CARP FISHING - The best ingredient for success

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<h1>CARP FISHING - The best ingredient for success</h1> by Tim Richardson <div align=justify>How many anglers take risks by trying to think or do things differently in their fishing. If you are one who does then you are always a step ahead of the majority and your catch results will demonstrate this! It takes courage and self-belief to be innovative and risk failure. But those who try know it is always worthwhile in the end! Fishing is always about learning, constant improvement and change. Nothing ever stays the same. Even on easy waters, the bait or method that caught you fifty fish last year may be susceptible to an more innovative approach or different bait. The impact of other anglers and their innovations can have serious implications on your own catch results if you are ‘left behind.’ It’s not that fishing is a race, but on waters where fishing pressure is very intense, then the carp tend to alter their preferences and behaviour very quickly and your catch results can change as a results of activities, baits and thinking that is new to the water. Better to be an innovator than a ‘sheep!’ Yes it takes self-belief to be the first in any endeavour but I’m sure that the first to try the hair rig, ‘shock or bolt rig’ and many different versions of boilies with it, were not sheep! These were the guys whose results were in a different league to the rest. But anyone could have come up with this new combination of innovations and indeed many people were using versions of the hair rig exactly when Lennie Middleton and Kevin Maddocks were claiming to be the first! There is a phenomenon in which the same idea strangely seems to infect the consciousness of various people at the same time, and this is demonstrated in the origins of numerous famous inventions throughout history. (The telephone being one prime example.) It’s all about having the courage to fail knowing that each ‘failure’ in reality is just feedback adjusting your actions and thinking back onto the right path towards your goal. Thomas Edison is famous for this, inventing over a thousand ways of how not to invent a light bulb. However, you can bet that many of these ways had other very important applications and uses of various kinds. ‘Failure’ only seems to be failure out of any context of application. Carp baits are the same. In trying to make one type of boilie mix for one water or species, you fail, and then it may be the perfect solution for a different water, fishing situation or even different species. How many anglers have made a new boilie bait and found it would not roll? This ‘failed mix’ might make an excellent ‘PVA’ bag mix, or method mix or pack bait for example. I made one that had too much sugar type ingredients that would not roll into balls for boilie making. So instead I used this mix version as paste baits and as free baits instead. They have been extremely effective! Making baits that end up being buoyant, especially with the use of certain crustacean meals like krill and prawn and milk protein powders like sodium caseinate. However, these baits may be tremendous ‘pop-up’ baits for fishing just off the bottom or mid water. (How many anglers fish buoyant pastes for summer carp...?) Sometimes you might look ‘stupid’ trying something different. But will you look stupid with a photograph album full of carp weighing 40 pound plus? When you think about it, the modern carp ‘set-up’ with 3 or 4 rods on sticks angled towards the water, does look rather odd. Sea anglers often fish with their rods at right angles to the water and this looks odd too. But how many carp anglers have fish with their rods at right angles to the water for a very specific reason, perhaps deliberately to create different line angles and tensions!? I fished on a water in the 1980’s where bite indicators were used that became the forerunners of those original indicators from “Fox Tackle” called carp fishing ‘swingers.’ These were placed on the line at the buzzer and allowed the indicator to move up or downwards as line moved and a fish took the bait or fish moved the line. But it most importantly reduced the resistance on the line produced by more conventional bite indicators like bottle tops and ‘monkey climbers’ which involve friction on the line at a right angle. These indicators looked odd when first observed. But I can tell you that the angler who invented these ‘swingers’ had been refining his approach over many years. When the majority were using tubular indicators on rods like the ‘monkey climber’ types, he made his own very light, streamlined and resistance reduced versions. In my case, I noticed this and did the opposite, in fact doing things that would increase the resistance on the line at different stages of a ‘take’ to try to hook the fish deeper initially, or even to shock the fish into running where it may usually have hovered over the lead and twisted the hook off. Now carp fishing has become so commercialized, there are solutions for the majority of fishing situations an average angler will come across. So making or adopting your own tackle or baits has been greatly neglected by the majority. In fact so much, that the term ‘tackle tart’ is used in the UK to describe an angler who always has the latest shop bought equipment and baits! I remember making new rear rod rests using angular steel, heavy bolts and thick black ribbed garden hose. The hose was cut in halve and cut into 3 inch lengths and bolted to a steel bar. These produced amazingly effective and durable ‘gripper’ rear rod rests. Significantly, they could fit any diameter rod butt instantly because of the ‘memory’ of the thick hose rubber always gripped firmly enclosing any rod securely until pulled upwards from the rod rest. In fishing situations against snags, or where takes are particularly violent these rests where invaluable as nothing like them were available at the time on the market. I enjoyed the benefits of using them greatly until they went missing at the one day. A little later, a commercial version using rubber foam and sprung steel became available and “Fox Tackle” still offer them today as they are very popular. Being different is about creating your own advantages in your fishing. It takes the bottle to do it and fail but like anything in life, refinement and perseverance usually pay off handsomely in the end. When it comes to baits, being different is possibly the greatest edge. If were not, then bait companies would not thrive the way they have done. But if you want the greatest fishing satisfaction when it comes to bait, none beats catching new personal bests on baits you made yourself. It’s not difficult to make baits that catch carp even against all the commercial baits used on most waters today. Learning about baits by making them yourself really helps in so many ways. For a start, you get to learn far more about commercial baits and why and how they work. So if you fancy taking the ‘easy route’ and buying shop bought baits, you can spot baits better suited to your fishing situation and fish, and even discover how to ‘top’ the current dominant baits on your water. A great edge indeed... The author has many more fishing and bait ‘edges’ up his sleeve. Every single one can have a huge impact on catches. (Warning: This article is protected by copyright.) By Tim Richardson. For the unique and acclaimed new massive expert bait making ‘bible’ ebook / book: “BIG CARP BAIT SECRETS!” SEE: http://www.baitbigfish.com </div> Article source: <a href="http://www.ArticlePros.com/recreation_and_sports/fishing/article-80733.html">ArticlePros.com</a> <table align=center width=550 cellspacing=1 bgcolor=silver cellpadding=5> <tr bgcolor=antiquewhite> <td> About the author Tim Richardson is a carp and catfish bait-making expert, and a highly successful big fish angler. His bait making and bait enhancing books / ebooks: “BIG CARP BAIT SECRETS!” SEE: http://www.baitbigfish.com * Are even used by members of the ‘world elite’ “British Carp Study Group” for expert reference. Gain from more understanding, expert bait making experience, powerful insights and cutting edge information; view this ‘dedicated’ bait making secrets website. <a href="http://www.baitbigfish.com" target="_blank" title="will open in new window" class=blue>http://www.baitbigfish.com</a> <input type=button class=asubm value="Other articles by Tim Richardson" onclick="document.location='http://www.ArticlePros.com/author.php?Tim Richardson'" style="height:20px;cursor:hand"> </td> </tr> </table>