Carp Fishing Tips and Secrets

1) Baits - A very important part of fishing. Many Fisheries will not allow tiger nuts, but if you can find any that do, then use them.. they can be an excellent bait - especially in france, so if you have any trips planned to france then make sure you take some. In the UK there is a 1 boilie in particular that i find seems to catch when nothing else is working. This is the whisky boilie.. I have caught on many lakes with them, it surprises me each time - try them. If i am not on a whisky boilie then a birdseed based boilie, such as pineapple would be my preferance. Don't be shy to use pellets, sweetcorn, luncheon meat, chick peas - All good baits, all work on different lakes.

2) It can really pay off In the summer to feed plenty of ground bait. Bait up to the bites you get; if the fish are bit crazy then keep baiting up like crazy, if the bites stop for a while, stop baiting up for a while. It really is important to bait up correctly. Personally In the winter i do not tend to bait up much at all. Firstly try a single bait and then maybe add a few particles into the area after a period of time. I find fine ground baits, mixed with pellets and hemp the best. be sure not to overfeed in the winter.

3) Going back to the bait that you should use - the bait that you use should vary depending on the size of the carp that you are fishing for. This will also depend on the lake. I have found that Big Carp 20lb+ will usually prefer a larger bait - e.g.15 - 20ml, whereas a lake with a head of carp average 8lb, you will be better using smaller baits - 8-15ml. Try this and i think you will see an improvement in your catch rate straight away.

4) When fishing for carp in the winter months you should scale down on your tackle as much as possible because the fish are not as hungry and do not need to feed. Therefore if the fish have any inklink that a bait may look suspicious they will not touch it in the winter months. I suggest going down to braking strain 5lb line, smaller bomb, smaller rig, smaller hook, smaller bait and by doing this you will be able keep the bites coming through the winter, although it will never be as fast as in the summer!

5) Curry powder can work wonders in the winter months! spice your baits up with something - chilli's and garlic are red hot in the winter. The Fish like spicy baits this time of year and it can get them feeding. I recommend a top winter bait - Sweetcorn with curry powder sprinkled over the top (preferably tandoori); left for 24 hrs in the fridge, and you will have a very coloured, very smelly curry sweetcorn. The 3rd picture in the below slideshow was caught in December, and it was my first time on the lake... I dropped the curry sweetcorn into the margin and within 30 minutes i pulled out that fish.

6) The benefit to PVA bags is that they can be an excellent way to get bait around your hook bait, and attract more fish to your bait. However its important to remember that these do not work at every lake. Fish become suspicious of these over a period of time, as when the bags break down it will sit on the bottom of the lake, sometimes on top of the feed and does not look very appealing -the fish will also begin to realise that when they feed on these lumps of glue - They get caught! so will avoid them sometimes. This is when it can be a great ideal to use a method feeder.

7) I always think that many people miss an opportunity by not making good use of method feeders! Use method feeders more! Soak some pellet,chuck in some help, groundbaits, liquid attractants, bit of sweetcorn and stick it on the method feeder... it can work great on many many lakes.

8) Sometimes the fish will be in mid - water or top- water and will only be interested on a bait that is in there direct eye line. Therefore use this to your advanage and try Bread with a large hook and controller float - dog biscuits - and other floating baits to tease them in. Stalking the fish works well, but important to be very quiet or you will spook them.

9) When fishing mid water pop ups are another great way to catch fish. Too many people (including myself), spend far too much time fishing the bottom of the lake, when the fish are infact not on the bottom of the lake, but are actually higher up in the water.

10) Lots of us get to the fishing lake and stay in the same swim for hours or even days on end! Change swims. Don't always stick to the same swim on a lake. If you are not catching then move! You can learn more by moving around the lake and therefore increase your chances of catching.

11) Try new venues - fishing can become boring if you fish the same place week in week out. France is a fantastic place to go to catch big fish. Very cheap and you will be well looked after. I was always a bit sceptical but i went earlier this year and it was a winderful experience, i will definately go back.