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Carp Fishing Tutorial - Watercraft |
Watercraft
One of the most important weapons in your arsenal of carp fishing tactics watercraft, the ability to determine where carp are or are likely to be feeding in a venue, people who take time to improve on their watercraft are more likely to catch a lot more than those that adopt a “chuck it and see” method of fishing. So now we know why watercraft is so important lets have a look at what is involved.
Take the time to study the venue
When you arrive, even at a venue you regularly fish take the time to have a good look around for signs of showing fish, be on the lookout for fish crashing out, disturbances on the surface are often signs of fish feeding, oily slicks may be apparent when fish start feeding on pellet as this will give off some oils. A good pair of polarised sunglasses can be useful too as these will help to eliminate surface glare off the water, you can often see in warmer months carp cruising around close to the surface which were much more difficult to spot without them, contrary to popular belief they don’t need to be extortionately expensive either, I personally use a pair of Fox glasses that cost around £15 and have had no problems.
Look for likely features to hold fish
Reedbeds, lily pads and other secluded areas are likely to hold fish and are worth studying in more detail, often fishing close to snaggy areas can produce fish however there are certain inherent risks involved such as the need to fish with the drag locked up and the baitrunner/freespool switched off, so you really need to keep right on top of the rods, that’s enough talking about snag fishing as that is really a subject in its own right. The next thing you need to do is get an idea of what you cant see which is the bed of the lake and whats down there.
Using a marker float setup
A marker float setup is used to create a profile of the lake bed and determine the conditions down there i.e. silt, weed, clay, gravel and also to determine the depths. Lets firstly look at what you need for a reasonable marker setup:
You need a sturdy rod for this, it is recommended you should use a marker rod that is specifically designed for this purpose however you can get away with using an old carp rod with a heavy test curve, it doesn’t work quite as well as the proper equipment but it does work. A decent size reel preferably a big pit type as this will make casting and retrieval easier loaded with heavy braid as braid has far less stretch than monofilament line and transmits the feel of the lakebed back to the rod far better.
As for the end tackle, you can get the parts individually however it is far easier to buy a kit like this containing all the necessary end tackle:
Most of the kits come with instructions however the basic way to set it all up is normally to thread the lead onto the line (often some form of slip-ring is used) followed by a large rubber buffer bead and then tie the float on at the end, the idea being that when retrieving the lead, once you find an interesting feature you can then measure off the line as you give line allowing the float to rise to the surface giving quite a precise depth measurement and at the same time visually identify the area.
So ideally from a swim the normal method used would be to cast out then turn youself so the rod is at 90 degrees to the line (turn sideways to the lake) and then tighten the reel down so you can feel the weight of the lead, then basically twist your body so that you are basically lifting the rod but sideways on to the lake, and feel what is transmitted to the rod. If it feels like you’re dragging the lead through porridge then you know that area is silty, if the rod is banging around at the tip then you’re pulling the lead across gravel, if the lead feels like its sticking then skipping along the lakebed then its likely to be going across clay, and if it gets harder and harder to pull then you’ve found weed and you can even feel the weed snapping as you pull the lead through. Once you’ve found a feature such as a gravel patch you can allow the float to rise, taking a depth measurement at the same time, note the area down, then cast just beyond it and work towards you to determine how far it extends, and then recast repeatedly either side to identify how wide the area is.
Lastly, don’t forget to take notes, this will largely help if you decide to return to that venue another day as you’ll have already done a lot of the hard and time-consuming work which will leave you more time to get on with fishing.
We hope you have found this article useful, Tight Lines.
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Carp Fishing Tutorial - Watercraft
