At this time of year even on waters that have a high stocking, when the carp are not feeding as hard, it can be difficult to tempt them with just a few boilies or a stick. It doesn't give off much sent and you'd probably have to be close up to it to spot it. Trouble is if you pile the bait in you'll just overfeed them and that's game over. What's needed is a way of putting out plenty of bait that won't overfeed but will give off a large scent trail and be easily spotted.
This is a mix of blized and chopped Retro Baits Essential 5 and Crazy Nut with a handful of 12mm Tangy orange thrown in to help visibility. Fifty ml of Crazy Nut bait soak was added together with enough lake water to dampen it all. Adding moisture spreads the bait soak, adds weight to aid casting and helps it all sink faster and not float off. If you dump a spomb full in the margin you can see the effect. It all separates and falls through the water at different rates giving you a good spread. Several of these and you can cloud up the water nicely yet you won't be putting out so much that you overfeed them because most of it is just bits. Bait used like this can not only draw fish into the swim but because of the small size of the particles of bait it'll keep them in the swim longer, searching out morsels.
Today I rocked onto the lake around 11.00 AM. By 12.00 noon the wind was howling and gusting really hard. The rain was getting heavier and heavier and the rods were firing off with every gust. I managed five runs landing four in the howling wind and rain before I left at 3:30PM.
A good days winter carping, better than any day at work.