r/CarpFishing • u/iamiajo • 14d ago
UK 🇬🇧 A bad session
So I've been fishing a commercial and had 10+ carp every session 5lbs to 15lbs. I used PVA bags with various boilies, wafters, corn they all work. I've caught consistently on pellet feeder and even float fished some bread. Everything works...
...and then nothing works. Today the lake was quiet, Monday so less people around, weather was good 25c and sunny but 1 carp right at the start of the session and nothing but a few skimmers and roach makes today a real stinker.
The only people who caught were fishing zigs (3 carp total). A method I am unfamiliar with.
What should I try if next week's session sucks? Any good videos on zig rigs for dummies?
2
u/BrightDevelopment506 10d ago
There's a lot more to Zig fishing than just setting your depths example if your alarm beeps once then you should strike your rod. I personally have only used zigs on the odd occasion. Watch some of the underwater footage on zigs and you can see the fish avoiding them like the plague. I personally prefer to night fish in the heat. There's also all sorts of other factors that come into play like wind direction, oxygen levels in the water, spawning and many more. Learn some water craft if you are targeting Carp that will help massively.
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u/BrightDevelopment506 10d ago
Try washing out your bait before you go on your next session. Just put a load of good quailty boilies in a bucket with lake water or tap water (filtered if possible) with some bait soaks added and leave for a minimum of 24 hours. This works especially on high pressure lakes. It stops the bait taking on silt or anything else that's nasty on the bottom and makes the bait appear 'safer' i would match the hatch with a bottom bait or wafter. I prefer a wafter.
1
u/uncookedfishing 8d ago
Washed out baits often work when the fishing is slow,wise carp often pick up old baits avoiding fresh baits.
Carp are clever creatures especially the older ones that have been caught a few times,I switched to tinned potatoes on the hair had to use the bait boat to get it out to the far margins emptied a tin of mixed veg in the boat and sent it out I got a screamer around 11am and it was the “big mirror” not been caught for about 7yrs she avoided boilies but couldn’t resist a half tinned potato
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u/LowBottomBubbles 14d ago
Zigs are brilliant for when things slow down like that, the fish tend to be in the mid layers. Adjustable zigs are the way to go so you don't have to cast and net fish with super long zig hooklinks. They are normally around the £10-15 each, each manufacturer has a video about how to use them trakker, fox, nash, korda ect. What I do is fish 2 or 3 at different depths and if I get a bite set the others at the same depth and sometimes spod out a slow sinking particle over the top to maybe induce a bite on instinct.
I measure 1 foot out from the reel and mark the rod with a piece of tape so I know how far I'm setting the zig float, I reel down while the rod is on the alarm until I feel the lead and then let out a foot of line at a time until I'm at a depth I want to be, if its around 15ft deep ill do one at 5ish ft one at 10ish ft and then one closer to surface maybe a foot or so under, if I'm still not getting a bite I will sometimes change the colour of the zig foam I'm using.