Catching & Locating Carp In Winter With Terry Dempsey
Catching & Locating Carp In Winter With Terry Dempsey
Locating Carp in Winter can be a frustrating experience if you don’t know the clues to look for. So in today’s blog post and video I want to show you how I go about locating and catching Carp in Winter so you can enjoy your time at the water.
I shot the below video at the end of November down at Frimley Lakes in Surrey on an absolute stunning day, just as the leaves had turned. So I hope you enjoy the video and accompanying transcript.
Can you fish for carp in the winter? Absolutely!
Today we’re gonna do a piece on how to go about catching and locating Carp in Winter time. I’m lucky enough to have been allowed down to Frimley Lakes for a few hours fishing. I’ve just got two rods and a small bag with me, and we’re going to have a look around and see if we can find some fish feeding.
I’ve been having a look out to the lake on my left, I haven’t seen much yet but we’ll keep looking and then we’re going to go and have a look at the other lake behind us and see if we can see a few fish over there. I’m sure we will as it’s such a beautiful day and it’s really mild for early winter.
Catching Carp In Winter Takes A Little Patience
I’ve been down here for a couple of hours having a good look around. I didn’t see a great deal to start with. What I was looking for was some bubbling, obviously fish crashing or rolling, but I find that at this time of the year, the fish become a lot more dormant. So we’re just looking for really subtle signs and one thing I did notice in the lake to my right, was the water was fairly clouded up in one area.
I looked in the margins, I could see the water was very clear and I could see some gravel spots on the bottom. But as I looked out a bit further, I could see the water become a bit more murky and there was like a green sort of browny tinge to the water and this, to me, it just spells Carp pretty much any time of the year. I was looking at it and all of a sudden I saw some fizz come up in the area, tiny little bubbles which this time of the year are a great sign for the odd fish that’s still feeding.
I carried on looking at the area and then went for a little walk to the other end of the lake where there was a very similar piece of water that was quite cloudy, a little bit murky, and straight away I could tell that there had been Carp there. Within about 10 minutes a fish boshed out, came right out of the water and minutes later another one showed. Whether it was the same fish or not, I’m not sure but it showed in that area. So it just shows you that these little subtle signs, if you keep looking into an area of water, you’ll eventually find that there’s going to be Carp there.
Locating Carp In Winter – 5 Key Signs
There are several ways of looking for Carp in the Winter and I would say the following are key:
1. Look for subtle bubbles and changes in the colour of the water.
2. Obviously listen for fish crashing out is key.
3. In the winter months, I do find that with the long nights, the Carp will show better in the dark. So a great time for looking for Carp at this time of the year is to look at night.
I mean, years and years ago I used to fish the Darenth lakes in Kent, and I always used to go looking for Carp at night. During the day we’d never see Carp but as soon as it was dark they’d start showing and over the years, right up to the present time, that’s one of my main weapons for this time of the year.
4. If you’re not seeing any fish at all, then I would try and get some liners out. Fish are still moving around so try and look for liners, which means just slackening off your line just slightly so it’s just got a semi bow in it. Then just watch for any movements of your line and then you’ll soon notice whether the Carp are there or not. This can be another great way of locating Carp in winter.
5. A final key way of finding Carp at this time of the year, is going where the sun is shining and following the path of the Sun. The Sun is key. Follow the Sun from where it comes up in the morning and you’ll see the bank is shining, and then you just move around with that Sun and you’ll find the Carp tend to follow the warm water as the day goes by. Snaggy areas, south-facing, pads, are always a great place for locating Carp in winter.
Now that I’ve located some Carp I’m going to have a walk back to the van, get some tackle, have a walk round to the right spot, fish for three or four hours and hopefully catch a Carp before heading home.
I really hope you enjoyed the video we’ve made for you today and that you’ve learnt how to catch carp in winter. Please leave any questions on comments in the section below.
Good luck and tight lines!
Read More: ‘The Best Winter Carp Baits – The Best Baits For Winter Carp Fishing’ >>
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