lakes. So to attempt to do something different is not as simple as it sounds, we’ve seen it written on many occasions in many different publications by numerous accomplished writers. What is the meaning of something different? Does it mean applying bait that has not been exhausted on your chosen venue or a method that has not been used by one and all? I would suggest that doing something different is not a case of jumping on the band wagon, but applying a method or bait that carp in your chosen lake do not associate with danger and therefore as a result, not be so wary. In my articles that follow I will detail my interpretation of doing something different, which I personally, have applied to very good effect. The first part I will cover is the use of camouflage and concealment of line and rigs. It is not my intention to detail a multitude of methods I have used, but to get you thinking about hiding your end tackle using the theories of camouflage and concealment and adopt these principles within your own angling situations.
Carp fishing
A common denominator in carp fishing is that all rigs have an obtrusive length of line from rod to hook a simplistic statement. With this in mind, it is this area we should examine first to make as inconspicuous as possible. Carp will as we know take notice of line and this is highlighted when observing surface feeding fish at close quarters, we know from experience that they will spook to it, sometimes the only way to entice a take is to hide the line by removing it from view. A case of making the carp think your surface bait is a free offering so we must remove all signs of obvious danger. The way I achieve this is as follows: drape the line across lilies, hang it over a twig or use the well-documented beach caster method.
This leads me on to an open question, "do carp react in the same manner when feeding on bottom baits?" To a lesser degree they do, as line or braid lying on the bottom can be seen, but possibly less conspicuous, not nearly as visible as a silhouette of line on the surface. A rig lying on the lake bed blends in to its back ground better than line on the surface - the camouflage effect. I believe that light coloured rig materials blend in much better as they take on the natural colour of the waters sediment. Try submerging/clinching a light rig material in some wet lake sediment and you will see what I mean. Green snake skin has camouflage properties when fishing weeded waters; part of its success is down to being similar in colour and texture to a strand of weed? Place some snakeskin next to some weed and you will notice how well it blends. The carp angling fraternity are becoming more aware of the importance of camouflage and concealment.
Carp fishing
The main principles of camouflage are colour, shape, shine and silhouette. We have all heard of carp picking up freebies and avoiding the hook bait, the terminal tackle being visible and standing out like a bulldogs gonads! This will occur on all lakes where fish recognise line, rigs and terminal tackle as a sign of danger. Let’s take a closer look at how carp anglers can utilise the art of concealment in order to be more successful. I fish a lake in France regularly that has gin clear water with the odd patch of weed; it is very difficult to get a take unless the line and rig is concealed from view. I achieved good results by lowering the rig on the edge of the weed bed using a boat, as the water was clear the rig was placed so that only an inch or two of the hook length was visible, the lead and the majority of the rig was camouflaged in the weed.
Crap fishing
Stick methods, PVA bags and method feeders are very successful for a number of reasons but I would suggest that part of the success be down to the fact that the rig is concealed by the feed used in them. Resulting in a much better chance of a carp picking up your hook bait, less visible danger.
Camouflage in carp fishing as we have seen in recent years, is being applied to most aspects of carp fishing from clothing to end tackle! We only need to flick through the magazines to see this, real tree clothing, flouro carbon lines, stones and leads to match the environment. All of which can be placed in the disruptive pattern material (DPM) bracket. According to some fish biologists fish are virtually colour blind, seeing only the colours of the spectrum from white to black and shades between. Mimicking the colour of the lakebed will make the end tackle less visible. This would surely reduce the chances of your end tackle being detected? I know so! How many of us cast a black lead and rig onto a light coloured lakebed i.e. sand? Try placing a black lead onto a light sheet of paper! Get my drift. Moral of the story is: give this some serious thought and use terminal tackle that is similar in colour to the lakebed.
Carp fishing
Another camouflage principle is shape, and probably the most important of the principles. Line, swivels, rig materials and leads contain straight lines and curves that are manmade, how many natural objects do we see that have the same shape, un-natural shapes in a natural environment, easily detected! It is these distinctive shapes that the carp recognise as danger. In order to overcome detection we should adopt and learn lessons from other areas that put a much higher priority on camouflage and concealment than we do! I.e. a sniper hides from view by breaking up his shape with foliage from the surroundings in which he is operating.
