Brookesy
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Posts posted by Brookesy
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Well, it's been a long,cold winter in the Northeast and I'm glad I got out for an early winter session in December where I managed a couple of nice fish topped by a 33lb common in horrible conditions. It has helped reduce the cabin fever that has been brewing for the last 3 months!!
January only saw me venture out twice. Once for a few hours to chat with a friend who was fishing, although I did manage a couple of small fish. My second session was for 5-6 hours and with the temperatures fairly mild (35 degrees) and bait going into the river I had a decent amount of success. I managed around a dozen fish, but nothing over 10lb's. Still nice to be out for a change.
Anyway, the last month has seen several snow storms and polar vortex's galore. The last ten days we have had 3 snow storms with over 3 feet of snow falling, but on looking at the weather forecast last week I decided on a plan of action. We were due 3 days of warm weather (up to 50 degrees) with rain also forecast. We would then see the temperatures drop again. Rather than fish in the warm weather I decided to wait until the snow melt had gone into the river and fish the first day of the colder weather system. As the spot I was fishing always fishes better when the water levels are higher I figured even though the air temperatures were colder this would not affect the water temperatures for another day or two. Anyway, I got to the river around noon time as I find I enjoy my winter sessions more when the sun is out and this also allows me to fish until dusk.
My approach was to mix up a highly attractive ground bait and fish this around the hook bait. I would also feed 10-15 broken boilies after a bite or fish landed to encourage the carp to move around and look for bait. My ground bait consisted of :
Bread (crumbed by hand)
Grits
Sweetcorn + juice
Crumbed fishmeal boilies
Broken/crushed boilies (white coconut and chocolate and also plum)
Irish Creme (whiskey based) to wet the mix
This was compacted in a Gardener Bait Bomb and attached to the hooklink.
My hook-baits consisted of various boilies glugged in my own mix of vodka and tangerine (I call it Vodka Tangerine Dream) on one rod and a 'worm rig' on the other rod. I plan to do a small article on the worm rig in the future, but it works really well in cold conditions.
Anyway, to cut a long story short I had a dozen bites and landed 10 fish. Of the two fish I dropped, both were due to double takes where I was busy playing another fish. I didn't get many decent pictures as my camera was dead and I ended up using my iphone, so instead I took a few mat shots and video, which I may edit later.
The fish in this river are stunning and I actually caught two nice doubles that were the prettiest I have caught for a while from this stretch. All in all it was well worth getting out. Interestingly, most of the action came in short bursts when the sun came out which I find to be a common occurance in the winter.
With the cold weather coming again over the next 2 weeks I think it'll be a while before I get back out
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Jim at BCT is the man , ALWAYS willing to help and ALWAYS comes through....just wish BCT would stock more SOLAR baits and tackle....and the Frank Warwick range of baits....not so subtle hint hint hint Dave !!! lol Have already made 3 orders from BCT this year.
Tribal,
Frank Warwick baits is no longer doing business. Frank stepped back from the company as he felt it wasn't going in the direction he wanted and the website and facebook pages have been static since early fall. As for Solar baits, you may be a happy camper come the spring
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Mario, if you are using a boat and don't mind going out each time you have a pick-up then you do not have to use a rubber band. Obviously, with a rubber band you may not be able to have the line super tight due to it pulling out, but if you do want all of your line out of the water this is what I would suggest.
Insert a storm pole, as securely as you can in the opposite bank. The attachment in the thread should be similar to a big 'U'. You then drop your rig onto the shelf (I'd suggest a flying back lead) and add the float or plastic bottle onto the line at the surface. Now run the line back to the bankstick and around the loop (obviously this loop needs to be line friendly) and then run the line back to the pod.
In effect the line is going directly out to the opposite bank and then back to the bottle at a 100-180 degree angle. As you are close the margins the fish should (in theory) run away from the bank and thus give you a regular run. Once a bite is indicated, you jump in the boat and go out to the bankstick to loop the line off and then proceed to play the fish. This also works pretty well when fishing to snags as you do not try and play the fish until you are directly over it. Thus the use of heavier leads and barbed hooks so the fish hooks itself on the take.
