“Putting more effort in your fishing means a lot more and bigger rewards if you do it correct” .

With this statement I want  kick-off of my exclusive article for Catch and Release  and I will share my visions and tactics with fishing for carp with all of you on a regular base on catch and release .  In this article I will talk through my tactics I start with from the beginning of the season  .

I fish all year round and after all the shows I had in the winter till half  February  I started focusing on 2 lakes I wanted to start with this season . The water temperatures are still very cold ( 6 degrees ) and the water quality is very clear. most lakes with this temperatures  I always start with exploring the lake with my daughter  to look for nice spots to fish on different locations  and of course to locate the carp .

Especially on very sunny days and on not to deep lakes  you get a big change to locate the carp even it can take a while on huge lakes of course ” searching is knowing , knowing is catching “. After I had done a few rounds I already spotted some nice clear spot on several locations and added them to my GPS after a while I found a big group of carp in one area and I decide to bait that zone very lightly over the whole side of the reeds in different zones ( around 350 grams of boilies on each location)

I always start with a mix of 2 different type of boilies sweet and fish and 3 times a week I keep on coming back to bait that area. due to  this lake being very weeded around June it’s so important to search for hard places early in the season when the water is cold and clear as you will get your benefit out of it whole year. I always search in my boat or dinghy for this locations and use a carp scope to find hot spots and  by  pressing a long pole  in the bottom. I confirm the bottom structures I can see with the carp scope as the bottom is not always how it looks like I can tell you . I have baited up the locations and after 3 weeks when the temperatures are rising of the water I start to see more activity on the baited zones and most baited spots are empty after a check with the scope . So I decide to add more bait on every spot. I start using 300 grams of boilies and around 250 grams of a particles mix of chili hemp , maples , corn and tigernuts  .

The water temp is now around 9 degrees and every time I come back to baited zones most baits are gone and a big flood wave is created by carp moving away in front of my boat . The carp are on the baits and start to see the zones as a natural food  supplier without any pressure on it or disturbance of hooked carp.

I am already 6 weeks further and it just became March . This is the moment to get the rods in and to start the harvest of all the work I did in the colder months  .  It’s a Monday and in the evening I decide to load my dinghy and to go to the baited zone to fish it for the first time . After flatting the reeds out I created a small peg between the reeds and hide my dingy in it . I build up my camp and it’s time to get the rods in position .

I use one sweet and one fish boilie on a rod and on the 3th rod I do a half fish and a half sweet on the hair . Well the rods are in and after placing the rods in position I already located some carp between the reeds . It’s beautiful sunny weather and the carp love to sun in this area and you can always find them in this zone. Bloodworms and crayfish etc. will also come out in this zone early in the year so I advise you to concentrate on these areas.

It keeps quiet all night long and around 07:00 I get a full take and my delkim screams off……… I get in my waders and rush to the water to my rods and the fight starts . The fish give a great fight and even forces me to get in the dinghy to make sure I won’t lose it . After a fight of 30 minutes I can land the fish and the gold of the scales of this fantastic looking mirror immediately pulls my attention . ( WOW!!!  I think this could be that fish of a life time ) I get back to my peg and after laying it in my sling and unhooking mat I can see the great patterns of mirror scales on both sides. I unhook it and after weighing I have a pearl of 17,2 kg (37.9LB) in my hands. We take pictures of her and the catch of the Queen is a done .

After releasing her I am still dreaming of this beautiful fish .  I decide to leave this spot alone and go further on a different section I baited up also . After a few weeks I spot 2 huge mirrors in this section and the same eve I build up camp in that zone and I get the rods in position . I use the same tactic  as before and still use the same amounts of bait on a regular base  with pre baiting . I bait every spot up around my rig with chili hemp 500 grams and 300 grams of boilies crushed and uncrushed  and I am fishing the harder bottom between the silt on the edge of the reeds and between the weeds that grow . After one hour I get a take , I strike and my shimano reel start screaming . I can feel this is a very solid fish and jump in the dinghy to fight the carp in the best way there is . The carp drags me into 2 bays in this section before it finally gets tired after 30 minutes and I can land it in my net . After getting back on the bank and lifting the net I immediately feel this is a great fish after weighing it she shows 20.1 kg(44.3LB) . Wow I’m on a role  after taking some pictures and some video I release this lump back to her habitat and start refreshing the rods with baits .

I decide to give it a go till the next eve and the night falls . I wake up the next morning and while I am having a nice cup of coffee one of the delkims screams off  pppppppppieeeep I throw my cup away and strike my rod and I know I am into a proper fish again. I get in my dinghy and play the carp. It shows me both the bays several times for 40 minutes at least before I can land it.    after lifting the net on the bank I already feel it’s again a real proper fish and the ruben heaton shows me  20 kg(44LB) exact

Wow 2 x a 20 kg + carp in less than 24 hours on this public lake it is a gift and a reward for all the time and effort I made the last months and by combining the right tactics you see you can produce the better carp . After  filming and making pictures of this amazing carp I release this beauty in her habitat .I decide to give it a extra night and the rods kept quiet . The peg was disturbed and the carp already left to a different section . So what I am trying to say in this article is with observing , choosing the right spots and sun locations and by investing with pre baiting small amounts on several zones you can catch the bigger and harder to catch carp . It cost a lot of time and a lot of hours  to catch the better carp and who is too lazy to invest to catch the better carp don’t deserve to catch them at all I believe .

So I hope you can put this article in your own advantage as it works for me year in year out . Tight lines Sebastiaan Schuurman