With that in mind breaking up the shape into a more natural outline would further reduce the chances of detection. A combination of breaking up the outline and matching the shade or colour of the lake bed is what we should try to achieve - a presentation that would be very difficult to detect. The human eye recognises by shape and colour, I would suggest that carp can detect danger by associating some shapes by association with a previous bad experience, i.e. line, hooks and leads. If we could hide these shapes/lines we would achieve a much better presentation profile which in turn would deceive more carp into picking up our hook baits.
On looking through the range of leads and hooks available today it is very noticeable how much surface shine hooks, swivels and leads have. As we are looking to avoid detection we should be using none shining products i.e. a matt finish. Note how many of natures own objects shine in a lake. Very few, so why do manufacturers insist on silver grey glistening hooks, lead coatings that reflect rather than absorb light, its OK using a black coating as long as it is matt and does not shine.
Finally we move onto the sense of touch, carp use their barbule to feel/touch, when they slide across an anglers line or rig. I presume they recognise the man made material and shape of it. Monofilament is unlike anything that can be found in any natural surrounding, immediately raising a carps sense of awareness and caution. If it were possible to attach debris or natural particles to terminal tackle carp would be much less wary and much less likely to sense danger of man made products.
Concealment in all its disguises is the way forward to tempt rig shy fish. Realistically speaking its only those last few feet that can be hidden, it’s not possible to break up the distinctive shape and texture of main line, it would be impossible to cast!
carp fishing
I think we can learn a thing or two by studying creatures, one of which is the caddis lava. Each larva spins a tube of silk and fixes to it material such as sand grains, small stones, plant stems, twigs and therefore the creature gains some protection and blends perfectly into its surroundings, a second example would be the stick insect. If we could mimic that effect it would be an advance in our presentation. How can this be achieved? I am afraid I don't have all of the answers but have been experimenting with a number of ideas to do just that, nicknamed the cam rig, its still in the trial stages but results so far are encouraging! Prior to attempting to camouflage your end tackle it is vitally important to know the bottom of the lake in the area where you will be placing bait.
Tackle companies see the importance of this, with the various new colour camouflaged end tackle that are hitting the market? But they are neglecting one of the most important principles, that of shape. Leads and rigs which have a broken outline would be a step forward and would achieve a much better cam effect than colour only. Maybe rig tubing that does not have a definitive outline but broken with the use of life like foliage? Or dried silt, sand/debris glued onto rig materials/leads.
Fishing Method
Take a rig/lead and cover it in glue to attain a broken uneven outline. I use a glue gun with PVC glue. Whilst the glue is still tacky role the lead and rig in dried debris similar to that of the lake you are fishing, repeat the process until you have achieved a good build up on the outer surface. I have also used a peat type soil from a grow bag, which blends in to silt and areas of over hanging trees perfectly. The cam rig in the photo is made using grow bag soil; notice how well it blends into some sediment that was taken from my local gravel pit. Also note how much better it is at blending into the back ground in comparison to the standard rig materials pictured left and right of it. Just about any material can be applied from weed/leaves to dried silt. One thing you must ensure is that you are matching the lake bed in the area where you are placing your rig. Don't use sand and gravel if the lake you are fishing is predominantly silt, it would stand out! The lake I tested it on had a thin covering of silt, which was full of blood worm. It blended perfectly into its environment and all that was visible at the rig end was a small hook and maple 8 pop up.
carp methods
Hiding the last few feet of line can be achieved using lead core with debris attached in a similar way to that of the rig and lead. Lead core is used to prevent the attached glue from lifting off the lakebed. The combined lead core and rig give an approximate 2-3 ft length of deception pinned to the lakebed. Don't use tight lines when fishing short to medium range as this would lift the lead core at a direct angle from lead to rod making it conspicuous.
Alternately a similar result can be achieved using the stick method, rather than use ground bait try dried silt, sand, weed or debris. Ensure you use a sinking rig material to prevent it from drifting above the contents of the mesh tube. On pick up by a carp the boilie and rig length is easily released from the sediment.
