Zig fishing for Carp
– The Basics
Duncan Charman
Although carp anglers have been
catching carp on suspended baits for decades it’s only been in the last few
years that tackle manufacturers such as Nash Tackle have delved into the depths
of this method and specifically created end tackle to bring this devastating
technique to all. However, even with everything needed for an angler to catch a
few carp on zigs, most lack one thing and that’s confidence. Many have tried
and given up quickly, others want to try but can’t even bring themselves to
casting one out, yet once mastered it’s an edge that will make any angler stand
out from the crowd.
Last summer I took three months
off from targeting other species just to master the art of zig fishing and to
say it was a learning curve is an understatement. Many mistakes were made along
the way but through patience and persistence I can now say that I’m happy to
leave the bottom baits at home and arrive with a few plastic/foam hookbaits and
a bucketful of clouding spomb mix.
Making mistakes.
Before progressing let me mention
the initial mistakes I made. The first was to scale everything down as I
thought this would produce more bites, which it probably did, however zig hook
holds in a carps lip are all over the place and by using a hook too small and
one of a thin gauge simply saw to many fish lost through hookpulls. Even when
using small hooks I was still catching more than others around the lake, so I
knew I was onto something, yet I hate losing fish so had to eliminate these
from each session but not at the cost of stopping the bites altogether. Hook
size and rod length was increased and straight away the problem was solved, yet
looking back I’m not sure swapping the rods from my trusted 9ft 2.25lb Scopes
for 12ft 3lb t/c Pursuits had anything to do so with my loses, it was simply a
case of using a hook that was too small. Another cause of hook-pulls was not
dropping the lead on a bite, something I really didn’t want to do at first, but
having a 3.5oz lead bouncing around six foot up whilst a big carp is lunging
around in the margins and whilst using a size 12 hook and a short rod was all
simply a recipe for disaster.
Having made some glaring errors
initially but by ironing these out gradually over each session I now use the
following tried and tested tackle. Rods are now 12ft 3lb Nash Pursuits (I might
go back to the Scopes) teamed up with Shimano Ultegra C14+ 5500 reels loaded
with 12lb Nash D-Cam.
Lead dropping.
Having such
a long hooklink and a bait that’s wafting around mid water it was obvious that
there was no place for small leads as these could easily be dragged unknowingly
around leading to very poor hook holds. Another factor on deep venues was that
a lead swinging about mid air caused major problems when landing fish so in
swims over four feet dropping the lead was beneficial for landing a fish.
Anything less than this depth and I’m happy for the lead to stay in place. The
lead set up and end rig was once again modified over time and the final rig is
as follows for most situations. First a couple of feet of leadcore is attached
to the mainline on which a Nash weed lead clip and sleeve is placed. The swivel
on the end of the leader is then pulled into the clip and the small pin pushed
within locking the swivel in place. The hooklink is then attached to a quick
change link which is attached to the swivel on the leadcore, before a sleeve is
pulled down over this to protect and create a boom which reduces tangles. The
lead usually 3.5oz is then placed onto the clip but before pushing the sleeve
over the top it’s very important to moisten both components as this will ensure
the lead drops on the take. Failure to do this won’t allow the lead to fall
off.
The business end.
The hook length I use is either 8lb
or 10lb ZigFlo, a purposely buoyant hook length material created for zig
fishing. This has a Nash size 10 Fang Twister hook tied on knotless knot style
before adding a Ziggaz which is pulled down over the eye and onto the
hook. The hair is removed and the knot
and Ziggaz creates the perfect angle off the eye of the hook needed for better hook
holds. All that’s left to do is add a small piece of foam into the allocated
slot. I usually start with red but change around if I know fish are feeding but
bites aren’t forth coming.
How deep and when?
Generally a zig works best at
around two thirds depth so for example in twelve feet of water I would start by
placing my zig at 8ft. Rarely have I caught below half depth but have often had
to increase the hook length so that the zig is inches from or even on the
surface. The reason I fish high up in the water is because I tend to use this
method on warm days of little wind and right in the middle of the day when most
carp naturally rise up into the upper warmer layers. I have tried zigs at night
with very little response but I know anglers that do catch during darkness but
generally these are just odd fish and not big hits. I also know of anglers
using zigs right through the year but for me this is a very active, visual
spring to autumn method.
