Twelve months of carp fishing: December and January, winter is here.

Carp fishing changes significantly from December to January. However, a comparison between these two months helps to understand the changes that take place underwater during this time. December can still be seen as autumn fishing, where the carp are often still found in the spots where they were caught in late autumn. The angler with a long-term feeding spot still has the best cards and can now catch carp that are still eating their winter fat. Carp of all sizes can still be caught and you can enjoy their good condition and weight. However, carp that are not conditioned to feeding grounds already change their behaviour in December and swim in shallower water, as the deep spots and midge larvae fields of autumn have already been completely grazed. Now dead weed beds and shallow bank areas with natural food such as mussels, crayfish and snails become interesting again.

 

The amount of food can now be reduced to the absolute minimum, as you should try to catch carp in winter and not feed them. Their metabolism has simply slowed down too much with the single-digit temperatures and, with a balanced ratio of carp stock and food quantity, they hardly need any more food until spring. However, if you present them with a handful of food in the right place, they will help themselves a few times before they are so full again that they simply leave too much food or even simply swim away to a place where they are not bothered by anglers.

 

 

The fishing spot and the often very small spot for the rig where you can catch a carp are therefore much more important than the food. You can't feed too little, but you can very quickly feed a hand too much. Of course, the quality of the feed is still important. Unfortunately, you can't catch anything with great food in areas where there are no carp. The carp swim much less in the cold water temperatures and you now have to actively look for the carp again. And you can let your imagination run wild, because from mid-December and throughout the winter, there is no depth, no bay, however small, where you can't catch a carp. This is exactly what makes winter fishing so magical. The carp are often so close, but you rarely see them. They seem to come out of nowhere. At no other time of year is it so important to simply try things out, to know that you don't know anything and to give your intuition room to feel your way into the water, the conditions and quite simply the circumstances of the day and try out crazy things. It is best to place your rods as differently as possible until you find clues as to where the carp prefer to feed and can be caught. Because as I said, they swim far too little for it to be of any use to throw food in somewhere and wait until they come round. But be careful, give every spot and every spot where you have placed your rod a little more time than in warmer water temperatures, when you often know after a few hours whether a rod is lying well. In winter, it can sometimes take half a day or a day before you get a bite, even though the rod is spot on. Pole goggles, aquascope or camera help when searching for carp. The really best clues are fresh feeding holes in the mud.

 

 

The photos in this column are from a recent winter trip to the south of France, where I caught just one carp in nine days of fishing. Unfortunately, I also lost two, which was not only very annoying, but also due to the fact that I mainly got bites near obstacles and my winter fishing is more delicate. With thinner line, smaller hooks and leads and possibly a backlead two metres behind the bait to give the slow-moving carp as little chance as possible of recognising the ‘trap’. Because everything about carp fishing is more difficult in winter and you should try as best you can to shorten the waiting time for an action in order to find out more quickly how to achieve success despite the adverse conditions. The only advantage of this is that at least you don't have to share the few carp that are still eating enough to catch them with other anglers. Only the tough ones get into the garden.

 

All the best for your winter fishing,
Your Alex Kobler