At present I have the following materials attached rigs, leads and tubing – Sand and gravel, silt sediment, and dried weed. Do ensure you place a shot or putty on the rig length as glue floats and may lift the rig if it is not weighted.
Once you have constructed a number of rigs, leads and core I suggest that you weather them. Now we are taking a leaf from a poacher's book. A poacher understands that the animals he is trying to trap can smell human scent and odours that are not normally found within a rabbit burrow. A rabbit can smell this and avoids that area. The poacher overcomes this by weathering his snares, leaving them covered in soil, normally in the garden. Due to using glue to make the cam rig, the finished rigs are left in my fish tank to weather until needed, this eliminates a large percentage of the odour, thus reducing the chances of a carp scenting danger.
The methods detailed above are ideal for close to medium range fishing due to their poor aerodynamic properties. A lot of the general information I have presented is theoretical. However the principles of camouflage and concealment can be used to good effect in many situations and should be built upon rather than dismissed. One thing is certain; it will be difficult for a fish to detect danger through association of lines and rig lengths when camouflaged using these methods.
The anglers that venture to try new methods are usually those that succeed and are constantly thinking about their approach in order to wrinkle out that extra fish, and more often than not are the top rods on a lake, the time and effort is well worthwhile! I hope this article has given many of you food for thought on this simple but very successful process.
Carp fishing
Perhaps Mr Nash/Fox or any other company that markets rig materials can produce a commercial rig/lead and tube that maintains the principles of camouflage and concealment, shape, shine, colour and silhouette? Take note of the caddis larva, it uses debris as a home to hide from fish, by doing so it is able to stay alive, carp anglers are trying to hide terminal tackle from the carps prying eye, the caddis larva succeeds can we adopt its principles also?
In the next article I will introduce you to some new bait that has been catching a lot of fish for me and the few that I have mentioned it to.
www.
You may copy and paste this article providing the links are retained.
Something Different Part 1 - The Camouflage Effect
How many times do we read that old cliché, do something different? The definition of the term is difficult to accomplish as the majority of methods have been used on many of our pressured carp lakes. So to attempt to do something different is not as simple as it sounds, we’ve seen it written on many occasions in many different publications by numerous accomplished writers. What is the meaning of something different? Does it mean applying bait that has not been exhausted on your chosen venue or a method that has not been used by one and all? I would suggest that doing something different is not a case of jumping on the band wagon, but applying a method or bait that carp in your chosen lake do not associate with danger and therefore as a result, not be so wary. In my articles that follow I will detail my interpretation of doing something different, which I personally, have applied to very good effect. The first part I will cover is the use of camouflage and concealment of line and rigs. It is not my intention to detail a multitude of methods I have used, but to get you thinking about hiding your end tackle using the theories of camouflage and concealment and adopt these principles within your own angling situations.
Carp fishing
A common denominator in carp fishing is that all rigs have an obtrusive length of line from rod to hook a simplistic statement. With this in mind, it is this area we should examine first to make as inconspicuous as possible. Carp will as we know take notice of line and this is highlighted when observing surface feeding fish at close quarters, we know from experience that they will spook to it, sometimes the only way to entice a take is to hide the line by removing it from view. A case of making the carp think your surface bait is a free offering so we must remove all signs of obvious danger. The way I achieve this is as follows: drape the line across lilies, hang it over a twig or use the well-documented beach caster method.
This leads me on to an open question, "do carp react in the same manner when feeding on bottom baits?" To a lesser degree they do, as line or braid lying on the bottom can be seen, but possibly less conspicuous, not nearly as visible as a silhouette of line on the surface. A rig lying on the lake bed blends in to its back ground better than line on the surface - the camouflage effect. I believe that light coloured rig materials blend in much better as they take on the natural colour of the waters sediment. Try submerging/clinching a light rig material in some wet lake sediment and you will see what I mean. Green snake skin has camouflage properties when fishing weeded waters; part of its success is down to being similar in colour and texture to a strand of weed? Place some snakeskin next to some weed and you will notice how well it blends. The carp angling fraternity are becoming more aware of the importance of camouflage and concealment.
