Change Of Seasons – Time To Change Your Baiting Strategy

With the seasons changing quickly from Autumn to Winter, so should your strategy to catch carp. RESEARCH When we target a new venue, we always do research. Speak to fellow anglers, google, YOUtube, Facebook and so forth. When the seasons change, do you do research too? If not, you should! Luckily with today’s technology, we have instant access to millions of carp fishing content. Most of it is information from abroad, so can all this information be relevant to South Africa? The short answer is no. In South Africa we do not have lakes that freeze in Winter. In fact, we have a rather nice Winter compared to most of Europe. However, it is important to take the information and analyse it. Determine what is relevant to South Africa, specific venues and can the specific advice be utilised in our sunny country? It is common knowledge amongst Specimen Carp Anglers that with the colder temperatures, the smaller Carp do not feed aggressively. This is then our best chance to catch bigger fish! For example Conventional Bank Angling in Summer with its regular feeding and the exceptional floatie bait delivers constant but irregular size catches, but during the colder months a little less feed and maize as bait tends to deliver bigger catches. What can we learn from this? Changing up your baiting and feeding will probably land you some fatties. Common practice amongst Specimen Anglers is to feed a lot more during Winter. But is this really helping you land a bigger fish? Each venue is unique and differs from the next. Some require more feed while mouse traps work better at other venues. This month we have some tips to help you land more and bigger winter Carp! Where and how can you change your strategy? Start simply by preparing your groundfeed a little bit differently and adjusting ratios. HEMPSEED First up, Hempseed. The oilier the better! To get more oil out of your hempseed, soak the seeds in water for a day before cooking. The grey-coloured seeds will turn a dark shade once soaked. Cook the seed in the soak water and add more water during the cooking process if necessary. Always keep the Hempseed covered with water. How do you know if the hemp is cooked? The dark seeds will split open with white-coloured sprouts, and the Hemp aroma will become stronger. Let the cooked Hempseed stand for a few hours to create even more oil. Prepack and freeze the mix so you will have fresh cooked Hemp ready at hand. SEEDS Tone down on your maize. Less is more. Rather aim for a dash of colour. Finer seeds like birdseed, peanuts and maples are a great asset to a particle mix. Keep to the principle of less is more. The small seeds can aid in keeping the carp in your swim area for longer. Just remember to ensure that all seeds are cooked properly. Rinsing and soaking before cooking can aid in faster cooking time. Seeds should be soft and crush easily, that is when you know they are cooked. Single popup on a bed of chopped boilies and hempseed Snowman presentation on a bed of boilies with a dash of particle mix. TIGERNUTS Tigernuts - the chunky treat most carp find irresistible. Rinse well and soak overnight before cooking. Let the Tigernuts stand after cooking to allow the natural sugar content to slightly ferment and create oozy Tigernuts. If you do not like the oozy Tigernuts, simply freeze or use within a day. Tigernuts are also great for hookbaits. Plain, naturally sweet or flavoured tigernuts topped off with an artificial maize or popup has proven to be a great bait for many anglers. *TOP TIP: cook your Tigernuts beforehand and pop in bags or buckets in the freezer without the water content. Golden delicious tigernuts. BOILIES Next up, Boilies. In our public and wild waters, boilies can sometimes lure Catfish, especially those fishy boilies. Late Autumn to early Winter is the perfect time to start introducing boilies to a venue. Start by chopping boilies in half and mixing them with a particle mix. Give the old trusted Snowman presentation a go when feeding with boilies or a single pop-up. Mixing boilies with only hempseed has proven to be a great feeding strategy for some venues. Where can you get some good quality boilies? Most fishing tackle stores that cater for the Specimen Angler, will most likely stock both local and international boilies. Many local boilie companies can also send your order via courier directly to your home address. Now that is convenience! Crushed boilies. Pellets & Crushed boilies in PVA bags. Boilies soaked in liquid boosters. PELLETS The underrated Pellet. Be it koi or carp feeding pellets, pellets have become a great asset to anglers. Much like boilies, pellets have high nutritional values that are all beneficial for Carp. Not only when using the PVA bag method, but also as part of feeding and feeding campaigns. If you have not tried pellets on a fishing session yet, make sure you try it with your winter campaign. Mix some crushed boilies with pellets. HOOKBAITS What hookbaits should you use when feeding with pellets? Never under estimate the power of a snowman or pop-up presentation, however small dumbbells or artificial maize have been a favourite amongst anglers when using pellets as part of their feeding strategy. A simple yet effective presentation. PVA bag & 10mm dumbbell presentation. LIQUIDS, GLUGS, OILS AND BOOSTERS With the Specimen scene exploding in South Africa, more and more varieties of liquids are available. From local to international brands. Each unique and with a purpose. Glugs and Goo’s are normally sticky and concentrated, ideal to use as a coating for hookbaits, slowly releasing the flavour into the water column. Liquids and boosters come in a variety of flavours and types. Some are concentrated and should be used sparingly or diluted. Others are not concentrated and can be used indulgently without overpowering the natural flavours of the feed. Liquid stick mix. These liquids are specifically designed to be PVA friendly, enhance pellets, boilies or feed mixes. Available in different flavours to compliment the boilies and pellets used. High nutritional additives. Liquid feeding boosters such as Amino Mino, are a great way to enhance the nutritional value of feeding mixes. It is also used when making homemade boilies and pellets. Should you use liquids and boosters? Absolutely yes! Give it a try! Tigernut, Hemp, Molasses and Sweetcorn syrups, oils or particle boosters will enhance the particle mix. Simple yet effective. TOP TIP: Maintain a balance between feed and hookbait. Do not overpower your hookbait. To enhance Hempseed, add Hemp oil to cooked Hemp. To enhance Tigernuts, add Tigernut oil to cooked tigernuts. Remember each venue is different and unique in Carp feeding preferences - some strategies will work better at certain venues and others not. Most importantly, keep experimenting, do your research. Find what works for you and that fits your budget. Keep them lines tight, nets wet and release your catches!