Ellis Brazier

age 40

Hometown Shrewsbury

occupationFirefi ghter

uK Pb39lb 4oz

Favourite venueHawkstone Park

rodsJRC J2

reelsShimano Biomaster XTA

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baiting strategiesPART TWO – The Big-water Baiting Game

>>

If you’re daunted by fi shing larger lakes and

don’t quite know where to start, fear not, big-

water specialist ellis brazier is on hand with ellis brazier is on hand with ellis brazier

all his top strategies for getting the baiting

and location right on larger waters.

Hello again, and welcome to the second part of my jaunt through baiting strategies. Last

month I discussed the diffi culties, as well as some of the successes, I have had with small waters, and hopefully some of what I said will have been of relevance to a water that you fi sh, and in some small way may have helped to put an extra fi sh or two on the bank.

Crafty Carper 59

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60 Crafty Carper

“With a little thought and pre-planning you can produce the captures we only read about

in the weeklies”

Baiting Strategies - Part Two /// Ellis Brazier

The joy of larger waters is that sometimes you can use alternative methods to transport your gear to your swim – if you use a boat don’t forget to wear a life jacket.

Below: We visited Catch 22 in Norfolk to shoot this feature, a large water wth an impressive stock of fish. Check it out!

Pre-soaked boilies from a reputable bait firm will stand you in good stead on waters of any size.

This month I’m moving into a much more pleasurable (for me) side of baiting, and that is the larger waters. Although I am loath to define what can be classed as a large water, for the purposes of this article I’ll talk about waters above 15 acres, although I do feel this is all relevant to the stock of carp present in any individual water. By this I mean that a 12-acre lake with only a dozen carp in it can be as challenging as a 100-acre lake with a stock of a few hundred carp, so take my categories as a general benchmark and then adjust to suit your own situation on the water you are fishing.

Not to dwell on the size factor too much, and although I have set a base level at 15 acres, many carp waters are far larger. Some carp waters cover hundreds, if not thousands, of acres. Those of you who fish abroad, or on some of the big windswept pits dotted around our fair isles, will know only too well just how big and daunting a carp water can seem. In fact, my own carp-fishing upbringing has been mainly centred on the large meres of Shropshire, which were formed in the Ice Age, and these waters are as wild as a carp water can get. On such large and low-stocked waters as these you can angle for the best part of a season and only spot a couple of carp.

This article is not about the extremes, and although I’ll take a look at baiting a larger, lower-stocked water, on the whole I will concentrate more on those waters that most of us, if we fish around a little, will encounter. The size of venue I’ll refer to in this article will be lakes such as Horseshoe or Catch 22, and it’s when first fishing waters of this size that newcomers may find them vast and unfathomable, but with a little thought and pre-planning you can produce the captures we only read about in the weeklies.

So, if like me you are up for a challenge and want to experience the wilder side of carping, please join me while I run through some of the baiting strategies that might just help you put a hit together on one of these venues.

PrebaitingThe vast majority of large waters in my part of the world where I have been fortunate enough to fish have been SSSIs (Sites of Special Scientific Interest). By this I mean places where the original close season is kept in force by the Environmental Agency due to the protection of wildlife and flora and fauna. I have fished for many years when there was a mandatory close season (yes, I am that old) and in some ways it has made carping easier for me on the larger waters. Long ago I realised that these vast expanses of water with uncatchable carp in them could be made a lot easier by the investment of a little time and effort, when everyone else was busy getting the DIY finished or angling somewhere else that was open for all-year-round fishing. I would simply walk the banks during the close season whenever possible, climbing trees,

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Crafty Carper 61>>

Baiting Strategies - Part Two /// Ellis Brazier

“Many large waters have both shallow and deep areas and

both will, at different times of year, hold the majority of the

carp you seek to catch”

Ellis decided to check out his open water options with the marker fl oat.

Hold on – he found something very interesting!

Ellis was rather excited that he found a defi nite feeding spot – game on,

time to bait it up for the night.

The margins on larger waters shouldn’t ever be ignored because they always hold fi sh.

or peering through bushes at the water until I found my quarry, and then feed them with my chosen bait. Life was good, and as each season kicked off, I generally knew where my targets were hanging out and on what they wanted to feed. Unfortunately, this situation doesn’t present itself very often these days, but if it sounds like somewhere you’re thinking of fi shing, or know about, a spring spent watching and feeding them might just do the trick. However, not everybody has waters like this available and since most are now open all year round, I will take a look at prebaiting on these.

