River Carp

Hi guys,
We noticed last summer a lot of carp in a stretch of the Bristol Avon.
I've heard of a lot of match anglers getting "smashed up" and not even seeing the fish!
The carp have been there for years, so I think it's time to have a serious bash at them this season.
Any tips would be very welcome.

Cheers guys,

Steve

I am doing much the same thing as you on the Thames
My view is pretty much that pre-baiting is essential, not sure what it is like on the Avon but I am baiting pretty heavily with Vitalin, hemp, maize with just a few pellet and hookbaits because of the fact that the place if paved with bream and alot of chub.

My advice would be to pick a margin spot, and bait it over the course of a week or two with lots of maize as it is cheap (soak for 36 hrs and boil for 30 mins first). It is simply too time consuming to spod out hence i say pick a margin spot.

Then the biggest problem ......location??
you can pre-bait a spot as heavily as you like but if the fish do not visit it then you will just be feeding the bream chub etc.

I would then fish a fairly large boilie over the top to avoid the 'nuisance' fish.

Good luck

Guy

Hi Steve,

Been doing the same as Guy, prebaiting two spots for the past 2 months. Same tactics- margin swims and loads of particles to combat bream and chub.

Although, my location is ok, as i have spotted them regularly feeding in the areas i've baited.

Will be approaching it, as Guy has mentioned- one big bait over particles.

Im pre-baiting too.... club rules wont let me start until 21st of June but it gives me a few days to watch !

Alright DB? Much as Robbie and Guy say, feed the hell out of them in the margins.
I'm on the Nene and, like everywhere else, bream are a nuisance. Chub, in my opinion, are most welcome.
Would suggest prebaiting with particles - maize and wheat are good, but proven bream attractors. If you've got the budget, supplement that feed with big boilies - 20mm are best. Air dry the hell out of them. That makes them too hard for the bream to eat straight away which hopefully gives the carp time to find them.
Tiger nuts are also another good bait. Bream can't chew them (though they will pick them up from time to time). Chub love them. Fish two large nuts on a hair with the top one drilled and fitted with a cork plug.
For presentation I tend to fish with a lead clip and heavy (3-5oz) gripper lead. I then put everything in a big PVA bag (full of crushed boilies or crushed and small tigers) and bung it in at the bottom of the marginal shelf or in a load of cabbages. Lethal!

Have also found that it's better to bait heavily about three days before the session and then only feed through big PVA bags. Bait heavily at the end of the session ready for next time. That way you tend to get more bites.

One tip.....be secretive with your pre-baiting routine as I pre-baited a couple of swims last year only to turn up on the day to find somebody fishing them.

:O(

Sods bl@@dy law that Herr General! I've left a sign before only to find it in the margins 300 yards downstream and the culprit sat smugly in my peg!
Now I trickle bait into a back-up swim. Often pays dividends later in the season when you've properly battered the original peg.

Thanks guys excellant advice!

The stretch I am targeting is about 35 yards wide, loads of trees and bushes hanging in the water. I've seen the carp lippng the branches of the bushes haven't got a clue what their eating though. It's a very slow flow and about 5 foot deep on the far bank.

The one major problem is the boat traffic, in the summer it's like the M25!

Back leading is an option but, the river is 13 foot deep in the middle with 5 or 6 feet ledges either side and the carp are on the far bank! Not too sure how I could do it? If I dropped a back lead under the rod tip it would mean the rest of the line would only be 5 foot below the surface and might still snag boat props'

Cheers Lee top tip! (is it a secret one?)

Nice to see your still around Chub King! I would have missed some good tips had you gone.

Cheers lads, keep em coming, especially the back leading problem.

