With fishing and all sorts of other of life’s problems – when you are struggling to catch a carp and it appears it’s never going your way (how ever hard you try), the trick is not to panic, otherwise you can start changing all sort of things around to try and catch fish. Don’t get me wrong, things need to be tweaked all the time with fishing but when you are catching fish, you tend to do this by small degrees. When you are on a long run of blanks you can easily start to change all too much at the same time, this is a fatal mistake and will result in more blanks.
If things are going wrong and you just can’t catch, you need to analyze the big picture so you can determine where you may be going wrong.
1. Are you the only one on your lake blanking? If you’re not, you are probably doing it right and just need to pinpoint why other people are catching before you change anything.
2. Are you fishing at the right time of the day when the fish are feeding? Are the weather conditions perfect when you are on the bank?
3. Are you fishing the same old swims all the time? Could it be your favorite swim is not what it was in the past.
4. Could there be a big hatch going on each time you are there? We have all sat in a swim with carp everywhere over your bait and you don’t get a fish or even have a bleep, they are just preoccupied with natural food.
These 4 things are very important to think about before you start changing rigs, bait etc. The worst thing you can start doing is swapping rigs and bait round every few hours’s. It will not give you a true picture of whether any of them are working and you can easily start to spook the carp out of your swim with to much casting in & out.
Firstly you must not despair. This happens to all anglers, whether they tell you or not. It’s best to take note of the above 4 things and then determine if you need to change any rigs, bait. As long as you’ve not changed your rigs, checking them and using them for the correct situations, like you have done before. Why would there be a need to change them? You will have confidence in them.
Bait – as long as you are using a top quality bait and applying it correctly, as you were when you were catching fish, it’s not an issue. Change between bottom wafters and pop-ups is a perfectly normal thing to do. You should be doing this all the time anyway, as things do change.
Once you have gone over the above minefield of possibilities. Hopefully, your head will be a lot clearer and you will have worked out if you have changed or have done something to affect your fishing. It’s as simple as switching back and lastly there is just good old luck, it can be with you or not. Remember it’s only fishing and it can all change at a drop if a hat and you can have a trip of a lifetime or the last half of the season can be your best ever and the past 6 months of blanking is all forgotten and a distant memory. If all else fails, pop over to your local easy club water and bag a few 10lbers, this will certainly make a lot of difference and prove you’re doing nothing wrong, it will give you a great boost.
As you will have read in part 1 of this, I was certainly struggling to catch a big carp or even catch regularly. So I took some time out and thought about what was going on and want to do. Well, the only option was to fish another lake, which I knew and would hopefully break that chain.
Well, the first trip on there I had 2 fish and lost one. This gave me the boost in confidence that I needed and I then was feeling much more upbeat about fishing. I was so keen again, I soon returned, well one night later and managed to bag 6 x 20 + my first UK forty and a new PB mirror. This goes to show that you should never despair as it will turn around again and you never know what’s coming your way.
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The beaches around this area are very peaceful and deadly quiet if you walk 100 yards away from the car park.
It had been over two weeks since I had fished and I was very keen to get back on the lake, especially as the weather was pretty perfect from the Wednesday onwards. Very strong South Westly winds, the odd heavy rain shower, the pressure was 1017 and creeping up to 1024 by Sunday, the temperature increasing 18 to 20 degrees, the wind was going to keep blowing over this period quite strong.
I arrived down about 1645 on Thursday afternoon and found no one about. The way the wind was blowing, I was interested in the same area I fished in on my last session. I drove along the track slowly, looking at the wind hacking down into this corner of the lake, and spotted a couple of fish straight away. I did fancy the Daisy Swim but it was far too open with these strong winds, I took a walk down there and I would probably need to set up facing away from the water and looking at the trees. The prospect of spombing 30+ wraps didn’t thrill me, so I headed around to Badger Island and had a look at the first swim and the third swim. There were fish pretty much everywhere, which can be problematic on here, as spombing can push them away, but if you’re careful, you can get away with it and they will drift back into that area again. However, if they’re happy feeding all over the place, they don’t necessarily come back until the next night. I’ve purposely baited heavily on the first night of three and when the weekend anglers arrive on Friday, they will push the carp back this way and will then have to bait up lightly over the coming nights.