The biggest mistake I have made, and have watched countless others make, when considering baiting large waters, is to blindly start applying bait without giving any consideration to the other bait-eating species present in the water. I say ‘bait-eating species’ and I include the dreaded crayfi sh, so do try to fi nd out fi rst what lives in your intended water before starting a baiting campaign, because it can save you hours of effort and quite a lot of money.

Talk to the fi shery owners or other anglers and fi nd out how bad the nuisance species are. Try to fi nd out what style of bait has worked in the past and whether large beds work, or whether just small amounts trickled in is more effective. The goal here is to build a picture in your mind’s eye of how many carp you are likely to be feeding at any one time, what they like to be fed on, and how long your bait is likely to lie on the bottom waiting to be found if you get the location wrong.

Although I don’t always see bait eaten by other fi sh as a total waste, I do like to keep it to the minimum just for my pocket’s sake.

Once this stage has been reached you can now start to apply your chosen bait. If the water is a busy one you may only be able to bait whilst actually angling, or in the odd unfavoured swim in between sessions, although usually on the larger waters, if you are not averse to a walk, most areas farthest away from the car park will be less

pressured than those somewhat closer. When searching for a quiet area to bait, bear in mind the time of year and governing factors of water temperature. Many large waters have both shallow and deep

areas and both will, at different times of year, hold the majority of the carp you seek to catch. In spring I’d advise against baiting a 20ft deep gully where all the carp were seen last autumn before the winter shutdown. Although they may fi rst awake here as the temperature rises, in spring they will soon migrate to the quicker-warming shallows. Conversely, as the cooler weather arrives, a concentrated effort of baiting in the more favoured winter spots will, on the whole, pay back more for your efforts.

What I am trying to convey by these examples is that when angling on larger waters where the carp population can be spread out or low, try to make the most of your bait and make it work to its maximum potential. If you have friends angling on the same venue, working together as a team on a baiting rota can be a massive help, and can also reduce the effort and cost quite considerably.

tHe MarginsNot only do the margins give us the opportunity to view the intended targets at close quarters when things are quiet, but they also provide us with the chance to fi sh with deadly accuracy. There probably isn’t a lake in this country where, at some time or other, the resident population of carp won’t be under your feet feeding close in. As is often said, the margins are the biggest feature on any lake – a very true statement indeed. On many waters I have fi shed, I have heard, “The carp don’t feed in the margins on here mate,“ only to experience the complete opposite when a little stealth is employed in tactics.

The biggest-ever hit I have experienced when angling on a feature was on a water where the predominant method was to fi sh to small clear areas in the weed at some extreme ranges. Now unless you are one of the gifted casters amongst us who can hit the same 2ft square target time after time, in any conditions, then this sort of angling is going to be slightly haphazard and less accurate. On this venue I managed

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62 Crafty Carper

Shown above are all the components to tie up Ellis’ 360 Rig.

First step is to slide the hookpoint through a small ring swivel, as above.

Push a Sliding Hair Rig Bead over the hookpoint and down the shank, like so.

Then add a rig ring – oval rings are perfect for the 360 Rig.

1 2 3 4

HOWTO...

tie ellis’ big FisH 360 rig

Then add another Sliding Hair Rig Bead – thick end fi rst, like this.

Carefully blob down the fl oss with a lighter so that it doesn’t unravel.

5 6 7 8

The fi nished blobbed knot will look like this, and will be very secure.

Now tie a 6ins length of coated braid to the large ring on the swivel.

Ellis crimped down the barb on his hook to comply with fi shery rules.

Here is the fi nished rig as it sits on the lakebed, cocked and ready!

9 10 11 12

Depending on the buoyancy of your pop-up,

you may need to counterbalance it with

some tungsten putty.

Next, tie the loose strands onto the rig ring with an overhand knot.

Pass a loop of fl oss through a 16mm pop-up and secure with a boilie stop.

Did you know?

When using a throwing stick, it is a good idea to wet the inside of the stick with some lake water before use. This will ensure the baits fl y out smoother, which aids accuracy.

Baiting Strategies - Part Two /// Ellis Brazier

Ellis baited the spot he found with 16mm and 18mm boilies.

to catch carp after carp from a spot less than three-rod lengths from the bank. Careful hookbait placement and a constant trickle of bait was the key to success and a method that in the extreme winds we had on that session could be used time after time, something that would have been nigh on impossible if I had been fi shing to the usual long-range spots from the swim I was fi shing. This is just one example of how the margins can be one of the best places to look and bait, no matter how large the water to be fi shed.

