Bait

Spring - The biggest mistake people make in spring is to fish it like it’s summer or autumn; arriving hell bent on fishing at range in 22-25 feet of water over 20kg of bait. We are not saying the longer-range spots in deeper water won’t produce, but the bait and baiting situation needs to be scaled down. A mix of our particles and chopped boilie, introducing just a couple of kilos to get you started. If you have a productive marginal spot, that is definitely worth a rod as you may well be in 13-15 feet of water instead of 22-25, which can make a big difference. 

Zigs - If you do fish one rod on a zig, please use barbless hooks, a minimum of 11lb line for your hooklink and be sure to dump the lead on every bite. Black foam still gets most bites, sometimes topped with a flash of red or yellow. Adding Goo or a glug can get extra bites. Frequent recasting with that one rod can pay dividends. 

Summer/Autumn - Peak feeding season for the fish and the time of year where they usually come to bigger beds of bait. With the extra fish in the lake people have under estimated how much bait they will eat when they turn up on you. We advise at least 5kg to get you started and if you are catching the smaller fish, increasing it to 7-8kg will often satisfy them and leave plenty for their bigger friends.

We recommend a top-quality fishmeal such as Mainline Link, introduced by Spomb or if the weed is low; the throwing stick. You can also mix some of our pellet through at a 50/50 ratio if you are on a budget. The fish love our pellet, having seen tonnes of it introduced to the lake. The addition of some Hemp Oil, Fossoil or liquid food can also add that extra bit of attraction.

That said, not all the swims respond well to a heavy baiting approach. The corner swims can be as productive as open water, but quite often you don’t get as much passing fish traffic. 2-3 kg initially with a wide spread is a much better option in these swims. The golden rule for all the swims is only bait for a maximum of three days, then stop and wait for the fish to turn up. Continued baiting every day can ruin your swim if the fish are not clearing it up.

Winter - Scientific studies show that carp need a different diet in winter. Their protein requirement drops, fat stays similar, but carbohydrates increase significantly. Our own Maize and Hemp along with chopped and crumbed Mainline Cell boilie is the number one tactic, and in combination with Mainline Essential Cell is a real winner.

Any lower protein/higher carb boilie like a nut or bird food mix will work well. Please don’t bring fishmeals like Baitworks or Sticky Krill for example, as they are both great baits that catch loads here in summer, but in winter they will literally gel-up inside the fish and cause them to lay dormant for long periods. 

Sweetcorn is also an excellent winter bait and recently it has really kick started the fishing. You can bring your own, the canned stuff is far tastier than the frozen. Catering suppliers and cash and carry outlets sell it for about £2 per kilo in bulk tins. If you bring it with you, please show it to the bailiffs when you arrive.