Using a fishing boat to catch carp. Part 1: finding spots, placing your rigs, baiting up, and playing fish

Whilst the majority of carp anglers only ever fish from the bank, there are more venues than you might think where the use of an actual fishing boat is not only allowed, but will ensure that you catch more carp.

Boating fishing for carp tends to conjure up images of fishing on large European waters where rigs are taken out and dropped a very long way from the bank, and then once a carp is hooked, the boat is used to play and land it as well.

This is very much the case on a lot of the big public waters across Europe, including many of the famous ones in France, but there are also plenty of smaller waters as well – even in the UK – where the use of an actual boat, as opposed to just a bait boat, is allowed in some capacity.

Whether that be just to find spots or bait up, with the casting of rigs and playing of fish being done from the bank, or the full use of boats for everything.

Boat fishing is less common in the UK than it is in Europe, but there are plenty of carp holiday venues across the Channel which allow boats – including Embryo Angling Carp Arena, in Belgium, and Carplantis in Holland – and where being able to use one gives you an advantage.

Here we take a detailed look at everything from the boat kit that you will need – if planning to buy your own boat set-up – through to how best to use a boat, and the sort of tackle that is best suited to it, as compared to when you’re just casting.

The first thing you will want to do though – we will look at specific boat kit and equipment later – is to find some spots to fish on. Always remember that life jackets are essential for safety when using any boat, and self-inflating life jackets are recommended as they are more effective in emergencies, and especially if you can't manually trigger it, such as if you knock yourself out.

You do of course also need to check the local rules regarding boat use at the fishing venue, as this can vary a lot - including the type of motor which is allowed.

Why is using a boat for fishing an advantage for carp anglers when it comes to finding spots?

There are a number of reasons why using a boat is an advantage and outweighs any negatives associated with potentially spooking carp.

Although it is worth remembering that over-use of a boat in your swim is unlikely to help your catch rate, and the fish can learn to associate them with danger.

When it comes to finding spots to fish on, then there is nothing better than a boat – certainly for anything that isn’t in the margins – as you can cover a lot of water quickly, and also determine the exact make-up and topography of the bottom, and see or feel all the subtle variations, such as where the strata changes from mud to gravel.

There are a number of ways of finding spots to fish on, including the use of a fish finder/echo sounder which maps the topography, as well as showing how hard the bottom is; you can also feel the bottom with a lead on a spare rod (the shorter the rod the better when dropping the lead over the side of the boat) once you have found a likely looking spot, or use a prodding stick if it is shallow enough; plus of course in some situations where the water is clear and shallow enough, you will be able to see the spots, either with the naked eye and a pair of Polaroids, or through some sort of glass bottomed aqua scope type device that gives you better vision and cuts out all the surface glare.

These days there is also the option of an underwater camera – some of these can even be linked to a fish finder screen – which are actually very cheap for a basic one. This is basically a camera on the end of a wire, that is attached to a small screen, and is then lowered down until it is close to the lake bed, and transmits an image back to the screen. This allows you to see what the bottom looks like – and even your rig and bait on the lakebed, and it is great for checking how much has been eaten and if the spot has been fed on – and will work in water clarities and depths where you would normally be unable to see anything, and they often even include a built in light that helps show more.

A fish finder, and especially one with mapping that collates all of the depths and gives you a detailed depth map showing all the bars, plateau and the like, is a real advantage when it comes to finding suitable spots to fish on, and especially so on a very large lake where there is a lot of water to try and cover. Advanced electronics such as fish finders and GPS are common on modern fishing boats, with the echo sounders display scrolling objects, where fish show up as arcs on the screen, depending on the settings you are using.

If you don’t have a fish finder you can still find spots from a boat, but it will be harder and more time consuming, and especially so if the water is too deep or murky to be able to see the bottom, and you have to do everything by feel. It is possible though – for instance, to find shallower spots you can hang a lead over the side of the boat at the sort of depth where you are expecting shallower areas such as the top of bars to be, then row or motor around until you feel the lead hit against something. Once you’ve located shallower areas like this you can then explore them further and more accurately.

Some sort of prodding stick is also a good option on relatively shallow water, as not only can you see how deep it is and any depth variations, but can also feel what the bottom is like, although this is also a very time consuming way to find spots if the water isn't clear and you don't know the venue and its features.

What sort of spots should you be looking for?

These will be exactly the same sort of areas that you would be searching for if you were using a marker float and plumbing rod, rather than a boat.

You will still be looking for things such as depth changes or where the make-up of the lakebed changes – such as a transition from clay onto gravel, or a harder area of mud amongst thicker silt.

How fussy and accurate you are when it comes to locating the precise spot where you want to place your rig will often depend on whether you can actually see the bottom, or are simply going by what you’ve seen on the fish finder screen, plus have felt with your plumbing rod.

Potentially you can end up being too fussy when using a boat and spend hours looking for the ‘perfect’ spot and placing your hook bait to the nearest centimetre, rather than just fishing on an area where you’d be confident of getting a bite and can feel a nice drop, as you would do when casting from the bank, as opposed to trying to pinpoint everything exactly! Although if the water is clear and shallow enough, seeing that your rig is lying nicely and presented well on the bottom, certainly helps boost your confidence when it comes to getting a bite.

