If you are local to the awesome BobCo Tackle then make sure you get down this Saturday! We will be showing off the full range of Spotted Fin along with plenty of advice and tips…
Made entirely from our Boosted Krill Pellets, Milled into an mega attractive groundbait. Add it to Stick or Bag Mixes, Spod Mixes or on a method. Loads of uses and loaded with attraction!
If spodding over zigs, it is one of the best ingredients for creating a lingering cloud of attraction…
Available NOW from SF retailers and online – Boosted Krill Pellets
Is observation the paramount key to success in carp fishing? I believe it is as it encompasses so many key factors.
I even feel that with the best bait in the world, you can still fail to catch unless you are in the perfect spot. I have spent hours just watching carp and their behaviour, just to see how they move around the lake, in the hope that I can spot a pattern in their movement and feeding. My most memorable time was on Vinatrose Lake (near Chichester), when I had spent over 2 hours watching a carp move up and down a channel in the weed. I was trying to work out the exact spot the carp would feed on. Once I was happy, I managed to get the bait in the perfect spot, only to have the carp come down that very channel and stop about a foot or two away from my bait. It proceeded to stay there for over an hour. I was absolutely amazed the carp had clearly noticed a change to its environment and it wasn’t very happy. It never picked my bait up. It just turned around and wondered back up the channel.
This fish was taken by watching the lake for some time. I spotted ahead appear out of the water, but I only just noticed it.
Observation can come in many different forms from a quick walk around the lake (in your lunch hour), to teaming up with someone (this can help to pool your knowledge as to where the fish are showing and their feeding patterns), this can help aid you in the capture of your target fish. One very overlooked bit observation is watch other people! Don’t be despondent when other anglers catch and most anglers certainly get the green-eyed monster from time to time. Use this information to your advantage, write it down in a log book. I wouldn’t advocate jumping in their swim as this isn’t will not help you catch the same fish. Just remember it for the following months or even the next session. If it’s possible and not too dangerous, get yourself up a tree, watch the fish feeding and also watch before you put a bait in the water. I have sat and watched a very old mirror carp come up to a pile of bait, turn on its side, flick its tail over the bait, waft it up in water and only pick up the bait which moves off the area. It did this until all the bait was gone, other than the hook bait. I always carry binoculars for observing the far margins as you can’t spot bubbles with your own eyes! This has proven a very successful method of observation as well.
I spotted a few bubbles a bit further along the tree line and flicked a bait on the spot.
Corners of the lake and overhanging trees are perfect areas to spot feeding fish. Put a small handful of bait out and keep watching or walk around and come back later to see if it’s gone – be mindful of bird life as they will be very happy with you doing this! If the water is coloured up and you can’t see your bait it’s best to use something like sweetcorn as it stands out better. Don’t forget right in front of the swim is a perfect spot, so many anglers forget this. Just under your feet is a perfect feeding spot for carp, best lakes for this are park lakes as people feed the birds. Wait until they have all gone home and take a look for yourself, it will truly surprise you. It did me very well on an old boating lake near the seaside in Suffolk, when I was a lot younger.
They were right under my feet
Get up early and stay up late to see what is happening around the lake, this will help you find the best time of the day to spot showing fish. On one of the lakes I fish, the fish show mostly between 0930 and 1330. At first, I found this very odd but also very helpful for my day trips out as I could come back in the evening and be quite certain that I was in the right area. It also helped me to catch a few fish in the day time as well. I have even found that the most productive time for spotting fish can be the middle of the night. This can be hard work on midweek trip in between work. I found the best way around this was set up, get a few hours kip in and then get up at the appropriate time, have a brew, watch the fish and even move if you feel it necessary, or just use the information for your next trip down.
This article links nicely with my favourite method, which is margin fishing. I have spent hours observing the carp move up and down the tree-lined bank. I realised that I was best staying put in one swim as the fish would move up and down this bank all day long. I could easily move into an area they had already been in and I not realise it!
Observation can be as simple as spotting a few bubbles, a carp sticking its head out or even down to noticing what sort of bait presentation other anglers are using. Please don’t ask them as we all dislike that but it’s easy to tell if they are using pop up or bottom baits. Balanced baits and Wafters are a bit harder but it’s all about watching and learning or just keeping an eye on your surroundings. I got outfished by a friend once simply by not spotting that he had switched to bottom baits. I had assumed he was still on pop-ups – my error for not spotting this simple change.
