If you are a carp angler then the coming of September and the first red and orange tinges of autumn are usually a welcome sight. Those long, hot days of summer are almost over and although the floater gear can probably be packed away for another 8 months the carp will getting their heads down and packing the weight on. Much as I enjoy the summer sun, the finicky feeding and tendency for the carp to be pretty uncooperative can become a bit frustrating after a while and by August I always find myself longing for those big wet south westerlies and needing a brew to keep warm, instead of looking for somewhere shady to avoid getting burnt! As the autumnal seasons draw in and the big low pressure systems track north bringing rain and welcome winds with them you just know the carp will be well on the munch. Looking out of the window now the trees are being smashed around as they are buffeted by the wind and the rain is hammering on the glass, I’m warm and cosy sat at my desk on my PC with a brew but I can’t help but feel I should be out on the bank, sheltering from the elements waiting for an autumn whacker, I bet I know where they are today too. The natural food supplies are diminishing and the carp know they need to bulk up before the onset of winter so after a couple of months of sustained feeding and the usual big influx of bait they will be approaching their peak weights and prime condition.

As for my own fishing this autumn, it’s been a busy one and I’ve been on the bank most weeks for a couple of nights, squeezing an extra night or two in when it’s looked really good. I always try to make the most of this time of year and looking back most of my good fish have been caught around this period. September didn’t let me down and was very productive on my target water with a few good ‘uns seeing the bank, the two best being mirrors of 38 and 38.08 with a number of other thirty and twenty pounders. With regards to my tactics it’s been really simple. First and foremost, as always, has been location and by keeping my eyes peeled for showing fish and staying mobile I’ve managed to put myself on fish regularly, if you’re not on them you won’t catch them, simple as that! Sometimes just the sighting of one fish at first light has led to another two or three being caught from that spot and when fishing blind in the open water areas I can’t emphasise enough how important fish sightings can be.

As for my bait approach, I’ve been applying a ‘food’ bait all summer, trying to keep at least 5-10 kilos a week going in and it has paid off in the last few weeks with a few bonus fish when the lake has been slow. Because of the huge shoals of 6-10lb bream I’ve been baiting with large 18 and 20mm Fusion boilies and using a throwing stick to create a nice spread for the carp to graze over, rather than baiting tight little areas and making it difficult for myself. By getting the carp moving from bait to bait you can make things far easier for yourself in terms of actually hooking them. I like using proper bait and simple rigs and I’ve always found it tends to turn up the bigger carp on a more regular basis than using a particle/pellet approach, the carp seem to know they can get more benefit from a quality bait at this time of year too.

Being a member of Team Tribal, I’ve also been out and about testing the new rods and reels and with distances of just over 200 yards with the 12ft 3lb XT-A’s and 12lb Catana mono loaded on Power Aero 10000’s they certainly seem to be up to the job! Product development meetings and trade shows have also kept me busy and with a trip to France as part of the ‘Team Korda Euro Challenge’ and upcoming features for Total Carp looming in the next few weeks it looks like I will be kept busy for a few more weeks yet. Hopefully not too busy though as my target water is renowned for producing carp well into the winter so I will be fishing hard all the way through into the new year hoping one of the real big girls shows up, you never know, she might just go 50! Until next time, be lucky and may your next carp be your best!