Although I have winter fished regularly for years I wanted a much bigger picture of winter carp fishing and see all the changes in carp behaviours, test winter baits, fishing conditions and catch results at this time.
5 years ago I chose to spend 4 days out of 7 (on average,) carp fishing. I did this from late October, right through to the end of March and on into the beginning of April. (Unfortunately this was a very cold winter too!)
The lake I chose was small with a deep half of around 20 feet in depth and an average depth of 6 to 9 feet, working up to a shallow end of around 5 feet to 2 feet in depth.
I was able to observe almost the whole lake to spot fish movements as a part of this 'learning exercise.'
The average carp in this lake were about 21 to 23 pounds, but there were a few fish in the 32 pounds range with a couple up to 36 pounds or more. A few years previously I had caught a 45 pound 'leather' carp from this water and 4 other fish around 36 to 38 pounds; so there were certainly fish here to keep me even more interested and motivated.
In mid October it became obvious that the fish were being hooked less and less in water 6 feet deep in the centre of the lake and more and more in the 9 to 12 foot depth area. Gradually this changed to more from water deeper still at 10 to even 15 feet deep or more, as temperatures fell, and frosts set in late October.
At this time in late October going into November the warmest water left was in the deep water areas and this is where most fish it seemed felt most comfortable were hooked at this time. It is where the most natural food would be left too before dying back or becoming less active and available to feeding carp.
But then you may be surprised to know, as the water really began cooling-off more evenly all through the lake, the carp fed actively in the more shallow areas in water around 6 feet deep.
It was even more surprising when this actually happened on the nights with the hardest frosts as November progressed. This intense feeding activity occurred during the most rapidly falling temperatures and quickest increase in water density, producing the most frantic concentrated feeding and best catches of this time.
It even meant that on some of the very coldest evenings that all three rods would be 'in action' almost simultaneously. And some of these fish were the biggest in the lake.
I got the feeling, as with the winds appearing to 'blow-up' in October, that the carp could 'anticipate' conditions and where to feed before those conditions had actually occurred. Perhaps this is due to their sensitivity to rising or falling air pressure effects on water density in combination with temperature changes.
This effect definitely triggered the fish into intense feeding activity in very concentrated feeding spots, at this very cold time in November. However the best catches still came from under or beside safer difficult to fish areas in water of about 9 feet deep near or beside 'snags' or obstructions in the water. It was apparent there were more fish tightly gathered in these places than at other times of the year.
The days with warm sunshine and rising temperatures and lowered water density produced very little at the same period. Only when longer spells of warmer weather came as December progressed did catches become less concentrated in a very short feeding spell of perhaps only 15 minutes.
In mid-to-late December milder warmer winds mixed and re-warmed the water and the fish fed as well as in the very cold snaps but often for longer periods of time perhaps from half an hour to longer. It was noticeable that feeding spells could be timed and predicted for the following days ahead and the swim and baits could be prepared meticulously in advance of these regular spells of activity.
I had timed these feeding spells in December on another lake previously. They had all been potted on charts along with date, day and night temperatures and catch results and baiting frequency, time of introduction, amounts and types of baits.
My conclusions were that baiting up very regularly with generous amounts of boilies 'particles' and ground baits that dissolved quickly to disperse 'attractors' very much improved results.
So far as to say that very heavy baiting in winter seems essential at times for exceptional catches. I feel that tightly 'shoaled-up' winter the fish are caught more easily and confidently because they are competing among each other for food.
But it must be made clear that some feeding spots may be extremely isolated and that someone fishing only 2 meters off the spot will just not get a single 'bite' while you catch 4 or 5 fish in half an hour fishing only a few feet away.
This effect can occur in summer too where you could have 4 rods spaced only tree feet apart in a swim and yet only the one rod will consistently produce takes.
The most intense feeding really seemed to be as temperatures fell very sharply in a short time period. This was in November and December. Takes at this time could be very fast and furious with many takes in a very short feeding spell of perhaps only 10 to 20 minutes.
In January the carp fed very little and the lake froze over for periods with ice 4 to 5 inches thick at times. This was a very hard fishing period with water temperatures at their lowest!
January produced the smallest fish, mostly being doubles and single figure fish. It was interesting to note that the singles came on worm extract paste baits fished under a float in the margins and I caught no bigger carp using this method at this time.
