Cracking the Code
Top tips to try in February
We’ve all been there, out by a lake on a session and tried all the tricks that normally work and catch you a fish but for some unknown reason nothing is happening or going to plan. So before our next session we head off to the local news agents to pick up a copy of one of the glossy’s seeking advice a tips to assist our next bank side efforts. Only to find that the monthly addition is full of out of season tips and features and advice more suited to other seasons of the year which to a struggling angler is of little use at all.
So after being questioned about this problem by numerous anglers, I discussed this problem with the UK carp angler team members and we came up with a master plan. What the UKCA team are going to do every month is at the end of each month, we will publishing useful advice and tips that our team members have found to be productive during any given month of the year. These useful tips and tactics are proven fish catching methods and will hopefully give you an alternative plan of action, hopefully assisting in banking you a chunk when all else has failed.
We would like to point out that these are not the be all and end all of methods to catch carp in any given month of the year but all the methods are purely designed to give you another option to consider when your usual approach is not working.
Chris "Apples" Appleby
In Association With
February can be seen by many as the light at the end of the tunnel as we move ever closer to spring, even though water and air temps can still be very cold things are starting to improve, hours of day light play a big factor in this, extra light helps promote natures natural waking up process, and this goes for the carp too, as ‘location’ is massive factor in the winter the fish should give you a fair idea where they've been stacked up for the last 12 weeks with the odd fish starting show in these areas (central areas or deep margin snags normally favored) with dawn and dusk normally best time to spot them, locating these areas isn’t always easy but once found and with some persistent angling these fish can be caught with minimal baiting tactics or better just a single hookbait, from my experience a small amount of bait (30-50 baits) is ample each time you leave the lake to keep the fish picking at a bit of food, this sort of approach has worked very well for me over the years catching in some cases more than I would in the summer believe it or not. During February the fish are not eating much and the carp are still in latter stages of winter mode this means the fish are very slow and lethargic I believe there not fully switched on meaning in a semi dormant state, for example: hook holds can be quite far back in there mouths which suggests the fish are not rejecting the rigs with as much efficiency as they would in the warmer months and also once located the carp are not as easy to spook out of areas that they have chosen as their winter residence, so I don’t pay to much attention to line presentation, especially if fishing at range, I’ve got no worries about fishing ping tight lines for maximum bite registration as they don’t always go off like trains this time of year.
Just a few thoughts of mine on winter carp fishing in February, it’s by far the best winter month for me and when the sun shines can feel quiet pleasant too. Good luck and keep your eyes peeled for the first signs of the carp waking up, because if you don’t get on them someone else will…..:-)
Carl Sharp
In Association With
February has always been a hit n miss month for me, and if I’m honest there have been many more misses than hits! That said, you’ve got to be in it to win it as they say, and a little edge that has worked for me in the past is to use single high attract or high visibility pop ups. The typical February climate that our country is accustomed to usually dictates that the fish are still in a very lethargic state, still very much in their winter slumber with very little need or urgency for food. This means that the windows of opportunity for feeding spells are very few and far between, so the worst thing you can do is overfeed and make things trickier than needed. The Single hook bait approach is not everyone’s confidence booster, but I’ve had more than my fair share of bonus fish during past sessions when the going is tough, and a fish has popped its head out giving away its whereabouts. Location is a vital key to carp fishing, but the emphasis of just how localised the carp can be during the colder periods, and a matter of a few feet off the spot can be the difference between a blank and banked fish. The added bonus of fishing singles during this period also allows you to roam the rods about, fishing a number of areas and swims within a short session, without over feeding and wasting money on un-necessary freebies (that can be used more wisely in the warmer weeks).
Rig wise, I like to keep things simple. I use a length of coated braid (Solar Tackles Easy Strip is my personal favourite), a small hook (Size 10 X-Wide Gape) which is knotless knotted to the hook link material, and then a small section of shrink tube (around an inch or slightly longer) is slid over the whipping and shrunk down over a steaming kettle. The little edge that I take though is to wrap the shrink tubing around a curved object (Solar Tackle’s Rig Cone is my chosen tool) as it is applied over the steam. This gives such a lovely curved angle and allows the hook point to sit in a prime position ready to attach to and penetrate the mouth of any inquisitive carp. To finish off the rig I simply take a small pinch of putty and balance the pop up to sink very slowly under it’s own weight. The other end of the coated hook link is simply figure of eight knotted just in case I feel the need to thread a bag of pellets on down the rig before the cast (although I wouldn’t normally, much preferring to mask the hook point with a foam nugget to alleviate any chance of the hook point fouling with any debris on the lake bed).
Don’t beat yourself up if you’re still not catching though, as stated at the start of this little piece of advice, the carp are more often than not just not interested in feeding at this time of year, and the worst thing you can do is start blaming rigs, baits, etc etc. Just be patient and keep on keeping on, after all Spring is only just around the corner, the time to take full advantage of a few of those ever hungry carp!