Steve

Not secret its just nice to keep an edge for youself sometimes :O)

Flying back leads are the answer if you have to cast across but not the silly little things sold commercially.You will have to make your own.Take one drilled bullet of at least an ounce, take a variety to counter the flow you encounter on the day.Cut a disc from a plastic bottle and pierce a hole in it.The disk needs to be about an inch across but it depends on the size of the drilled bullet but make sure there is sufficient overlap.Line up hole in plastic disc with drilled bullet and araldite in place being careful not to seal up the holes.This when dry is placed on your mainline above any tubing or whatever you might use.As you cast this will fly up the line like a normal flying back lead and entry to the water continues this action.The cast needs to be a high lob.You can't use things such as leadcore or leaders as it makes it unsafe.Also as the rig hits the water it must go down on a slack line as must the back lead.Make sure you use good anti tangle rigs, but then 15lb nylon is all you really need as a hook length which is pretty much tangle free.Forget lake type tackle , tackle up as if you expect your biggest ever next cast.Rivers knock the stuffing out of 'normal' Carp set ups.Hooks wise a beaked point is useful as Bream Chub etc will knock baits around and I found straight points soon got damaged over gravel.Drennan Continental Boilie hooks in size 4 are standard.One of the best river tips I have ever seen was to carry two landing nets, one a Carp net the other a largeish pan net for the Bream & Chub.It is so much easier than scooping these out than with a great big net.Enjoy the Bream Chub Barbel they are a nice distraction.After casting allow the current to create a bow in the line.Your main lead must be bigger than the back lead but try to fish so that it will just hold bottom .Cast slightly up stream if you can, most bites will be drop backs when fishing like this and are far easier to connect with, even with Carp !If you were fishing inthe edge I wouldn't bother with bobbins as bites are pretty much unmissable and on occasions liners are constant but for fishing across bobbins tight to the rod butt will show drop backs and straight runs.Don't bother with a drop on the bobbins constant bleeps will drive you mad.Let the current do the job don't need to wind down to the lead you are only achieving moving the back lead toward the main lead.Finally and I am sure I am preaching to the converted but try to be quiet and keep back from the edge as the river Carp I have seen are far more spooky than some of their stillwater cousins, these fish do not see much angler pressure in most rivers.This thread has made me realise how much I miss the rivers and I will be back next week in search of anything with fins from the Thames. Good luck.

Good advise from Deecy that. However, I know anglers who fish with 8oz bolt rigs on the river (safe obviously). That way you can back lead and tighten up to your hearts content safe in the knowledge that your terminal stays put. Your back leads can do some funny things though when you get bites, like appear on the surface!

Cheers guys,

my plans have taken a knock!
I went down to my chosen two swims only to find they have been carefully cleared!
Obviously someone has put in some time and effort and will be there on the 16th, so I will respect that and my change plan.
I will start baiting, heavily, everyday, as of next Monday and fish it on the Friday.
Hopefully I will get my first river carp, with the aid of some great advice from some new friends ;-)

Thanks again, I will let you know how I get on with the fish and the flying back lead.

Steve

As they say Steve, 'Best laid plans..'
Good luck anyway in your quest and good luck to all others out on the 16th.
Perhaps we can all report in with our 'highs & lows' of the day?

Still prebaiting..............

Wonder why the ducks and swans are so fat around here ??

Still prebaiting here too - first session in the spot from Friday evening till Sunday morning.

I'll tell you one thing I may not catch a carp but I bet you I have a bream or two!

HaHaHa!

Guess what?

I still haven't caught a river carp!

But can you picture me sat under my brolly two rods out one with tiger nuts the other 14m/m halibut pellet.

Thunder, lightening and chucking it down. I was on the bank at 5am, bye 4pm I had one bream, then I got a proper run! On the halibut.

I thought I was into my first ever river carp, imagine the look on my face when my prize rolled over. It was a p.b Barbel!

It went crashing into the Lillie's, it gave me some anxious moments because I new it was my biggest ever barbel. A few minutes later it was in the net. Was I chuffed or what?

I clambered up the very steep bank (which was more treturous than Glastonbury) with my prize. I immediately rang my mate, who was 100 yards away, "sorry this network is unavailable!" Aargh! So like a lunatic I'm shouting "Bogey" get down here with the camera! Good nick name eh!

We get it on the scales, eleven pounds! Woooooooooooooooooooo! Two and a half pound above my previous p.b! And what made it even sweeter was that barbel from this stretch of the Avon are rarer than rocking horse droppings.

Dog Biscuit will sleep well tonight!

Cheers guys

Steve

Well done DB on the PB!

Cheers Malc, still BUZZING!