Winter Tips: Bait and Tactics
Carp fishing in the coldest Season of the year can be frustrating, yet it can be more satisfying than everything. Water temperatures somewhere to 1 C°, freezing nights and eventually some snow make it very hard to get a bite. So, here’s my Tactic to success even on the
Not too much:
Due their metabolism, carps tend to be not very active during winter. They don’t often search for food and eat not very much. So, for example, when I use 20 kg of bait on a nice summer day, it will be 1 kg in winter. The hook bait that works best for me, are 15 mm neon-coloured pop-ups or a single snowman also topped with some fancy colours. Various other hookbaits, such as particles, can also lead to a good success.
My pre-baiting’s are 14mm and 20 mm Boilies coated with a thin layer of fruity liquid, often cut into half, and combined with a handful of red coloured maggots. Carp love sweet things and fruity liquid is a carp magnet and it most definitely makes your chosen hook bait more appealing to the rest of the freebies around it, give it a try! You won’t be disappointed.
Nothing more nothing less. If you have the chance to visit your water every day, pre-baiting the same spot with 1-2 handful is always a good idea. Start on Monday, feed the whole week, and get your reward on Saturday or Sunday.
Don’t exaggerate your feeding tactics, you will waste lots of money and time. Less is more in winter. If you are equipped with a water camera you should check your spots regularly to see if the bait is gone. a clear sign of fish activity
Rigging:
A simple run rig is always a good choice. Depending on various situations this rig will never let you down. I use the same material s whole year round, of course customized to the lake of my choice.
Razor-sharp hooks are obvious, as a plus I always sharpen them once more by hand.
As weight, I started to use concrete, and stopped using normal leads. Better for nature and better for your money purse. 90-130 grams are enough for me
Find em’:
Mostly I fish in the deeper areas of my lakes, 3-6 meter, depending on where the thermocline is. A good echo sounder or a water thermometer can help you to find it. With the echo, its also possible to find carp feeding spots or even the carp itself. The more Time you spent on searching a good location, the better your chances will be. In Winter, carps tend to stay motionless on the bottom, just to move once or twice a day searching for some food. The closer you are to their spot the better.it will turn out for you.
Generally, I got better results in deeper areas. Mostly, I place one rod on the deepest spot, next rod a bit higher and so on. It highly depends on your location and type of lake (gravel pit, nature lake etc)
Another strategy can be the so-called stalking: light equipment and always ready to move to another spot. Like I said before, carp fishing in wintertime is a challenge, but not impossible
Be patient:
There won’t be any feeding frenzy like on good autumn Sessions, a single bite, slow, often just 1-2 beeps on your bite alarms, is the most you’ll get.
Sometimes, it took me 3 days to get my first (and last) bite. Sometimes I had two good catches in 5-6 hours of fishing time. I often recognized a little time window somewhere around lunchtime, when the sun is on its highest position. Sometimes, when the weather tends to be not bad, I also do sessions overnight, with tent heating and gallons of hot tea.
But if you manage to hook one, it will a such a rewarding feeling
At freezing temperatures, I tend to stay in the water with my catch. Having a good pair of neoprene waders is a must (or some hardcore Swedish sauna experience)! Even the smallest catch is an absolute highlight at -10 C°. Fishing for carp in Winter is exhausting, cold and sometimes frustrating but when you finally holding a good catch in your frozen hands, all the efforts will be forgotten.