I certainly learn from that and swapped over
We all clearly don’t have the time to be on the lake 24/7. Even if you are there only once a month, over time a pattern of events will start to become clear to you. Don’t get despondent when others are catching, they just may have had more time than you or just hit on the perfect combination quickly. Just observe and take note. A quick hello or ‘morning’ may just get you a snip-it of information, this may crack open the nut! Personally, I am happy to help, if I have spotted a fish feeding or even a sign of one. I may suggest that another angler goes in this spot and he then catches a fish. If he does catch a fish, I know I was right in my thinking and he has actually help me learn something. It is all about us against the fish and not each other.
Even this photograph was taken after observing small fry feeding under my rod tips. During the night I had dropped a hand full of micro pellets into the water and the kingfisher would sit in my rod tips every morning feeding on the small fry.
I have even noticed on a very peaceful lake (which didn’t get much angler pressure), that when the gate would clunk closed, the loud noise would echo across the lake. It was in a small valley and if I were observing the fish, they would tense up a bit, it was as if they had noticed the sound and were aware that someone was on the bank. It’s amazing how clever they are.
Hope this helps
Richard
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‼ [ Exciting news ] ‼
In the end of August, we are launching our brand-new Fish Deeper App.
Read the below to find out what, when & why 🔽🔽🔽
As we always strive to provide superior quality in everything we do, we believe it is impossible to do it without listening to the voice of our massive community of over 2,000,000 anglers. Upgrading the overall Deeper App user experience, making it not only more user-friendly, but adding new features to make it more enjoyable and tailored to individual needs were the most frequent requests by our app users.
Back in 2013 we introduced the Deeper App and it served well to its users, but we believe it is time to move on. After a lengthy course of user feedback analysis, we’ve decided to upgrade our Deeper App and present it in a shiny form, the all new Fish Deeper App. The app will be completely new, however, most of the old favourite features will be kept with some new functional ones added too.
In the end of August, we are officially launching our new app which means the current Deeper App will be discontinued. Do not fear, this doesn’t mean you have to start worrying where to store all your fishing data or that you might even lose it completely. As all your scans, maps, notes and saved locations are securely synced with our cloud server, your data is safe, and it won’t disappear. If you have an automatic app update feature enabled on your phone, your current Deeper App will simply update by itself and change to the new app with a new name and logo. All your previously saved data will be there once you log in with your existing My Deeper account details.
WHAT IS THE NEW APP ALL ABOUT?
– Updated App Layout. Apart from a revamped menu look, the new screen header will display the information not only on water, depth, temperature, time, sonar/phone battery status and boat speed, but it will also notify you about issues, related to the sonar connectivity. 
– Quick Settings. This brand-new feature will allow you to customise your app experience by adjusting the variety of settings such as fishing mode, sonar display, beam angle, display sensitivity, fish size, depth and others, etc.
– Onshore, Boat & Standard Modes. The familiar fishing mode feature currently used in the old Deeper App will have an improved display layout.
– Recorded Trips, Real-time History & Syncing with Lakebook™. The old feature of recording your fishing trips, storing them in the app and syncing your data with Lakebook™will be available in the Fish Deeper App. Previously, you could only review your lake scans once you finished scanning, however the new app will allow you to wind it back while you are still scanning. Not for 10 or 30 seconds, but for as long as you will be scanning.
– CHIRP+ Integration. All Deeper sonars, including Start, PRO, PRO+ and the latest addition to the product portfolio, CHIRP+, will be fully integrated with the new Fish Deeper App. Moreover, anglers who still own the discontinued product Deeper 3.0 will also be able to use our new app.
– Offline Maps. If you don’t want to use your mobile data while fishing or want to avoid any hassle if you happen to be in the middle of the lake where there is no network coverage, you will still be able to download the offline maps in advance and use them as an orientation guide when you go fishing.
– Sonar Connection Improvements. We made some changes, so you can experience the new user interface and improved sonar connection quality.
– Main Settings. Our new app will be available in the number of languages and have an option to select your preferred measurement units as before. The slide out profile info section will allow you to see your username, the name of your sonar (if it is connected) and log out of the Fish Deeper App if needed.
– Cold Start. With the new app, scanning won’t just start automatically once you immerse your sonar in water. The “Cold Start” feature will allow you to decide when you want to connect to your Deeper sonar, commence a new fishing session by pressing Start, pause and resume the session when you decide to get back to it.
