Thoughts on Winter Carping

Having fished for carp throughout the year since the early 80's it has become apparent that, over the last decade winter catch rates have declined steadily to the point where many lakes now 'lock up' once the first frosts come in, and the fishing has become as hard as it was in the early days. Why that should be so, has become a constant topic of bivvy conversation through those long hours of winter darkness.

Sixteen hours of darkness in a bivvy can create a mind set that develops the most weird and outlandish theories to justify the lack of action. These are generally of no more value than the entertainment they give to relieve the boredom, but now and then a moment of clarity will produce a pearl of wisdom. Last year one such notion was suggested to me and as soon as I heard it, the simplicity left me left me embarrassed that I'd not thought of it myself. As an explanation for the downturn in winter catch rates it only answers part of the question, but its simplicity is undeniable. Less carpers are fishing through the winter and so less fish are caught!

I know, on the face of it, this might sound a bit crass but there is an explanation that gives it much more credence.

Back in the days when we had a Close Season, hard core carp anglers would generally use the period between March and June to catch up on all of the jobs around the house (i.e. home improvements) to keep their women happy and buy enough brownie points to enable them to maximise their fishing through the rest of the year. Since the restriction was lifted on stillwaters and canals, we have all been able to fish at one of the best times of the year to be out on the bank, when the weather is more comfortable, the bigger fish are becoming livelier and in need of food to build their strength for spawning . . . . . and here's the rub. The home improvements, etc., are now being done during the cold winter months leaving just those of us without such commitments on the hunt. Less anglers on the bank and consequently less food items for the carp to pick up in the cold months.

But that is only part of the story, as nothing in carp fishing is ever simple and straightforward. The decline also has much to do with bait and mirrors (no pun intended) the modern predominance of fishmeal baits, and in this regard the magazines and bait companies have, in my view, much to answer for.

If memory serves me well, in the heyday of winter carp fishing, seed and milk protein base mixes were the order of the day along with nuts and small particles.
Nowadays we are constantly hearing that fishmeals will work all year round and this simply isn't the case. It is an undeniable fact that the carp's digestive system cannot deal with them when the water becomes cold, and they effectively become constipated and have no room to ingest any more food. Yet, magazine articles repeatedly urge that keeping the bait going in will keep the fish looking for food, which would make sense if the bait is not going to clog up their digestive system. I've had anglers argue that their bait is an all year bait because it contains low temperature fishmeals, but these just keep them digestible as the water cools down from its summer temperatures, not in the cold of winter. If the fish eat them through the late autumn, they fill right up, cannot shift it out the other end and just lay up for the winter with no need to eat.

A couple of years ago Figgy and I found a mid 20 mirror just sitting motionless in very shallow water a couple of feet from the bank, in early November. At first we thought it had recently died, but Martin came round with his boots on and stepped into the water and stood with one leg either side of the fish. It didn't flinch or move in any way, so he picked it up and laid it down on an unhooking mat, and it was clear that it was still alive but stuffed to capacity. We thought that it must have a blockage so we massaged around the vent without any success. Since it was clearly still alive we returned it to the water, where it again stayed put. I was fishing from the adjacent swim so I kept an eye on it and it just drifted slowly around on the surface until I got in the bag at about midnight. By morning it had gone, so we decided that it must have over eaten and moved into shallow water in the hope that the sun would come out and warm the water enough to help it digest. I now suspect that it was the last time that fish fed before the winter, and it probably drifted off to find some soft silt in deeper water and stayed there for the duration with enough food inside to keep it through 'til early spring.

I believe that keeping the bait going in, will only work if it is a bait that will easily pass through the carp's digestive system, is not applied heavily and has been introduced throughout the autumn before the frosts come and cool the water quickly. Fish that become interested this type of bait will go into winter without being stuffed full and consequently are more likely to stay active and in search of food to sustain themselves.

It has always been a mystery as to why carp seem to love tigers, when they derive no apparent benefit from eating them. They sometimes break them down with the pharyngeal teeth, but pass them out either whole or in bits, and its even more strange that they are such a good winter bait (especially with hemp) when they will often induce a bite in spite of the fact that there are better food items (boilies) in the immediate area. Perhaps tigers help them to clean their digestive system when they feel a bit clogged up ? If so, the same is likely to apply with other nuts and seeds, and explain their effectiveness in the winter months when you would expect the fish to be after digestible food that will easily convert to an energy source in the cold water when natural food is scarce.

Single hookbaits, with or without short stringers, have always been a successful winter tactic, as have tigers over a small patch of particle and these methods still produce winter fish, but only if the fish feel the need to eat something. Baiting an area and sitting with static baits for whole sessions is less likely to produce a bite unless they fall into the immediate area where fish are settled for the winter. Cold water inhibits the leakage of attractors from boiled baits and so it is unlikely that you will draw fish to them as you might when the water is warm. Regularly re-casting to different spots is generally more effective when fish are not showing and increases the chance of finding them. If you get a take, then there are likely to be other fish in the immediate area.

Listening for fish movement in the hours of darkness can guide you to location, as can looking for bubblers when there is flat water (usually early morning and evening), although these very often do not represent feeding fish as they do through the rest of the year. More likely, the fish have found a depth where the water temperature is the most comfortable and release bubbles from their gills as they adjust their swim bladders to maintain neutral buoyancy to keep at the depth without expending energy. Last year I actually witnessed this behaviour. A friend was struggling to figure out why fish had been bubbling all over his baits for hours but he could not buy a take. Climbing a tree I could clearly see a bunch of fish about two feet below the surface and every few minutes one would release a few bubbles, but they were all seemingly asleep.

Also, some years back some mates were fishing a small but very deep pit, and out of frustration at the lack of action took the boat out with an echo sounder and found nearly all of the fish bunched together at 15 feet in 29 feet of water. As a result, 14 foot zigs started to produce takes.

We all have a tendency to chuck 'em out, get in the biv and put the heater and radio on, but in truth this has got more to do with camping than fishing. Better to stay active, re-cast regularly and try different things to find and tempt the fish. . . . . . and leave the fishmeals alone in early autumn

Be lucky

John Stacey
Moor Mill Bailiff