Carp Fishing Holidays in Devon

Welcome to the latest instalment of the Cofton fishery blog. If you can remember, in the last blog you joined me back in the scorching hot months of summer. The fishery was alive and the summer holiday anglers were out on the banks in force. The summer seasons, weekly residents matches, produced some great bags of fish. Along with some spectacular bigger specimens caught by pleasure anglers. Our fishing coaching sessions, which were run twice a week in conjunction with National Fishing Month, also produced some fantastic fish. As well as some promising anglers for the future. As a result I would like to thank everyone who took part in both our family fishing fun days and our resident matches. With the growing support for these events we are able to develop year on year. To build on this we already have a new exciting showcase event in the pipeline for spring time next year. Keep up to date with the blog throughout the winter months where all shall be revealed.

In search of Cofton’s carp…

As we are now well and truly into autumn, like the seasons the fishing is changing and so must our approach. The autumn season can have a moody effect on the fishing and in order to keep putting fish in the net we need to adapt our tactics, something that many anglers don’t do. Simply we have to stop, think and regroup. Throughout the summer season these fish see a lot of bait and generally a lot of the same baits. Over the period of less than a week with schools reopening for another term, the volume of bait that is going into the lakes is reduced by nearly half, combine this with temperatures dropping lower and lower with every night that we encroach upon winter and it becomes clear why the same methods that we were catching on in June and July are no longer producing as many fish.

Recently I have been able to put some hours in on the bank, tailoring my search after some of the bigger Cofton Carp. Although the autumn season isn’t as prevalent as it is in the summer, like the spring it can be a vital window in the angling calendar where you are likely to put some big specimens on the bank. With only having fished four sessions so far chasing the big boys I have already identified where both myself and some over anglers may have been going wrong in our approach for this time of year. Through observing feeding patterns across all lakes the differences are noticeable but equally the similarities amongst them all are clear to see.

Carp Fishing Holidays

Here are 3 top points to consider when targeting the big carp at Cofton;

The bigger stock tend to avoid larger beds of bait. In the summer months you can expect to have to give them the feed, but currently at this time of the year small amounts of freebies around the hook bait are definitely the way forward. During the last session I fished I wanted to put this theory to the test so I located a single hookbait presentation on a spot which I know produces carp of all sizes. On this same spot I had gone about many approaches before, trying figure out how to entice a better stamp, I had tried prebaiting and caught loads of fish but non of any size. I had fished small PVA bags and noticeably caught bigger fish. With this in mind I presented a single standard 16mm bottom bait and instantly saw a result, within 20 minutes of presenting the bait a 17lb long mirror graced my net. Although not one of the big big boys I am chasing to see such an instant result like that is staggering.

Smaller hook baits. Using multiple smaller hook baits rather than one big bait. Not only from my own angling experiences but catch reports from other anglers seem to also produce the bigger specimens. 14mm Bait tech Poloni dumbbells have been working particularly well for me recently, as a little bonus tip for me personally I have caught all my fish in the last few sessions on standard bottom baits.

Observe the obvious areas. Obvious spots such as reeded areas can be great holding spots for carp but they are targeted by many anglers and don’t necessarily hold feeding fish. By observing and trying to locate areas and spots for feeding fish will not only produce you more fish but may also throw up a few bigger weary ones too.

Click Here – for more information on course fishing holidays at Cofton.