Fishing for carp and other coarse fish becomes increasingly popular every year, with millions of anglers taking to the banks to try and put some fish in the net.
In the UK, commercial fisheries are common and popular fishing destinations where carp and other coarse species are stocked for anglers pleasure.
These waters are usually fished by day ticket holders and are generally busy all throughout the week with constant angling pressure on the fish swimming below.
Fishing a non-pressured and pressured water can require two different fishing approaches.
So today I’m going to cover “how to fish for carp in a pressured water?”
How To Fish for Carp in a Pressured Water?
When fishing in pressured waters, there’s a lot of things that you can change or do to increase your chances of catching the fish that are more than used to seeing anglers rigs and baits.
Things such as selecting a suitable rig, high quality baits and putting some effort into understanding the behaviour of the fish in the water can all be good starting points.
Below, you’ll find a list of 10 tips that you can use to help improve your skills when fishing for carp on pressured waters.
Use High-Quality Baits and Attractants
Using high-quality baits and attractants can be a good start in standing out from other anglers’ baits in pressured waters to hopefully catch a few fish.
There are many different types of baits and attractants available, each with its unique properties and benefits.
Some of the most popular options include boilies and pellets. It’s crucial to test out various kinds of baits to see which ones perform best in the particular body of water you’re fishing in.
Using liquids and attractants can also be another way that you can help your baits stand out in pressured waters when the carp are accustomed to the bog standard carp baits.
Attractants and liquids help to add an edge to your baits with oils and flavourings that dissolve into the water that carp can “smell” using their olfactory system.
Some attractants also add enzymes and amino acids that the carps natural food sources such as worms, insects or crustaceans, are already full of.
This can give your artificial bait the edge that you need to stand out among the crowd.
Understanding Carp Behaviour
Understanding how fish behave in response to environmental elements like water temperature, light levels, and weather conditions is crucial when fishing for carp in crowded environments. These elements may significantly affect the behaviour and feeding habits of carp as well as the areas of the water where they are most likely to be found.
Carp, for instance, are known to be more active in warmer water, and they are usually more likely to feed during times of increasing light levels, such as early in the morning or late in the day.
Additionally, the presence of specific vegetation types, like weed beds, can give carp refuge and food, making these places great spots for fishing.
It’s also crucial to keep an eye on the weather because variations in air pressure and wind direction might have an impact on the behaviour of the carp. For instance, carp may feed more frequently during low-pressure intervals and less frequently during high-pressure intervals.
You can optimise your chances of success by adjusting your fishing techniques and strategies by comprehending how carp behave in connection to environmental elements. For instance, you might decide to go fishing during times of low pressure or in locations with warmer water or more light.
Experiment with Rigs and Methods
Experimenting with the rigs and methods that you’re targeting the fish with is another great way to be successful in pressured waters where fish come across rigs and baits often.
A lot of the time, anglers fishing commercial fisheries will be targeting carp on the bottom, where they will commonly spend a lot of time feeding as they are classed as bottom feeders.
However, in certain conditions, the carp can feed up in the water column depending on where natural food sources are, such as insects or larvae and sometimes they may even feed on the surface.
Due to this, it can pay to experiment with rigs and baits and fish off the bottom and up in the water if the conditions are right.
For example, the chod rig is a popular method for fishing up in the water, as it allows the bait to be suspended above the bottom if there is heavy weed cover or the bottom is covered in deep silt or debris.
This rig will stop your rig and bait from being covered and out of site to passing carp.
The pop-up rig is another popular option, as it allows the bait to pop-up just off the bottom so it stands out from the beds of bottom baits.
It’s essential to keep in mind that different types of rigs and methods may work better in different conditions and environments.
Try Fishing Dawn and Dusk
If the venue allows, fishing at dawn and dusk can be a great time to target pressure waters for a variety of reasons.
First of all, you’ll likely get the pick of the pegs, so you can choose areas that are most likely to hold fish without the risk of turning up to someone already fishing this swim.
Also, dawn and dusk are known to be some of the best times for catching fish as the change in light levels seems to trigger carp natural feeding habits in a lot of venues.
The combination of changing light levels and cooler water temperatures at dawn and dusk can make these periods the most active and productive times for fishing for carp. By focusing on fishing during these times, you can increase your chances of a successful fishing trip.
Keep a Log of Fishing Trips
This tip may be slightly more advanced but can be a good way to target pressured waters. If you’ve got plenty of time and fish the same water often, then taking a notebook and keeping a log of things can be productive.
Log things such as where fish are commonly caught from, at what time of day, with what bait and rigs and in what weather conditions you can build up a picture of fish behaviour.
In pressured waters, it can be expected that the carp will only feed in specific windows of the day and by keeping this log, you should hopefully be able to work out the times when you’ll have the most chance of catching anything.
This will allow you to be smart about your sessions and only fish times that have been consistently productive.
That’s All
Today, a lot of venues are extremely busy with the fish almost constantly under angling pressure where they will be used to seeing plenty of rigs and typical carp baits.
Fishing for these fish can become slightly more challenging, but hopefully with these tips a both you should still be able to get some fish in the net.