Leigh Hemsley
In Association With
Here’s a quick tip to get a bite on these cold sunny days, on a cold February session. The carp are slowly beginning to become more and more active, as the days go by and the sun starts to get higher in the sky. The carp are starting to want a bit of warmth on their backs, and are searching round more and more of the lake, but still aren’t feeding for long periods. So a nice little attractive bait with a neat little PVA bag mix works wonders at this time of year, so here’s one of my nice and spicy winter tricks for you to give a go. Spicy baits have always worked well in the winter and spring, and account for some good catches and big fish. One bait in particular that works really well in the winter is Pepperami , and in particular I like the red one, Pepperami HOT, we all know how good this meat is in the winter, but I’ve found a way of making it even better.
Take your Pepperami and cut it in to about ¼ inch pieces, then place it in to an old empty pop up tub. Then take 25ml of the new Nash bait IC-1 Top-Rod Formula, which also has a spicy back ground, and add it to the Pepperami in the tub, then let it soak for at least 24hrs. For the bag mix to go with my spicy Pepperami hook baits, I use Cous Cous. This is made from tiny pieces of pasta, as it is full of carbohydrates, and gives the carp energy, so in turn the carp hunt out every last piece. In keeping with the spicy theme of the Pepperami and IC-1, when soaking the cous cous I add 5ml of Nash Indian spice flavour and between 25 to 50ml of chilli oil to the boiling water, this is added to 250grms of dry cous cous. Leave for about 30 minutes until all the liquid you have added has been socked in to the cous cous.
Something that I have found to work superbly with the hot Pepperami hook bait and I truly believe really can make a huge difference on rock hard days is as follows. Take a tin of luncheon meat and grate the meat on a fine cheese grater. Then place in a tub and dust with a small amount of chilli and curry powder. Then simply place inside a small PVA bag. You’ll be amazed at the amount of attractants this will release around your hook bait. There you go a quick and simple tip that has helped me put a few fish on the bank during those cold hard days.
Lee Collings
In Association With
Winter fishing can be a hard enough at the best of times, with temperatures plummeting down to minus figures, harsh mornings frosts and lakes freezing up all the time, but the rewards are there for people that are prepared to put the effort in, as the fish are usually at their best weights and looking at good.
Location is probably the most important thing in winter as the Carp metabolism slows down meaning they won’t be moving around as much and will be feeding for shorter periods of time. You tend to find the fish shoal up at this time of the year so once you’ve usually found one fish there is a good chance there will be a few more in the same area. As this is the case, watching the water like a Hawk is a must and noting where any other recent capture has been coming from is also important too as it’s a good starting point.
I have found that the fish in the winter months tend to spend most of their time off the bottom suspended mid water, at a depth they feel most comfortable. This could be as the water is only one degree warmer than a foot below or above and why I think for the amount of hours people seem to fishing in the winter there is only a few capture as I would say 99% of people are fishing on the bottom when most of the fish could be say mid water.
This is when zig rigs come in to play and, instead of just fishing hard on the bottom you can adjust the depth of your zig to try and find what depth the fish are sat at. I know it’s a hard thing to get your head around with bait suspended mid water but believe me it works and I think if it were to be used more than more fish would be caught.
There are two versions of the zig rig - either the fixed version where you pre tie the length of the hook link to the depth you want the hook bait sat at or there is the adjustable zig rig which is good in deep water but not the most subtle of presentations with floats and leads crashing into the water. I prefer to use the fixed version as long as I am not fishing over 15 foot of water as a long hook link can be quite hard to cast.
Once I have located the fish in an area I usually know the rough depth of where I have seen them. I would fish three rods in the same area at different depths so say the fish were in 10ft of water I would fish one at 8ft one at 7ft and one at 6ft until I had some action if nothing happened I would reduce the depth of each rod by a foot at a time hoping to find the right depth the fish are sitting at if I have any action at one depth I would straight away change all my rods to the same depth.
Set up wise is pretty simple I use an Esp safety lead clip with the swivel locked in place with a pin this is threaded straight on the mainline no tubing or lead core needed I use as light as lead as I can get away with so I don’t make too much disturbance then an anti tangle sleeve over the swivel tied to 10lb Drennan Double strength tied to a size 10 Big T hook tied knotless knot style with a short hair.
Hook bait wise I tend to just use a small piece of Gardner zig foam usually only 10mm long and I tend to vary the colour of hook baits on each rod so one rod will have black foam the next will have yellow and the third rod will have red foam as I have found different days different colours produce more than others this could be down to different light levels etc.
I know you’re thinking I must be mad to even think about using a zig rig on one rod let alone on all three rods and then to use a piece of unflavoured foam as I hook bait I must be bonkers but there is many a session where I have fished conventional style and was blanking then switched over to zigs and stated catching straight away you only have to look at venues like Thorpe Lea, St John’s Linch Hill to see how many fish are caught on this method to see how devastating it is.
Give it a go, you may be surprised.