Martyn White | Thursday, 2 February 2023
I had some great carping this week now the rivers have cleared and the sun's come out. It's still freezing cold and there's still the odd bit of ice on the river at lunch time, but the fish are eating.
Despite the sometimes awful weather I've caught a lot of carp this winter, 100s of them. And almost all of my fish in that period have come on 3 patterns, and I was thinking that I probably only fish 5 different flies from about November until April, maybe 6 if I'm on a lake.
So here's my 5 recommendations, in no particular order, for winter carp on the fly;
Glo-bugs, I like them quite big around 15mm in diameter and carry them in a range of colours, some with tungsten beads and some without. Really effective for fish that are neutral or dormant.
Scruffs, different weights and colours but they all have a fluoro tail.
Bead head nymphs, I use these when I want the fly drifting or when the fish have been refusing other, larger flies.
Peeping caddis, Carp love these, especially on freestone rivers, but really seem to like them in winter.
Chenille worm, the star of the show If I could only have one fly it'd be this. I almost always start with it in winter, and it fishes well all year.
You could throw a leech pattern in too, especially if fishing lakes more than rivers, but you probably wouldn't need to if you had a box full of the five patterns I've listed.