The best way to understand these techniques is to watch a few videos of anglers fishing Rainbow. I recommend going onto Vimeo and typing in Kevin Ellis as he does a good job demonstrating their use. I believe his video's have been posted on here in a different thread.
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Thanks for all the kind comments. I have a feeling this may be more than 3 parts, as after planning out the next article the amount of information I want to include is more than I initially expected. I don't want to water it down so I'll stick to around 2000 word articles and if it takes 4 or 5 installments then so be it. Hopefully, they be enough information to benefit anyone who is currently using or wants to try boilies.
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I think the occasional bass boat fisherman would appreciate the line across the water. I can picture me already trying to explain to him what I'm doing...
But seriously, during weekdays I might just have to do this. The bank stick could work. Of course when the mountain winds start blowing you're screwed.
If you have boat traffic you could still use double back leads and then add an underwater sub-float similar to the one I suggested on the surface. At least it will keep the line behind the backleads free of the bottom and the snags as it will be higher in the water column. Non of them are ideal solutions as the fishing situation is far from ideal, but you do what you can to put the odds in your favor.
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Two solutions that come to mind, both made popular by their use on Rainbow Lakes where they commonly fish around obstacles and islands etc Both require the use of a boat to place the baits.
1) Drop bait on spot with a singe or double back lead, place floating bottle or a big pike float on the surface (lots of ways to do this, either with a rubber band or with a running float). All the line from the float to the rod tip will be above the surface of the lake. Solar do line floats (line biters, I think they are called) that you can place on the line above the water so you can see it when you go out in the boat so you don't take out other rods.
2) Place a large bank stick in the opposite bank. Place bait in position and then run the line back to the bank stick and attach it via a rubber band. Run the line back to the bank you are fishing from, again with all of the line above water level. The line will come out of the band on the take and put you in direct contact with the fish.
With both of these approached a heavy drop off lead is usually utilized.
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Coming from a match fishing background this has always been a given for me.....however, given the size and numbers of fish in many American waters I have to ask, couldn't you be missing, or should I say, how confident are you, that you aren't missing and spooking just as many or even more fish, by striking at what could be liners etc?
I'm thinking of warm weather and more typical situations as opposed to cold/winter water...
Having watched plenty of carp in England and the USA (from up trees, which the wife doesn't allow me to do now!!) most of the times the fish spook is due to them touching something they don't see and that is foreign to them. In pressured situations I am sure they know and recognize line, but they also recognize bait and rigs etc, I've seen lots of examples where anglers get a few beeps and the fish is 30-40 yards away from where they cast or worse they wake up to see their line going in a different direction from where they cast and the fish is gone.
I personally prefer semi-slack unless I'm fishing over 100 yards and then I'm happy to fish with bow string tight lines. I'm sure the more experienced anglers can tell the difference between a line bite and a run as 99% of the runs over here are one toners. Having watched a few of the recent videos from Nash and Korda I think even the most ardent slack line anglers are starting to realize how ineffective the indication really is and are moving back to other methods.
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great answers guys. I do prefer tight line as stated before, just not sure how the chod rig setup will work this season. First time using it. Not sure what to expect with slack line. Unless I just go with a stiff hinged rig and use a long leader. Lots of lakes by me are silty and weedy. Thoughts ?
I only use the chod rig if I am fishing to showing fish and I have no idea what the bottom strata is like. For range work I like the helicopter lead set-up as it's almost tangle free, especially if you add a foam nugget to the hook and you get the benefit of a longer hook link and can use a supple material, which I prefer.
The hinged stiff rig is an excellent big fish rig, but not particularly great for smaller fish due to the rig mechanics. If I want a curved hook link I much prefer the Withy Rig, but most of the time I use a simple short braided hook-link with a 1/2 to 1 inch pop-up. I can put this all inside a solid PVA bag and cast it anywhere. This is my favored approach for weed as it's tangle free and fishes well, even in heavy weed.
