When you’re fishing for carp that are slightly warier, and that have been fished for all summer long, then it’s important to really think about how you go about your autumn fishing. They’ll have seen every trick in the book thrown at them so I always find it’s much better to go with a boilie only approach. Knock the particle and pellet on the head, bin your stick mixes off and go in with just boilie. Autumn is a time of year when you can go in heavy and prep areas, the carp will be feeding up for the cold months ahead and you have a unique window where, although they’ve been fished hard for all year, they also need to feed up, almost like an ambush point within the seasons. Depending on that year weather-wise, if you’ve had a particularly hot summer for example, then I’d start my Autumn tactics just as the weed begins to die off, which may be as late as the end of September. It’s then that the natural food larders in a lake begin to shrink with the dying weed, but importantly there’s still the desire for the carp to be eating plenty so you have a fantastic opportunity to really ‘make hay while the sun shines’. Not competing against a lakes huge natural larder is a great opportunity and one you should most definitely exploit as they start bulking up for winter. You’ll know when the time is right because you begin to start reeling strands of weed in as they begin to turn a bit sooty and black in colour. I wouldn’t fish an area that has weed on it because it tends to hold the dying weed and go mushy, although you could clear this with a weed rake I much prefer a harder firmer area at this time of year to establish a feeding spot.
Over the years I’ve found that a water with a high percentage of commons the fish are much more susceptible to a nut or bird food based boilie where as mirrors tend to love the fishmeals. Choosing which will already have been done long before your autumn fishing and I’d recommend that whatever boilie you have been using in the summer, continue to use it in the autumn. A bait that the fish is used to picking up may just be what they choose to gorge on in that potentially prolific autumn window. If the carp wanted to bulk up on protein rich food in summer they’d have a banquet of natural food, but as those first frosts set in around mid Autumn it’s a time to keep those protein rich fishmeals going into the lake and really let the fish bulk up. I’ve seen it before when someone put 10 to 15kg out at this time of year and had half the fish in the lake in a short space of time because the conditions were right and the carp were feeding heavily, it really can be that prolific if you get it right.
I really like to fish in the autumnal period and one thing I’ll do is add a small PVA bag of three bottom baits to my rig. By simply threading them onto the rig they not only stop the hook point from tangling around the rig or picking up detritus on the lakebed, but it also adds three matching freebies close to your hook bait. I strongly believe that a small PVA stick of powder or crumb will stand out like a sore thumb, almost like a torch light on the lakebed over dark silt, but a few closely grouped boilies, and usually a pouch of boilie catapulted accurately over the top will be much more effective, especially if you’ve been regularly feeding a spot and giving them a ‘free meal’ of the same bait. I often fish barrel shaped baits too, which can give you that little edge gain and all these small parts build the bigger picture and stand you in good stead for fooling the wary, but hungry, carp.
If I’m trying to get a spot going I will usually have plenty of information on the lake and do my best to pick somewhere that the carp like to be at this time of year. Angling wisely can never be underestimated either. If I’m going to be baiting days before sessions, then I will do my best to do it under the cover of darkness so it’s less likely people will see me doing so. I will always try and play to my strengths too, such as fishing spots within catapult range. It’s not impossible to spod at dark, but equally it can be difficult, more time consuming, and much less stealthy too. If you fish at catapult range it takes minutes to get a good hit of bait out and you’re much less likely to think ‘I’ll just bait up tomorrow’ – it becomes a convenience thing but if that means I’m more likely to get down and bait more often, then that’s what I’ll do. It needs to be practical, and regularity will help.
I’ll happily go in quite heavy in terms of end tackle during the autumn period. A heavy 3 to 3.5oz lead will make it difficult for any carp to ditch the hook if it sets with a bigger lead, and with the fish often moving and feeding quite aggressively it’s often the case. One thing I do tend to do as the weed begins to die off is use a black braid hook length. As the weed drops in the water and begins to break down on the bottom it will go a very dark, silty colour so my rig will blend in much better this way. With the carp being easily spooked and wary after a long summer, I’ll think nothing of leaving my rig out for 48 hours if that’s what it takes before getting a bite. As long as I know my rig is fishing effectively, which it should be with the PVA cluster of boilies on, then there’s no need to risk disturbing everything in the swim by recasting every 6 hours. Furthermore, who’s to say that carp haven’t passed over your rig several times and only through regularly seeing it will they come to think it’s a ‘safe’ bait. We’ve all reeled a rod in and spooked a fish before, so you never know when they’re passing or when they’re going to succumb to the trap.
Confidence is a huge part in leaving your rigs for long periods hoping to intercept carp. You need to be able to watch it through the air and ensure it has landed on the waters surface without tangling. I add a small piece of PVA foam to my hook if I’m not using the three boilie trick, and I like this to come off as it hits the waters surface, or as it’s descending in the water column. If it pops up after I’ve felt the drop then it’s stayed on too long, I simply want it to stop the hook tangling around the rig in mid air, as soon as it’s hit the clip or the water, then its job is done. The stiff hook length will kick the rig away from the lead perfectly without the buoyant foam so for me it’s unnecessary for it to stay on as it hits the lakebed.
When you’re searching for the fish or choosing an area to bait regularly, as the frosts start to close in and the days become shorter, you need to have their natural larder in your mind. Shallower areas of the lake will see the weed die off quicker than those deeper holes and bays, and often the deeper water will still hold reasonably fresh weed growth, which in turn will still hold natural food. These areas almost certainly attract carp at this time of year and are worth paying attention to as the last bit of natural food is exploited by the carp as they feed up for winter. It’s not always in the very deepest water but it’s certainly more prominent away from the shallows – the bottom of gravel bars and gulleys for example. It’s worth finding out what type of silt you’re on too. If you reel in and you get the sour silty smell on your hook bait that has completely overthrown the flavour of your bait, then it’s probably not the area you want to be fishing. Silt is great and of course holds natural food like bloodworm, but try and find smoother or slightly firmer patches where the smell isn’t so overpowering as the mushy leaf matter will hold very little natural food in comparison. You should also do your homework and try to find out where fish are captured from at certain times of year. If you have a target fish then even more so, as patterns will emerge on a lot of waters regarding captures and the locations of the fish holding. If you see one show then chances are it’s not alone, if you don’t see anything then put yourself in a good vantage point and let the carp show you where they want to be. They’re not going to be head and shouldering every minute like spring but that one or two shows a day, if you see them, can be the key to you finding the lakes entire stock, so put the effort in towards the end of summer, and you could have your best autumn yet.
