by Edward James

Created on: June 23, 2010

The margins are essentially the area of water that is very close to the bank of the lake. Many novice carp anglers seem to think the best chance of catching carp is to blast the bait as far to the horizon as is possible, however this is not always the case. Carp will frequently visit the margins, during both the daylight and hours of darkness therefore the margins often provide an excellent chance to catch a specimen carp.

When fishing the margins an angler could simply drop the bait below the rod tip, however, this is unlikely to be the best location in the margins since it is too close to the angler. Carp are a naturally cautious and wary fish that are easily spooked by sudden movements, noises or vibrations. Whilst carp may venture in to the margins near an angler they are not always comfortable enough or confident enough to eat, which reduces the likelihood of catching one so close in. When fishing the margins the hook bait should be located as far to the left or right of the angler as is possible. This allows the angler the chance to move around without potentially spooking and scaring away any carp that decides to investigate the bait.

When fishing in the margins the angler still needs to find ‘fishy’ looking areas and features that are likely to attract carp. Just putting the bait anywhere in the margins is effectively the same as just chucking a bait out in to open water and hoping for the best. When finding a suitable place to put the hook bait look for a feature such as a dip or shelf in the water’s bottom, a patch of gravel, clear spots where fish have previously fed, a sunken branch or large bit of debris or a patch of weed. It is worth putting the bait near any feature since all of these are capable of attracting carp.

Some carp are so wary that the slightest ‘unnatural’ thing in the water will spook them and this includes monofilament fishing line. This problem is overcome by keeping the line out of the way and one way of doing this is to pin the line to the water’s bottom. With the line pinned in this manner the carp can swim around without touching the line, which may spook them. In order to pin the line to the water’s bottom a back lead should be used. A back lead is weight with a plastic clip on it that is clipped to the line and allowed to sink to the bottom of the water taking the line with it. Home-made back leads can be made using a small ledger and a paperclip.

The obvious advantage of fishing

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>