Dummies Guide: Carp

Location: You need a large, flat, grassy area (comfort is king). As close to the car park as you can get. Bit of shade and near the toilets.

Presentation: The cast is important, direction doesn’t matter, distance is key. Cast at least 100 yards. Recast 6-8 times per hour minimum.

Alarms: Volume must be turned up as loud as possible, test them every few minutes. If they have different settings test them all.

Bait: At least 5kg of boilies thrown out randomly. Repeat every 15-20 minutes (the more expensive the boilies the more carp you will catch).

Gear: Remember, you can’t have too much kit, take it all with you. Biggest bivvy catches biggest carp. Also a radio is essential.

Buddy: Ideally install a mate at the edge of shouting range. Shout things like ‘it’s sh*t here today’ and ‘my rods cost over £500 each’.

Duration: A short trip of 48-96 hours will do at a push. But for proper results you really need put the time in.

Jam, Gold & Magic

Just needed one more carp to hit 200 this summer - any carp would do. To The Puddle and as always - park up and quick lap looking for the big ghostie. And there she was, crusing along a reed line.

Bit of crust launched into her path - and boom - cracking fight in the reeds & weeds - carp number 200 was the ghost I've been chasing all summer! That's the way to do it - magic or jammy b*stard?!

With 3½ hours left on the clock I continued my circuits of the pond (it was weird NOT looking for the ghost). But three more carp slipped up - including a fat common - double #25 of the summer.


Stunning ghostie at 14lb 9oz - it's been a long chase!


Common carp 9lb 0oz - followed by a smaller common.


And a fat 10lb 8oz common to wrap things up - double #25

One Nine Nine

Carp 199 of the season - ensuring at least one more trip...

Storm Coming?

Looks like rain on the horizon. Finally. Hopefully back on the rivers soon. In the meantime - still enjoying the carp fishing - mirror carp stalked out of The Farm Pond & The Puddle in a couple of quick trips.

Predictions

On August 7th Adam C (of the excellent blog Fishin' Impossible) commented "Four to go? You will be done by August 16th is my guess." Regarding cracking 20 double carp this season - well, it was tight - but double #20 above at 10lb 11oz! Then this happened...


Double #21 - 13lb 5oz


Double #22 - 15lb 1oz


Double #23 - 15lb 4oz - best of the season (so far).

Plus carp of 9lb 5oz & about 6lb - lovely afternoon on the Farm Pond!!

The Puddle VII

The nights are drawing in but pike-time seems a long way off - still in drought and yet another heatwave. Couple of hours before it got dark on The Puddle and double #19 on crust - an almost black common at 11lb 4oz (my 10th Puddle carp) - just need one more - and some rain...

Bit Repetitive

Another trip to the Farm Pond and the second part of my Carp Challenge - 50 carp - cracked (excluding commerical pond carp).


But as the blog is getting a bit repetitive here's a photo of my cat instead. He has 9 teeth, 6 brain cells & is the happiest cat out there!


Nope. Can't do it. Four carp added, number 50 above (for the records). Still wouldn't mind a couple more doubles before pike-time though...

Mirror Common

Cracking on with the Double Challenge, three carp landed from 12-18 inches of water (boilies & crust) - including double #18 at 10lb 5oz. Is it a common carp? The scales look too big & fewer of them - somewhere between a common and a fully scaled mirror?! Lovely looking fish.

The Puddle VI

A couple of hours wandering around The Puddle - and two carp stalked off the top on floating crust. Including double #17 - a (very nearly) leather carp at 10lb 15oz. Wonder what else is in there?

Sixteen-Four

Still no perch. Perhaps I should just concentrate on the carp until the weather changes, see if I can get 20 doubles before pike-time? Two carp landed including double #16 above at 12lb 0oz - four more to go...

Where Are The Perch?

I was watching the perch in The Wye - can't wait to get cracking at a three plus Wye perch. In the meantime where have the Farm Pond perch gone? Haven't had a run since mid-June - with lots of effort!


With five hours on the clock I thought I might find one - nope. But while the livebait was being ignored, the carp wanted to play - five carp on boilies & crust to keep me occupied - I'll find those perch...

Jimmy Snuka

Decided to make life difficult for myself; a carp on the fly. Thought it wouldn't be too hard with so many carp - but despite lots of fish investigating a variety of flys it took 1½ hours before one hit a Squirmy Wormy - totally worth it though!


I then switched to float fished bread (far, far easier) banking another 20 carp over the next two hours - including double #15 at 10lb 2oz - a surprise stunner. And my Dad landed 18 carp in the swim next door - a great few hours on the commerical!