By Sean Manning

Cyprinology^©  is a term that we use to describe anything related to the historical, biological or technical aspects of Carp Angling. Below are just a few extracts of the forthcoming Cyprinology^©  sections of the web site.

Baits and presentation

We are going to look at a number of presentations that can be used to trick a big carp into taking your hook bait. Carp are opportunistic and though the larger of the species are slightly more wary than their younger brethren, if they are pre-occupied in a food source, or something that they see to be a possible food source, then the chances of them making a mistake and taking your hook bait is far higher. A mixture of pellet and boiled baits are shown in the picture. This can be presented to the fish in a single PVA bag or alternatively the PVA bag can be fished over a light scattering of particles that cover a slightly larger area. The pellets are high attractant ACS pellets that break down over a period of time, giving off food signals to any localized fish and causing discoloration of the water. The boilies are presented over the pellet and so the fish, once being drawn into the swim, will suck up both the pellet and boilies in one go. It is this preoccupation with the free offerings and pellets in various stages of breakdown that will give the fish confidence in the food source, which in this case is a boiled bait. It is then far more likely to be less cautious and hoover up the hook bait.

Clips and Safety Rigs

With the increasing use of bolt / semi-fixed rigs that are popular with many carp anglers today, the issue of fish safety must be addressed and for a number of reasons.

The Carp ‘Safety Rig’ is something that the modern day carp angler is becoming much more aware of in the United States. These large fish can take many years to attain such sizes and a great deal of joy is experienced in the successful capture of one of these great fish. A few moments of thought in the preparation of your rig and set up will not only help preserve these large specimens for others to enjoy if they become snagged during the landing process...it will help you actually get the fish on the bank in the first place!

The invention of the safety clip has helped a great deal with aiding in this purpose.

A good example of the use of the safety clip and how it could help you land the fish of a lifetime could be as follows…You are fishing a heavily weeded area and hook a very large fish that proceeds to bury itself in weed during the fight. The lead wrapped within the weed will impair direct contact with the fish; therefore the pressure on the hook-hold will be greatly reduced, enabling it to shed the hook. A safety clip will shed the lead in this situation, allowing direct contact with the fish and increasing your chances of successfully landing the fish for a trophy photograph!

An example of how a safety clip could save the fish’s life would be in a situation where the line has been cut during the fight on a snag. The fish is now dragging around a length of line and a lead weight. The fish would eventually shed the hook, however if it becomes tethered due to the lead being snagged it will likely stress and could eventually die. Again in this situation the safety clip should release the lead allowing the fish to eventually shed the hook naturally.

Solar make an excellent semi-fixed safety rig with a small rubber stop and large ‘O’ Ring that allows the lead easily to be displaced should the rig become snagged in any situation.

Marker Rod set-up

The marker rod set up can be one of the most valuable tools to the Carp Angler. Its purpose is the same as that of a feature finder - to give you an idea of what lies beneath the surface of the bed of the lake or river and to determine the depth of the water that you are fishing and the possible locations of fish. The knowledge that can be obtained by spending some time in a swim with a marker rod can really pay dividends and make the difference between a session catching fish and one just sitting on the bank. From the bank-side the lake or river may look pretty much the same, but beneath the surface things can be a very different picture.

Attractants and stimulants  

There are many theories on the effect of both attractants and stimulants for Carp and the resulting effect on the feeding behavior of the species. Anglers for centuries have looked for the ‘special’ bait that gives them the edge to catch the larger fish and there has been a great deal of debate regarding the merit of both ‘Attractants’ and ‘Stimulants’ and how they actually effect the fish’s feeding behavior resulting in the angler improving his catch rate. We only have to visit a pay-lake to understand that anglers certainly do believe of the relevance and we all know first hand of baits that seem to be preferable to another at either a certain venue or certain time of the year. What attracts the fish to the bait and or stimulates it to feed or ‘try’ the bait in the first place…is it something that can be broken down scientifically? We hope to find out…

Carp feed to live, the same as all creatures but as humans they may well feed, not because they necessarily are ‘hungry’ and need the food to convert to energy, but because something stimulates them into wanting to try the ‘food’ or bait. There are products on the market now available that can be added to hook baits, some of which appear to have had a very positive effect on the angler’s results. What do these products actually do? Do they attract the fish to the feeding area (attractant) from afar or are the fish already within the feeding area stimulated to actually ‘feed’? We will look at this further…