Many years ago now, when I was still very young, I fished a small overgrown pond close to my home. At the time, all I wanted to do was go fishing, content to just chuck a float out and catch anything that swam, totally oblivious to anything else going on in the world.
One afternoon, I walked down into the bottom corner, and there in the crystal clear, shallow water, lay a carp of enormous proportions. I watched it for what seemed like an eternity, until I eventually dragged myself away to get my rod. I went on to land that fish a short while later on a free lined lob worm, and it weighed over 17lb.
It was a colossal fish for me at the time, and I always remember, thinking back, how easy it was to catch. Nowadays, whenever I’m sat by a lake twiddling my thumbs and hoping for my alarm to scream out, I often think back to that day, as surely if I hadn’t have reeled in and gone for a walk, I would never have caught that fish. Little was I to know that that afternoon would have me hooked on the forgotten art of stalking...
Like floater fishing, it’s very rare on many venues these days, to see somebody walking round a lake trying to stalk a carp. In all honesty, once most people have settled into a swim, they’re unlikely to move until it’s time to pack up, especially if they’ve spent a couple of hours carefully finding their spots and baiting up. Although an incredibly popular and successful method, there are many times when the bait and wait tactic just doesn’t work, especially through the height of summer, when often it can be very difficult to get a bite over any amount of bait. Carp are funny old creatures at the best of times, but one thing you can always rely on is that they are creatures of habit. July and August for whatever reason can be very tricky months to catch a carp. It’s almost as though they spawn, have a big old feed up, and then go on a diet for the rest of the summer! It’s uncanny how every year around this time lakes all over seem to fish poorly. One thing you can be sure of though is that they will be creeping into the margins and quieter corners.
Being quite an impatient angler, if it isn’t happening in my swim, then I’ll quite happily skip my rods in and go for a walk around the pond. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve reeled in, walked down the bank and stumbled across a fish or group of fish just sat mooching around an area. Over the years I’ve been fortunate enough to witness some incredible sights, and watch some huge carp feeding literally inches from the bank, oblivious to me stood open mouthed above them. I find it very relaxing watching carp at close quarters; it seems to have the same calming effect of a garden pond. Most of the time I have to really drag myself away, as I can be there for hours sometimes. Having said that, once my rig is in the water I’m a jibbering wreck!
Although at first it may seem like a lot of effort, the reality is that it’s very easy. It is essential to have a pair of polarising glasses. Being able to cut through the surface glare and watch exactly what the fish are doing below the surface, is the main factor in being able to stalk a carp. If you can’t see them then you are unquestionably making life difficult for yourself.
First and foremost, when you’re stalking, you’re looking for fish. Subtlety and stealth are important; otherwise you could blow any chance you have without even realising. As long as you aren’t too heavy footed, loud and move with an air of caution, you should be fine. When you do eventually come across a fish or group of fish, don’t instantly start throwing bait on their heads. More than likely this will spook them and they won’t return. Patience is key, and often carp will give you a window to drop some bait in. Usually it’s when they move along the bank slightly or wander off before returning a short while later. If they’re being stubborn, then I’ve found one or two small pellets dropped on their heads or close by them is enough to agitate them to move away slightly. If you can’t find fish, then it’s worth putting some bait on a few likely looking areas, and checking them later on. Many times it’s been my get out jail free card. The more obvious features are ones like the side of snags, overhanging bushes, the front of reed beds and even by a set of pads, but sometimes it can be a clean area on the bottom along a quiet length of bank that doesn’t see many anglers, or a quiet corner. Through experience, you’ll soon learn to spot ‘clean’ areas; more often than not they’ll be more yellow in colour and almost glow. They’re the same areas you look for out in the pond when you’re searching with your marker float. Some people avoid these glowing areas because they are too blatant, but the way I see it, they’re clean for a reason. The fish are keeping it clean, so they must like feeding on those spots.
