Gaz Fareham explains why the Soft Boom Hinge aka 'The Cobra' is his go to rig - sharing his vast knowledge on the most effective set up to catch bites.
We ask Scotty K - We’re at the end of February now and spring is just around the corner. For many the reality of a new adventure on their newly acquired ticket is almost within touching distance. With this in mind how do you approach a water which you have never fished? What kind of tactics do you lean towards when starting on a new venue and what would your advice be to others who are about to embark on their latest campaign?
Having not embarked on a ‘new venue’ campaign for a couple of seasons I’ve had to cast my mind back to years gone by, and it seems that historically I normally began in the early summer month of June…
Before starting I will normally have a fair idea of what kind of stock I’ll be up against and will have done some homework beforehand to give myself a starting point to go on.
Being at the lake just before first light and being alert can only be a good thing when it comes to ascertaining the location of feeding carp, always looking out for the classic signs such as fizzing, full blown shows, head and shouldering and subtle disturbances on the surface (assuming the lake is calm of course.)
If I’ve not managed to find something ‘carpy’ to go at, I’ll usually make an educated guess based on wind direction and any gleaned knowledge of those particular carps’ preferences during that time of the year. Other angler permitting, I would try and situate myself somewhere with a good view of most of the lake for the following morning and keep my eyes peeled, ready to move onto the first definite sign of carp that I see.
When it comes to rigs and bait, I’ll always go in with one or two different flavour hookbait options and stick to a couple of rigs I have most confidence in, namely helicopter setups incorporating the hinge stiff rig or stiff D-Rig if I think the target area is firm enough to present a wafter on the deck.
My preferred approach would be to get a single hookbait on a showing fish’s head with a single cast and as small a lead as possible; providing I’m not going to affect another angler’s fishing, as that’s never a good way to introduce yourself to a new water! I’d much rather fish for a bite for a few hours and see what else I see, rather than ruin a potential opportunity to nick a quick bite, by leading, markering or spodding, particularly if it’s early in the day. It’s one of my pet hates is seeing another angler kill the morning’s activity on a lake and spoiling everyone else’s chances; something I’ve witnessed countless times on busy club lakes over the years. Only once I have established some of the carp’s favoured areas would I begin to explore and apply bait to those areas later in the day, and as the season beings to progress.
Having not embarked on a ‘new venue’ campaign for a couple of seasons I’ve had to cast my mind back to years gone by, and it seems that historically I normally began in the early summer month of June…
Before starting I will normally have a fair idea of what kind of stock I’ll be up against and will have done some homework beforehand to give myself a starting point to go on.
Being at the lake just before first light and being alert can only be a good thing when it comes to ascertaining the location of feeding carp, always looking out for the classic signs such as fizzing, full blown shows, head and shouldering and subtle disturbances on the surface (assuming the lake is calm of course.)
If I’ve not managed to find something ‘carpy’ to go at, I’ll usually make an educated guess based on wind direction and any gleaned knowledge of those particular carps’ preferences during that time of the year. Other angler permitting, I would try and situate myself somewhere with a good view of most of the lake for the following morning and keep my eyes peeled, ready to move onto the first definite sign of carp that I see.
When it comes to rigs and bait, I’ll always go in with one or two different flavour hookbait options and stick to a couple of rigs I have most confidence in, namely helicopter setups incorporating the hinge stiff rig or stiff D-Rig if I think the target area is firm enough to present a wafter on the deck.
My preferred approach would be to get a single hookbait on a showing fish’s head with a single cast and as small a lead as possible; providing I’m not going to affect another angler’s fishing, as that’s never a good way to introduce yourself to a new water! I’d much rather fish for a bite for a few hours and see what else I see, rather than ruin a potential opportunity to nick a quick bite, by leading, markering or spodding, particularly if it’s early in the day. It’s one of my pet hates is seeing another angler kill the morning’s activity on a lake and spoiling everyone else’s chances; something I’ve witnessed countless times on busy club lakes over the years. Only once I have established some of the carp’s favoured areas would I begin to explore and apply bait to those areas later in the day, and as the season beings to progress.
"Being at the lake just before first light and being alert can only be a good thing when it comes to ascertaining the location of feeding carp"
"Being at the lake just before first light and being alert can only be a good thing when it comes to ascertaining the location of feeding carp"
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