Here again
I had no real choice, other than to set up here, as this is where the fish are. This time, I was going to start with a rod closer than normal, as this had paid off in the past for me. I’d managed to get quite a lot of bait out over a period of a few hours and I hadn’t disturbed the carp too much. It was quite hard to work out which was the best range to fish, they were showing from extremely long to quite short. I felt my best option was shorter than normal for me considering the strong winds, hopefully, at some point, I would need to get more bait out there.
Love this swim
Just after 9 pm, the left-hand rod was away and I was into my first take of the trip, the fight was pretty strange forward – once I had convinced the carp not to kite right anymore.
Nice start15lb 12oz Common
That will do me and a nice start to my session with a few more coming my way. over the next few nights.
It was a tranquil night with the odd fish crashing and still going until noon today. They are showing all over the place at random times, it’s proving quite hard to pin them down to one area at the moment, which I’m hoping will change over the next 24 hours.
I decided that I would leave the rods in place for another 24 hours, there’s nothing wrong with the spots, the baits will be perfectly ok and this tactic has paid off before. If I’m still struggling, I will stick a couple of bags on tomorrow, flick the rods to my left, sit in my waders for the day and see what happens. There’s been a few smaller carp showing out that way, but hopefully tonight will bring a take or two.
The right-hand rod finally rattled off, some 32 hours after casting it out and it produced my second common of the trip.
16lb
Sixteen pounds on the nose! It was worth leaving it out there on that spot. I soon had the rod back out and it was just after 1 am when I sat on my bed to write this and time to get my head down again, in the hope it wouldn’t take that long again to get any more bites.
Before I managed to drop off back to sleep, the same rod was away again and this time the fish was more problematic than the previous one. It spent most of its time trying to get under the right-hand bush constantly until I finally got it in the Nsr50.
19lb 9oz
At first, I didn’t think it was bigger than the previous one, but now looking at the length of the fish you can see where the extra weight is coming from and that tail was making it like a torpedo!
The rod was back on that very same spot and the time was a couple of minutes to 3 am. It really sounded like the carp had started spawning again or the geese had gone crazy over something as they kept kicking off with their honking. It would surprise me if they were spawning for about the six-time, since they started in early May and it’s now very nearly the middle of June, but they are a funny lot on here, so you never can tell.
That wasn’t a bad night’s fishing, I even got some sleep along the way, I think.
I’ve decided to pull the rod from the deep water today and try to pick a few fish off to my left. This will evolve me sitting in my waders all day long, which will be enjoyable. I may need to move into the shade at some point. I was quite surprised how inactive the rod’s where in an area that generally produces daytime takes.
I’m going to leave my rods where they are, but I will be sticking out a few 20mm Classic Corn Boilies around the left rod and do about 8 spombs onto the right spot. Hopefully, tonight may bring a take on both rods.
Last of the sun
The last rays of light are fading and I’m full of anticipation for my last night for a week or two, the wife is traveling for work next week and I’m a full-on househusband. If I’m lucky, I may slip in a day session or an afternoon on the bank. However, the pressure is on the rise and the temperature is certainly on the rise – up to about 26 degrees and not my sort of weather. I may need to sort out the floater kit and push a few of my gardening jobs forward to the beginning of the week.
All is quiet here and I’m starting to wonder if the fish have bugged out. The wind has completely died down, and I’m only hearing the odd fish crashing. To my right, I’m confident that my decision to stay in this area will produce the goods at some point, but tonight is proving hard going. I’ve done everything spot on, let’s hope the conditions don’t let me down.
