Baits on a Budget Part 2 - Luncheon Meat
Following on from last month's look at Sweetcorn , this time it's the turn of Luncheon meat, another great carp catcher that is incredibly cheap but still very effective. Although an average cube of meat straight from the can is a fairly underused method as it is, here are a few tips and edges that can make it that extra special.
1) Go Large - One way of making your bait stand out from the crowd is to alter the size. In the past I've been amazed at the size of baits that even small carp can get into their mouths so don't be afraid to use anything up to a match box piece in size.
2) Riddle it - Another good way of using luncheon meat is to push a tin of meat through a maggot riddle, or carefully dice it up into very small slithers using a knife. This is a tactic that has been proving really successful on the match scene but its perfect for specimen carping to. Its brilliant for using in small pva bags with either a boilie or a piece of meat on the hook. Once the pva has melted you're left with a little pile of meaty shreds that any passing fish will struggle to resist.
3) Making the distance - One of the problems with using meat with a fine hair , and then trying to cast any distance is the hair slicing through the meat and the bait flying off. A good little dodge to solve this is to carefully push a small piece of stiff silicon tubing through the middle of the lump of meat you wish to use and then thread the hair through it. This seems to stop the hair material from cutting through the meat and hopefully will stop the bait from flying off on the longer cast.
4) Give it a flavour boost - Although effective on its own there is no reason why you can't add a flavour of your choice as an extra boost. Personally I just tend to add a small amount of flavour in a plastic bag with a few pieces of meat, blow air into the bag, twist the top and then give the bag a good shake for a couple of minutes. Leave the bag for a couple of hours if you really want the meat to soak up the flavours.
So why not give meat a try, especially if its not being used a lot on your local water. It might just be that something a bit different could provide you with a few more fish on the bank.
Catch of the Month - Naomi Freeman
 | This months catch comes from top up and coming young angler Naomi Freeman and from the photos it looks like she is having a great season so far catching plenty of fish from a number of different waters.( Image01.jpeg ) Naomi caught this 16lb 8oz mirror from Knotford lake in West Yorkshire. The fish fell to a surface fished pineapple pop-up on an inline controller set-up at 50yards range and Naomi kept spodding in mini koi pellets as free bait. |
This months catch comes from top up and coming young angler Naomi Freeman and from the photos it looks like she is having a great season so far catching plenty of fish from a number of different waters. Naomi caught this 16lb 8oz mirror from Knotford lake in West Yorkshire. The fish fell to a surface fished pineapple pop-up on an inline controller set-up at 50yards range and Naomi kept spodding in mini koi pellets as free bait.
 | Naomi has also managed this 14lb + common from another Yorkshire water, Kirkless Lagoon. This time the fish fell to a margin trap of critically balanced Vanilla flavoured maize, fished over the top of 2 handfuls of hemp and 10 free grains of maize. |
Naomi has also managed this 14lb + common from another Yorkshire water, Kirkless Lagoon. This time the fish fell to a margin trap of critically balanced Vanilla flavoured maize, fished over the top of 2 handfuls of hemp and 10 free grains of maize.
Top Tips - Float fishing for Carp
Like many of you reading this my memories of my first ever fishing trip (apart from huge birdnests of line and tangles) is sitting and watching a float while hoping that some suicidal perch or roach would make a mistake and hang itself on. I think for me it was that buzz of watching the float and the building sense of expectation that got me hooked on fishing. However float fishing doesn't just have to be for smaller species, it's a great way of catching carp to, especially if you fish a water were the carp regularly visit the margins. So here's a few tips for float fishing for carp,
1) Dawn or Dusk raid - Often the best time to find fish in the margins is around an hour either side of first and last light. By traveling light with a float rod it is often possible to spend only a couple of hours at the lake and bag yourself a bonus fish.
2) Bait a few spots - If the lake you are fishing isn't to busy it is often worth sneaking round and placing a couple of handfuls of bait in any likely looking spots. Then fish for an hour or so in one place and if you don't see any signs of fish you can always go and try one of the other baited spots.
Hopefully the fish will have come in and fed on the bait you put in and you should get a response fairly quickly.
3) The cloud - This is a technique that I often use when margin fishing. It involves adding lots of water and liquid to a bucket of groundbait to make an incredibly stodgy and sloppy mess. Its just possible to throw this watery mixture a rod length or two but when it hits the water you get a fantastic cloud effect as particles of groundbait spread out in all levels of the water column. This can really attract fish especially if they are cruising in the area, however at the same time it provides minimum food apart from your hookbait for the fish to eat.
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