As spring arrives and the carp are waking up from there winter slumber, I personal believe bright coloured hook baits are far more effective than ‘match the hatch’ at this time of the year. Yellow ,orange and pinks are my favourites in early spring leading right up to the time they spawn . I believe it’s about getting a bite at this time of the year, my go too approach is fishing single bait or over a small amount of free offerings, carp are not wanting to eat loads as they wake up so you want your hook bait to stand out and be the first item of food they take.
Though the summer months the carp will be more pressured and certainly will be more on edge when feeding, at this time of the year I match my hook baits to my free offerings. With the carp actively searching out food, I believe by fishing an identical hook bait to my free offerings it gives me far less chance for the carp to spook off something less natural in the swim.
The next time I swap to a coloured hook bait is in the autumn and early winter, when I swap to white. The reason why I like to use white through these months is when the trees shed their leaves creating debris and weed dies off the lake bottom becomes littered with all sort. As most of you are aware the carp like to feed heavily at that time of year especially in deep silty areas, so by fishing a white hook bait it find it stands out perfectly over the lakebed.
Jimmy Hibbard
