Carp Angling

Carp Angling
The UK has a thriving carp angling market, even when not fished for food, they are eagerly sought by anglers, being considered highly prized coarse fish that are difficult to hook.
The key to successful carp angling is about getting lots of little things right on a regular basis and you are well on your way to becoming a decent carp angler. The first and most important aspect of carp fishing is watercraft. The real problem is that watercraft is the hardest part to get right. When you are out on the bank fishing, your main focus should be to think like the fish. By building up a picture of its underwater habitat you are able to make certain assumptions (based on experience over time) which will help you to narrow down likely spots where they will be at certain times and the routes they are likely to use to get to these spots.

You then need to add the effects of current conditions; sun, rain, wind and temperature all play their part. Then you need to consider the effects of current and recent angling pressure, time of year, time of day, predicted conditions, and anything else that could have an effect on how the fish behave during your time on the bank. All in all then, not an easy task, but when broken down into lots of little pieces the job becomes much easier and the more you do it the easier it becomes.

Carp Bait – What to Use?
Once you’re at one with your surroundings and you’ve worked out where you think they’ll be, what’s next – Well, you need to work out what the right bait is for that particular session or that particular moment.  Anglers commonly use a bait known as boilies, which are made from milk proteins, eggs and artificial flavors, these are then boiled in water hence the name boilies.

A carp is an intelligent fish and it has a good memory and will remember what’s good and what’s not edible. Carp like all creatures have required daily nutrients including amino acids which they can smell. These amino acids are emitted by bloodworms, crayfish, and aquatic plants. Green-lipped mussel extract, kelp extract, liver powder and molasses contain sucrose and amino acids, which the carp has learned to recognise as having nutritional value. The best items are those that either emit favourable smells or contain ingredients which mimic them. Carp will also eat flavoured imitation baits.

Apart from Boilies other Carp Baits include:
Particle Baits
Particles refer to seeds, nuts and grains that are used as either hook bait or groundbait. The best known and most widely used is maize.

Groundbaits
Groundbait is made from different kinds of natural ingredients such as bread crumbs, hemp, walnut flour and so on. It is moistened with water, formed into balls and thrown into the water where you plan to fish. The carp are attracted to the smell and clouding of the water.

Live baits
There are a number of live baits that you use to catch carp. These are the same creatures that carp would find in the water. For small carp – They include crayfish, clams, snails, aquatic worms and the immature forms of aquatic insects, such as stonefly and mayfly nymphs.
For adult carp – molluscs, water fleas, aquatic crustaceans, sea lice, lawn shrimp, beach flees, aquatic and terrestrial insects, detritus, seeds, fragments of dead aquatic plants and filamentous algae.

Very high quality baits tend to be expensive, but as with many things, you get what you pay for. High nutritional boilies contain all the necessary nutrients required by carp, and as a result, carp will find them hard to resist. They will also tend to have a much longer life cycle and are often accepted as a food source by the carp.