Dale Calvert reveals how he adapts his tactics for murky water conditions following a winter dominated by wet weather
HEAVY rainfall has prevailed for a large part of winter, and that has had an impact on the effectiveness of most popular commercial fishery tactics.
Bread is often seen as the number one bait when the temperatures plummet, but with the usually crystal-clear water turning to chocolate at many venues as mud and sediment run into lakes, it’s failed to produce on a lot of occasions.
Visibility is drastically reduced below the surface under these conditions, and the carp simply haven’t been able to see it.
Those trying to tempt a few bites from the species have had to have a tactical rethink, focusing more on styles that help the fish locate the rig via scent, while also being careful not to overfeed them at a time when they aren’t particularly interested in eating.
Rod-and-line enthusiast Dale Calvert has regularly left the bomb in his tackle box in favour of a Method feeder, using it in a way that makes it easy for carp to find the small pile of freebies.
“Popped-up bread loses its appeal when the water is extremely coloured, but a Method feeder that is heavily flavoured solves this problem,” explained Dale.
“The scent trail isn’t the only tweak, in fact the way I fish the feeder is completely different to how I’d do it when the temperatures are high in midsummer.”
Stinky solution
This is no time to be giving your bait a subtle boost – a large injection of flavour is needed if you are to beat the murky water.
A potent liquid or bait glug is the order of the day, and you don’t want to skimp on how much you apply.
“I use Bait-Tech Krill Tuna Oil liquid which, if Iam being honest, stinks to high heaven! A lot of scent will seep off underwater, sparking the curiosity of any fish in the vicinity,” said Dale.
“The trail will lead them to the feeder, where they’re going to find a tiny nugget of micros and a couple of dead maggots on top.
“It’ll only take them a mouthful or two to polish the lot off, and your hookbait will get sucked up at the same time.”
Dale uses a Guru Hybrid feeder, starting with the Super Mini size, which allows him to introduce next to nothing on the loosefeed front.
He has modified all his Hybrids, cutting a straight line through the weight on the bottom. This allows him to slide it off the stem and off the mainline and switch to a differ
