With the last of the summer socials out of the way, the madness of chasing fish around the pond armed with a bucket of mixers seems all but a distant memory. As autumn casts its cloak over His Majesty’s realm we’re greeted with crisp fresh mornings and looming hours of darkness as we chase the sun to get the rods out after work. This seasonal transition is a magical time to be wetting a line as there’s a certain air of anticipation at this time of year, with the fish being in their prime and almost certainly at their peak weights. What an exciting time to be on the bank!
At any time of year location is paramount, if you’re not on the fish you’re simply not going to catch them. With fishing overnighters, this is even more crucial as if you get the location wrong you don’t have the luxury of a second night to rectify it! Locating them at this time of year can certainly prove more challenging, with lower light levels and cooler temperatures our quarry is less obliging in giving away their location. Getting to the lake after work It’s always tempting to rush and get everything set up before losing the light. However, if you can become content with casting out in the dark, you can spend the necessary time lapping the lake looking for those all-important signs that could be the difference between catching and not. If no signs are forthcoming I always go on any prior knowledge gleamed from seasons past, this can prove invaluable at times and certainly helps to identify patterns in the carp’s behaviour. More often than not, during the autumn months, the carp are likely to be more active during the hours of darkness. A massive edge in locating those morning feeding areas is to set an alarm for 2 or 3am to watch the water and listen for any shows. There’s something electric about seeing them slide out under the moonlight knowing that nobody else has likely seen this piece of the puzzle.
Once the location is dialled I’ll let the carp dictate where to place my rigs, I’m happy fishing on all manner of substrates so long as the carp is happy to feed there. Generally, I’ll try and avoid the areas that have been hammered all summer long, instead looking for areas that have recently changed. Invariably as the weed dies back and the carp raid these natural food larders they are likely to clean off small areas, if you can locate these newly cleaned areas then you’re onto a winner. This is where ‘being in touch’ with the lake through the other seasons can gleam valuable information as you’ll be able to identify these small changes whilst leading around.
With likely looking spots identified I’ll set about baiting them accordingly. In my view the old “autumn feed up” is a thing of the past, with the amount of quality bait going into the lakes throughout the year the fish are generally at their peak weights already, so piling in kilos and kilos in one hit and chucking a rig on the top isn’t the one in my eyes. Especially if your limited to a single night at a time, it will most certainly go against you. I’ve had far more success baiting modestly when fishing in the autumn. As with any time of year if you’re able to trickle bait in consistently between the overnighters it can pay dividends and no doubt result in a couple more cyps in the album. I tend to favour pastel, washed out or match the hatch hook baits, particularly at this time of year, as the carp will have most certainly seen every bright colour under the sun thrown at them at one point or another. My preference would be a subtle food bait wafter if the substrate I’m fishing over allows.
There’s certainly something magical about autumn, firing up the stove at first light, nestled amongst the newly fallen leaves soaking in the autumnal vista, knowing that you’ve done everything you possibly can to stack the odds in your favour. A moment of Solace in the crazy world. If we’re lucky then a carp may be the icing on the cake and a reward for our efforts, if not, then we learn and go again next time. For me, that’s Autumn in a nut shell.
