Scott Sweetman - Boilies In Winter

A lot of alternative baits get talked about as we approach the colder months, the use of naturals, corn, bags etc and I have no doubt of their effectiveness, people tend to ditch the boilies, but for me, using alternative baits comes with its restrictions.

The reason I favor boilies so much in my angling, even in the winter, is due to the majority of my fishing being nights after work. With any form of particle, crumb or natural bait, you really need to be fishing this on clean ground and in my opinion, multiple rods tight over your baited area. To be able to achieve this, it’s a lot more casting and spombing than I would want to be doing for the timeframe I have to be getting a bite in. For me it’s imperative to keep disturbance down to a minimum at any time of year. As we go into the winter the majority of my trips I’m turning up in the dark and seeing your leads land, trying to get your rods tight together, on a little spot with bait over the top can be extremely difficult. I think if your not able to be accurate fishing like that you can almost cost yourself bites by keeping feeding fish away from your rigs.

Another factor, especially with fishing natural baits, once you have committed your 3 or 4 pints of casters or maggots to a spot, you will be a lot less willing to move on anything you hear through the night, almost just hoping they come to you. With boilies, you can fish effectively over most types of lakebeds, so the need to be so precise isn’t so pivotal, which in turn means you’re taking less casts and less disturbance to get out fishing. This really lends itself to the winter as its important to get around the lake, fishing on showing fish or fishing for liners, as the carp will be grouped up somewhere and the most important part of winter fishing is locating the carp. This roving style is really highlighted on day only venues, traveling light, giving different areas a few hours at a time, flicking a rig out and a few boilies over the top and you’re fishing.

In the winter, I like to use singles and also stringers, this gives a small parcel of bait around your rig - They completely eliminate tangles as again, your rods are often being cast out in the dark so you can’t see the rig in flight. If I feel the need to introduce bait depending on the range, I will rather catapult or use the smallest spomb/spod possible, depositing small amounts of bait around the rig, with very little disturbance. Again, the need for accuracy with boilie fishing isn’t vital, as you’re getting the carp moving as they search for baits, which makes them a lot easier to hook when they do pick up your rig. Really, the only changes I make during the winter is the quantity of bait I fish over - I nearly always use 12mm boilies so they are still a small food item, I just make sure to not overdo the bait in the winter as they eat far less than the summer. There will however, be chances to be had. It’s all about making the effort and keeping consistent. Keep in tune with the water and the carp’s location. If you can, trickly small amounts of bait into likely areas and the results are there in the winter.