Carp fishing techniques in Pakistan
Carp
fishing is more common in Pakistan as we have the Common Carps, Carp Catla,
Carp Kalbance, Carp Mrigal and Carp Rohu more common in Pakistan. The
most important and effective factor in successful Carp fishing is the
selection of spot where you not only wish to enjoy yet catch some fish.
Some spots are already known to you but some time you have to choose a
new place. Mostly fishing is done on the already well-known and busy spots
as you never now how the water bed and conditions there will behave later.
In new places if you talk to locals about the prospects of the area that
would be fabulous idea before you arrange your setup for fishing.
The
2nd important factor is ground baiting the area or chumming of fish. In
our water channels and
reservoirs the quantity of fish is not that huge as is in other countries
because of many reason e.g. Illegal netting, no conservation plans, not
observing catch & release methodology and not observing the bag limit
rules chalked out by IGFA and PGFA. So if you wish to catch some fish
you must ground bait the area 2 to 4 hours or for even more time before
you cast. The best time of ground baiting is before dawn and after dusk.
How to prepare the ground bait is a full chapter and many foreign recipes
are available on the net which are not so productive in local waters.
In our local language we call it Charai or Chara which is made of Cake
of Mustard (Sarson ki Khal) which is grinded and roasted and than a small
amount the powder of dry herbs (jari booti) for nutrition, scent for the
attraction of fish is included in it. All herbs are available in Grocery
(Pansar) shops. Mix all ingredients pouring little amount of water and
using boiled rice to make it a bit humid and sticky. You can include some
amount of half grinded oat, wheat and chickpeas or pulses which can be
soaked for at least 12 hours or boiled. Make balls of the mixture of above
as shown in the picture below and throw those to some exact distance where
your rig will land. Normally 6 to 8 balls will be enough. Nowadays ready
made charai is easily available in tackle shops to avoid all this hassle
and you only need to mix it properly.
reservoirs the quantity of fish is not that huge as is in other countries
because of many reason e.g. Illegal netting, no conservation plans, not
observing catch & release methodology and not observing the bag limit
rules chalked out by IGFA and PGFA. So if you wish to catch some fish
you must ground bait the area 2 to 4 hours or for even more time before
you cast. The best time of ground baiting is before dawn and after dusk.
How to prepare the ground bait is a full chapter and many foreign recipes
are available on the net which are not so productive in local waters.
In our local language we call it Charai or Chara which is made of Cake
of Mustard (Sarson ki Khal) which is grinded and roasted and than a small
amount the powder of dry herbs (jari booti) for nutrition, scent for the
attraction of fish is included in it. All herbs are available in Grocery
(Pansar) shops. Mix all ingredients pouring little amount of water and
using boiled rice to make it a bit humid and sticky. You can include some
amount of half grinded oat, wheat and chickpeas or pulses which can be
soaked for at least 12 hours or boiled. Make balls of the mixture of above
as shown in the picture below and throw those to some exact distance where
your rig will land. Normally 6 to 8 balls will be enough. Nowadays ready
made charai is easily available in tackle shops to avoid all this hassle
and you only need to mix it properly. 
Weight
Charai or you can call it Charai pressed on sinker, when the water is
flowing or the area is steep and you think that your ground bait will
flow in the water instead of staying on the ground, in that case instead
of throwing charai, it is loaded on the sinker or feeder so that it can
attract fish in that particular area where your rig is landed.
Another
method is Method Feeder which is not common in Pakistan. Method Feeders
are specially shaped variants of ground bait feeder. They feature a cage
or rib like design that allows the ground bait to be pressed around the
frame. Most Method Feeders feature a tube through the centre through which
the mainline is threaded. This means that the feeder is fished “in-line”
style. Normally these feeders are temporarily fixed in position using
a length of silicone, and the bait is presented upon a very short hook
length of around 4”, so that the bait is presented very close to
the ball of ground bait. Using method feeder can save good amount expensive
charai which in normally wasted because of many reasons. Special tackle
is used for Method Feeder fishing.
Herbal
hook bait: Some anglers confuse it and call it chemical bait. Take some
part of charai, add double the amount of grinded and roasted residue Cake
(Cake) of sesame and almond seeds add some boiled rice and use sugar syrup
to make balls and press on hooks.
Herbal
hook bait is very useful in summer, for bettering your result, dip and
soak up your hook bait in syrup of Mawa before casting or if Mawa is not
available use sugarcane syrup (old black gurh sheera) which villagers
feed to cattle. Some people use Jalebi ka Sheera which is quite useful
for Catla.
Chicken
Feed bait: This bait is very useful these days and it is very easy to
make. Take 100 grams of Chicken feed #4 Add 50 grams of Choker, 50 grams
of Soorhi, 100 grams of Corn Flour and 100 grams of wheat flour and mix
all ingredients by pouring little amount of sugar syrup for mixing and
make a ball.
The
rig shown above is most useful for chicken feed bait. A ball of prepared
bait is pressed on the feeder in the centre and all small hooks are hidden
in the bait.
Most
easy method is to use simple super fine white flour (atta) dough bait
or you can add yellow corn flour if needed or you can dip the bait in
sugar syrup.
There
is another method inserting small pieces of chapatti/roti on the hook
as bait which is very useful for common carp catching.
I
wish you all a very successful fishing season.
