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Best Bait For Carp Fishing In Spring
Finally, we can all breathe a collective sigh of relief, winter is over and now the exciting times begin. One question we often face is how to fish for carp in the springtime and what is the best bait to use. To understand this, we need to first of all, understand how carp have been behaving over the winter period, and how the raising of water temperatures will affect their metabolism.
During the winter, their body temperature drops in line with the water temperature. Their metabolism drops too which can, in long periods of extreme cold, send the fish into a state of torpor where they will sit motionlessly. As a result, their digestion slows right down so the need for food is decreased considerably, and they enter a state of almost hibernation. Terry Hearn’s “Terry’s Winter Tale” is well worth a watch on Winter fishing at it’s finest.
During the colder months, a carp will head for the most ‘comfortable area’, this may be a big snag/weed bed or an area where it’s slightly warmer such as a freshwater spring, it is NOT always the deepest area of the lake, this is a common misconception, and often near a winter food source i.e. a silty area with naturals in or weed bed. While it is not impossible to catch carp during the coldest months of the year, it is trickier, as you need to fish on top of them and catch them in a hungry mood.
As spring approaches, water temperatures rise, although it is not this which necessary first helps activate a carp to go seek food out. The longer daylight hours are far more important and have a greater effect on the carp’s activity than most other things including the weather. Carp are cold-blooded and their metabolism is totally governed by the water temperature but the longer daylight hours see the fish becoming much more active in similar water temperatures than have been observed during the shortest days of winter.
The temperature variances that exist in the depths of the water are known as the thermocline, this has an annual cycle but generally in spring, the water is warmed from the top-down as a result of the increasing sunlight. Shallow areas of the lake or areas receiving the sun all day may be favoured by carp, particularly on clear and still days with good sun.
Warmth will have an effect on the water temperature, but you have to bear in mind it takes a long time to heat a large body of water, it’s the light that gets the bugs going and once the bottom of the food chain is moving, those creatures, like the carp, will start as well.
Once they have woken up, their protein synthesis will still be very slow and they will need to eat little and often to start building up the energy and body mass for spawning time, typically May/June in the UK but this often varies lake to lake.
During the early months, carp will be doing their best to make the most of the early spring sun, staying in the layers of water which have begun to warm first and only visiting cooler, deeper waters when driven to feed and probably only for short periods of time.
Great, So What Bait Should I Use Then?
With this in mind, the type and quantity of bait you use to target the carp is very important. The most underrated tactics in spring are zigs. With the carp typically hanging around the middle and upper layers of the water column, fishing a regular bottom bait may mean you are not fishing in the carp’s location for the majority of the time.
For those not familiar with zigs, they can be a little daunting as it seems counter intuitive that a carp would prefer a piece of foam over our favourite glugged-up popup, but trust us they do. If you haven’t used them before, head down to your local runs water and cast one out, aim to be in the top third of the water column and see how you get on. We guarantee it will change your tune about them
Not only are they devastating, but they are also super cheap. Here is what you need:
- Fox Zig Alinger Kit - only £6.99
- ESP Zig Damsel Nymph Set - only £8.25
Companies also make adjustable zig floats
- Korda adjustable zig float kit - only £10.99
- Fox edges zig float kit - only £10.99
If zigs aren’t for you then there is still a wide range of bottom baits you can add to your arsenal. The trick is to keep it to a minimum, no Fairbrass style “making the bait the feature” type of fishing. Carp will eat little and often and naturally gravitate towards easily digestible food sources such as particles. Normally we would suggest making your own, but since you will only need a small amount for PVA bags, save yourself some trouble and get ready-made jars such as:
- Mainline Power Pulse Particles - £15.99 for 3L
- Dynamite Baits Frenzied Mixed Particles - £11.49 for 2.5L
- Mainline Power Plus Hemp N Maize - £11.59 for 3L
These also have the benefit of being PVA friendly. We suggest staying away from tigernuts as they are highly filling.
For the hookbait, a simple popup piece of fake corn will work magic - it is simple, stays buoyant, is crayfish resistant and small. Korda’s popup corn for just £2.75 would work a treat, or their dumbbell range at £2.99 a packet.
If you want to fish popup/hook bait, go with something small and bright, 10-12mm and yellow we find works best:
- Mainline Toppers - £14.74 for all 3 colours (best have yourself covered)
- Mainline Dedicated Base Mic Quad Pop ups - £8.99 a jar
- CC Moore NS1 Northern Specials - £7.25 a pot
If you follow these golden rules in Spring fishing you (almost) guarantee you tight lines and wet nets
- Fish at the correct depth
- Don’t overfeed, a small handful of particles around a hook bait is enough
- Be prepared to find the fish. Don’t just stick to your favourite swim.
