Stalking Advice

[chris k]

I'm new to Carp fishing, and fancy giving stalking ago at my local water. My question is this; I want to use a small ledger weight with a small hook link. Now I don't want to use bait alarms, I just want to lay the rod on it's side. Obviously because of this you would have little bite indication unless you see the carp physically take it, and also you don't want the danger of your rod being pulled in. So do you fish this method with bail arm open or just engage the bait runner??

Many thanks in advance.

 

[chav professor]

What about a rod, couple of light banksticks and a bobbin...... if your stalking use a swan shot.... Works well with bread.... keep the line slack and watch the line for bites if you want. You will stand out from the crowd - but stick with it.... You can use nice lightish rod Avon, possibly 1.5lb test curve and 8lb line - though happily use 12lb with little issue.

 

[chris k]

Cheers Chavvy, it's the kind of fishing that appeals to me. I have a 1.25 tc Avon rod could I possibly get away with that??

 

[nicepix]

In shallow water I use a sliver of wine cork with a slot cut into it so that it just holds onto the line and is placed about 2 metres above the weight. The float is allowed to drift a bit by letting some line out before the rod is placed down. Bite indication is when I see the float sliding along the surface.

In deeper water I use the same sliver of wine cork as a bobbin. It falls off the line when it hits a rod ring.

 

[cal_sutt]

For me its either:
Freelined bread crust, 8lb line, size 8 hook and maybe a surface controller
-or-
8lb line again, two ssg shots to just hold bottom, hair rigged 2 real grains of sweetcorn with a floating grain on top to pop it up, size 10 hook... Spot on

Had my largest braces of carp (and tench and bream) using these methods, for the 2nd option feed lightly on a mix of pellets, sweetcorn and hemp
And job's a good'un!!

 

[chav professor]

Cheers Chavvy, it's the kind of fishing that appeals to me. I have a 1.25 tc Avon rod could I possibly get away with that??

Should be fine..... Whole slice of brown bread, fold in half (crust removed) and squeeze onto a size 2 wide gape hook till it just sinks..... Get it right and it stays on for upwards of an hour.......

Same presentation on the surface... just don't squeeze too hard.... Just try it... thats all I'm say'in.....

 

[rubio]

One of the best carp stalkers I ever saw fed several swims with no more than a mouthful of bait then lowered a lead, short hook link and lead core, taking great trouble to precisely lay out any mainline on the bottom, then tight up the bank edge. NO rod tip hanging over with the bait runner on and the rod laid down just as you said.
Distance from the bank was typically less than 3 feet. Check first no carp are in situ before lowering your trap then sit back quietly.
You are permitted to breathe lightly from time to time.
Try it on a commercial and expect the average size to go up 50 %.

 

[chris k]

This is what I tend to see when I've seen it done before on TV, etc. Just wasn't sure if it was better to use baitrunner or open the bail arm. Don't want to use bite alarms or banging in banksticks either really.

 

[cal_sutt]

^ what they both said; keep back and out of sight, keep quite, keep moving and have 5 or 6 swims baited to increase your chances when roving around. Best thing to do is travel light, no banksticks or alarms! I take my stalking rod and reel, a net and a small, light bag with some tackle in... Definitely only pack vital things! (Hooks, weight, floats, bait etc)

 

[Tee-Cee]

Simplest way with minimal gear: A decent 11'rod with a bit of back bone, 6/8lb line well greased with line floatant, a size 4 hook, and a good supply of crust from a new loaf and a bag of softened Chum Mixer to act as an attractant (all of which can be carried in the landing net). The chum can also be used a bait on a smaller hook...

Walk around your water with some polaroids til you see some fish or you see good rises. Cut a 2" cube of crust, thread the hook through one side and then pull into the opposite edge. This will stay on for ages but believe me, when a fish takes it the hook will pull (mainly) into the bottom lip and hold.
With this simple method you can sit on the bank side, fire out a few Mixers, and just watch for the fish start to nose around the free offerings and eventually your floating crust as they surely must if you have surface feeding fish on your water. You can gently lob your bait close to bushes ot overhanging trees and if you watch the surface drift you can get the crust to float under the bushes where the carp sit in undisturbed comfort.