A few years ago now, whilst fishing on a fairly large gravel pit, I spotted a carp just stick its head out tight to a far margin. Very slowly, I made my way round for a little look and was surprised to see half a dozen or so carp mooching up and down the margin. One of the spots they would drop down on was a very clean, sandy patch, probably a couple of feet squared. To be honest, I was a little surprised to see them there, as it was very tight to the bank on a very popular stretch of footpath. Not wanting to make it too obvious what I’d seen, I waited for it to get dark before scattering a couple of kilo’s worth of boilies and particle on the spot. When I returned a couple of days later, I was shocked to see that the spot was now HUGE. It had been well worked over the last few days, and to be honest, I thought I may have missed my chance. The first day I didn’t really see much, but what with having a few friends fishing round the corner and constantly walking back and forth, it was unsurprising really. The next morning however, as I slowly made my way down the path, I fell to me knees as I spotted a group of carp making their way down the margin. There was no cover whatsoever, so I had to crawl back to my swim to get a rod. God only knows what anyone looking over must have thought. Making my way back down, rod in hand with a small bag already attached, I watched as the fish carefully grubbed about beneath me on the spot. I waited until they slowly moved off before lowering my rig in. Before the rig had even touched down, the biggest mirror turned and headed straight for the little bag of goodies. It was crazy to watch, but he was literally trying to suck the whole bag into his mouth. Carefully slacking off the line and moving up the bank slightly, I had enough time to just sit down when the rod bent round and the clutch started purring. It was clear from the off which carp was on the end, and after a fairly uneventful fight, I managed to bundle a plump mirror into the net. At just over 35lb, I was over the moon. The next day or so was pretty hectic, and I managed another 12 or 15 bites off the same spot to 33+. Like I said, it doesn’t matter how blatant a spot may look, if the carp are happy to feed on it, then that is surely all that matters.
Being inquisitive and greedy creatures, carp often can’t help but stop for a look when they swim over bait. Every now and then they’ll swim straight past, almost as though they haven’t even noticed there’s bait beneath them. But they have an excellent sense of smell and will certainly know it’s there and often it won’t take long for them to return. There’s a variety of baits that seem to work incredibly well when stalking. Certainly the best all rounder has to be trout pellets. Carp absolutely love trouties. For whatever reason, on the majority of venues they seem to readily accept trouties as a food source. Maggots also seem to work very well, especially on gravel pits. They seem to create a much more aggressive feeding response, and unlike other baits, you can feed the maggots over the top of carp a few at a time and very rarely does it bother them. Then you have baits such as hemp, corn and of course Tiger Nuts. They are all very good baits to stop a carp in its tracks and get it feeding.
Try to remember that when you’re baiting in the edge, you’re not trying to fill them up. You just want enough to get them interested and grubbing about. I tend to throw pellets in a few at a time, and spread them over an area of a couple of yards squared. The last thing I want is for them to eat everything in one go, and then move off before I can even get a rig in the water.
If you’re fishing on the bottom with a hair rig, then don’t just simply drop it in. Carefully lower it down making sure not to
‘thump’ the lead down on the bottom. Again, the thumping down of a lead is enough to spook the fish. They’re certainly much more on edge when they come in close, so any sort of disturbance has to be kept to a minimum. Once your hookbait is in the water, its squeeze your bum time. If you’ve got the rig in without spooking the fish, takes are very instant. The fights are often extremely violent and powerful, as everything is at such close quarters and more than likely you’ll be trying to stop fish making it to a snag or set of pads. Strong line is a must, especially if fishing near snags. I tend to go for a tough 15lb mainline, like GR60, which I know won’t let me down. Although you can use your normal carp rods, it does help to have a shorter rod as sometimes a 12ft rod is too long and awkward to manoeuvre in tight situations, so it pays to have a shorter 9ft or 7ft rod. Rigs are always kept very simple, and generally I will just use a simple knotless knotted hair rig, with a short hook link, to either a 2oz or 4oz inline lead. It’s important to lose the big lead on short hooklinks, as it can sometimes work against you when playing carp. As it bounces around during the fight, it almost unhooks the fish, which isn’t really what we’re after. I tend to fish the big leads on a drop off system, by simply plugging my swivel into the bottom of the lead, then running my mainline or leader around the outside of the lead then trap it with a tail rubber. This way the lead falls off immediately once the fish is hooked. Although I do generally prefer a big lead, if there are any overhanging branches, I’ll fish a standard 2oz inline. This is really to keep the fish lower in the water once it’s hooked. The trouble with the drop off system is that the fish will normally come straight to the surface, obviously increasing the chance of it getting tangled in the overhangs.
Lastly, don’t forget a float! It’s unheard of to go pleasure or match fishing without at least one float in your tackle box, so why as carp anglers do we ignore them. When you find carp feeding, with a bottom bait rig, you’ll have to wait for the fish to give you a chance to drop the rig in, with a float, or even free-lining, you can flick a bait in straight away. It’s easy as carp anglers to become blinkered and think that carp can only be caught on bolt rigs, but at the end of the day, they’re just fish, and very greedy fish at that. So always bear in mind that more often than not, the simplest methods are the most effective.
With the temperatures getting warmer by the day, it’s a perfect time to be giving it a go. I’ve been out walking the banks recently and have managed to get fish to over 35lb feeding at my feet, and I can’t wait to finally get the rods out.
Until next time, be lucky!
Dave Mag
