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 How
to select a swim
OK ,so you have chosen
your carp fishing venue. You arrive there
early in the morning, everything looks perfect,
a mist hangs lazily over the water, there
is little breeze and the day is beginning
to warm up. You gaze out across the water
itching to get started. Where should you
start fishing? The swim right by the car
park so that you don't have to walk far?
The other side of the lake so that you are
not disturbed by other anglers arriving?
The quiet bay where you can shelter from
any wind later on or not get burned by the
sun? The big grass bank where you can spread
all of your gear out and not have to worry
about being tidy?
Walk around the lake before fishing
Assuming that the water is not
already packed with anglers, and that you
don't have to race for a swim before someone
else nicks it, then don't fish anywhere
yet. Leave the stuff in the car with the
exception of a pair of good sunglasses and
maybe a pair of binoculars if you have them.
Then have a look around the water. I always
like to walk the circumference of the lake
before deciding, investigating each swim,
even on waters I know. Why? To decide where
the carp will want to be. You have to almost
become the carp yourself. Think "where
would I want to be now if I was a carp".
It doesn't matter where you
will be most comfortable fishing. Well it
does to a certain extent, but you want to
be where you will catch fish, that is after
all what you came for. So start looking
around for signs of any fish movement. If
you see any, think "Can I present a
bait there?". Look out for those tell
tale signs like bubbles, fish stirring up
mud in the shallows, bumping against reeds
or lilies, you may even see carp swimming
in the shallows if you approach swims quietly.
Sometimes they can be seen swimming along
the surface and jumping out of the water.
But what if there are no signs
at all? This is especially likely in the
colder months. Then where do you fish. Well,
you need to look for features that are likely
to be holding grounds for carp. Things such
as lilies, reeds, the edges of islands,
and don't forget in the winter that lily
pads will have died back but are still there
under the surface and fishable if you are
careful. What if there are no visible features
to be seen? Then you are going to have to
take pot luck, and search for hidden features
once in your swim. Things such as bars and
channels. These can be found by using a
feature finding or marker float and investigating
different depths once in you swim. Dragging
a lead along the bed of the lake will tell
you what sort of lake bed it is, you can
actually feel gravel bumping of the soft
silt or weed beds.
 Wind
Direction
Weather can also play an important
part in fish location. Fishing into an oncoming
wind may be a little uncomfortable for you,
but it will be blowing all of the floating
debris and food on the surface straight
into your swim. This can bring good results
when floater fishing. Carp will also often
seek out the part of the water which receives
the first morning sun and the last evening
sun. These can result in good results at
the right time of day.
So remember, don't just chuck
your gear down in the first swim you see.
Give it a little thought. Take your time,
walk around, talk to others (but don't disturb
their fishing) A little forethought and
time invested can often produce a much better
days fishing.
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