What is your strategy?

[Kwade]

Hi guys
So I was wondering how to approach a certain dam that has lots of massive carp, but they not always on the bite... The dam has crystal clear water, is virtually completely encircled with reeds and has lots of submerged aquatic vegetation... the main thing is the bottom of the dam is rocky BUT its got a soft layer of decaying plant material covering it (like a mulch layer), one day I noticed the reason the carp don't always bite is because the boilie or pop-up disappears in the layer once it hits it (probably because the sinker stirs it up on impact)... I fish a sliding sinker and just made my hook-link longer to get the bait further from the sinker and I've also tried using 2 pop-ups on the hair which is enough to keep the hook suspended in the water (anchored by the sinker still)... I've thought about float fishing but I don't want to have to reel in everytime it drifts and the water is between 2-2.5m deep so I will end up with long rig between the float and hook... So how would you guys approach it? Is there a better way? 

[jonathanw]

A chod rig will work better for this type of structure, the presentation will be better, then catty or spod some feed over the top of the rig, you can also look at zig rigs

[Kwade]

OK I'll give it a go, what bait do you suggest? Boilie or popup or a snowman of both? Or something else?

[jonathanw]

Pop - up and you can glug it a bit before use, goodluck

[Drago]

I fished in long past on small dam’s that was not fished before . Carp does not know what is boilie and you be better with corn or even with worm . I preferred float fishing close to reeds on dams like this . Get inside and clear out 1m wide entry to water . Make sure corn lies on the silty bottom - float is angled or lies flat . They don’t touch it if above bottom ( that was in our case ) Like that it won’t drift much.
But it was tough fishing on those dams till we figure out that they feed only after sunset till around 23h . During the day they did not want to touch any bait . With illuminating float , it was actual fun catching them at night but yes , lost many to the reeds . P.S. Throw few Oatees on surface and watch if they come to swallow it. Good luck !

[Kwade]

Thanks jonathan I'll give your advise a go when I'm there again (probably Thurs  ) then I'll post how it went... Drago what you say makes sense, I've actually caught carp on fake mielies there, but not boilies, but then again its nota small dam I'm fishing, its popular amongst bass fishermen only (surprisingly because its got some of the most beautiful carp I've seen, I've never seen smaller than 6kg being pulled out ) I've considered the float fishing with the bait on the ground but that means I'll need a 2-2.5m leader between float and hook, I dunno if I'll be able to cast that nicely ... But I'll give it ago too, and post how it goes  ,maybe drop my line with the float on...

[Kwade]

I took the advice of Drago and used mielies on my hair rig on my 1 rod and its proved successful so far pulled a 7.5kg carp out now...  good advice thanks

[Kosie]

It may also be worth trying to clear A small area for your bait presentation if you are allowed to. If you use A choddy just remember (depending on the silt depth) to give the hooklink enough space to move up the leader while on its way down. I just put a peace of putty on the leader where I want the hooklink to stop. Try some "lighter" feed like pellets or even normal mieliebom as well. But I see you are getting success with mielies so stick with what works.

[Kwade]

Thanks Kosie yes I used normal mielie bomb as feed last night and it worked, the rod with the pop ups had a run too and the mielies had another run otherwise it was only the 1 fish caught... How would you clear a small area for the bait?

[Kosie]

I suppose its too cold now to just dive in  , some guys use A long pole or rope with A rake/anchor type head, I suppose your imagination is the limit. Some guys put A flat surface of their own on the bottom to present their trap. Just make sure its within the rules of the venue and that it is not something that can harm the fish and that you remove it when done.

[Kwade]

Thanks I'll give it a go... But after spending some time on the water I noticed a few open spots and the "mulch layer" is thinner than I initially thought so I might not need to make a spot but in summer I think I'll dive in and open it up a bit more... I know of another venue that has that soft silt on the bottom, about 0.5 - 1m thick under about 3m of water and the area is always full of fish... I've tried a boilie with only a hook no sinker or swivel but no luck and I've tried floaties with a 1.2m hook link and sliding sinker but also no luck any thoughts on this?

[Kosie]

A zig will probably do you best in .5-1m of silt. Dont underestimate A float setup with worms aswell.

[Drago]

As a Kosie said , don’t underestimate worm on the float . You would be surprised what fish you can get on the worm. Even a grassie ... When it comes to bait , I am one of those that does not carry box with 100’s of different dips , milies & floaties .Learned long ago that there are 3 main attractants that can really make a difference.  Vanilla , Garlic and Peanut.
When water temperature gets below 16C start using crushed garlic as a add on in your ground feed and in this case you could use spring feeder without any lead as for soft silt . Add only a one flat tea spoon on 1kg of already mixed ground feed.
Or try this - if you can get those bronze and silver tiny soft floaties ( I think is magic bait brand - comes in very small glass jar) Silver is garlic . Add two of those floaties directly on the hook while you have few milies on the hair . These floaties shown to be very effective and helped us on tough days on Vaal River when was hardly any bites as for water being only 11C .
While in warmer waters adding fine grounded roasted peanut to a ground feed decreased the bite intervals noticeably.
When it comes to milies , blue train is only one I use ( if shop did not have , plain - throw 1/2 water out and add  some alcohol like vodka ) proven that alcohol helps to spread the flavor quicker.
In long past I use to use a certain coughing syrup as a dip in extremely cold waters that made me catch fish while rest was blanking (not in SA)  , but that was like 40 years ago , I wonder will this work on SA waters....While I tried TCP at Vaal but made no success with it. I hope this helps ,
[size=78%]but every fishing venue is different - try and you will eventually find out what and when it works taking that weather and temp is absolutely crucial with Carp fishing while type of bait and presentation would be second . [/size]