Just after 21.30, the left-hand rod finally ripped off, after recasting it this morning. The fish had taken the line around the nearest boulder and despite my best efforts of giving line and trying different angles of approach and eventually the line parted. This is really gutting. After making up another rig, I put the rod back out to its original spot at 20 wraps and away from any of those boulders. I knew I was taking a risk, but I was not aware of any snags in that direction and at that distance, hopefully, I will get another chance later on tonight.
Moonlight
It was looking stunning out there.
Just after midnight, the left-hand rod was away again, but this time in its original spot. It was kitting very much to the right and heading for the dead trees. In an instant, a fish is lost if it gets there. In my attempt to get the rod under the other one and be able to get out further, I clipped the rod tip on the higher branches and hooked the line up. I just had to do my best and keep pumping the fish away and at the same time trying to get the line off this branch! The fish was getting closer to me and I could hear it on the surface down the margins. I knew at that point I must get that line free or the angle would allow the carp to get under those branches. I started wading out further, being mindful of the further I got out there, the deeper I was going. I lifted the rod up as high as I could go, whipped it down quickly and it came free. I quickly got that rod tip under the water, to avoid any branches again and then slowly walked under my other rod tip. Now you can understand why my rod tips are so high on the pod, not just to keep the line up and away from those horrible boulders and bars, but to enable me to get under them when playing these crazy carp.
I walked along to my spot where I can happily play the carp, by now it was away from the dredged bush and off out into open water again, it was kitting to the right again but, I was safe in the knowledge that I had it more under control than the previous time and I slowly gain ground. Despite its numerous attempts to go down that margin, at one point it gave up and headed off to my left and then back out into open water. At this point, I was worried again about the newly found boulder where I lost the carp earlier this evening, but it was off to the right again. It didn’t stand a chance really anymore and I slowly played the fish out under the rod tip until it was time to net it.
So much trouble 18lb 6oz Common
So much trouble for a small fish! It’s those tails and the shallow water that turn them into rockets. This is why this place is so amazing to fish. The rod is out again and it was time to get in the bag for some well-needed shut-eye.
Around 3am, the left-hand rod was away yet and to another hard-fighting carp who was also determined to head right up the margins. I did finally gain ground and got the fish under the rod tip for a few moments before it headed for the bush. I had no choice but to hold my ground, but unfortunately, the hook pulled out and it was away running free.
At 5 am the same rod was away, this time I was prepared and gained ground fast, I also waded out further, this time it worked very well and another carp made it to the Nsr50.
Lovely looking 18lb 4oz
This was a lovely-looking carp and I was pretty happy with my results. I did wonder if there’s another possibility of a carp. I’d also taken the opportunity to reel in the other rod and got it out at range alongside the other rod, hopefully, this approach and change of tactics may just work.
Stunning place Misty start
It was a lovely misty start to the day and the lake was looking stunning as always.
Unfortunately, that was the end of the feeding spell, and they were different starting to spawn again, in fact, they were all over the place by 8am and it was definitely time to head home.
Until next time
Richard
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Just one rig for me is a strange title and it opens myself up for a lot of criticism from other anglers. But my aim is to be open about my fishing, make things simplistic for the everyday angler, make things less confusing and show you don’t need a tackle box full of made-up rigs for every situation you come across. My life needs to be as straight forward as most, as those of you who read my blogs will know I’ve written about my depression and I’ve found that over the year, the best way to combat this is by making everything I do straight forward. Cutting out the complicated things and simplifying my set up is part of that. I have utter confidence in this rig in all situations and with all types for hook baits. It has certainly helped me catch a lot of carp over the years.
You need to break down the rig into its component parts to understand with a few small adjustments, the rig is changeable, capable of being fished in many different situations and with all types of hook baits.
So, let’s break it down and give you an overview.
1) Hooks, a little unknown fact is that in most people believe that the Jrc 360 hooks was the best patten of hook for this type of rig and it has gone. However, you may be wrong there, Spotted Fin have the pattern right and still today produce this very same hook.