Carp fishing
The main principles of camouflage are colour, shape, shine and silhouette. We have all heard of carp picking up freebies and avoiding the hook bait, the terminal tackle being visible and standing out like a bulldogs gonads! This will occur on all lakes where fish recognise line, rigs and terminal tackle as a sign of danger. Let’s take a closer look at how carp anglers can utilise the art of concealment in order to be more successful. I fish a lake in France regularly that has gin clear water with the odd patch of weed; it is very difficult to get a take unless the line and rig is concealed from view. I achieved good results by lowering the rig on the edge of the weed bed using a boat, as the water was clear the rig was placed so that only an inch or two of the hook length was visible, the lead and the majority of the rig was camouflaged in the weed.
Crap fishing
Stick methods, PVA bags and method feeders are very successful for a number of reasons but I would suggest that part of the success be down to the fact that the rig is concealed by the feed used in them. Resulting in a much better chance of a carp picking up your hook bait, less visible danger.
Camouflage in carp fishing as we have seen in recent years, is being applied to most aspects of carp fishing from clothing to end tackle! We only need to flick through the magazines to see this, real tree clothing, flouro carbon lines, stones and leads to match the environment. All of which can be placed in the disruptive pattern material (DPM) bracket. According to some fish biologists fish are virtually colour blind, seeing only the colours of the spectrum from white to black and shades between. Mimicking the colour of the lakebed will make the end tackle less visible. This would surely reduce the chances of your end tackle being detected? I know so! How many of us cast a black lead and rig onto a light coloured lakebed i.e. sand? Try placing a black lead onto a light sheet of paper! Get my drift. Moral of the story is: give this some serious thought and use terminal tackle that is similar in colour to the lakebed.
Carp fishing
Another camouflage principle is shape, and probably the most important of the principles. Line, swivels, rig materials and leads contain straight lines and curves that are manmade, how many natural objects do we see that have the same shape, un-natural shapes in a natural environment, easily detected! It is these distinctive shapes that the carp recognise as danger. In order to overcome detection we should adopt and learn lessons from other areas that put a much higher priority on camouflage and concealment than we do! I.e. a sniper hides from view by breaking up his shape with foliage from the surroundings in which he is operating.
With that in mind breaking up the shape into a more natural outline would further reduce the chances of detection. A combination of breaking up the outline and matching the shade or colour of the lake bed is what we should try to achieve - a presentation that would be very difficult to detect. The human eye recognises by shape and colour, I would suggest that carp can detect danger by associating some shapes by association with a previous bad experience, i.e. line, hooks and leads. If we could hide these shapes/lines we would achieve a much better presentation profile which in turn would deceive more carp into picking up our hook baits.
On looking through the range of leads and hooks available today it is very noticeable how much surface shine hooks, swivels and leads have. As we are looking to avoid detection we should be using none shining products i.e. a matt finish. Note how many of natures own objects shine in a lake. Very few, so why do manufacturers insist on silver grey glistening hooks, lead coatings that reflect rather than absorb light, its OK using a black coating as long as it is matt and does not shine.
Finally we move onto the sense of touch, carp use their barbule to feel/touch, when they slide across an anglers line or rig. I presume they recognise the man made material and shape of it. Monofilament is unlike anything that can be found in any natural surrounding, immediately raising a carps sense of awareness and caution. If it were possible to attach debris or natural particles to terminal tackle carp would be much less wary and much less likely to sense danger of man made products.
Concealment in all its disguises is the way forward to tempt rig shy fish. Realistically speaking its only those last few feet that can be hidden, it’s not possible to break up the distinctive shape and texture of main line, it would be impossible to cast!
carp fishing
I think we can learn a thing or two by studying creatures, one of which is the caddis lava. Each larva spins a tube of silk and fixes to it material such as sand grains, small stones, plant stems, twigs and therefore the creature gains some protection and blends perfectly into its surroundings, a second example would be the stick insect. If we could mimic that effect it would be an advance in our presentation. How can this be achieved? I am afraid I don't have all of the answers but have been experimenting with a number of ideas to do just that, nicknamed the cam rig, its still in the trial stages but results so far are encouraging! Prior to attempting to camouflage your end tackle it is vitally important to know the bottom of the lake in the area where you will be placing bait.
