Spring Carp Fishing Tactics On Baston Shallow Pit - Carp Chapters

As I made my first lap of the lake, I quickly spotted a key difference between the two sides. One area was sheltered from the harsh northeasterly wind, making it significantly warmer. That’s where I decided to focus my efforts.

Just as I was starting to unload my gear, I spotted a carp show itself on the surface. That was all the confirmation I needed, happy days! Just as I was unloading the barrow, I saw a second fish,I was clearly in the right spot and the stage stands were set up in no time. 

For this session, I opted for chod rigs, classic and maybe a bit old-school but definitely an overlooked rig in modern angling. The beauty of the Chod rig is that it can be cast straight out with minimal disturbance, presenting the bait perfectly regardless of the type of lakebed.

Since I was fishing on the move, being able to cast at showing fish without making much disturbance or worrying about weed or silt was going to be vital to having the best chances on the new venue. 

After casting out, I settled in for a wait, but within a few hours, I saw a couple of carp showing off to the left of where I was fishing to begin with. I quickly repositioned two rods and moved my stage stands. Almost immediately, my left-hand rod was away first blood at Baston Shallow Pit!

The first fish wasn’t massive, around 15lb, but it was a great confidence boost. With the pressure off, I wasted no time getting a fresh rig back onto the same spot and introduced a few Sticky Krill Active boilies with the catapult now I knew that there were feeding fish in the area.

I barely had time to tell the tale to the camera with a cup of tea before the alarm screamed off again! Just as Amanda had said on socials - “best way to get a bite is to start making a cup of tea”. The second fish was slightly bigger and very cool, sporting a big orange belly and beautiful plated scales.

With two fish in the bag, I started thinking about the evening and whether or not I should move again. A quick lap of the lake didn’t reveal much, so I decided to stick with what was working and set up a base camp.

I used a marker float to find a clear area near my original spot, then walked around the lake to catapult in some more Sticky Krill Active boilies in 16mm. With the rods set for the night, I settled in, wondering if the action would continue.

The night passed quickly and quietly, with no fish and no signs of any either. I was up at 4 a.m. and went for another scout around. Worst decision ever, I saw nothing and got absolutely blasted by the wind. After a cuppa and a couple of hours back at the bivvy, I went for a second walk around and this time, spotted a fish straight away. You've got to be on the fish to catch them on days like this so without wasting any time I moved all my gear and set up in the new spot - a small sheltered bay area a little further down my side of the lake. 

Within minutes, I had a definite liner so I knew for a fact that fish were in the area. I also knew from the liner that I had cast a little too far so I brought my rods back a bit and hortly after, I was into another fish, one of Baston's bigger residents at a hair under 26lb!

At this point, I took a moment to talk about my rig choice. The Chod rig was incredibly popular about 15 years ago but has since fallen out of favor. However, it remains one of the best rigs for fishing over any lakebed, from thick weed to gravel.

I prefer to fish my Chod rigs on leadcore, as I believe it helps with hook-ups. I use a one-meter length of leadcore with a Heli-Safe lead clip to ensure the lead is dropped on the take. The rig itself is short, just one inch or so made with Korda Krimps to allow it to spin freely and increase the chances of a secure hook hold. Bait-wise, I started with bright yellow pop-ups but later switched to brown sticky Krill pop-ups to match the free offerings. My match-the-hatch hookbait paid off, as the Krill bait fooled my next fish. 

That evening, I had another bite but unfortunately bumped it off during the fight; the lead hadn’t ejected, which was probably the reason for it. Deciding to stick with the same spot, I watched a stunning sunset and settled in for the final night.

The morning of the last day I was trying to speed things up so I could get going at a sensible time.Thankfully Baston was playing ball and a couple of hours fishing as stealthily as possible brought another take. This fish fought properly hard, pulling my arm off. When I finally wrestled the net under it, I saw that the Chod rig had done its job to perfection, with a rock-solid hook hold in the bottom lip. Weighing in at just over 27lb, it was the biggest of the session, a fantastic finale to an awesome session.

Check out the Video below and we’ll catch you for the next episode of Carp Chapters. Tight Lines!