How To Consistently Catch Really BIG Carp | David Rosemeier
Want to know how some anglers seem to catch the biggest carp in the lake, no matter where they go? Whilst a bit of luck almost certainly plays apart, our German carp fishing maestro David Rosemeier has some advice that will help you stack the odds in your favour when hunting those monster fish. Just as it did for him with his personal best...
If you scour social media, you will inevitably come into contact with a large number of big fish. They usually look huge in the pictures, while the angler behind them is almost completely obscured by their catch, generating likes, comments and the kind of ‘traffic’ that many an inclined reader would like to see on their profile.
But, how do a growing and substantial number of carp anglers manage to catch such consistently large fish? And can the catch of such a giant, perhaps even a new PB, be planned?
As a rule, this question can be answered with a clear ‘YES’! Find out why in the following lines...
THE RIGHT WATERS
The first step to catching a huge carp is known to be the most difficult and begins with a lot of research work, because big fish don't swim in every club pond.
In my case, I already knew of a few good fish and one particularly large fish - probably one of the largest carp in Germany at times - which was at home in a medium-sized quarry pond. A fish for which any form of commitment would be worthwhile.
This was a convenient starting point for me, otherwise I would have had to trawl through countless forums, read specialist literature or search for information on the World Wide Web. As many a significant capture has shown, fishing colleagues or locals can also provide crucial tips from time to time - especially abroad, an exchange with like-minded people is often very valuable. But, let's stick to my favourite quarry pond for now.
In my case, the hunt for the big fish in my target water went hand-in-hand with joining a new club. This is often a balancing act, as I only join clubs if I can get involved. Work assignments and, above all, helping to organise the digital presence of clubs is often met with great approval among the board members. In this case, I was lucky and joining happened without any major incidents. An exceptional case, as many clubs in my region have restrictions on new members. Long waiting lists and a little bit of luck are the rule rather than the exception.
WANT TO IMPROVE YOUR CARP FISHING? DON'T MAKE THE MISTAKES EXPLAINED IN THIS ONE MORE CAST ARTICLE.
PLANNING THE CATCH
Planning the catch of the coveted big fish or target fish in the calendar with a head start sounds crazy, but I have often done well with this approach in the past. For me, the spring before the spawning season and traditionally the autumn is the most exciting time to hunt for large carp, which are at their absolute top weight at this time.
In recent years, the winter months have also been interesting for the first time, as the big fish continue to forage in winter under certain conditions and circumstances. At this time of year, you are fishing virtually without any competitors and the fish do not experience any fishing pressure, which experience has shown can prove to be a big plus point.
The biggest fish in my target water had been caught several times in spring years before. It goes without saying that I prioritised this time of year and opened the hunt for the big fish at the beginning of April.
LEARN MORE ABOUT CATCHING FISH PRE AND POST SPAWNING IN ANOTHER FANTASTIC CARP FISHING ARTICLE BY DAVID ROSEMEIER.
INFORMATION IS KEY
Firstly, I had to gather all the information I could. When was a particular fish caught and where, and can you recognise any kind of ‘pattern’? What did the fish feed on? Particles, boilies or did it sometimes fall for an instant pop-up? Questions upon questions that bring me a little closer to the hunt for a particularly large fish.
Areas of water where certain fish have been seen or caught are also worth their weight in gold in the proverbial search for a needle in a haystack. In practice, obtaining information usually looks different. I was only able to obtain sparse information from other anglers. In hindsight, all the better, as I didn't want to sit in a nest that had been made, but rather pave the way to the lake's inhabitants myself.
With this starting point, the work began for me. I spent many hours at the lake studying the behaviour of the carp and, of course, fishing occasionally. Every now and then I saw some of the weighty inhabitants feeding under an overhanging bush. Now it was all about the details. Do the fish feed close to the ground, do some drag their round bellies along the ground and rarely lift their heads? All information that is worth its weight in gold when fishing. Ultimately, this information can be used to derive findings for the bait, rig and overall presentation.
Of course, I didn't get to see all the fish in the water, but the first sessions quickly helped me to understand when the fish were where and whether larger fish tended to avoid an area. For example, I regularly caught freshly stocked mirror carp on a shallow sandbank rod and, as the icing on the cake, a rustic dark mirror carp, but there was no sign of the big fish. Not an ideal place to start targeting the top 5.
BIG CARP RIGS
I was already able to draw a few conclusions from the information I had gathered. Yes, there were a lot of smaller fish and also other munchers such as bream and tench to contend with. I cancelled the idea of using small, eye-catching traps to catch the big fish. Instead, rigs, food and hookbaits had to be adapted, but first things first... In my opinion, there is no classic "big fish rig" that only particularly large carp fall for.
