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Steve Burke
Guest
Some 20 years ago when stillwater chubbing I found that I caught more carp than chub on deadbaits, in particular whitebait. Since then when perch fishing I've continued to pick up bonus carp, plus several other "non-predatory" species, on freshwater deads (perch rarely take seabaits). These aren't small baits, being typically 4 inches long in the case of the freshwater ones!
I'm not the only one to find this, other perch anglers have similar experiences. For instance, the record perch came from Furnace Pond at Horsmonden in Kent and some anglers there, took to livebaiting to avoid damaging the carp with trebles. Apart from large lures I always use singles when perching myself so don't have this problem.
Anyway, whitebait in particular, could be well worth a try for carp, especially on pressured waters. After all, it's not a million miles away from the old cat food specials that used to be popular for carp. In my experience, carp like most cyprinids are quite predatory anyway.
I'm not the only one to find this, other perch anglers have similar experiences. For instance, the record perch came from Furnace Pond at Horsmonden in Kent and some anglers there, took to livebaiting to avoid damaging the carp with trebles. Apart from large lures I always use singles when perching myself so don't have this problem.
Anyway, whitebait in particular, could be well worth a try for carp, especially on pressured waters. After all, it's not a million miles away from the old cat food specials that used to be popular for carp. In my experience, carp like most cyprinids are quite predatory anyway.