A little tip to quickly finding
the depth of the swim is to have a visual float, something like a slim pike
float attached to the spomb rod. Before spombing bait out I remove the spomb,
add a big lead and use the rod as a plumbing up tool! Easy and very effective.
Swim choice and feeding.
Swim
choice is paramount as working a swim however hard that contains no fish will
simply result in a lot of effort exerted and a big fat blank. I will always
walk around the lake first and tend to pick days of little wind as nine times
out of ten I will be able to visually pinpoint an area of carp activity. So
many anglers just don’t do this and set up in a swim that’s produced before,
one that’s close to the car park or simply because its comfortable. Next time
you go, take a minute to watch the water, try and understand carp move to
different areas under different conditions and act accordingly. 
Once
in a swim with carp activity its best to pick a distance that you are
comfortable casting to or as I would do cast to where I can see carp moving.
Clip the mainline into the reels line clip and mark the line with some sort of
reference mark, I use a stop-knot made from pole elastic. What is needed next
is to mark the same distance on your other rod as well as your spomb rod as
this will mean that your spombed bait will be falling through the water
directly over your hookbaits. There are many ways to get all three rods clipped
to the same distance but the best way is to use distance marker sticks.
With
two rods cast to the same spot, one with red foam the other with black and one
fishing a foot deeper than the other it’s time to start baiting over the top.
Try and get into a rhythm of baiting, I tend to cast a couple of spombs over my
baits every five minutes to start with but dependant on conditions and bites
you may have to decrease or increase the time period. Once again Nash have
created a mix of groundbait, the Gyro Bug Mix that can be easily mixed on
arrival and contains ingredients such as variable buoyancy pellets, natural
dried insects and attractors that will constantly fall and rise through the
water columns drawing carp in from miles away and finally competing for food. Get this type of feeding
around your hookbait and simply await the action.
The end result.
The
lake I spent perfecting this method saw most anglers on average catching a
decent carp every 24hrs. Anglers fishing for tench, which I’ve also caught on
zigs, were catching as many carp as the anglers targeting them so I knew by
using small particles or doing something different would eventually pay off as
boilies were simply being ignored. Most of my sessions were based around
arriving at first light and fishing for four hours or four hours before dusk
and I never blanked once my approach, baiting and tackle was perfected. The
carp were averaging around 20lb and the best session saw seven takes resulting
in six carp landed in just three hours. Although I did try and be discrete, you
would have thought that others on seeing carp after carp grace my net would
have cottoned on and copied me but fortunately very few did which is brilliant
as I can head back this spring and once again enjoy this explosive method to its
fullest.
Duncan Charman is sponsored by Nash Tackle
and Bait and has his own website www.duncancharman.co.uk He
regularly contributes to top weekly, Anglers Mail magazine and is their very
own ‘Where to fish’ expert for the South East.
He is also an angling guide and can be booked on a daily basis for most
species including carp, pike, perch, zander, chub, catfish, barbel, bream,
grass carp, crucians, roach, rudd, grayling, tench even golden orfe. Guiding vouchers
are also available which make great birthday and Christmas presents for the
angler with everything. For more information and prices email him at duncancharman@me.com or give him a call 07928 617006 / 01252 315271.
He’s also written a
book called Evolution of an Angler which can be obtained at the stupid price of
just £10.99 plus P&P. Again email him for more details.
Images –
1 – Get your approach right and
expect lots of stunning carp like this mid twenty common.
2 – Get use to casting every few
minutes, its active but hugely rewarding.
5 – The lead set up.
6 – Hook choice is important.
7 – Zig Flo, made for zig fishing.
8 – Plenty of spare rigs made
up. Obviously red is a good colour!
9 – You can even match your
hookbait to a real life insect using purpose made bugs!
10 – Weed lead clips and tail
rubbers, ideal for lead dropping.
11 – Gyro Bug Mix attracts carp
from miles away.
12 – Gyro Juice will create a
flat spot and boost the mix.
13 – Once mixed it can be
introduced by hand, using a catapult or as I do with a spomb.
14 – One of many carp that
slipped up on a zig.
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