Basic Carping Part 3 - Baits and Baiting Up | Angling Masterclass
Basic Carping Part 3 - Baits and Baiting Up byCEMEX Angling
Added 21st February 2005 at 00:00
Tom Stone and John Patterson are back with the third part of their Basic Carping Masterclass, this time explaining about baits and baiting up...
Basic Carping Part 3 - Baits and Baiting Up | Angling Masterclass
Basic Carping Part 3 - Baits and Baiting Up
Basic Carping Part 3 - Baits and Baiting Up
In the last part of the Masterclass we left off with our rigs sorted and the rods all ready to go, this time I'm going to be taking a look at the baits and baiting applications John and I used on our Blue Pool session.
Bait Selection
We had brought a variety of different offerings with us and looking at each in turn we had:
20kg of trout pellets
These are rich, oily and nutritious and carp just love 'em. Rather than use a single size we had a mix of 3, 4, 6 and 11 mm pellets, this gives the baits a different breakdown rate in the swim and helps to create a feeding situation in which the carp cannot get used to picking up particles of a similar size.5kg of hemp, groats and tares.
These were again mixed and I also added some groundbait to keep it nice and firm for spodding. The groundbait also soaks up all of the juices and creates a lovely cloud as it falls though the water hopefully adding to the attraction and drawing the fish in.8kg of Nutrabaits BFM cranberry boilies in 12 and 14mm (bottom baits)
A quality fishmeal bait with a proven track record, again I wanted to use different sizes of baits in the swim so the carp could not get used to picking up the same sized offerings.4. Change Baits
John and I also both carry a small selection of change baits and pop ups with us in case the fish fancy something different and to ring the changes if the fish seem to wise up. There are certainly times when you can see signs of fish over your area but you don't get a pick up. Trying something different in these situations can sometimes buy you a bonus fish.
How Much Bait
Now to some that might seem like a lot of bait for a short session but bearing in mind we both had seen these carp get through a lot of bait in the past and for the time of year we both felt they could be up for a munch. We certainly weren't going to put it all out in one go but we were prepared if they were really having it.
To try and draw a few comparisons we decided to each bait one area heavily and another lightly. On his rod just to the right of the island John fed about 3kg of Nutrabaits BFM with cranberry just using the catapult. On his other line he was just going to use a small pva bag with a wonderfuit pop up.
A Big Bed Of Bait
I on the other hand decided to spod a big bed of bait to a gravelly spot on a small bar in front of me. For beginners a spod is basically a rocket-shaped implement you fill with your chosen bait and cast to your spot. On impact with the surface a buoyant base causes it to invert and it spills its contents into the swim. They can be used for most baits but if using particles it pays to add a plug of groundbait to help prevent spillage on the cast. Which Spod?
Big spods are weighty and require a specialized spod rod and heavy line to cast them accurately and effectively. Smaller bait rockets are made by Gardner and these can be used on a standard carp set up for applying smaller amounts of bait. Accuracy comes with practice and when you get the hang of it you can put out a small bucket of particles in no time. To save me having to bend down to constantly re-fill my spod I tend to use my wheelbarrow with my hooking mat on top as a 'table' to keep things at waist height.
To get your accuracy right cast your marker float to your spot and then cast the spod to the same mark and clip it up. Remember a full spod stretches line more than an empty one and you will need to play about to ensure you get the distance right. Once clipped up sight against an object on the far bank to cast at and there is no need to break out the marker float again, with practice you will drop it on the same spot time and time again.
You can get all types of spod, my personal favourites are the Korda versions as they empty the load quickly and retrieve well but as they are full of holes you do need to think about your spod mix a bit more as a payload of particles such as hemp or small pellets will fall though the holes before you hit your mark. Adding a little groundbait or some crushed hemp or pellet to stiffen the mix as I did is the easiest solution.
Other Baiting Tools
The other baiting items we have in the picture include throwing sticks, which are ideal for putting a bed of boilies 120 m plus but once again you do need a bit of practice with them to get it right - it is all to do with a flick of the wrist.! Next there's the large baiting spoon which screws into a landing net pole and is ideal for baiting up the margins with large helpings of bait or the middle distance with balls of groundbait. Finally there is a range of different catapults for using with particles and boilies at different ranges; up to 100 m for boilies and 30 m for particles.
My spot for my left hand rod was under some margin bushes so I was able to bait it with some 3 and 6mm pellets from the catapult and I also added a small sprinkling of boilies. Nice and simple and as it was close it enabled me to watch the fish and see how they reacted to the bait and it did look good!
Marking Up
Before we wound in our marker floats we checked to ensure we would be able to cast our rigs back to the same spot in the dark in the event of a take. You can't leave the line in the clip whilst fishing and if you unclip after your cast you risk losing your mark!
There is one main way to achieve this and that is by marking your line with one of three different materials. Tippex is one of the choices, and it is easy to mark the line after you have cast to your spot using the clip. Once the rig is in place simply unclip and make a nice white mark on the line, just in front of the butt ring is ideal. When re-casting simply cast away from your baited area - or even walk your line out on the bank if there's room and stop when the Tippex mark is back in the butt ring. Clip up again and providing you have made a note of a far bank feature for accuracy you will get it back in exactly the same spot.
Electrical tape is another good line marker, simply put a small fold over the line and trim it right back to about 2mm wide then proceed as above. The third choice is to use a piece of power gum or magic marker braid and tie a stop knot as a marker.
One final little tip is to buy yourself a Shakespeare line counter and fix it to the rod, it's then simple to measure the distance you are fishing and get back to it each time!
Right then, all baited up and it's time to start fishing and that's exactly what we will be doing in the next installment.
Tom Stone and John Patterson.
A spod will spill your bait in the desired area with some practise.
A selection of throwing sticks.
Electrical tape, power gum and a Shakespeare line counter - useful for marking your line.