I grew up fishing silty lakes and meres and while a chod rig will work I tend to use longer supple hook links that prevent the hook bait being pulled into the silt. A simple 6-10 inches hook-link works well, unless the silt is really deep in which case, use the same set up as the chod rig, but with the braided hook link. Move the beads up the leader as far as you require....ie. if the silt is 9 inches deep, move the beads 9 inches away from the lead. This was the original way we used the chod rig before the short stiff hook links became popular.
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Slack lines are okay for margin fishing, but even in this case I would use a back lead and the rest semi-slack. For longer range, semi or tight lines are far superior in terms of bite indication.
Slack line fishing is all the rage and was made popular due to flurocarbon lines and pressured fish. In reality, once you have any type of obstacle between you and the lead the line will be going over it. A simple sinking leader and perhaps a flying back lead is more than adequate to sink the last several feet of line/braid.
If you fish slack lines, even with the best alarms and bobbins/swingers the indication is bad at best. Underwater tests show you can move the lead several yards without a single beep!! Tight lines and the correct indicators give you fairly instant feedback and also help with driving the hook home.
I prefer to know what is happening straight away and if you are fishing anywhere near to snags or weed the fish may be in them before you ever get a beep.
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Being snowed in does have it's advantages!! I've finally gotten around to writing out a series of articles relating to boilie fishing.
Part 1 details the origins and basic types:
http://bigcarpnews.com/web/the-art-of-boilie-fishing-part-1-origins/
I know a lot of people on this forum are sceptical of boilies and some even claim they are useless but for the open minded this series of articles will detail:
1) Why and when boilies were developed
2) The basic types available (I haven't put anything about pop-ups/wafters in the first article as this will be covered in part 2)
3) Different ways to utilize boilies and how their application can lead to success
4) Home made recipes, basic boilie making techniques
I decided to write these articles because there is a lot of mis-information out there and also several CAG members have recently asked me for recipes and advice on buying ready made boilies. I have over 20 years experience making my own baits and using all manner of shop bought boilies so hopefully I can pass on some knowledge and if just one CAG member improves their own results I will be happy.
As a final note, I am not sponsored by any bait company so all of my opinions are exactly that...MINE. I have used boilies on multiple US waters over the past 5 years and over the last 2 years have almost used them exclusively. My results have proven to me that they not only work, but if used correctly they definitely help me target bigger fish, more consistently. Again, MY opinion. Enjoy
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And the Android version is available where?
There is no android version at the moment, just the iphone version.
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Congratulations to Rod Mills who ended with 29% of the vote for his stunning fully scaled mirror carp.
Well done to all the monthly winners, it was a pleasure to see your catches this year.
Rod will receive a commissioned drawing of his winning carp which will then be professionally framed. This will take a few months as it will be coming from England, but as soon as it is delivered I will make sure the picture is posted.
Again, big congratulations to Rod. Well done.
P.S. Hold onto your January 2014 pics as I will be posting details of this coming years competition in the near future.
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Idaho - Feel free to PM me if you want a few decent home-made recipes or recommendations on decent store bought baits. I am not sponsored by any bait companies so my opinions are just that, my opinions. If I recommend something it's because I use it myself. You'll be better off making a decent bait as they are just as instant and work better over time. The high attract baits work, but over the long term a food bait will out fish them.
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Idaho,
No chumming rules really do put restrictions on your fishing, no matter what bait you use. I have fished with similar rules in Rhode Island and I use ground bait (either molded around the lead or hook-bait) to get around these rules.
As far as boilie fishing, one of the most important factors is the quality of the bait. I prefer to make my own or buy high quality food baits, although I've caught plenty on ready-mades. Pre-baiting does help, the same as many other baits but a good boilie will be pretty instant. Baiting quantities depend on the length of your sessions. For most of my sessions I am fishing under 24 hours and if the fish are not active I might use as little as 100 baits, but if they are feeding I may use upwards of 10kg. I generally start the session looking for a bite, and then depending on the fish will either up my baiting or stay conservative.
As a rule of thumb I start with 20-50 baits over each rod and then top up after a fish. If the carp respond well I may then increase the bait quantities. If I am doing a longer session and am confident my location is correct I may start with a decent amount of bait, anywhere from 2-5kg which will be spread around a fairly large area. It may take some time for the fish to get onto the bait but once they do the action is usually thick and fast.
