Need help to decide on best rig/method

[rich4930]

Hi guys! I'm not a big carp angler, but do enjoy the odd dabble. Often it's just a second rod out for carp, whilst actually targeting tench.

Now the lake I mostly fish is relatively small (about 16 acres I think) but has some huge carp - not many, but big! It's my third year there and so far of the 5 fish I've got first hand knowledge about, they're all 30+

But the lake is not without challenges. Very weedy (pond weed), where not weedy then silty, often snaggy (mostly surrounded by trees, so often branches broken off) but sometimes even in seemingly open water. It's relatively deep (avg about 12' but going to 22' in places). And the biggest challenge; fishing is only allowed from boat.

And I'm trying to figure out the best method to use. I'm thinking slackline is the only way to go from a boat? If yes, with running or fixed lead? Logically, I also imagine a chod rig / helicopter setup is best, due to silt, but am concerned that drop backs will be hard to detect due to permanent movement of the boat. Until now I've been using a basic short hair rig on a helicopter setup, fished semi-slack, in the hope of detecting drop backs. By virtue of fishing from boat, I often find myself fishing in towards the bank, so drop backs are inevitable (I would expect). First run was a screamer and resulted in a fish, second run was good but ran me straight into weed, leaving me snagged up, third was a drop back - by the time I noticed the bobbin was sitting 6" lower than previously, I was snagged up. And that's what got me thinking again.

Any views please, from the experts?

 

[thecrow]

Have you thought about/tried float fishing for them?

 

[mightyboosh]

I'd float fish and use two anchors so that the boat doesn't swing about in the wind.

 

[rich4930]

Ha yeah, "thought about" yes, but dismissed the idea. Perhaps I should reconsider. The irony is, I haven't done it yet because that's exactly my solution for tench, so a second float would be a distraction! I gave up fishing two rods for tench for that very reason- it was proving counterproductive.

Admittedly a float out for carp wouldn't need as much attention as a second tench rod, but on the other hand I'm faced with the opposite extreme - due to the limited numbers of carp, I won't be getting many bites, so concentration will suffer.

But I do see the advantages. It's no coincidence that I also float fish for pike, for better bite indication! Perhaps I can organise such that it's roughly within sight of the tench float. Normally though I have the carp rig much further away from the boat, in a different swim.

As for two anchors: been there, done that Reality is, there is always residual movement, above all when moving around in the boat. Sometimes I ledger for tench. The bobbin raises and falls continually, which takes a bit of getting used to, but he jagged and faster movement of a bite is usually easy to detect. But that's with a running feeder rig and a tight line.

 

[benny samways]

Sounds to me like what your doing is working but you just need to fish the carp rod a bit more 'locked up', ie a tight line instead of a slack one.

Sounds like a great place.

 

[rich4930]

Sounds to me like what your doing is working but you just need to fish the carp rod a bit more 'locked up', ie a tight line instead of a slack one.

Sounds like a great place.

But ideally, I'd like to use a chod rig. Or at very least stick with using a popup, which has proven itself. But I've read that it should be fished with a slack line, to ensure the leadcore is lying flat?

Assuming I fish a tight line, what would be a suitable rig for presenting a popup?

Yes, it's a great lake, with good fish (not just carp) but not without it's down side: apart from boat only fishing, it's in the city and also in Germany, where lakes are primarily seen as places to swim and to party (in the city at least). Fishing is way down in the list of priorities. That means at height of summer like now, you can only effectively fish from about 8pm to 10am. Ever spent a night in a rowing boat?! And that's only the start of the "challenges"...

 

[thecrow]

You never mentioned fishing for Carp with a second rod have you thought about anchoring up on the weed and fishing away from it? might give you time to react to any takes you get as the fish should be running away from the nearest weedbed (the one you are anchored on) making for another weedbed/snag.

 

[rich4930]

That's a good suggestion. The difficultly though is that I'm normally targeting tench primarily, so I prefer to position myself the other way around, fishing towards the weedy margins and into a spot that I've raked. I prefer to stay out over the deeper open water to avoid spooking any tench cruising through the weeds.
That said, I do take your point about thinking more carefully about which direction the carp are most likely to bolt.

 

[peterjg]

I used to have a rowing boat on a 50 acre carp lake though I never night fished from it. You are right, there is too much movement for conventional legering. I found that even with two anchors it was not possible to hold the boat steady enough.

I suggest that you either float fish for the carp or leger with slackish lines watching the rod tips (like a quivertip rod) and also backed up by putting the rods on bite alarms with bait runner type reels.

 

[thecrow]

An alternative to anchors might be to use 2 poles pushed into the silt and tying the boat to them, its a method I have used and it cuts down on boat movement quite a bit.

 

[Ray Daywalker Clarke]

Bait your swim, then move the boat back and anchor the boat against the bank.

You can float fish for them, laying on, or try the polaris floats, you can fish them and give it a go.

If the water is hard and with few fish, two rods are better than one.

Good luck