Without a doubt, spring is my favourite time of the year to be out angling – couple that with starting on a new water and it can be a very exciting prospect! There are a few things that can be done in preparation to swing the odds in your favour and give you the best chance of hitting the ground running.

There’s an old saying “time spent in reconnaissance is seldom wasted” and that’s so true when it comes to starting on a new water. A good starting point is to walk the lake, but this isn’t always possible. Most of my angling is done miles from home so it’s just not feasible to do a 5 hour round trip to walk the lake, in this case I’ll always find the lake on google earth and print it out, familiarising myself with the layout of the lake looking at what wind blows in what corner and if there are any visible features. Also, a quick google search can bring up all sorts of info in the form of articles etc or even chapters in books. All this can help you form an idea of the lake and how you may tackle it. One thing that’s worth a mention is if you’re joining a lake to catch a particular “target” fish you should pay attention to what areas of the lake/swims it gets caught from as big old carp are creatures of habit and will have preferred areas so if you plan to catch that fish you need to know where these areas are.

As I mentioned before, spring is my favourite time of year and as the water temps warm up and the carp come out of there winter slumber, they certainly can lower their guard, in fact I would say it’s probably the easiest time of year to catch a big carp! Obviously, location is the most important part of carp angling at any time of year so keep your eyes peeled and I would never leave home without a good pair of binoculars. Carp are cold blooded, they will always seek out the warmer water so if the sun is shining you should be watching the shallower areas very closely, such as island margins and plateaus etc. Warm winds are also

worth investigating. Generally, as the water warms and the carp become more active they will show and crash so these are the easiest signs to pick up on but equally a tiny patch of pin prick bubble or the slight flick of a dorsal fin on the surface can be all the sign you need.

For me spring isn’t the time to be using loads of bait and a single hook-bait in the right area is more than good enough and certainly if I’m moving on to showing fish – singles are the way. I may apply a little bait if the activity dies down or if I’m setting up in an area which I think the fish may visit. Also, although I’m no zig expert I know how effective they can be in the right situation especially on deeper lakes, so if there’s no shallow ground near-by and you think fish are in the upper layers, they’re worth a go. Rig wise if I’m single hook-bait fishing then a chod or a hinge rig are definitely what I’d use. Chods are an excellent choice if you’re casting at showing fish and you don’t know exactly what the bottom is like. If I know the bottom is reasonably clear then I would use a flexi hinge rig. I might use a slightly subtler presentation like the spinner rig if I am fishing over a little bit bait. All of those rigs I have the upmost confidence in I know they will work on any water. Hook-bait wise in the spring I’d almost certainly be using bright pop ups. If the water is very clear, then I’d say the pastel type colours are better and slightly less in your face but still very visual. I used to religiously use yellow, but the last few years whites and washed-out pinks have been my go to colour.

One last piece of advise I’d give is not to take too much notice what people tell you. try and find your own way you are only going to catch the same as everyone else if your all doing the same thing.

Be lucky people!

"I’ll always find the lake on google earth and print it out, familiarising myself with the layout of the lake"