Step Into Spring!

With spring just around the corner, darrell reveals his thoughts on single hookbaits, baited spots and his early season approach.

- Darrell Peck

In this piece, I would like to get across some thoughts on baits and baiting in the spring, be it when tackling an intimate little venue or a vast gravel pit. Location is always my primary focus, but once I’ve located them how do I decide how and what I’ll feed, right through to the most important bit, the actual hookbait itself?

A carp is a carp the world over, but it’s certainly fair to say that the more pressure a venue receives the more wary the carp tend to be towards anglers’ baits. I really think that as anglers in general we are fooled into thinking the carp are feeding hard in the early spring because a few are starting to get caught. Looking back at my best results at this time, though, time and again they have been the result of minimal feeding, and more often than not just single hookbaits. Single hookbaits can be really devastating and if you need any more convincing then look no further than the ‘Spring’ section on the latest Korda Masterclass 4. Danny and I dish out a real beat down on a low stock German venue by simply casting bright singles towards showing fish. I used to put my success on singles down to the fact I generally fish lower stocked waters where natural food was abundant, but I have now realised the power of singles even on the higher stocked venues, particularly if they are heavily pressured.