Find The Deeps!

November generally marks the beginning of winter and with hard frosts setting in, the water temperatures really begin to plummet. Being poikilothermic, which simply means the carp rely on the external temperatures to regulate their own body temperature and metabolism, their natural behaviour will have them searching out the deeper spots, which will hold a much more constant temperature and a lot more comfortable parameters.

It is time to reach for the marker rod and start searching for these deeper holes. They can often be found between the shallow bars that produced the goods throughout spring and summer and will often be a lot more softer substrate, giving you a gliding sensation on the rod tip as opposed to the telltale tap, tap, tap of the hard gravel areas.

With regard to the natural foods present in the lake, bloodworm beds are often the last natural larders to be hit and, yes, you guessed it, these are generally located in the siltier areas. Without having plenty of experience, it can be quite hard to know if you are fishing among silt just by pulling the lead through, which is why with the simple addition of a scouring pad you can create a feature-finding ‘lead’ that will bring the bottom back to you for closer inspection.

Simply begin by cutting a small portion of the scouring pad (ensure they aren’t the pre-soaped variety) and fasten it to your lead. A small strip will suffice and this can either be glued to the lead or, even easier, cable tied, allowing you to renew the pad once it has become clogged with substrate. Have a cast around and you might just be surprised as to what you can trap in this DIY feature-finding ‘lead’.

Other products:

FishSpy

A simple idea that has bridged technology into a simple carp fishing tool. Basically, imagine a marker float with a camera to boot – that’s right. You really can see for yourself what lies beneath. Although it is a lot more expensive than a traditional marker float, if you can afford one it really will change or confirm the perception you have of the lake topography and substrate and will allow you to learn at a much quicker rate.

Deeper

Designed as a castable sonar system, the Deeper utilises ultrasound waves to discover the lake topography and transmit it right back to your phone or tablet. Presenting smart imaging technology it alerts you of substrate, depths, temperature, underwater structures and even fish. A few casts with this and you can soon map out your swim in detail while keeping your presence down to a minimum. Although you cannot cast them as far as a traditional marker float, what you will discover is in far more detail than you will have seen before.

Fish Hunter

Having had a play with one the last month, to say it is impressive would be an understatement. Consisting of military-grade sonar equipment the Directional 3D model boasts no less than five sonar transducers, which again give a detailed map of the bottom, temperatures and can be cast or trolled to help you draw an image of what you are fishing over. With a huge range of features, it will simply blow your mind as to what you can and will discover and you might just find the fish stacked up somewhere you would have previously overlooked.