Baiting strategies can either make or ruin a carp angling session. How should I go about creating the perfect carp restaurant? There are a few tried and trusted methods to create a baited area which I’ll explain below.
The first that I shall talk about is the main one that most anglers travelling to France will use;
The Baitboat
Even if I was using a bait boat the first thing that I would do as I approached a swim would be to get out the marker rod to measure depths, find features and ascertain the makeup of the lakebed.
Once that a I have established an area to bait up, I mark the main line and then raise the marker to the water surface, making a mental note of a point on the horizon, in line with the marker for future baiting up. I would send out the bait boat with my rig, a few offerings of chopped and whole boilies and perhaps particle baits, such as hemp or party blend. As soon as the boat is by the side of the marker, the main line is tightened, then the main line marked with electrical tape by the butt ring of the rod. Drop the bait and rig and I am now ready to bring back the boat and send out a rig from my next rod. Once all the rigs are in place, I would retrieve the marker rod and that should be the last time that it is required. As the runs develop, I introduce more bait, taking care not too overfeed the swim as this could be the kiss of death.
Rowing Boat
On some of the bigger Angling Lines waters such as Castle Lake, Boux, Brie and Margot, a rowing boat is provided for angling use. This can be a great asset if used properly.
A lot of anglers use permanent markers such as H blocks, but I personally dislike them as they can get caught on the main line if a fish runs past the marker. Cane type markers can be purchased or made where a heavy weight is attached, which are very good, but again they can get moved by a fighting fish.
My preferred method is boating out to a marker rod where the line has been marked up accurately and cast to a point on the horizon with the marker released to the surface. Once I have rowed out and put in my spread of bait around the marker, I draw in my marker rod and mark up my fishing rods ready to recast to the baited area. With the marker rod still in situation over the baited area I could even take out my rigs by hand and dropped over the side of the boat, but this is very labour intensive.
Spombing and Throwing Stick
Again once that a I have established an area to bait up, I mark the main line and then raise the marker to the water surface, making a mental note of a point on the horizon, in line with the marker for future baiting up. Mark up all the rods including the spomb rod. Accurate spombing will create my food table and as long as my rods are cast somewhere in or near to that table I generally catch fish.
Using a throwing stick is down to the ability of the angler using it. I can throw out an 18 mil boilie 100 yards, but if there is a cross wind or a strong head wind, accuracy and distance can be drastically reduced. It is for this reason that I do like to create my baited area no more than 70 yards as I feel comfortable with this distance for both accuracy and reach-ability. This method generally gives a wide spread of bait but still works well.
At the end of the day the secret behind any baiting strategy, is to start off very light, and increase the amount of bait with occurrences and consequently fish captures. You must have heard lots of anglers stating “Once the bait is in it can’t be taken out”
Paul Cooper
You can watch a masterclass video on how to set up a marker rod with Paul Cooper here…
And a short video which features Paul Cooper and Jim Kelly spombing to create a bed of bait at Brocard Small here…
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