Winter Lessons With Lewis Read
Learning when to go and when to give up, why fluoros aren’t actually that great and pocket-warm pellets
Over the years, have you come across many winning methods, tricks or edges for the colder months?
“It seems one-dimensional, but what really did the job more than anything else was maggots and the Mag-Aligner Rig. The Zig Rig revolution hasn’t reached my waters, it seems, which is possibly more to do lack of use, rather than ineffectiveness. If you’re bored with reading about that particular presentation’s effectiveness as a complete trap, then I apologise, but it’s the truth. My current approach combines the maggot sock from that era with a more robust hookbait arrangement, one based on the Noodle Rig’s kicker and a balanced cluster of 7–9 maggots, largely because of the proliferation crays everywhere!”
Can you remember a particularly rewarding winter? If so, why do you think everything fell together so well?
“I consider myself lucky in that over the last three or four winters I’ve spent on a Hertfordshire club lake have been great fun. A monster buzz is all that’s been missing, but it’s been great to catch a few.
“In general context, it’s a quiet, 40-acre lake with a fast-growing stock of all sorts of carp. Probably because of a change in water-flow management, the lake has remained coloured through the last few winters. This has made for excellent sport. You can also put bait in and it will last more than five minutes (bloody squark). The only drawback has been the somewhat anaemic appearance of most the fish, due to the water remaining coloured. It’s a double-edged sword, if you’re fussy, but as my mate Mike Gerritsen might also say, I’ll take anything that falls into the puddle, these days.
“I have learned that enjoying your winter angling is about choosing the right water for that time of year, being realistic with your expectations and having a method that works. If you want rock-hard waters, then knock yourself out. I, though, like to come out of winter buzzing for it, and not be worn out and lacking
in confidence.”
And can you remember a particularly harsh winter when everywhere seemed to shut up shop? If so, did you learn much from it?
“I don’t think many of us can claim to have learned much during the harshest winters. That might be different if I’d had access to a boat, of course. Let’s face it, sitting on the bank and seeing naff all isn’t going to expand your knowledge; watching activity and catching fish are the best ways to go about that. If I’ve learned anything, it’s not to bother when it’s epically pants. Save that tenacious ‘go, go, go’ for when it is really worth it, in other words, during windows of good weather, and fish in earnest from the earliest glimmer of spring onwards.”
How mindful are you of colour in winter, both for hookbaits and background feed?
“Only in terms of avoiding the attentions of birdlife. The whole, super-bright, fluoro-hookbait-colour fad caught lots of anglers (sorry Frank!), but not many carp on any of the lakes I fish. They may well work on other lakes, but I lost confidence in them years ago.
“If I look back at my cold-water captures on pop-ups, almost all of them have come to proper corkball baits rolled with foody base mixes, fishmeal, milk proteins or nut mixes. Yes, I’ve had the odd one on yoke-yellow, pineapple-flavoured baits and the like, but not from
waters that count for much in the old, slightly tarnished memory bank.”
Do you ever incorporate heat in any of your background feed? Terry [Hearn] swears by adding hot water to his pellets, and Nick [Helleur] rates his hot mix—bread crumbs, casters and mini pellets.
“The only time I have done so is when I’ve scalded pellet, or when I’ve looked to ensure that my maggots are warm enough to be mobile for the first minute or two after they’ve hit the frigid water—a very temporary state.
“I have been with ‘HRH Sharpy’ when he has got canal carp browsing in extremely cold conditions, over a sprinkling of pellet that’s been pocket warm, shall we say, and after they’d ignored those introduced without being warmed beforehand. I have little doubt, therefore, that there is a genuine benefit in the tactic.
“Ben [Hamilton], here at Thinking Anglers, caught Arfur after regularly baiting a spot with hot hemp—in terms of both temperature and spiciness. He swears that the heat treatment works with almost all baits, be they veg (particles), pellet or boilies. Think of how that heat emulsifies baits, and livens up all the active ingredients, thus encouraging the diffusion of all those lovely, olfactory-stimulating compounds and additives. Yummy!”
