What We Learned: Early Spring Carp Fishing At Chase Lakes | Underwater Grand Fishing Adventure Episode 1 Review
The first episode of the new series the Underwater Grand Fishing Adventure took Ali Hamidi, Luke Boerrigter and Roo Abbott to Chase Lakes in France. In challenging early spring conditions, the carp played hard to get. But what did the team learn that helped them overcome this? Find out in our breakdown below...
As you've seen, carp in late winter and early spring can be tricky customers, right? Now throw in a diver, a huge underwater camera, and extra bankside disturbance, and the difficulty level rises significantly. Those are the excuses out of the way—so what actually worked?
The team had to make several changes to their angling approach just to tempt the carp slightly. There are plenty of takeaways here that could help improve your own spring carp fishing. Here are some of the best...
Fish Location is Crucial
At any time of year, but especially during late winter and early spring, locating carp is absolutely vital. For filming and research, we used a drone—and quickly found the fish heavily grouped in specific areas of the lake. This proved the old theory true: “Find one, and you might find them all.”
At times, we observed groups of 12 or more carp moving together as a pack. If you can get a group like that feeding, your chances of a bite increase dramatically.
Fish do move, however, and during this session they seemed to favour snaggy, covered areas in the daytime and open water spots at night. Interestingly, some carp were resident in particular areas, treating them almost like home territory. These fish can be harder to catch as they quickly detect when something’s out of place—so building their confidence with consistent baiting is key.
You Can Be Inches from a Bite at Any Time
These underwater carp fishing projects show that, even when you’re sat there catching nothing, you might be inches away from a take. Near misses are more common than you'd think. Carp can be clumsy feeders—sometimes completely missing the hookbait despite aiming straight for it.
Be Willing to Adapt
One of the biggest lessons? Adaptability. Being prepared to switch up your hookbaits and rigs can lead to more bites. Tweaks to rig presentation can make your bait act more naturally on the bottom—or increase the chances of a better hookhold.
If something’s not working, even if you have total confidence in it like Roo did with his maggot rig, and you've given it long enough, change it. Think about colour, shape, size, and buoyancy—all important variables that shift from one session to the next.
Catching "Shy Feeding Carp"
Just like on this trip, there are times when carp are extremely wary, barely touching down on the lakebed and picking at food cautiously. Ali’s switch to an Escargo Snail, topped with a fake maggot on the Lock Hook Slip-D Rig with a Long Leg Aligner, turned one of these shy feeders into a fish on the bank.
The key was the critically balanced buoyancy of the hookbait, with the flavoured foam insert in the snail helping it fly straight into the carp’s mouth. The Magic Twig and Lock Hook, of course, did the rest.
Tight Beds of Bait Can Be Easily Disturbed
One of the most eye-opening parts of this episode—especially for Solid Bag or “three on a spot” anglers—was how easily tight beds of bait were disturbed and scattered. In many cases, this left a lone hookbait sitting by itself with no food around it—the complete opposite of what most anglers expect.
Paste Around the Lead Works
To keep attraction in the area and stop bait from scattering, Ali found the answer: paste. Moulding paste around your lead keeps scent and attraction right where it’s needed, and every time a fish moves nearby, the disturbance puffs more scent into the water. We even saw fish sucking at the lead itself!
Pay Maximum Attention to Your Hookbaits
Perhaps Roo’s biggest lesson? Hookbait attraction matters—big time. Whether you're boosting a pop-up with Goo or stuffing paste into a Bait Orb, it pays off. Adding that extra attraction makes carp hone in like a laser beam—even when there’s plenty of other bait on the lakebed.
What Will We Discover in Episode 2?
Next week’s episode (22/04/25) takes the team to the legendary Lake of Dreams—Grenville, in the UK. With carp of British record-breaking sizes and some of the country’s best anglers fishing there, it promises to be a real challenge.
Will the lessons from Chase Lakes pay off at Grenville? Make sure you tune in at 9pm on ITV4 to find out!
Journalist Chris Haydon joined the OMC Family in the spring of 2024, after six years working for the UK's number 1 fishing publication, the Angling Times. He is a keen Coarse and Carp Fishing All-rounder, fishing in the South West region, including the famous Cotswold Water Park.
