Hello there,

The lake I fish is about 2acres in size, one side fairly weedy and about 6-8ft of water and the other is silty with depths of 10-14ft, both sides are very rich in natural foods, the issue i am having is that the carp in the lake are not really coming out off the bottom to what I am doing, and seem to be caught more regularly off the top which is what i have caught a lot of them with. But I am wondering why they do not seem to come regularly off the bottom, or at all, I have tried many different methods and had a few but never really got on them, as have anyone else, has anyone else encountered this problem?.. any advice or oppinions much appreciated, thankyou.

What methods and baits have you tried? Have you managed to locate any natural feeding spots?
The weedy area would be a good place to start as it holds lots of food, dependant upon the gear you're using

Sounds like it may too rich or barren...ie ignoring bait offered as it's to obvious and are waiting for it to "wash out".

What's in the weed from the weedy side ? nymphs,caddis,larvae etc ? or is it dark brown and stinking ?

Is it an estate lake ? or a gravel/sand type extraction ?

Prebaiting will gain their confidence,it's only a small pit and the fish will be well acute of their surroundings and more importantly the food available. Hemp,pellet and crushed bait's to start,maybe 6 - 8 spots around the lake in the edge a couple of times a week,easy to check and bait,cheap to,see if the spot's glow,and if youre not on T1 get on it....hahahahaha

j.







J.

find the deepest margin possible..the deepest swim nearest in on the whole lake..fill it in with hemp and maize...for weeks and dont let anyone see you doing so..fish elsewhere and keep an eye on your area...
in the weedy part..preferably the thickest up to the surface weed...18 mm`s...plenty of em,gatted with whopper dropper..preferably compact to 30 yards and wait for the weed not to be there one day or water seriously discoloured..
inbetween the methods above fish normally where the fish crash...if you take fish on floaters..paste up some pops and gat em out,make em big...fish paste on the bottom round cork..enjoy!

I have tried all manner of baits and methods, from artificial corn which worked well to meats, bread, maggot, caster, corn, maize etc.. as boilies and nuts are not allowed! I have used these with leadcore and leap clip systems to tubing and a feeder.. the best method that’s worked so far and in past is meat and corn, on a simple leadcore, leadclip set up.

Yes, sometimes the fish are really bubbling up, and I get loads of liners and bangs on the rod but no takes,/bites, it’s as if my bait isn’t even there?

As in the weed situation in the shallow side the weed is quite rich with bloodworm and larvee, and in the deep side especially down one end of the lake in the deep bay it is dark brown and very stinky, which can’t be good? But the fish are feeding over it cause of the amount of feeding activity, even without my loose bait out there?


The lake is a gravel pit.

Yeah I really would like to give a little baiting campaign in the next following weeks, and winter, as it's renound for being hard in the winter.
Thank you very much for the advice there, will deffinatly try the baiting a few spots to see, the margins are very deep, but with my polars should be able to see, have to put them amoungst the lilles so others cannot see..

Paste on a cork ball is something i have thought of but never tried, will try that one next time, should hopefully get over there this weekend so will try these methods out!!

Thankyou all very much for your information/advice, much appreciated and will try these out when i'm next out.