Why Am I Not Catching Carp?

QUESTION:

Dear sir,

I go fishing in a very big lake here in Greece and mostly I catch Barbels.

There are a lot of carps in the lake but we do not know what we are doing wrong. our bait is mainly boilies vanilla-corn / strawberry-fish we also add sweetener and Aminos in the basic mix.

Please (if you can spend a little of your time) tell me some tips to stop the Barbels from eating or been caught to my boilies and catch some carps?

Nick (Greece)

ANSWER:

Hi Nick,

It may not be the bait you are using. You may not be catching the carp for other reasons, some of the questions you could ask yourself are:

Night Capture from finding the right spot!

Are you finding the location of the carp before setting up?

The majority of success in catching carp is finding the fish.

Are you using the correct or most effective rigs for the situation?

You should be trying to match the colour of end tackle to the lake bed so the fish can't see any of the rig components.

Are you managing to get the carp feeding with free offering before placing your rigs into the swim?

Carp are very greedy fish, but may not feed if they suspect something is wrong. You may need to encourage them into feeding with free offering BEFORE placing the rig into the water

Could you possibly be disturbing the carp group with the cast of the end tackle, in other words, are you casting directly onto the carp?

Sometimes it can be best to place rig in water away from but in close proximity to the carp area and wait for them to find the bait from the bait smell.

Are you causing too much noise or disturbance?

If you are too close to them, they may see you and therefore become wary, especially if the water is clear.

Are you making sure all the fishing line and rig is pinned to the bottom of the lake so the fish cannot feel any of the tackle?

These are just some ideas off the top of my head but there are many other reasons why you may not be catching the carp in your lake. You should try to learn more about the movements and habits of the carp in the lake to ensure success at catching them.

Hope this helps!

Keep on carping...

Carp Fishing Tactics Team

More Q & A's about Carp fishing coming soon!

Many carp catching tips and tactics to help fishing for big carp

Fishing for Carp in Rivers

Locating Large Carp in Springtime

Locating the Big Carp in the Summer

Locating the Biggest Carp in Winter time

Locating Most Larger Carp in Autumn season

The Importance of Using Quality Bait to Catch Carp

Fishing for Large Carp in Snags & under Trees