For most sessions I do not pre-bait. If I a confident in my bait and the location I know the fish will usually respond positively. Good luck if you try the boilie approach.
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Are you talking about anglers in a competitive environment or those that drive for hundreds of miles to jump into hot swims discovered by others?
For the record Marc, I invited Parksy to fish this area, several months before the time frame you are referring to. I had been fishing the area and several others for the previous 2 years and I didn't jump into anyone's swim. I went up and explored the area(s) myself and met a couple of locals who were kind enough to show me a few general locations.If you really want to talk about swim jumping in this particular area I suggest you contact a certain American bait company as they really have taken it to a new level
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I use to only fish wild waters for wild carp with boilies, But now.....I only fish wild waters for wild carp with Pack and Puff.
Good for you, I wish you the best of luck.
Everything you've stated is false. Complete rubbish. You don't know a single thing of what I have done for more than 50 years. For starters I was raised, educated, and fished singing God bless the Queen each morning whist raising the Union Jack. I spent the better part of my life dealing with snobbs and know how to sift them out right quick. You've got some crust about you to even think such things. I would suggest you open your mind and listen grasshopper.
not jmho but fact.
On the Puff
GUS
Respectfully I remain
Tom.
I bet that's the first time anyone born and bred in Stoke, England has been called a 'snob'. By the way, you can slag the Queen off all you want as I have no love for the royals. Water off a duck's back to me.
I base my own comments on how you interact with not only myself, but many, many others on this forum. You claim all your own statements as 'Fact' and totally dismiss anyone who disagree's. Just because you put 'respectfully' at the bottom of your posts doesn't give you free reign to belittle others and you are not the only one with experience on this site! Lots of anglers on here have varying levels of expertise and experience and all have the right to their own opinions, whether based in fact or not. With open discussion we can all benefit.
My mind is very open, that's why I prefer not to listen to your constant drivel that you keep stating as 'fact'. I will refrain from commenting on your future posts and comments as I wouldn't want my snobbish attitude to cloud the water, so to speak. If you want further discussion just PM me, as there's little point in hijacking this thread with personal attacks.
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I fished with my Brit partner for five years not to mention some of the best in Europe. I could take a walk through your mind and not even get my ancles wet m8.
ps. Just how many years have you fished with a Southern Paylaker as a partner?? NOON... Like I said, if you have not been experienced then how can you make such claimes??
My initial thought is to tell you to fu#k off as once again your posts are nearly always disrespectful. You love to big yourself up at the expense of others and while you may be the nicest guy to fish with in person, once behind the keyboard your a Grade 'A' Knob.
I don't care who you have fished with, as I said you have not practiced this approach yourself and delved into the complexities so following your own twisted logic you are in no position to make judgements on those who have. Incidentally, I'm guessing the majority of times this was in competition(s), which as I have stated previously is an artificial environment and far removed from fishing in wild waters for wild carp.
P.S. I haven't fished with any Southern Paylakers but if your the top of the tree then I would prefer to avoid them at all costs. As for the comment of walking through my mind.....GROW UP. I'm happy to debate and discuss anything and everything to do with carp fishing but when it devolves into a pissing match, there's little point as your 'debates' are nothing more that ego stroking and slagging off anything you disagree with.
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I love it when there is a big pause after I post.
Sorry, I have a job that requires me to do more than sit at a computer all day responding to your posts
I would also like to read the scientific report first before commenting, however if the gist of it is that carp choice their food sources based on the different waters that they reside in, then this is nothing new. It would be ironic if this is the case as according to Mr Big and others, 99% of us should all be using the same approach for every US water, which would be diametrically opposed to the scientific data.Mr Big, you are fond of saying that us Euro anglers cannot possibly comprehend the complexities of your approach. I would state the same for boilie fishing, if you do not educate yourself on it, through years of experience and results then how can you comment and dismiss the approach. You obviously don't understand it, just like I don't understand the puff/pack approach. Fishing with others who toy with the approach doesn't count either. Unless you have a full understanding of how to make and use high quality boilies and have used them on many different bodies of water in many different countries then you could not possibly understand how they work! If this sounds pompous, imagine how the rest of us feel when you continually take the same position on your own style of fishing.
