Darrell Peck - Autumn Tips

Autumn is one of my favourite times to be outdoors, not just for fishing, but in general it’s a beautiful time to be outside. You get incredible weather front’s moving in at this time of year, epic sunrises and sunsets, big moons and those mega golden colours as the leaves turn.

This of course leads itself to great fishing, with changing weather conditions and more favourable temperatures, this generates more oxygen into the water and in turn, encourages the carp to feed.A

Through the history of carp fishing, some of the most epic big carp captures have come in the autumn months, often where those larger, deep pits really come into their own.

That all being said, the autumn can present many challenges, and it can prove a difficult period to angle. With the fish being heavily pressured right the way through the spring and summer, it’s safe to assume they’ve all now seen a rig or two and will naturally be weary of rigs, bait and anglers.

They’ll often locate to those deeper zones in the open water where range fishing can come into its own. Having spare spools of Long Chuck or another casting line will ensure you’ll hit the required ranges if needed.

With a bit more thought put into your fishing, as well as putting in the effort, results can be had right through the autumn.

Rule number one at any season, is getting your location right. Find where they’re spending their time and importantly, where they’re doing their feeding and you’ve cracked the first code.

In spring, the carp can be fairly flighty, as they’re constantly on the move, travelling around the lake to seek warmth and food. In the autumn and certainly into winter, the carp can become a lot more localised, often congregating together in shoals around the deeper zones in the open water.

Through the autumn, it can be quite obvious where the carp are feeding, as they’ll give themselves away by bubbling as they feed. First light can be a great time to see them sheeting up, often you’ll see this in the deeper, silty areas of the lake. Clocking these zones and pinpointing where they are is key. Walk into various swims and line up where the bubbling is. Then, when the bubbling and feeding has stopped, stick a marker float out to the zone and walk around to the other swims and check your float lines up with where the bubbling was. Be as accurate as possible, as feeding can be really localised to small patches of bloodworm or other natural food. Once I’m happy I’m on the spot, you can then plan your attack accordingly.

Carrying on with the subject of location and watercraft, putting in that effort to look and listen through the night is essential in the autumn. Those first few hours of dark are textbook times to be getting the bites. This is the period you’ll likely hear them rolling, not necessarily crashing out, but often subtle head pokes or rolls, so look out for ripples caused by this. Gearing up with warm clothes, torches and organized kit is going to help you function through the night. Sleep in the middle of the day if you have to, but by being active through the night is going to be a big edge in the autumn.

When it comes to areas and spots, as I’ve mentioned, those deeper zones are likely going to be where you’ll find them. The dying weed beds are going to offer warmth and protection, as well as loads of natural food so this is always an area the carp will be drawn to. A nice deep silty strip between the weed is going to be prime autumn area. Like anytime, let the carp tell you where to fish, but those deeper areas around the weed will be a good start.

In regard to feeding habits and baiting, they can often become totally pre-occupied on natural food as they look to harvest what’s left in and around the weed.

Much of the natural food will live in the softer dirtier bottoms, so be prepared to fish in these areas. Switching to a Heli Safe set up, or lengthening your rig will help present, and if the silt/chod is that bad, you may wish to use a low-lying pop up, just to be sure of presentation, but be mindful, those carp will have their mouth’s deep down in the debris as they harvest on the natural food.

In regard to baiting, much of this is venue dependant. In short, I don’t believe the big autumn feed up / mass hit of bait is as effective as it was say 20-years ago. With more and more people angling, there’s a lot more baiting now going into lake’s so I stay on the side of caution with my autumn baiting, favouring a little and often approach and building areas. Thinking outside the box and being different has always been a big edge with baiting. If everyone else is using boilies, I might try particle, if everyone is using a boat, I might spread my bait, etc. Sweetcorn, maize, tigers, boilie and pellet have all worked for me through the autumn, it’s about applying the right bait at the right time and this comes from experience and trial and error.

The subject of natural bait cannot be ignored when it comes to autumn fishing and there’s no doubt, from August into winter, they can be at their most effective. There’s still much to consider when using naturals; does the venue permit them and are their nuisance species present. If so, I’d be very weary of using them, but if the venue allows them and it’s a carp dominated water, naturals would be a brilliant way to go. Maggots, caster or worm will all catch carp and at this time of year when they’re tuned into naturals, it can sometimes be the only way of getting a bite.

As with all seasons, time and effort will be your biggest advantage. Using annual leave to coincide with favourable weather fronts - I’ve found moon phases to be really effective over the autumn period, as can big pressure drops and big winds. The fish will often get straight on the wind and then back off soon after, so never neglect the back of the wind in autumn.

Having your kit prepped and organized, with plenty of good warm food and hot drinks, warm clothes, waterproofs and night kit (torches and flashes) will put you in good stead. Those doing the overnighters in the autumn can really reap the rewards, as those nighttime hours can be when the carp are at their most active. Getting in an overnighter in the week then a session at the weekend, with bait being trickled into areas can produce some seriously good results in the autumn. Never give up, work hard and the results are most definitely there.