FEATURES YOU MIGHT MISS IN THE NEW FISH DEEPER APP:
– Weather Forecast;
– Ice Fishing Mode for both Android and iOS;
– Points of Interest (POIs) and their syncing with Lakebook™;
– Solunar Forecast Calendar.
We understand it might be a little bit frustrating if some of the above four features are your favourite ones and they will not be available on the new app. Please don’t panic, they will be back. We are continuously working on developing the new Fish Deeper App, so watch this space, the new updates, including these features, will be released in the near future.
ALL YOU NEED TO DO ONCE THE FISH DEEPER APP IS OUT:
– If you have an automatic app update feature enabled on your phone (Apple or Android), the current Deeper App will update by itself and change to the new Fish Deeper App. All you’ll need is to have your Wi-Fi or mobile data turned on.
– If an automatic app update feature is disabled, please go to Google Play (for Android users) or the App Store (for Apple users) on your mobile phone and update your current Deeper App.
– Once the download is complete, please log in with your current My Deeper account details or follow the steps to create a new My Deeper account if you are a first-time user.
Please be aware that once you log in to the Fish Deeper App, all your past trips will be synced and available to review at any stage. In order to access them, you’ll only have to click on the trip you are interested, download the data and Voilà! You’ll be good to go.
We are super excited with the upcoming release of the new Fish Deeper App and wanted to keep you in the loop. The new app release would not have been possible without all of you and your insightful feedback. We just wanted to say a huge THANK YOU for your continuous support!
Stay tuned for more details…
Note: If you‘re already a Deeper App user, but haven‘t yet registered your account, please create a new Deeper account before the Fish Deeper App is out. It is required to ensure your current app data will be fully synced with our cloud server and available to view on multiple devices and through the Lakebook™ once you log in to the new app. Please click here to register your account.
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Another play on the estate lake. Richard
Should you be using a band or a lasso when fishing hard pellets? Jamie explains all…
A rich luxurious bait soak designed for maximum pulling power. Soak or dip your hookbaits in, Finamino to get fish actively searching for your hookbait.
Made from a new Liver extract rather than a liquid liver, the extract is full of vitamins, minerals and aminos and has a seductive sweet aroma that will have you constantly smelling the product trying to work out its makeup.
We have had excellent results on this either using it for glugging hookbaits or adding it to stick mixes or injecting into solid bags. Rather than being a liquid food to feed fish this is just “maximum power for fish pulling attraction”.
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With the weather conditions still spot on, I had to squeeze another night in. The pressure was low and there was a good bit of wind & rain along with a nice southerly breeze. The downside was it was the weekend and the pressure was back on the lake.
My swim choice was pretty limited by the time I arrived and soon settled on the swim which had given me 3 runs the other week, struck into thin air. Nice.
I was quite lucky and there was a break in the weather ish, just light rain. I set the bivvy up first, then set about the rods and other bits. After leading about over the same spot as last time and with the strong wind blowing this side of the lake, it would be pretty settled and hopefully, the carp would head over this way. In general, I’m not too far away from where I was fishing the last time and may benefit from the other angler pressure.
I’ve spombed out a good load of bait over a small area and flicked a Ronnie rig set up (with a small bag on each filled with Betafin and Catalyst pellets), a Catalyst wafter with a Catalyst pop snowman style. Both rods are in the same area, just 1 wrapped differently. I find this method very productive.
The first take happened around 4am and in a lull in the rain, which is always a bonus. A pretty undramatic fight insured for a fair time under the rod tip, there was no way this fish was coming up to the top any time soon. I just had to perch on the edge of the gravel swim with my toes in the water taking my time and play the carp out. At first, when I first picked the rod up, I didn’t think it was that big but as time drew on, it was clear I had an upper 20 or another low 30.
27lb 12oz Common
Perfect, I was well happy. As dawn was fast approaching and to stand any chance of getting any more sleep, the rod was soon back in the water and my head on the pillow.
The rain faded away, the cloud disappeared and the sun shone again. This may probably the last bit of rain for a few weeks, but very well needed. It’s not far off packing up time and I’m happy with the result. It’s also the first carp I’ve had in the dark, in this swim. All the previous ones have been in daylight hours. Time to get things sorted out and head for home.
Type error on the weight
Until next time
Richard
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