Don't Reach For The Mixers Too Quickly

I suppose a lot of people may think of June as a perfect time for floater fishing, stalking and chasing around after surface cruisers, but personally I find it a great time to start some serious baiting. A lot depends on spawning activity of course, but in general the carp are really starting to get on the munch around now, it’s just a case of being in the right spots at feeding time, before they hit the surface for the day.

I like to get spots going during June, or extend the work I have done in the spring and make sure the weed doesn’t take over my carefully prepared areas. If I look back at a lot of the lakes I have fished over the years, June has been very kind to me. It’s a classic early morning bite time sort of month. Those calm and early sunrises with little patches of bubbles erupting over your baits are heady times and exactly what we have been waiting for. Regular, tight baiting with a decent quality bait will guarantee the fish use your areas as part of their daily routine and sussing out where they will favour during the first two hours of daylight will ensure plenty of bites throughout the month.

Back on St Ives’ Shallow Lagoon I picked a particular swim and fought off the weed with a mixture of lots of small particles, a few larger ones like tigers and a good scattering of chopped boilies to top it all off. A few weeks of baiting and I managed to change a very hard lake into something far more predictable, catching fish almost every single morning from the same spots over a four week period. All of this was done while working towards that one final bite, the one that would, eventually, provide me with a fish known as ‘Colin’, all fifty-four pounds of him!
DAVE LANE