Islands are magnets for fish, and whether it is a prominent feature on a big lake or the far bank o a snake lake, you are neglecting them at your peril.
While you might be looking for the shallowest water in summer, when fishing to them in spring as the water is starting to warm up, you need to think about your approach to keep on catching.
Depth decisions
The biggest factor that will decide whether the fish will feed close to an island is the depth. With the plummet on, work your way across the feature, looking for a minimum of 2ft.
Anything shallower than that is unlikely to be productive, especially if the water is clear. If you find that depth or a little more and it is up against some form of cover like reeds, then even better.
I’d also be looking for areas where the bottom is relatively flat. I don’t like fishing on a big slope, because that can lead to both line bites and foul-hookers.
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Pick your spots
If you’ve got the necessary depth in several spots, look to fish two lines up against the island. Pencil in one to the left and the other to the right where possible, and this will give you the option to rotate.
The other option is to target the one which is prolific for most of the time, switching briefly to the other when you feel the main area needs a rest. You’re likely to find that you can’t just sit there fishing one line for an age, as bites will tail off.
For example, if I catch a few fish and then bites die off, rather than just sitting there hoping they’ll come back, it’s much better to feed again and rest the line for 10-15 minutes without a rig in the swim or a pole over the top of it. Both these ruses can stop fish from resettling in cold and clear water.
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Succesful rigs
The water is still very cold and, with that in mind, light floats are still essential. A Guru MW Bobbie with a wire stem would be my first choice in 2ft-3ft of water.
I prefer a wire-stemmed float as it sits quickly and suits lifting and dropping, a deadly tactic in cold clear water, as it allows the hookbait to behave in a more natural manner.
Mainline depends on fish size, but if the carp average 2lb to 8lb then 0.15mm Guru N-Gauge to a 6ins hooklength of 0.14mm fluorocarbon does the job. I firmly believe that fluorocarbon is a big edge at this time of year.
Hook choice with maggots or pellets is a size 16 Super LWG. This is a strong yet light pattern, the perfect shape for the baits mentioned and the size of the fish.
For shotting, I use a strung bulk of No11s with the bottom one 6ins from the hook and the rest spaced at one-inch intervals above.
TRY THESE CARP FISHING RIGS TO CATCH MORE ON THE POLE...
Feeding the swim
if there are any fish present. If you go down this route, loosefeed nothing initially to see if you can get a reaction.
That said, the fish are slowly starting to wake up, and introducing bait sparingly is likely to work too. I love fishing maggots, but they only work well if the venue isn’t home to a lot of nuisance silvers. If it is, pellets are the safest option. Whichever option you choose, small quantities are important. For example, if I’m fishing maggots, I will cup 10 in on each line to start with and see what response I get.
Another way of doing things if the session doesn’t start brilliantly is to fish maggots on one line and pellets on the other. If that works, you can then use what’s been working on both.
It’s all about having an open mind and trying different things without potentially blowing your swim up early by loosefeeding too much!
