Please allow me to introduce myself. My name is Daren Welton and Total Carp has asked me to run a blog about my fishing exploits over the next few months. This will be updated on a fortnightly basis and hopefully you should be able to follow me and get a pretty good idea of what I get up to.


Before we start, here is a brief insight into my carp fishing background:
I started carp fishing 30 years ago, at the ripe old age of 12, and I knew then that I had found a side of fishing that fascinated me. Back then doubles were big fish, twenties were monsters and don’t even go there with thirties and forties.

My dad was the main influence in my carp fishing, he used to make his own HNVs and I’d watch him formulate recipes that totally confused me! Even then the flavours and combinations of some of his baits were amazing. He was a very good angler and I learnt well. He would show me when and how to apply bait in certain areas, his watercraft was good and I received a good grounding in this skill at a young age. Looking back, it was probably one of the best edges that he gave me.

We started fishing local waters in the Bedfordshire area, like Shefford Angling’s Airman Pit and Willington, Pools Cafe (now Withy Pool) and Elstow to name but a few, and a lot of good carp anglers cut their teeth on these venues, including a certain Mr Wilson, Maylin, Renyard and suchlike.
I progressed in the same way as others around me but there was a lot more secrecy back then and any new knowledge was hard earned. I managed to catch in order my first double, twenty and eventually thirty, so it was a good grounding and made me appreciate carp in all shapes and sizes.
I use the knowledge and experience built over time in my carp fishing week in, week out (one night a week if I’m lucky!)

Rigs and methods depend totally on fishing conditions and these can vary depending on the situations that I find myself in.

I’m boilie fishing more than ever, spreading bait over areas, loving the way this makes the fish feed. It really does aid the rig presentation so much (Tails Up all the way ). I have a rig that I’ve been developing for a while with very good results/hook-holds (it absolutely nails ’em!) but that, as they say, is for another day.

Now that you know a bit about me I would like to bring you right up to date by telling you of my progress so far this winter.

Having spent the summer on my syndicate water (Monk’s Pit), I decided that I would continue with my fishing on there for autumn and early winter because this water does have form for producing later in the year.

To be fair, I have struggled to really get among the fish this year, mainly due to work commitments and generally just not having the time. The majority of my fishing is based around short sessions and I tend to squeeze one overnighter in a week if I’m lucky, so I find myself always trying to compete with anglers who have a lot more time at their disposal.

This is good in a way because it makes me work a lot harder at my fishing and I seem to get a lot more out of it, so, horses for courses, as they say.

My main approach for this time of year is always very mobile. I won’t go into the basics of what you should and shouldn’t do because this subject has been covered millions of times. I will just outline my approach; bearing in mind that this is a blog and not a full-blown article.

I would rather walk a lake for as long as it takes to find any signs of Mr Carp. Location becomes so much more important in the colder months and finding fish can make all the difference on that particular day and also aid the start of a campaign.

You would surprised at how many anglers I see just turning up and fishing what I call blind. It could be that their favourite swim is free (normally next to the car park) or someone has caught from this swim recently and suchlike. The latter could be a positive because, depending on when the fish were caught, this could determine their location and actually turn out rather fruitful. The question is why are they there? What is holding them there? And how long have they been there?

These are all factors that need fast answers and will in turn hopefully lead to more fish on the bank. You need to react quickly to capitalise on your findings before somebody else does. I don’t think carp fishing has ever been more competitive than it is right now, so my advice is to think on your feet.
Anyway, back to my fishing. More and more grubs (maggots) were being introduced on a weekly basis and, going on past experience, only one thing really happens on this water when they start going in – so forget boilies and join the crowds! I have tried to persist with good food baits when this has happened but I’ve been banging my head against a brick wall. They tend to get totally tuned into the grubs for a few weeks and then the lake switches off for everybody. If you can’t get a bite on maggots you might as well go home and forget it.

I managed to pick up a few fish on Richworth’s Tutti-flavoured maggots, fishing small stockings with small multi-coloured pop-ups and one fake maggot as hook bait.

Since then I’ve had a few trips on more local waters that I am going to concentrate on this year, mainly just plumbing up areas and getting all my homework done before they start to get busy. This can be a real edge and having all the distances, depths, features and horizon markers noted in my trusty old black book makes fishing and baiting these spots so much easier when time is at a premium. Often when fishing these waters and finding showing fish I can work out why they are showing in certain areas and what features they are showing over. This helps in rig choice, line lay and accuracy, all little one per cents that add up and make you more successful. In this game, effort really does equal reward in the long run.

Follow me on a regular basis and hopefully I can put some quality fish together, highlighting all the methods and tactics that I use on these busy commercial waters.

Until then, happy hunting.