[Kwade]

Yes I'm well aware of how good earthworms are, they are a personal favorite of mine, the only issue I have with them is although you can literally catch any fish on them, the fish you usually end up catching is small barbel (which I don't mind until I've caught the 10th for the night all below 5kg and no other species I'm sure everyone knows the feeling )... I'm also not a guy with a buffet of dips... Dips I can't go without is garlic, banana, FX and pineapple but like you say different waters produce different results with different flavors, like the dam I initially asked about in this post where almond and vanilla essence seem to produce better results... How do you determine what flavours to use based on the weather and temp? I've often questioned the ability of flavours to attract fish, I think their ability to draw fish is limited, you need a bit of feed in the area (a mielie bomb is sufficient) to catch the fishes attention, and draw him in... Carp and flavours is kinda like bass and colours in my opinion ... I dunno if I'm right but it just seems that way to me?

[Drago]

To answer you on weather and Carp . We noticed on days with overcast - lower barometric pressure , we had more bites also 1 hour ahead of rain we had  bite after bite to completely stop once rain came down . Wind direction was also important , as soon we come to venue and if wind was coming from certain direction we know - we having a good day . Next time at same venue wind started in different direction and was slow bites ( that is when we try few different add on flavors)  till later in day just after 15h when wind changed direction and we were on the bite regardless much what we put on hook. During summer only sweet flavors ( in my case vanilla ) - winter garlic . In summer you can feed place with 40-50kg of cooked miles and you will catch a lot next day - unless there are lot of grassies that will polish all milies in no time.In that case try cow block ,  winter no feeding only what is on the feeder is enough. 

But then.....  that day came where you discover a place where all that feeding and constant experimenting while slow or no bites is not needed any longer...  After many years of fishing different venues we settled at the private place that is 275km from Midrand JHB - app 20km after Bothaville on the way to Leeudoringstad  . Place was at Vaal River and it was 2km from larger overflow.At that place even on bad days we caught decent amount of fish,. You cannot chose what day looks good to go fishing as for work - we could only go weekends and this place was answer as we always had fun and caught lot of fish .
 
But most what drove us there again and again was the Carp that fights like Yellow fish and it will scream your reel like you have a Wahoo on it .Barble also fights with amazing stamina even when water was very cold . Water is always full of oxygen due to overflow where huge amount of water drops 2 m down splashing and making foam and noise and that makes unbelievable difference - fish are very active and also throughout the year . We pulled at that place barbles over 20 kg , Grassies in between 10 - 20kg ( from Kayak mainly )  . Biggest Carp was 12kg. Once you discover place like that all other venues becomes past despite lot higher costs involved . I use to drift with kayak with live smaller grassie that was bouncing of bottom and hooking a monster barbel from kayak is one of a kind experience . Same with Grassies , once hyacinth starts to flow - Grassies come up in numbers . Hooking a large strong grassie from kayak was a pinnacle for me as fights use to last between 10-20min on a very light tackle. Then fishing for carp from a boat house and bank became pretty boring for me.
 

[Kosie]

I am also not too worried about flavour names. The flavours in dips are 99% synthetic anyways, it only smells like pineapple to us, not to carp. Carp actually only smells or tastes sweet, salt and strong in flavours. This is what helps in all those dips, the salts/sugars. That is why I make my own dip, because all those different dips are exactly the same, just the salt/sugar/oil contents that differs. When it comes to water temp I would think it better to use less oils or more soluble oils at least. The waters in SA rarely gets cold enough to influence flavours in my opinion. I think the wind will have A bigger influence then temp. Also the colour of the dip (fluoro) might have an influence, but I tend to stay away from high attract colours theses days for targeting realy big carp.

[Drago]

This is the spot

[Kosie]

When it comes to weather I see most people like to change baits, feed, flavours but to target the same area, this might help, but I think it much better to change the location of your bait accordingly (if possible obviously). But you can achieve big success just by moving your bait to another area/depth/structure ect instead changing everything.

[Kosie]

Sorry I meen instead of cahnging too many things bait/rig/flavour wise.

[Visenvryheid]

Sorry to go off topic..but good posts drago, that last bouncing the grassie on the bottom and...LOL had the salty in the drooling..sounds epic! I hooked those big grassies and barbel as a kid in germiston lake and had all sorts of fun! I had never even considered a livie then! But ja back to carp..Im always a fan of good old canned mielies..tried every trick as a youngster but never had the success I did on loads of canned koo..And ja earthworms and barbel..they can't resist them.