Tackle companies see the importance of this, with the various new colour camouflaged end tackle that are hitting the market? But they are neglecting one of the most important principles, that of shape. Leads and rigs which have a broken outline would be a step forward and would achieve a much better cam effect than colour only. Maybe rig tubing that does not have a definitive outline but broken with the use of life like foliage? Or dried silt, sand/debris glued onto rig materials/leads.
Fishing Method
Take a rig/lead and cover it in glue to attain a broken uneven outline. I use a glue gun with PVC glue. Whilst the glue is still tacky role the lead and rig in dried debris similar to that of the lake you are fishing, repeat the process until you have achieved a good build up on the outer surface. I have also used a peat type soil from a grow bag, which blends in to silt and areas of over hanging trees perfectly. The cam rig in the photo is made using grow bag soil; notice how well it blends into some sediment that was taken from my local gravel pit. Also note how much better it is at blending into the back ground in comparison to the standard rig materials pictured left and right of it. Just about any material can be applied from weed/leaves to dried silt. One thing you must ensure is that you are matching the lake bed in the area where you are placing your rig. Don't use sand and gravel if the lake you are fishing is predominantly silt, it would stand out! The lake I tested it on had a thin covering of silt, which was full of blood worm. It blended perfectly into its environment and all that was visible at the rig end was a small hook and maple 8 pop up.
carp methods
Hiding the last few feet of line can be achieved using lead core with debris attached in a similar way to that of the rig and lead. Lead core is used to prevent the attached glue from lifting off the lakebed. The combined lead core and rig give an approximate 2-3 ft length of deception pinned to the lakebed. Don't use tight lines when fishing short to medium range as this would lift the lead core at a direct angle from lead to rod making it conspicuous.
Alternately a similar result can be achieved using the stick method, rather than use ground bait try dried silt, sand, weed or debris. Ensure you use a sinking rig material to prevent it from drifting above the contents of the mesh tube. On pick up by a carp the boilie and rig length is easily released from the sediment.
At present I have the following materials attached rigs, leads and tubing – Sand and gravel, silt sediment, and dried weed. Do ensure you place a shot or putty on the rig length as glue floats and may lift the rig if it is not weighted.
Once you have constructed a number of rigs, leads and core I suggest that you weather them. Now we are taking a leaf from a poacher's book. A poacher understands that the animals he is trying to trap can smell human scent and odours that are not normally found within a rabbit burrow. A rabbit can smell this and avoids that area. The poacher overcomes this by weathering his snares, leaving them covered in soil, normally in the garden. Due to using glue to make the cam rig, the finished rigs are left in my fish tank to weather until needed, this eliminates a large percentage of the odour, thus reducing the chances of a carp scenting danger.
The methods detailed above are ideal for close to medium range fishing due to their poor aerodynamic properties. A lot of the general information I have presented is theoretical. However the principles of camouflage and concealment can be used to good effect in many situations and should be built upon rather than dismissed. One thing is certain; it will be difficult for a fish to detect danger through association of lines and rig lengths when camouflaged using these methods.
The anglers that venture to try new methods are usually those that succeed and are constantly thinking about their approach in order to wrinkle out that extra fish, and more often than not are the top rods on a lake, the time and effort is well worthwhile! I hope this article has given many of you food for thought on this simple but very successful process.
Carp fishing
Perhaps Mr Nash/Fox or any other company that markets rig materials can produce a commercial rig/lead and tube that maintains the principles of camouflage and concealment, shape, shine, colour and silhouette? Take note of the caddis larva, it uses debris as a home to hide from fish, by doing so it is able to stay alive, carp anglers are trying to hide terminal tackle from the carps prying eye, the caddis larva succeeds can we adopt its principles also?
In the next article I will introduce you to some new bait that has been catching a lot of fish for me and the few that I have mentioned it to.
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Wednesday 12 March 2008
Fox Pool
New all inclusive trips or drive yourself to a small water containing a good stiock of big carp.
Fox Pool
New all inclusive trips or drive yourself to a small water containing a good stiock of big carp.
carp fishing in France
This blog is all about carp fishing in france based on your experinces, please add any lake to this list and let us know your views. Dont use this blog to advertize a lake, we want customers views.
Please start adding your views on carp fishing in France.
Please start adding your views on carp fishing in France.
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