EVERY CLOUD HAS A SILVER LINING
David John Lovell
copyright ©DAVID JOHN LOVELL
The phrase 'every cloud has a silver lining' means that when something negative happens a positive can be found, and this is also true in relation to one aspect of carp fishing.
Before the closed season was abolished some years ago, at least for lakes, for course fishing, carp anglers would spend time visiting lakes and attempt to condition the carp into accepting the bait that the particular angler was planning to use for the opening campaign. This process was known as pre baiting. The angler would try and visit a water on a regular basis with a quantity of the chosen bait and introduce amounts of the bait at favourite areas. The carp would then get used to both eating the bait and eat it without getting caught. Then, once open season arrived it was easy catching for the angler who simply needed to turn up with the accepted food. As to the effectiveness to this approach remains questioned due to the fact that other anglers were doing the same thing. Certainly, local anglers to a given water had a huge advantage on opening day because they could visit a local lake on a regular basis and monitor the progress as to whether the bait was being taken, and how quickly. And local anglers could ensure they had a pre baited swim by taking a spot days before the opening day.
Today, this advantage is now gone with the closed season just a memory. On many waters it is now down to the angler to just fish the water along with everybody else, and many are now finding things different due to a levelling of the field. Many more anglers experience a blank on a given water, certainly at certain times of the year. However, a blank may have a positive, every cloud has a silver lining.
If you experience a blank you have left a quantity of bait in the water. If you have used the bait and blanked a number of times then perhaps others have also used the same bait and just maybe the bait is not effective because others have caught on that bait and the fish have become wary. But, what if your bait is very effective and you simply went home before finding out! Decision time.
My advice is this.
1. Take a holiday and fish the water for longer using your bait just to find out if and when the fish are taking your offerings.
2. Before leaving the water after a blank introduce other baits to the water, carp remember and they certainly remember eating without a photo session following. Make it a rule to always carry alternative baits and introduce the alternative at the end of a blank session, set up the next session, and don't think you are the only one to blank, a blank is a disappointment, but look at it for what it is, don't let it get you down because as that old saying goes!
