Singling Out The Bigguns

On many well-stocked day ticket waters, selecting the better fish can sometimes be a tricky proposition. MARK PITCHERS reveals a few ways in which he sets about doing exactly that…On many day-ticket waters a 20lb+ carp is still among the bigger specimens

Do Your Research

There’s no doubting that the best way to find out anything about a venue is to check the angling media, social media and websites. This can be for all manner of information, but I use it to search out patterns in a particular fish’s captures. Certain fish can be quite territorial, creatures of habit in terms of the areas they frequent on a regular basis and, knowing these areas can give you a bit of a head start.Do as much research as you can before and during your session. (Mark finds Tinder to be his best source of information)

Once at the venue ask questions of the lake owner or bailiffs, as they’re the people who are at the lake every day and find out about all the captures. Remember, they want you to succeed on their venues and will usually be very open with information, so don’t be afraid to ask. Speak to lake owners and bailiffs for up-to-date catch information.

Sight Fishing

There’s no doubt that when you have a rig out at, say, 60 yards range, you cannot possibly see what’s going on around it and which fish are present. However, by fishing the margins and stalking, you can actually be quite selective. Get yourself around the lake with your polarising glasses on and search out signs of carp activity. Bait a few spots and then you can visit each in turn, actively targeting the specimens that you’re after. Many modern day-ticket lakes are former match fisheries and any match angler worth their salt will tell you how much the bigger fish like the margins!Get your polarising glasses on and go searching the margins where bigger carp love to patrol.

The same principle applies with surface fishing, which allows you to watch the carp approaching your hook bait and, in extreme situations, you can even whip the hook bait away from them if you want to wait for something a bit bigger! Stalking can be very selective when it comes to targeting the lake’s specimens.