September is always a month of change for me, with most summer species beginning to go off the boil, yet it still being a bit early to start winter campaigns, though the initial effort for these is already being put in place with several visits to plumb one particular large water, and some tackle preparation.
With water temperatures still high, I have been fitting in a few late season floater sessions on a couple local waters. I find that after the usual floater bonanza of May-June, many anglers stop using the method as the carp wise up, the result is that by early autumn consistent result can be achieved again, in fact I’d go as far as to say it’s always having even basic floater tackle with you throughout the year, as I’ve caught fish even in the depths of winter especially on shallow lakes in areas where they are basking in any winter sunshine.
Many people struggle with this method, which takes a little finesse to make the most of it. Starting with tackle, this season I have been using the 1.5lb multi feeder rods, matched to 10lb mainline, this outfit is powerful enough to tame any carp that swims yet soft enough to allow the use of light hook lengths that make the method much more successful. Controllers are fished semi fixed on a safety clip to allow quick change as I would expect to move swims and sometimes even lakes during a short session. My usual starting point is a 6ft hook length of either 6.6 or 7.8lb hi-tech line, which I treat with floating fly leader liquid, apart from the last 3 inches which is allowed to sink. The hook length culminates in a size 14 S3, this might seem a small hook but having landed carp to 45lb on this size I’m confidant of their strength.
Bait wise smaller floaters have always been a big edge for me, the ones I use are the Vitalin dog feed pellets which start at around 7-8mm swelling to around 10-12 in water, I find that these smaller baits tend to create a more aggressive feeding situation as the carp have to stay on the surface longer to eat several of the smaller baits as opposed to taking a single large mixer and disappearing. The temptation is always to start fishing as soon as the fish begin to take, but by building the fishes confidence through regular feeding, not only will it give you more chance of a result, but often allow you to bring the feeding fish closer to the bank, giving you the opportunity to pick the largest fish and present a bait to it.
Results have been very good over the recent short trips, with plenty of fish coming to the net including several cracking 20lb plus fish, proving it’s never too late to make the most of this most exciting of methods.