Nevertheless, the big representatives among the carp have often not become so big because they have been caught particularly often, but because they are good at selection and possibly eat differently than their smaller representatives.
In my experience, safety clips have the major disadvantage that the fish have a certain amount of room to manoeuvre after taking the hookbait, until the pressure of the lead takes effect, making it easier for them to blow the rig out again. Inline rigs solve this problem. However, I only use them where there are no obstacles in the water.
FIND OUT DAVID'S FAVOURITE EUROPEAN BIG CARP RIG IN THIS ARTICLE
Apart from the food, you can really select the biggest carp with the rig. My Stiff Mono hooklinks may look clunky, but they have been consistently hooking big fish for years. Admittedly, I also had to get to grips with these wiry-looking rigs first. A great compromise solution has always been a Stiff Rig with a soft hair.
I make the hooklink length dependent on two factors. On the one hand, it varies depending on the bait used, but also on the ‘feeding style’ of the big fish. In my case, I observed some of them grazing a few square centimetres with relish before moving on. It was a memorable experience, as this observation made me favour shorter rigs - just like when fishing with particles.
BAIT AND HOOKBAITS FOR BIG CARP
For the first test sessions, I only used smaller baits that I would normally use when stalking. After all, carp can rarely resist balanced tiger nuts or small pop-ups, but they are less suitable for selecting big carp due to the many smaller competitors under water. Resistant hookbaits of 24mm and more are really selective, which is why I favoured these at a later stage.
In the meantime, I adapted the loosefeed to my tactics. Especially on heavily fished waters, it can make sense to leave the hookbait on the spot for 24 hours or even longer to minimise the amount of commotion. If you hook a small scupper every hour, it may be entertaining, but it is counterproductive on the way to the target fish.
A few washed-out big balls of 24mm or more near the hookbait should fool the fish into thinking that the food has been waiting for them at the bottom of the water for days and that they pose no danger.
PLASTIC BAITS ARE SUPERB AT AVOIDING SMALL FISH. HAVE A LOOK AT DAVID'S ARTICLE ON HOW TO USE THEM IN YOUR FISHING.
BIG CARP TACTICS
As already described, I was able to observe the fish feeding in their holding area on several occasions, but fishing in their ‘living room’ seemed counterproductive to me. Instead, I wanted to lure a few weighty takers to a spot not far from their pulling rod. Regularly throwing particles and boilies in mixed sizes onto a chosen spot - this is what many carp anglers imagine a feeding spot to be like. And it's true, the food in different sizes attracts lots of fish to the spot. Including carp, of course.
In order to make the spot interesting for large fish in the long term, calm must prevail in the medium term. No hectic groups of scaly carp or bream that frantically attack the food. I make a virtue of necessity and use bream, tench and the like to make the spot interesting for the carp too - a ‘food pyramid’.
But this spot had to be chosen first, as I didn't want to share it with other anglers. An inconspicuous, central spot, which other anglers tended to avoid due to the
pedestrians, seemed to me to be the perfect starting point. I was also able to present the rods perfectly in the targeted spot with a slight overhead cast.
The first feeding was particularly strenuous. Using a Spomb, scoop and casting tube, I spread a particle/boilie mix to activate the spot. Two days later I repeated the procedure, but reduced the amount of particles at the same time. Over time, towards the end of the campaign, only hard-dried 24mm boilies (or larger) ended up in the cool water.
I paid close attention to whether the food was being accepted and preferred to feed smaller quantities, but at shorter intervals.
HARD WORK BRINGS REWARDS
The food was eaten constantly for several days and the weather also played along. In other words, there were no sudden cold or heat waves and the air pressure remained constant. Now it was time for me to reap the rewards of my forage labor.
The first session on the prepared course was about to begin! With trembling fingertips, I dug out the Stiff Rigs I had already pre-tied at home with large Snowmans from the tackle box and tied them to the rig. Anyone fishing on a feeding spot for the very first time knows what this moment feels like. If you've done everything right, the fish are already down there waiting for more! However, this only came in the form of hookbaits.
Even though I would have liked to end this story with a lot of praise, I'll cut it short at this point. After just a few hours on the water, I caught my first fish, which also turned out to be the biggest fish in the lake!
With plenty of time to prepare, big fish fishing is absolutely predictable. The only important thing is to have an eye for detail and pay attention to external circumstances in the form of other anglers or the weather and, of course, the fish. Have fun trying it out!
Despite his young age, author David Rosemeier is already an integral part of the German fishing scene and has turned his hobby into his profession. David is passionate about the adventures he experiences on the bank and can always be found on the big waters in Germany and abroad.