2) Hook Beads, I personally like the translustane rubber one that has a very tight fit, but you must be able to move them up and down the hook. This is to be able to adjust how your hook sits in the water. Beware if the top one become too loose, it can move up and cover the micro bead on long range casting with big hook baits.
3) Gap between the beads, I personally like to be able to open and close the gap up and down the shank of the hook. This is why I use two beads and not one. It also, in my opinion, makes the rig look nicer. If I’m using a small pop up you can have the bead at the top of the bend or if you fancy further down, it gives you more of a chod rig look to you rig – instead of the more traditional pop-up look. You can play around with the beads to adjust your set up to suit the lake and how the carp feed, more than it would be possible with just one hook bead on the hook.
4) Shrink Tubing, I like to use 2mm black and very stiff tubing, as this keeps the whole set up in place. I’ve found that some brands are too soft. So, these days I get it via eBay in packs of 10, only use enough to cover the ring swivel and a few milometers up the hook shank. You need to go a good bit up the shank otherwise when you catch a carp it will come away and make the rig unusable.
I actually make these up in packs of four in my tackle box, as I don’t carry a rig board. I prefer to make up the hooking material part of my set up when I’m on the lake, depending on which swim I’m in and the type of hook bait that I’m using each time. This saves on wastage and costs less in the long run. I’m sure most people have made up rigs they just don’t use and still have on a rig board, I did for many years.
5) Hook baits, this rig is well suited for bottom, wafters, pop ups and in conjunction with changing the beads and hook link materials would work as well as any other rig out there. This is in my opinion before a get loads of messages contradicting my thoughts and findings.
6) Hook Link Materials, there are so many combinations as the market is full of great hook link materials these days. Firstly, bear in mind that if you use soft material, there is a chance of it tangling and you will need to combat that issue, but really soft materials do certainly work well and not spoken about much. Going back to the point about different lakes and carp behave differently, if I use a hinge type Ronnie rig set up on the Airfield Lake (that I write about fishing in my weekly blogs on my website), I will bet you any money, I will get a very high amount of hook pulls. Whereas I only use a stiff boom, which is very infrequently these days, it only took me a few years to work that out, but in the beginning when we were on there the hinged rig and D-rig, it worked perfect ok.
I’ve even played around with a loop at each end allowing the hook to rotate a lot more. I’m simply experimenting to get the hook point to prick the carp’s mouth and cause a take rather than a carp shaking its head to eject the hook without any indication.
7) Tangles, so far this rig is 99.99% tangle free. For me, I don’t believe there is a completely tangle free rig. You always reel in at one point in your fishing to find a tangle, caused by something, but this can be reduced with this set up – I believe.
8) Bird Life, the other great bonus with this rig and the previous one – the 360 rig, if a bird or even a carp picks up the bait and the drops it, it will automatic reset itself and you can sit there knowing that it’s still perfect and there’s no need to recast, spooking anything out there.
9) Confidence, once you have confidence in this rig, your fishing will improve along with your success rate. Anglers go on about keeping it simple and the less component parts the better. I look at the Ronnie Rig as two parts really – the hook section and the ring swivel with shrink tube which is really an extension of the hook. It creates a long shank style hook, like the original pattens which were band many years ago. Then just add a bead, micro swivel, quite simple really. I make these all at home and carry in single packets to protect the hook point and the hook link material.
I’m not going to tell you which situation and what type of hook bait to fish with or even where and when, simply because I believe each carp lakes fish completely differently and the carp completely behave in their own way. This is something you will have to find out for yourself but remember the most important part is to keep adjusting the component part of your rig to get a better understanding of each capture, where the carp has the hook in its mouth, how good the hook hold is (each time) and take a note how you set up the component parts of your Ronnie Rig.
I hope this helps
Richard
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UK Carp & Coarse Fishing 