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Carp fishing is usually confined to the summer period. Nevertheless, even in October there is a chance to pull out a solid fish that has gained weight and is especially tasty in autumn. This attracts many fans of paid fishing, as there are usually big discounts on carp in autumn.
Factors affecting the autumn bite of carp
The most important secret of carp fishing in October, showing that there are chances for a bite, is neither wind, nor pressure, nor magnetic storms, nor the lunar calendar. This is the temperature of the water. Even when it drops to 10-12 degrees, it is quite difficult to catch carp. And if it is lower, then it is almost impossible. It gathers in large flocks in deep wintering pits – the so-called yatovs. There he spends the whole winter until spring, practically not eating and moving little.
Therefore, going on carp fishing, you should have a thermometer with you. You can pre-measure the temperature of the water in a similar reservoir with the one where they want to fish. Usually near the coast it is somewhat lower in October, and then, if the thermometer shows 8-10 degrees, fishing for carp is still possible. In recent years, there has often been a warm autumn, and you can catch carp until the end of October. In the middle lane, fishing for it ended around mid-October, and sometimes in September. In the lower reaches of the Volga, in the North Caucasus, in the Dniester, this fish is caught even in November during the warm season. However, everyone who talks about catching carp on ponds in winter from under the ice, about ponds where he pecks at a time when the coast has already gone and the water near the coast has already frozen, is at least fantasizing. Or it’s not about carp fishing.
On pay sites in Moscow, Leningrad and other regions, warm autumn is the only chance to catch carp in October. Usually already in September there have to close the season. It has been observed that naked carp remain active longer than carp with scales. Apparently, this is due to its domesticated nature. In the wild, the behavior of carp is due to the fact that in cold water you have to make a lot of effort in order to find food, and it is easier not to waste energy, but to save it until spring. And domestic carp, bred specially without scales, are usually well fed even at the end of the year.
Therefore, it remains active a little longer in cold water. Apparently, this is also the reason that naked carp take root better in abandoned carp areas, and even spawn and give growth without any care in northern conditions. True, fishermen and poachers usually quickly find it there and catch it clean. Nevertheless, those who decide to start carp farming in cold places should pay attention first of all to mirror carp and crucian carp, and not to carp with scales.
On paysites, where compound feed is actively used, it is possible to catch carp longer than on canals, rivers, where it lives in natural conditions, but does not feed. However, nature still prevails, and with the arrival of autumn frosts, all fishing for carp is canceled. You can only catch crucian carp, which usually lives in the same places as carp, but lives in the coastal zone. In places where the water is warm, for example, where there are industrial effluents that are warm but safe for humans, carp can be caught even in winter.
An important role in catching carp in autumn, especially in late autumn, is played by the presence of food in the water. What do carp eat? Autumn fish feeds mainly on worms, fairly large insects that have fallen into the water. The requests of the fish become more carnivorous, it can even eat fry of small fish species. Worms and insects form the basis of its diet. They enter the water in cold weather from the soil. The earth begins to cool, and the worms go to the depths. Where it has rained, groundwater often flushes it into the water. And they themselves, making moves, often crawl along the bottom of the reservoir.
Aquatic insects, their larvae, mosquito larvae are also a good source of food. Carp at this time prefers them to all sorts of smaller organisms, which he fed in spring and summer. At that time, he did not even disdain vegetable shoots, but now his interest is riveted to more nutritious, high-calorie, protein foods.
It has been noticed that in autumn you can catch the largest carps. Such individuals are active longer. Anglers looking to catch trophy should pay close attention to fall fishing. It happens that just before the cold snap, large carp have periods of especially strong biting, when you can catch more than one handsome carp weighing more than ten kilograms per day. Many canals dug in the south, reservoirs, thickets of reeds in the lower reaches of the Volga, Don, Taman estuaries, lower reaches of the Dnieper – all these reservoirs abound with large carp! It is here that you can take your soul to a true connoisseur, who has a chance in October to catch a record fish for the whole year. October is perceived by carp as one of the last months of activity.
Fishing methods and bait
Three methods are considered traditional when catching carp:
- Carp bottom tackle
- Feeder
- Floating rod
There are all sorts of other ways to fish with lines, homemade carp rigs with hooks, bottom carp fishing with many rods, but all of them almost eliminate the possibility of fishing on the principle of catch and release, and also much less sporty. The lines are generally set with violations, many times exceeding the allowed number of hooks per angler, even if the lines are set together, and this is more like industrial harvesting of fish with varying success.
Fishing for carp involves the use of bait. Of course, in cold water, carp will react much less to it. But we are not talking about fishing in ice water when the carp does not bite, is it? Up to 10-12 degrees, the bait continues to work normally, actively attracting fish. And even when the temperature drops, it will work not to attract, but to retain fish. Passing by and finding a feeding area, the carp will simply linger on it longer, eating food, and there will be a chance to get it on the hook. And if there is no bait, then the chance to notice a small boilie or bait on the hook will be minimal, and the carp will simply pass by without stopping.
