Help needed

[Isis]

Hoping there's someone out there who can help with this problem.
I have permission to fish a small brick pit that's hardly been fished in the last 40 years. There are no shallows and it slopes sharply from 7 to just over 12 feet deep. There is no discernable weed and the pit has no predators in it since it was drained some years ago.
Unitially I thought that all the fish in there were stunted because of overbreeding. The surface is covered in shoals of diminuative rudd that continually head butt any float you may use and even your line if legering. There are lots of small carp cruising about ( half pound to perhaps five pounds but mainly one to two pounds)
However in my exploratory trips I have discovered that it holds some much better roach and rudd.
The roach caught have been just the odd fish but have weighed 1lb 2 ozs, 1lb 8 ozs, 1lb 9 ozs and 1lb 11 ozs. These have all been caught on the bottom using sweetcorn. The rest of the time I am plagued by loads of tiny carp.
This is a complete reversal of my woes in the 1950s when I was trying to catch carp and had trouble avoiding the roach!!!!! any ideas on how to avoid the carp would be gratefully received.

[Kingfisher]

I think whatever you do you will inevitably catch carp because they're so greedy and when they spot shoals of fish feeding they'll muscle their way in.

I would try tares or hempseed on the hook in the hopes that any carp will be nussling around looking for bigger baits.

[DaveM]

Try hemp and tares at this time of year Isis, maybe even a bit of stewed wheat. You could also try feeding a line for the carp with pellets or other baits that carp love away from your roach line fed with the above suggested.
Hope this helps

[Isis]

Many thanks guys I'll give hemp and tares a try.

[DaceAce]

Good luck; carp love hemp and tares!

[DaveM]

Carp love hemp and tares when you feed a bed of them as well as any other seed or particle bait, feeding little and often won't attract too many carp, especially if, like I suggested a line was fed to concentrate the carp in another area of your swim.

There are no baits carp don't like, it's just a matter of avoiding too many of them.

[Isis]

Thanks DaveM, I like the idea of feeding the carp in a different area of the swim. I'm hoping for a lull in the carp's voracious appetite as they appear to be preoccupied in spawning rituals at the moment. Trouble is that when they finish they'll really get their heads down.

[Santiago]

Hemp!

[Hovis]

Isis,
I would feed quite heavily with hemp/tares as the others suggest and fish a float over the top with the hope that the carp will be drawn to the bottom and the roach will get pushed off the feed and slightly higher in the water. I would fish the float about 2-3ft of the bottom and see how you get on. Also fishing just off the baited are may bring in the bigger roach as they can hold back if there are lots of larger fish in the swim.

[DaceAce]

There is a water that I fished a lot many years ago that was, I suppose, the club water equivalent of a commercial but before 'commercials' had come onto the scene. It was rare in that in those days it held a big head of small carp as well as plentiful big roach and perch. One day in early July I fished hemp and tares and was amazed NOT to hook 40-50 carp, getting just one tiddler. What I did get was the best catch of roach I ever had there (over 70 fish, all netters) with many over a pound. a week later it was back to normal when the carp finished spawning and were voracious.

I've done well with roach in waters like this fishing and feeding casters (no hemp) just 18-24" deep with a very light pole float taking 2 or 3 no 10 shot with casters on a size 20, fishing a couple of rod-lengths out. The bigger roach will push the rudd out. Possibly dump some hemp on the bottom to keep the car away. All good fun!