Anyway, back to work. I'll read the report if I can get it to open and comment later Hammer, just in case you think I have slunked away.
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Soooo the American/Canadian carp is a different genus??? The link you posted Lorne did not open, but I'd be interested to see what the scientific information was in relation to.
Seems that a few keep commenting that European carp are different because they are raised on boilies. This is not the case in the vast majority of fisheries. Apart from the few overstocked commercial fisheries carp can choose to feed on natural items or the anglers offerings. However, being an easier choice they often choose bait. Take England out of the equation and look at the other european countries where vast expanses of water are common. No way are carp dependent on anglers baits. Paylakes are a different matter and while I am not decrying the technique, it is in an artificial environment.
Carp (no matter which country they reside in) like boilies. However, like Tribal states the more effective baits are ones with long term food value. To say that 99% of anglers should fish puff and pack (Mr Big's statement) is somewhat biased. Boilies DO WORK and when used correctly the DO HELP target bigger fish. You can keep claiming otherwise but results of those that use this technique are hard to argue with. YES corn/puff/maize....will catch large fish BUT you will also catch smaller fish and other species which is exactly the reason boilies were developed, to avoid this.
Why some of you care that others use boilies is beyond me, and why you continue to claim they are not effective is curious.
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Semantics Dunkel. You make a claim that you believe anglers are falsifying their catches and editing video's because you believe boilies are useless. I claim that a baits effectiveness is in it's application and if you dismiss something completely just because it doesn't work for you, expect others to disagree.
I don't know you and have never fished with you, so have no idea if you are a good or bad angler. I do know that claiming others are lying (sponsored anglers in particular) and would stoop to such behavior is quite insulting, hence my reply.
As literally hundreds of thousands of carp have been caught on boilies I would say they are quite successful. Maybe not for you, but for a lot of other people, in Europe and the USA.
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I never claimed you can't catch carp or don't know how to fish!! Like you said, maybe the 'truth hurts'. Boilies work for a very large number of carper's and if you want to claim everyone is lying....expect some kick back.
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I like how most of the sponsored guys have come out with torches and pitchforks. Guilty conscience or truth hurts I guess.
Brian I just may take you up on that offer later this year.
Dunkel,
I'm not sponsored by a bait company. I either make my own bait or purchase it with my OWN money. I use boilies in some form for 90% of my fishing I would say. If you have no confidence in a bait, then fair enough. However, you are directly accusing people of lying or falsifying results simply because of your own failings when using them.
Again, your initial statement is ridiculous and insulting to the anglers who use the product. I personally wouldn't use a puff in any form but I would never claim they flat out don't work and everyone who says they do is lying!!
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They are overrated by those who are trying to sell bait. If you use them and they work great, but I have yet to catch 1 carp on a boilie. Personally I don't believe most of the stories about catching carp on boilies. It would be quite easy to edit a video to show a carp with a boilie hanging from the hook in it's mouth when the carp was actually caught on sweet corn/maize.
Ridiculous statement!
The phrase "a bad workman always blames his tools" springs to mind.
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I notice that less than 23% of anglers here think the boilie is king. I wonder then why use the hair if not using the boilie?? The hair and boilie go together hand and glove. It was invented to accomodate the boilie.
Tom.
WRONG!
Len Middleton and Kevin Maddocks came up with the idea because the common practice at the time of burying the hook inside the bait led to mostly unhittable bites and twitches. It was initially used with particles (sweetcorn being the first tried) and proved to be an instant success. Not due to the bait (which was getting picked up before) but because the hook was free to hook the fish with more efficiency.
It also allows separation between the hook and bait which which doesn't happen when fishing with the bait directly on the hook.
If you don't believe me here's one of many reports on the origins of the hair rig:
http://www.carptalk-online.co.uk/homepage/hall-of-fame/89-len-middleton
A Short Winter Session
in Pictures, Stories & Video
Posted
Bob, I've used peach schnapps on a number of occasions, usually as an attractant in maize. When ever the water temperatures drop I usually turn to alcohol....not just for fishing!!