The urge to cast to the horizon is sometimes hard to resist, especially if carp are showing well out in open water, but please try to spend just a little time searching any close-in spots for signs of feeding carp, or spots that have been recently fed on. The last advantage to close-in baiting is that if you are fortunate enough to have clear water on your venue, a regular supply of bait fed on some close-in spots can be visually monitored from the bank, giving you the heads up as to where the carp have been feeding or may be feeding next. Unless a boat is used to view the baited area, this same advantage will never be achievable at any sort of range.

oPen Water/longer range FisHingOn the larger waters there will come a time when we have no option but to fi sh at greater distances. The ability to cover the available water with more accuracy than other anglers is, in most situations,

a distinct advantage. This same statement is true for feature-fi nding and baiting – the angler who is competent with a marker rod, spod, throwing stick, or even a boat, will be able to make the most of a wider range of circumstances than one who, once the range exceeds his spodding comfort zone, simply reverts to single hookbait tactics. The only way around this problem is to carry a range of baiting equipment and to practise, and there is no better way to practise than when on recce trips or when baiting up, so always try to incorporate all aspects of baiting and feature-fi nding each time you visit the water.

Once a potential feeding area is identifi ed then it’s time to get some bait out. If you have been baiting up and know the lake, then this will help a great deal; if not then you have to hedge your bets, but the softly, softly approach never seems to let me down wherever I’m fi shing. Just because you are angling on a larger water, don’t be fooled into thinking that you must fi ll in as big an area as possible to maximise the chances of a carp fi nding the bait. Take your time and fi sh around any potential carpy-looking areas fi rst, because big waters can be very similar to smaller lakes, and the prime spots to fi sh can still be very tight indeed, especially if the water receives a lot of pressure. Try to establish exactly where the carp like to feed and then exploit these areas with a regular supply of bait and carefully positioned hookbaits. Also, please don’t forget how much sound and vibration can

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Crafty Carper 63

“Open space and a little mystery are two things the

larger waters can provide for adventure-hungry carp anglers”

Baiting Strategies - Part Two /// Ellis Brazier

A big thanks to Dave at Catch 22 Fishery in Norfolk for the use of the Island Swim for this feature.Check out www.catch22fishing.co.uk for more information on this top day ticket water.

Thanks

The small gravel hump produced the first fish for Ellis – this lovely mirror.

When visiting a new lake, find out what the going baits are and make sure

you take some with you.

PVA stringers are so rarely used these days – they are a great tactic to fool big carp.

travel through water, even when angling at range. The angler who respects and pays attention to how much noise is made will constantly achieve better results than one who ignores it.

ConClusionWell, I hope I have convinced a few of you to seek out a large water and give it a go. At first it may seem a little daunting, but once tried it is hard to return to smaller waters. For me, the constant chance of something different and unseen gliding in over my bait and starting to feed is so much more exciting than watching the carp I seek swim round and round a pond ignoring everyone’s bait. Open space and a little mystery are two things the larger waters can provide for adventure-hungry carp anglers.

To practise what I preach, this feature was shot live at one of my personal favourite large day ticket waters, Catch 22 in Norfolk. This water can really throw up the goods in spring because it boasts a huge stock of large carp, and as I have been fortunate to fish this water before at this time of year, my planning and approach was made easy – or so I thought! When I previously visited this water, spod mix delivered accurately tight to the far margin produced all my takes, so I was fully armed with the necessary mix

of hemp, pellet and small boilies. I had booked into the Island Swim, which gave me access to a large stretch of distant margins, and everything was set for a right royal large water hit. In reality things were much harder than I expected; the cold winter we have suffered has kept the water temperature well down for this time of year, resulting in the carp not yet visiting the marginal feeding areas. Instead they were still out in open water and feeding only gently on widespread patches of boilies. My first night and second day went by fishless and things looked grim for a carp for Jerry’s camera. An hour with the marker rod in open water searching for something

special eventually gave me what I needed, a small gravel hump surrounded on all sides by silt, which I baited with a small amount of Mainline’s Cell (the going bait on the fishery at the moment,

which I unashamedly poached from Jerry). The rest, as they say, is history, as that night produced carp for us both, and to reinforce what I have said, it took accurate feature-finding and application of a food source the carp recognised, fed in a way they wanted. This wasn’t the way I expected the carp to react, and I hope this seriously underlines the need to stay flexible with your approach to any water, whether large or small.

Be lucky when you’re on the bank next. Ellis. CC

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