Possibly the biggest advantage of using a boat, aside from being able to fish at distances where you couldn’t cast, is when it comes to finding clear areas amongst thick weed.

Not only can you quickly pinpoint clear and fishable areas, which could have taken hours to find with a marker float from the bank, but by dropping your rigs you can be sure that they really have landed exactly where you wanted them to, and can even try and get a better line lay and see how your leadcore or fused leader has settled, if you’re using one.

Marking your spots

Having spent all the time and effort of finding some spots to put your rods on, you are of course going to want to be able to put them back there again if you get a bite or decided to put on a fresh bait or different rig.

Some sort of visual markers are useful, both when locating exactly where you want to put your rig and then marking it for the future. This normally involves having a number of H block markers in the boat, which can quickly be dropped if you see something interesting – these unwind quickly by themselves when dropped into the water. You can then spend more time exploring around the initial marker, and dropping more if you feel the need to, in order to help build up a picture of the shape of a feature such as a bar, and exactly where you want to place your bait, as well as how many rods you can potentially fish in that area, if it is big enough for more than one.

Once you’ve settled on a spot there are a few different ways you can go about marking it, and the main thing is that you don’t really want a vertical piece of line up to a float directly on the spot, as the carp will bump into a spook off of it!

Some anglers prefer to drop a marker a few yards behind their spot, which is close enough to help them find it again but without risking it spooking the carp – for instance if fishing in front of a bar at the bottom of the slope, then dropping your marker right on top of the bar, ideally in very shallow water where the carp are unlikely to go anyway, means it is out of the way, but still helps you to find the same spot again. The same applies if using a marker pole rather than an H block, although on some waters the carp will happily rub up against these sort of poles!

If you are leaving a marker such as an H block near your spot, then it can be a good idea to replace the thick white braid which it comes with, and use something less obtrusive such as light mono instead, which will be far less obtrusive – it needs to be heavy enough that it can’t accidentally snap though. This is the option for most anglers if they don’t have a fish finder.

If you do have a fish finder, and it is a fairly modern one, then it will allow you to drop a pin exactly on the spot that you are fishing, simply by the push of a button, and you can name that way point and easily find it again, simply by using the map to drive back to it whenever you need to.

To make it easier to bait up and drop your rig in the right place, especially if it is windy, you can drop an H block right on top of your spot, then bait up around it, and drop your rig right next to it. Before then pulling the H block out of the water if that’s easy to do without risking moving your rig, or go back and collect the H blocks off of all your spots once the rods are out. This was means that there are no markers left on your spot for a hooked fish to potentially get tangled up with.

If your fish finder does have the ability to set way points, then it is essential that you also set one at the front of your swim, and can then set trails from each of your spots back to the swim, which will appear as a line on your fish finder map. This makes it much easier to go back to your swim in a dead straight line, and especially so at night, simply by making sure that you drive your boat exactly along the line, and can quickly spot if you’ve veered off of it at all.

This can make a massive difference when fishing at very long range at night, although it is still a good idea to also use some sort of visible light as well in your swim – a flashing bike light attached to each set of bank sticks is a big help when coming back into the margins in a boat, and avoiding catching any of your other lines, which with a motor is a disaster.

Dropping your rig from a carp fishing boat and bringing your rod back to the bank

When dropping your rig on a spot you should of course take the rod out with you, so you can keep doing it until you get it just right – don’t take the rig out and leave the rod on the bank!

Some anglers prefer to drop their rig directly next to the transducer on their fish finder and let it go down vertically, before giving the lead a slight bump to help straighten everything out. Whilst others prefer to swing the rig out and let it sink in an arc, believing that the rig will land better this way. Both methods work and it comes down to personal preference.

Once you are happy with how the rig has landed it is time to start going back to the bank with an open bail arm. Ideally you will have already lined your boat up with your swim before dropping the rig, and will be facing the right way, as this makes thing much easier and you simply engage the motor and set off slowly.

Strong winds can make it tricky both when it comes to dropping rigs and baiting up your spot, and within a very short space of time you can be well off of your spot, and this is where dropping a marker exactly on the spot can really help, and make sure everything is ending up where you intended.

There are several ways you can combat the wind, including getting upwind of your marker and then dropping your rig as you go past it, but this tends not to give you much control of the boat. You can also use the motor, with the boat pointing into the wind, and on a low speed to pretty much hold your position over the spot whilst you bait up and lower in your rig, and this has the advantage that once it is in position you can just increase power and head straight for shore.

Electric outboard motors with a minimum thrust of 40lb are recommended for windy conditions, and on larger waters need to be even more powerful to be safe.

Whatever the conditions, once you’ve dropped your rig, it is a good idea to start off slowly to avoid any risk of the line getting caught and moving your rig – if you are using a longer leader, such as heavy mono or fluorocarbon, then go slowly until that knot is off of your reel.

