 How
to choose a venue to fish
Deciding where to go carp
fishing can be a daunting prospect to the
newcomer. There are some good guides around
but very often they leave you with an awful
lot of options that you know very little about.
So how do you pick the best carp fishing venue
for you? The following may help you narrow
your choices a little.
You first need to decide what
it is that you want to fish for. There is
no point in joining an expensive syndicate
lake with only a handful of large carp in
it if you want to bag up on smaller specimens.
On the other hand, if you are looking to
catch your first 20 or 30, then there is
no point in fishing a club pond full of
5lb fish. Funds are unfortunately nearly
always an issue, and if they are limited,
then you are better off joining a club with
several waters or fishing day ticket waters.
You don't want to spend out a lot of money
joining a carp fishing syndicate that you
only fish twice a year. This may all sound
rather obvious, but I have known people
to complain that they never catch any big
carp, when they spend their time fishing
a water containing thousands of 5lb fish
and nothing else.
 Location
Location is also important.
Find somewhere that you can easily get to.
It can take quite a few trips to a new water
to really learn it and understand where
the carp frequent, so don't join a water
100 miles from home unless you are sure
that you will be able to get there often.
If you intend fishing long sessions, then
fine, but if you envisage fishing after
work for a few hours, then you need a water
on your doorstep.
Build yourself up a list of
the waters available to you, look out for
reports in the angling press and local papers,
check out our venues section, and then start
to remove any from your list which are too
far away, too expensive or don't hold the
fish you want to catch. Also look at facilities
on offer. Showers, toilets and a shop on
site are great if you want to fish weekends
or more, or a local garage or shop where
you can pick up essential supplies is useful.
Now to narrow the list down.
Visit as many of the fisheries as you can.
Walk round them. Look at the swims and the
access available. Can you park near the
fishery? Can you get your tackle to the
swims without embarking on a cross-country
hike? Is the water so packed with other
anglers that the only swim available is
almost un-fishable? Talk to the owner or
bailiff if possible and to other anglers,
although don't disturb their fishing. Find
out how well it is fishing and also ask
about any fishery rules that may be relevant
to you. For example if boilies are banned
on the water and you are after catching
a big carp, this may put you off.
Do your homework and you should
be rewarded with the right fishery for you.
And don't forget to use our venue section
and see if there are any venues listed near
you. It's free and the more you use it,
the more useful it will become. If you find
any venues that we don't have listed, add
them so that others may benefit from your
new-found knowledge. Don't worry if you
don't have any pictures to start with, these
are easily added later.
You can also ask in the forum
whether anyone else can recommend a carp
fishery near you. Again this is a free service
and you might just find the perfect venue
for the asking of a question.
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