This is, to some extent, an old fashion way of carp fishing and one probably superseded by 'new' methods these days but for me, that's it's beauty as it isn't used very often now.

I have had some really great days, great for the simplicity of the method, and landed many, many very good fish while others sit by several rods staring at indicators that rarely move. It is very basic with minimal gear required and works best in the early/late hours before others arrive on the bank. Having said that, I have also taken good fish at midday, in bright sun when good fish come close to the surface and jusr meander around taking bits from the surface. hence the use of the Mixer!!

I cannot recommend this method enough on waters with good shallows particularly and it's well worth a go for the cost of a decent 'Tin loaf' sold by most supermarkets.


Oh, one last thing; A good pair of scissors are handy to cut nice neat cubes of crust which should be square for better casting awhich should have plenty of crumb attached...

ps well worth a go and very exciting fishing, either in the margins or 30' out in the middle...Yes, a lump of crust can be cast s good distance just with an underarm lob!!

pps The big hook mentioned makes it very easy to push through the bread and on some occasions I have gone to a size 2 with larger cubes...the fish don't mind one little bit!!!

ppps On one occasion I was invited to fish a 'hard' water for carp. I looked at the good shallow margins and surrounding cover and took a 20lb fish just by pushing the rod/crust through the bushes and dropping the cube on the waste 2' from the bank. All hell was let loose but it worked a treat.........

 

[chris k]

It's the going back to basics that I like the idea of, a striped back version of carp fishing. Do you always us a surface bait Tee Cee or do you sometimes use a small ledger weight on the bottom?

 

[Tee-Cee]

Yes, indeed I do....

Another 'old fashion' method is the 'anchored crust'... Identical to my previous post tackle wise but with the use of a very free running Arseley bomb or similar stopped about 6" from the hook. The cast is made INTO (ALMOST) ANY DEPTH OF WATER with same crust size attached, and allowed to sink. The line is then released and allowed to run out until the crust appears on the surface (a few seconds in shallow water or 30 secs in 20'), the rod placed in a rest or on the (ground if you prefer) and line tightened til the crust moves slightly.
I either use a baitrunner or watch the line at the end of the rod, but basically you are watching the crust when sometimes it just disappears or a fish swirls at it, but eventually the baitrunner goes or the line moves to a different angle. The runs are usually very slow as I think the fish doesn't always realise it has taken a 'hooked' bait. Whatever, it doesn't need any violent strike but more 'pull' into the fish which again is hooked in top/bottom lip depending on how the crust is mounted.
Again I use Mixer to attract fish (and the surface drag) to fire them out into a position where they will drift near the crust.....Works well and can be dropped very, very close to trees or snaggy areas, in fact where good fish will lay in relaxed mode...

Both methods mentioned are very similar and can be interchanged just by adding the bomb or removing it although the anchored method means the fish will sometimes!) come back again and again until they eventually suck it in, whereas the floating bait obviously moves across the surface and sometimes away from the feeding fish....

Nothing much in fishing can beat seeing a big back come out of the water (with open gob in front of it) as it approaches the crust and sucks at the bait, before turning away....I have known mirror carp, especially, to drive across the surface and almost lunge at the bait from some distance away, but again it is very exciting fishing AS LONG AS YOU HAVE PATIENCE and wait for the fish to FIND the bait......Wait long enough in the RIGHT water and fish will feed without fear with either method!

Good luck!!

ps Of course the crust can be wound down some inches below the surface if the carp swirl at the bait without taking. It helps sometimes....


pps First read about this method back in the 60's in a book by a certain Jack Hilton.......an angler of some note, carp wise..


ppps Similar in some ways to the Zig rig ??...but not the same IMHO...others may disagree though!