From bait, dry, as well as various cereals are traditionally used. Carp responds well to soybean cake, makuha. Edible soy sauce is a very effective flavoring additive that carp is well suited for in the fall. You can also use well-steamed peas, mashed potatoes in bait, corn porridge, bran, and other additives. Their effectiveness very much depends on the reservoir where they fish, as well as on the preferences of the fish in a particular place. As elsewhere in fishing, you have to look, experiment, try … Well, if you find it, then they catch it in a proven way, using proven bait.
The effectiveness of bait, especially in autumn, increases with the addition of an animal component to it, as well as large particles such as pellets, corn kernels, compound feed for livestock. The fact is that the carp instinctively looks for large particles at the bottom and is not very tempted to rummage in a smeared bait spot, even if it smells good. He tries not to burden digestion too much in cold weather, so that less silt gets into the stomach with food, and takes into his mouth only what seems to him the most delicious. Therefore, pellets, worms, maggots added to the bait are able to keep it for a long time, and in the bait spot formed by one extruded dry bait, which has collapsed to the state of a liquid slurry, it will stand, but, not finding large particles, it will leave. The animal component is also good because it moves at the bottom and this also attracts fish.
Carp tackle fishing
Carp tackle of the English type is not as common in our country as a feeder, and even more so a float rod. Nevertheless, such tackle is the most suitable for catching carp both in current and in still water. It involves the use of various types of rods for baiting, for marking the place of fishing and exploring the bottom, and directly for fishing separately. All of them are similar in appearance – this is a rod 2.5-4.2 meters long with an inertialess reel, but they have serious differences in structure and equipment. Carp fishing in October on a pond or on a paysite is usually done in the classic English carp way. This method is also used in November and December.
It is customary to distinguish between marker, spod and working rods. The marker rod is designed to explore the bottom of the reservoir in order to determine promising areas, pits at depth, identify the nature of the soil, etc. It is equipped with a special marker sinker and only a cord, as well as a marker float. After the bottom has been explored and a good site has been found, the distance to the casting site and a landmark are noted so that it can be repeated, and a marker float is placed. They cast the rod again in the same place and feed on the marker float.
For fishing, they put a working rod with carp equipment. It is a sliding sinker of the carp type, to which a leash with a hook and a fishing line are attached. Sometimes a “method” type feeder is used instead of a regular sinker, but the classic is a regular weight without a feeder, because initially a large amount of bait is expected, which can be cast with a spod rod, and the feeder in this case will not be as effective. You can watch the video below and enjoy the moments of bites.
Here it is of great importance how to properly deliver the bait to the point of carp fishing. If fishing takes place far from the shore, in the middle of the pond, the classic carp cast is to let the load fly a little over the marker float. Then the nozzle is pulled up to the level that is set with a special marker on the fishing line. They use marker rubber or dye markers, the first is suitable for a cord, the second if a monofilament is used. This method allows you to accurately catch in a strictly defined place that was baited. The feeder has a slightly different technology for achieving casting accuracy, and it consists in clipping the fishing line on the reel.
Classic carp equipment hair. A special hair leash is attached to the hook, and a boilie is installed on it – a special floating nozzle. Boilies can be purchased at the store or made independently. There are many subtleties in the preparation of boilies. In fact, a hair rig is a boilie that floats in water, attached to a hook by a hairline, and a hook that hangs just below the boilie held by the hair. The carp quickly finds such a bait and takes it willingly. He swallows the boilie, takes it down his throat without feeling the hair. The hook in this case is located in the area of his lips, and he, trying to spit it out and at the same time swallowing the boilie, usually self-locks.
When fishing on a “method” type feeder, the boilie is initially pressed into it along with the feed. Since the feeder is open, when the feed is washed out, it jumps out of the bait and pops up. Under water, this creates a characteristic sound that is heard by the fish, and it takes the bait.
It is worth mentioning the main feature of reels for carp fishing is the presence of a baitrunner. A carp weighing more than 5 kg can easily drag the rod far into the water, and the angler will lose both it and the catch. And such instances are not uncommon.
This type of English carp fishing is classic, it is practiced on large open reservoirs with stagnant water, pay sites. In our conditions, carp are often caught in the current, not very far from the shore. For example, in numerous channels of a shipping or irrigation system, in rivers. In such places there is current, and the marker float will not be as effective as in still water. In addition, the fishing distance is usually short. You can get by with a shorter rod without a shock leader and a long casting system. Yes, and food can be done simply by hand, throwing balls with bait.
