Shotting and depth for carp fishing

[seklerangler]

Hi everyone. I'm from Romania. I try to do the pole fishing on our waters, which aren't so overpopulated with fishes but they have a good layer of silt on the bottom.
Most of the time I'm going after carp, and after watching a tonns of YouTube videos I still don't get how to catch bigger carps. Here the anglers say that a bulk of shots and 20 cm hooklenght on the deck is the ideal solution. But I can't catch carp with this rig. It's messy, I'm getting liners and I don't see the bites and I don't catch any big carp. But if I try the "british" rig (don't get offended by any means): a bulk of shots with 3-5 cm between them, on the bottom third of the rig with 15 cm hooklenght I catch only smaller carps and crucians.
I'm confused now. What should I do? How can I catch thise big ones?

 

[90sGear]

Welcome this is quite hard to answer without knowing the venue. Could you describe where in the lake your fishing for example open water or in the margin, the depths of the lake, what size is a big carp there and what bait is being fed and how much.

I’m sure with a bit more information folk on here could suggest a few things to try.

 

[Godber]

Have you tried 'Mugging'?


Otherwise l would look at coming into the margin. Look for about 60cm depth. Feed groundbait and corn or 8mm pellets, they are heavy baits and wont get wafted around. Fish a big hook, size 12 or 10 with 2 bits of corn or 2 8mm pellets on a band.
Trying to single out the bigger fish in a pond that has a large head of small pasty carp can be difficult. I think its more a case of fish as you usually would but up the feed rate to try and get the bigger fish competing. 6 small carp will hoover up the feed leaving nothing for the bigger fish to come on to. Dump potting corn and pellet each put in may do the job.

 

[Neil ofthe nene]

I am not a carp angler so any advice may be wrong but I have a couple of ideas. You may find that pole fishing is too restrictive on a large water to be able to locate and catch the larger carp. That is why carp anglers tend to stick to legering tactics.

First thing is to understand that big carp are older and wiser than their younger smaller cousins. This is why carp anglers have invested a lot of time and effort in devising rigs that the older carp will take the bait on. For more information on these rigs I would suggest joining a carp specific forum.

On a silt bottom you will need baits that do not sink into the silt. Here I suspect a pop-up type rig and bait would do better than a sinking one. You will need a bouyant bait like a pop-up boily and a line long enough from weight to hook for the bait to sit above the silt.

It would also pay to thoroughly explore the lake with a bomb, casting it out and retrieving it slowly trying to find any gravel or hard bottom that sticks up above the silt level. Often lakes can have underwater features that will attract the carp because they may be shallower and thus warmer, less si;ty and thus more attractive to feed over.

One thing I would try and do on the pole is to fish on top of any silt layer. To do this you need to change the way you plumb up and use a very light plummet or one with a very broad base. In fact you may be better off not using a plummet. With care you can shot the rig so that the weight of the bait alone sinks the float. This may need the use of size 12 & 13 shot. With something like a grain of corn on the hook you can use that to "plumb up" so the bait rests on the silt, not sink into it and the float just be visible at the surface. I would not advocate using a long line laying on the bottom as the fish can take the bait and rejecting it without you seeing the bite.

The other thing to do on the pole is to fish on the margin slope above the silt. Even large carp will come close to the bank in warmer weather.

Finally, don't be afraid to use large baits to put off the smaller fish. You will get less bites but hopefully from larger fish.

 

[seklerangler]

Thank you for the advice. I wasn't to confident to post a so begginer question. I should have done it earlier.
About the venue: it's a smaller one, with not to deep margins, 1,20-1,50 m depth with carps and grass carps over 7kg. But nobody can catch them. I caught a bigger one last year on paste.

 

[Neil ofthe nene]

Never hold back from askign a question. All of us had to learn at some point and are still learning.

The more you fish the lake the more you will understand it.

I forgot to say about shotting. Don't get too hung up on different shotting patterns. Everyone has their favourite and all catch fish. If you get the location and feeding right the fish should follow. Try different feed, different spots around the lake and keep a record of what happens. Good luck.

 

[gingert76]

how deep is the silt? rather than pole i would suggest maybe a feeder or if really deep silt then a bomb. if its silty and fish are used to digging down into the silt it can be really tricky to catch them i have found.

If its really silty and really soft silt then a PVA bag with PVA foam inside it with a hookbait and some crushed boilies or pellets can be really good, its cant cast far but it will guarantee it sits on top of the silt.

Or a method feeder in the silt can work and fish will dig into the silt for it but make sure its smelly bait and maybe goo or some liquid attractant to help them

Maybe try pre-biating a spot, the fish will clear out the silt and get to a hard bottom and then fish it and you can also lead around and see if you hit a hard or stoney spot which could indicate a natural feeding area

 

[seklerangler]

I will try out all of them except the method feeder thing. In Romania in these years are the era of method feeder fishing. Everyone does it. Float fishing is not very popular here. Only older people and a few match angler is fishing the float, mostly bolo, whip and waggler.