Using a boat for the first time on Willows

By Simon Crow

The advantages boats offer the carp angler are so wide stretching they are now a common piece of kit, especially for those who fish weedy waters like Willows. The obvious advantage is having a birds-eye view of what the bottom is like as you can spot the patrol routes and feeding areas, giving you a much greater chance of catching.

2At the start of the Willows syndicate several years back, I took advantage of using a boat and had some really good catches. The feeding areas stood out like a sore thumb, dinner-plate-sized cleaned areas that had a golden colour to them. Some were only a few inches deep whilst others were much larger. A bait dropped into the middle of these always produced the goods, as did placing one on a patrol route which were also easy to find from the broken down weed and tunnel-like gaps.

Using a boat to search out the spots though is an art. It isn’t a case of just getting in and off you go: far from it. You need to keep your eyes open and your stealth about you. The carp can see very easily above the water so if you are stood up in the boat, there is a good chance they will see you the closer you get to them. That is, so long as you haven’t already spooked them with the sound of the engine or the splashing of the oars.

Polarising glasses come in very handy for taking the glare off the water surface, but even these won’t help you when there is a good chop present. The only way to see below the surface at these times is to use an old plastic fish tank or bucket with the bottom cut out which is placed over the side and used as a ripple-breaker. Some of my mates prefer to use goggles or face masks instead but the choice is yours. Another piece of useful kit is an echo sounder. Willows is a relatively shallow venue with depths no deeper than 10ft so you should be able to see the right areas to fish to. For the deeper spots, the grey line facility on the sounder will help you no end: the thicker it is, the softer the bottom will be. For really hard patches the line will be thinner and these are the spots I like the most. As a back up, a spare rod loaded with a heavy lead can be used to ‘donk’ and investigate any areas. I’ll load this with braid since this gives a better ‘feel’ of any vibrations sent down the line. The areas which take my fancy I will then drop a marker on, usually the H-Block type which are available from Eric’s Angling, as indeed are good sounders and polarising glasses.

Getting the rods out

Once you’ve found the spots to fish to, the next stage is getting the rig and bait out to it. The rule on Willows is that you can only drop your baits out with the boat if there is someone with you or fishing close by who can look after your rods. If Black Scale at 36lb caught with the aid of a boatyou’re on you’re fishing on your own have a word with the neighbouring angler and ask if they will watch your rods or help, but make sure they aren’t well away from their own rods first. With so much weed about on Willows, the carp only need to gain a bit of momentum to bury themselves deep into the thickest of Canadian Pondweed leaving you with a lost fish.

There are two ways to place your rigs out with a boat, either by leaving the rod on the bank and taking the rig only with you, or by taking the rod with you. I’ve done it both ways and I much prefer the later way as it gives you more freedom to examine the lake bed, bait up and position the rig. If you drift out of position when doing it the other way, you end up with line all over the place and may need some assistance to tighten up, something which will annoy other anglers as it usually ends up with “Tighten up!” being shouted across the lake which is anti-social to others fishing. At the height of the season Willows attracts a lot of anglers and we should always be respectful to them. This applies to checking boundaries too before venturing onto the water. The last thing you want to do is go too far out in your boat or drift into another’s swim as it may lead to you getting a warning off the bailiffs or even a soaking from the upset angler!

Playing fish

The first thing to say here is you may not need to go out in the boat to land every fish. With the correct rig set up, there is no reason why you shouldn’t be able to land them from the bank. Using a drop-off lead and strong gear will go a long way, as will having the patience to let the carp work its own way out. Very often all it takes is ten minutes or so of leaving the rod on the rest for the fish to get moving again. Only when it remains solid do you need to take to the boat. In this instance, leaving the boat in an accessible position will always be an advantage. It’s no good leaving it well away from the rods or so far up the bank it requires someone else to help you shift it. It also pays to keep on top of any rain that has collected in the bottom of it as you’ll be surprised how much can gather during a storm; something which will make it very unstable out in the middle.

If it is flat calm, you may be able to make your own way out to the fish very easily. All I do is ease my way there with the rod, keeping a gentle bend all the way, pulling the rod upwards to ensure the boat goes in a straight line (if you pull to the side the boat will turn). If it is windy it may not be that easy as you will get blown off course. This is where an engine will come in handy, but Willows do not provide these so you will need to bring your own (Eric’s sell very good Minn Kota engines at a reasonable price).

A lovely Willows forty-plus for Simon CrowOnce above the fish, very often all it takes is for a bit of steady pressure to get it moving. A good bend in the rod or a bit of hand-lining will do this, and once done the ideal is to keep the fish well away from you. Imagine that the boat is the land. Try to maintain at least a rod length of distance between you and where the fish is. The only time you want to get any closer to that fish is when it is ready for netting. Even then though, placing the net in the water adds to the difficulties, because as you push the net forwards, the boat will go backwards unless you have an engine to assist. The way to do it is to lower the net below the water and draw the fish towards you which is where a short net pole will help.

Practice makes perfect

As with everything, the first few times you use a boat to assist with your fishing it will feel very alien. You will run into all sorts of problems until you know how to handle the oars, engine and get a good sense of direction with a rod in your hand. I advise all of you to go and have a practice off site before coming onto Willows as it is very open and prone to strong gusts of wind. If you aren’t confident at what you’re doing it can be dangerous out there so take care, but once mastered it really can be the difference between catching or not, especially at the height of the summer when the weed takes a hold.

Good luck and happy fishing!

Simon Crow