Once you’re a little distance away from your rig, increase the speed and go back as fast as is practical (depending on your motor and boat) as doing so at speed will help you to maintain a straighter line. You will of course have to take into account any wind.

Going back in as straight a line as possible is essential, as big bows in your line are awful for bite indication, increase the risks of the line getting caught around something on the lakebed, and of course makes it much more likely that you could go through your own lines with the boat when re-dropping rigs!

Providing the bottom isn’t very snaggy – some lakes have old tree stumps all over the bottom which you need to keep the line above – then it is a very good idea to use some sort of captive backlead, to pin your lines down just off of the rod tips. When using these, you can happily drive your boat over the top of the lines without fear of catching them, as long as you stay far enough out to avoid where the lines enter the water.

There is of course also the option on smaller venues and at shorter distances to row your baits out, and some anglers – such as Korda Europe carp catching machine Chris Paschmanns – actually prefer this method, as they believe it creates far less disturbance and won’t spook the carp so much, or make them as aware of your presence. Always have an oar on the boat anyway, even if you have a motor, for emergencies if your run out of battery or have a technical issue - leisure batteries are recommended for powering your motor due to their longevity, and especially so if you go for lithium.

The same applies with fish finders, not just motors, and with plenty of experienced boat anglers being very careful about the use of the sonar on their fish finder, as carp can detect the constant ‘pinging’ from a transducer – on most finders you can turn off the transducer any time you wish to, but the GPS and map will still work fine and will take you to your spot.

Baiting up from a boat

The big difference between baiting from a boat, versus spodding or using a catapult, is how quick and easy it is to throw the bait in, either by hand or with some sort of a scoop.

This can be disadvantage as well though, and you can easily end up putting out far more bait than you intended to!

A good idea to ensure that doesn’t happen is to only take enough bait in the boat with you for what you actually want to put out on that rod – rather than having large buckets of particles or big bags of boilies in the boat with you, where you can quickly get carried away. That is especially the case when looking at the bait on the lakebed, as sometimes it doesn’t look much, and before you know it, you’ve ended up putting out twice as much as you planned to.

It is also a good idea to think about what sort of bait spread you are trying to achieve, and that will very much depend on the type of spot that you are fishing and how many rods you have on the area – fishing one rod in a small hole in the weed is likely to involve a small but tightly placed amount of freebies. Whereas fishing three rods on a large area could mean much more bait and spread out much more thinly over a wider area.

So, do think about this and don’t end up just dumping all your bait right next to your marker, unless that is how you planned to fish it. A bait scoop of some kind helps when it comes to spreading the bait around a bit more.

Depending on the depth of the water, and the amount of undertow, plus the type of bait that you are using, this will affect how much your bait spreads out as it sinks.

A boat also helps when it comes to re-baiting your spots, and especially so if you can either see the bottom yourself, or can do so via an underwater camera, and determine how much bait is left – sometimes the carp can eat most of the bait without giving you a bite.

Playing fish from a boat

It can take a bit of practice to get used to playing a fish from the boat, as not only do you have to concentrate on the fight, but also controlling and steering the boat at the same time.

If you aren’t fishing too far out and there aren’t many snags to worry about, you can pretty much wind your way out to the fish slowly, applying side strain from side to side in order to steer, and being careful not to put too much pressure on – such as if it is windy, and where you really need to use the motor or have someone else rowing.

For longer distances though or where you want to be out and over the top of the fish as quickly as possible, it is best to use the motor, and on quite a fast setting, once you are in the boat and pointing the right way. Then it is just a case of doing a bit of steering – even using an elbow or knee to change direction when needed – to keep the boat heading roughly the right way, whilst you wind the reel quickly to keep up and maintain a tight line.

If it is calm, then once you are over the fish you can switch off the motor and play it from the boat, allowing it to tow you around – obviously if it is heading for snags, then use the motor to apply pressure in the opposite direction and lead it away from them. A 10ft rod, such as those in the Kaizen Green range - there is a version with ceramic rings for those who regularly fish with heavy braid - makes playing a fish from the boat much easier.

If it is windy, then you will probably have to play the fish with the motor running to try and hold yourself in position – you don’t want the wind to catch your boat and move it away from the fish quickly, as this is when you can end up with a hook pull. This is especially the case when the fish comes to the surface ready for netting, and a sudden gust of wind can catch the boat. Ideally you want to be upwind of it and with the motor running and pointing into the wind, at a speed where it keeps you pretty much stationary – not enough power and you are in danger of running the carp over with the boat! – and then lead the fish over the net as you normally would do. The whole process is of course much easier if you are fishing with a mate and they can drive the boat whilst you play the fish.

If a fish gets snagged during the fight, and you fail to get it moving with the rod, then handlining it can sometimes get it free and is always worth a try – ideally your snag leader material should be longer than the water is deep, as this gives you something thicker to get hold of, and there is less chance of cutting your hand than trying to apply pressure to thin braid.

With practice, playing a fish from the boat becomes second nature, and you will eventually be able to control the boat without even really thinking about it, concentrating mainly on landing the carp you’re attached to.