At times no fish were observed at night, morning or evening at all, for many consecutive days and nights. At this time frost was piled on top of frost on the fishing tent and this would not thaw during the day. This was true winter fishing! Unfortunately I never caught a fish in the snow as the lake was totally iced over with very thick ice at this time which was unbreakable!
The fish certainly were more active on some evenings when temperatures were plummeting after a clear sunny day during anti-cyclonic conditions. This was when it was nicest for me during the day and the most uncomfortable for me at night!
You need very good preparation for winter fishing especially at night, and exposure and hyperthermia are very real dangers. You absolutely must have many more spare clothes and footwear than you think you need! There may be nights you end up wearing it all and still shiver all night long!
I was using a reputable 5 season sleeping bag too! I placed a second over-sheet over the tent which did warm things up a bit at night. You also need to careful and aware that your carp mat and landing net need to be off the ground or sheltered - they can freeze to the ground!
The carp seemed to get into a routine again in late January and patrolled more shallow marginal areas of about 4 or 5 feet deep in the evenings. Virtually all takes through the very cold parts of the winter came during the evening from around 4.30 pm to 10 pm.
It was obvious the fish were up in the top water layers too and 'pop-up' buoyant baits took most fish, while baits fished on the bottom produced nothing for weeks on end! These were very refined rigs with a host of different baits, colours, flavours, densities, buoyancies, hook lengths etc. These had previously caught the carp in warmer periods with ease.
February had periods of prolonged warmer winds, and some gales. During this time with increased used of free baiting, catches on the bottom were as good as any other time of year. Between these periods significant captures occurred on some of the very coldest frosty mornings with feeding spells around 5 or 6 am. However such catches were not common.
Late March brought longer hotter days. With increased day-length and longer more intense sun light penetration, appeared new occasional mid-day or afternoon feeding spells.
This activity only occurred on the brightest and longest most sunniest days. These spells (like the earlier November evening frost catches,) produced most of the biggest fish of the winter and more than once produced two of the biggest fish in the lake within half an hour of each other.
The regular feeding spots even moved to those of late September and early October where carp fed close into the bank even with their tails out of the water inside snaggy obstructed areas, on the sunny days and off the wind.
From mid-to-late March the average feeding depth was under a foot to about 5 feet at this time. Obviously the water was warming-up enough to stimulate marginal or top water layer feeding far more. A couple of the biggest fish were hooked in only 2 feet of water under branches trailing in the water on days where sunlight hit that particular are of the lake the longest.
In very early April, (only on the warmest days,) feeding spells changed from afternoon to evening, through to night-time up to around 11 pm. Cloudy days with winds produced very little. Just to complete the picture, the carp feeding went round to early morning time between 6 and 7 am by the second week of April.
My 'big picture cut-off' points were from late October and the beginning of April. This period would usually exclude day and night air temperatures of up to 10 to 12 Degrees Celsius. At around these day and night temperatures following each other I knew the carp would feed far more frequently and were therefore less of a challenge.
I ended the exercise in the third week of April.
The biggest aspect about winter fishing I learnt was the discipline to keep introducing bait no matter how 'pointless' it might seem. This definitely kept catches coming and bigger fish to the net. I believe it kept the fish feeding on bait and searching for food.
It certainly produced the biggest fish in the lake the moment they became active and really wanted to feed. Paste baits and paste free baits worked by far the best as opposed to boiled baits and I'm sure that using special homemade buoyant pastes accounted for many more fish than if I'd fished 'conventionally!'
Most of all, I learnt the secrets of fishing over dissolved baits and baits that have become sediments. (I'm certain that on 'pressured' heavily fished waters, the big carp feed far more confidently over broken down sediment forming bait.
The art of feeding mostly little and very often really became refined too as did the use of very soluble baits leveraging some of the best attractors and flavours available.
This principle of very regular feeding of fast dissolving baits, pastes and ground baits, has caught me as many big fish all-year-round since then, as any other method I've ever used!
When winter fishing more than at any other time, confidence in your baits is key! I had designed and made a boilie just for this lake and I had established it by the start of my campaign by introducing it gradually through earlier sessions in warmer temperatures without fishing with it. I had watched how the bigger fish rolled and fed on it; and if they were confident; then so was I! The first 7 carp on this bait were all over 30 pounds... For information on my unique homemade big carp bait making and feeding triggers exploiting secrets plus secrets of fish senses, making flavours and much more; read on!
By Tim Richardson.
