The short pole line is always important when fishing these venues, but it needs to be fished differently in winter.
Big fish are still on the cards, but they are not a dead cert like they are in summer, and the tactics and feeding strategies that you adopt will have a big say in whether you have a good session.
Bait choices
Meat and hard pellets are the obvious choices when the temperatures are high, but if I could only pick one bait for this style of fishing in winter, it would be sweetcorn.
It’s a bait that really comes into its own for carp in the cold, with its bright yellow colour providing a big edge.
With the water on most commercials now being much clearer, the fish are likely to be able to see it underwater, increasing the likelihood of them homing in.
That said, I like to use corn in conjunction with either wetted-down 2mm or 4mm pellets. Which I choose depends on depth and conditions. If it’s 4ft-6ft deep, then I like to feed micros loose or in little balls. However, if it’s over 6ft then I’ll go with 4mms as they are slightly heavier and unlikely to drift off in any underwater tow.
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Rigs for the job
Light floats are vital if you want to make this approach work well. For example, in 6ft of water and providing conditions allow, I’d be looking to fish a 0.25g Guru MW Bobbie. This is a slim-bodied, wire-stemmed pattern that’s perfect for winter corn fishing. I prefer a wire stem as I feel this gives the float that extra bit of stability, which is important in terms of getting good presentation.
Light floats definitely produce more bites when the water is clear as they allow your hookbait to behave in a more natural manner.
Bearing in mind that I want my hookbait to behave as naturally as possible, a loosely-strung bulk of No10s is the perfect shotting pattern. The bottom shot sits 6ins from the hook and the rest of the droppers are spaced at 1.5ins intervals above this.
Mainline and hooklength choice depends on fish size, but if the carp were from 3lb to around 8lb, then it’s 0.17mm mainline to a 6ins hooklength of 0.15mm and a size 16 Super LWG hook.
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Pick your spot
I’m quite precise when it comes to working out exactly where I should fish my short pole line. When the temperatures are high, I’ll often fish very close to the bank, plumbing up to find the spot that is halfway up the marginal shelf.
At this time of year though I prefer to push out to the bottom of the near shelf. I keep pushing out gradually while plumbing up until I notice that the depth doesn’t change. I then aim to fish a foot past the base of the slope.
I also like to fish on a slight angle to the left or right. The main reason for this is that when I hook a fish I can bring it in front of me so that I’m not playing it on top of where I’m fishing and feeding.
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Time it right
This isn’t the sort of line that you can fish for the whole day during winter, and it usually comes into its own in the final two hours of the session as the light starts to fade.
I’ll start to feed it about 30 minutes before I intend to drop on it. Introduce anything before that and you risk a large build-up of bait being found by a handful of fish late-on, reducing the chances of them going for your hookbait when they are just mopping up a few scraps.
If conditions allow, I’ll feed it by hand, flicking in four to six grains of corn every three minutes. Even when it is cold it’s important to keep bait falling through the water to stimulate a response.
THE RIGHT ELASTICS WILL HELP ENSURE YOU LAND EVERY FISH YOU HOOK...