Such a simplified version allows you to manage with only one rod. When fishing in the Astrakhan region in the rivers of the Volga, in the reeds and reed ducts, it is very effective. It can be tested in the canals of the Krasnodar Territory, in the tributaries of the Volga, Don and other reservoirs of this type, where it is not far from coast to coast. If they want to catch carp in the current at a longer distance, then feeder fishing is more suitable.
Catching a feeder
Such fishing is the most favorable when carp are caught at a distance of more than 30-40 meters from the shore in the course. A fairly stiff hard rod is used, even when not too heavy weights are used. Firstly, such a rod will allow you to throw even not very large spod feeders into the fishing spot, making a large starting feed quickly and efficiently. Secondly, such a rod will allow you to cope with weighty carps, the weight of which can reach more than 15 kilograms, and they resist very actively when playing.
You can use a traditional feeder, or you can use a method feeder. The latter is preferred for fishing with hair rigs and boilies. With a conventional feeder, traditional feeder installations are often used – paternoster, inline, symmetrical loop. When using a line, it is also desirable to use a shock leader, since the line on the shock leader dampens the jerks of the fish with its elasticity. Of course, it is necessary to be able to put two feeders: for feeding, more, and for direct fishing, not so big. The traditional feeder is often used in autumn fishing for worms, beetle larvae or other animal baits, for example, when carp are caught on shrimp. In some places, biting is most effective on just such a bait.
Fishing on a carp feeder allows you to expand the capabilities of this gear. For many feeder anglers, catching carp in autumn means catching the biggest fish of the season, as the size of autumn carp is impressive. The feeder has some drawbacks compared to the carp rod, but in general it allows you to catch carp on large rivers more efficiently than other tackle.
Floating rod
The most beloved and traditional tackle in any region of the CIS. Carp on a float is an unforgettable experience! Both carp and crucian are caught in autumn, and when the water cools down enough, the rod can be reconfigured from catching larger carp to smaller carp in the same places. By itself, a long rod allows you to feel well all the jerks of the fish in the water, all its behavior on the hook. And the float – even track down to the smallest detail how the carp will peck.
As it is already becoming clear, you need to use very strong rods designed for carp fishing. Typically, this type of float rod has a slow action and is made of low modulus graphite. The length of the rod is up to six meters. A longer stick of similar strength will be difficult to handle, as it will have an incredible weight. It is also not recommended to use cheap fiberglass float rods. Not too cheap rods with ali, which are called carp, are best suited. In China, fishing for carp with a float rod is no less popular than in the CIS countries, and even more so. Their industry produces very good sticks suitable for this purpose.
The fishing rod must be equipped with rings and a reel. The coil can be taken both inertial and inertialess. Inertial is preferable because it will be easier to handle, it is able to withstand heavier loads and has a low gear ratio, which makes it easy to reel in the line if it was bled under the pressure of the fish. The rings on the rod must be of high quality, their legs must be completely covered with varnish and have no protruding parts. It is this rod that allows you to fish effectively in drizzling rain, when the line sticks to it, and in good weather.
The rod is equipped with a fishing line, a fairly well-marked float. It must be installed on the stand at such an angle that the carp could not drag it away, and it must be fixed somehow. It is simply impossible to keep such a stick in your hand all day long, so the stand is a must have, and not just any, but well thought out. Many anglers, after installing the rod, move away from the water so as not to frighten away the carp with their presence on the shore.
This is done not only by floaters, but also by carp fishermen. They assure that the carp sees well, and before starting to feed, they carefully look around to see if there is anyone on the shore. However, you don’t have to go too far. There is a risk of simply not seeing a bite on a float from a long distance and being late with hooking.
Tall
Boilies for float fishing are used less often and more often sinking ones.
What do carp catch and bite on in October?
Here, the priority is traditional float nozzles – worm, bread, corn, potatoes.
In some cases, hair rigs are used, especially if the carp is wary. The nozzle should be at the bottom or at a very small distance from it. In the presence of a small current, slightly drag along the bottom in front of the float.
A float rod when fishing for carp is the most convenient tool for strong places. It happens that among the thickets of reeds there is a window in which there is a fish. And the bottom of this window is also covered with grass. Or so you can catch in the lotus thickets in the lower reaches of the Volga. The float can be carefully thrown and placed between the leaves of plants, if necessary, it is almost always successful to get it. But with bottom tackle this will not work.
You can catch carp in October with a float rod not everywhere, but where you can throw it. Usually under the shore at this time there are many other fish, which for carp is an undesirable neighborhood, the same crucian. And large carp prefer to stay a little further. Therefore, for successful fishing, it is desirable to have a boat with you. A boat for a float angler is not only freedom of movement, but also a more significant catch. It makes it easier to play the prey, it is easier to pull it over the side than to pull it ashore. In this case, you can even do without a net.