River Carp Fishing: How to Hunt for Wild Carp 💎

In this video I run through my whole approach to catching wild river carp.
I absolutely love my river carping and in this video, I want to share some very special moments that I’ve had over the last few years. There’s lots to enjoy and lots of tips that have been very hard won. One of the highlights is a 20kg beast of a carp that I caught in 2018.
⏰ In this video:
00:00 On my way
01:40 Make the carp come to you
07:30 What’s special about river carping
12:44 My river rigs
13:34 My river carping setup
14:08 My rods
14:53 Backleading on the river
15:29 How to find the carp
16:51 My river carping over the years
► What I use for my bombproof carp rig: amzn.to/45yq4b9
Also from CARP FISHING EXPLAINED:
1️⃣ New twist on the classic hair rig: • BOOST Your Hair Rig Wi...
2️⃣ The Shock & Run rig: • I Cut the Leg of a Lea...
3️⃣ 5 rig mistakes that will cost you a carp: • 5 Rig Mistakes That Wi...
🎣 My current river setup:
Heavy duty mono snag leader: amzn.to/3wwPuq4
Dwarf 9ft 3.25lb rods: amzn.to/3Ri3uw1
Shimano Ultegra CI4+ 14,000 XTC: amzn.to/3AQF1bK
R3 alarms: amzn.to/3KlXu30
Dwarf landing net: amzn.to/3RhoeUm
Scope Ops Ruckall: amzn.to/3AU45i4
► Beausoleil Carp and Cats (my lake in France)
www.frenchcarpandcats.com/
► Support the channel:
Use this Amazon link: amzn.to/3TbvnaF for any purchase
Hit the THANKS button in any video
(When available, we use affiliate links and may earn a commission)
This channel is supported by Nash but I am in charge of the content of each video and only use products I have total confidence in.
#matthewcollins #carpfishingexplained

[@matthewcollinsangler]

I’ve been hunting river carp for over 10 years and during that time I’ve learned quite a lot about these incredible creatures. Pound for pound, river carp fight much harder than lake carp and for me it’s the absolute pinnacle of the sport. River carping is not easy. It doesn’t always go to plan and I can go for weeks at a time without catching one. Every capture is special and every carp is different. You simply never know what you are going to hook next and the buzz is off the scale! I hope that you enjoy the video and that it inspires you to get out and have your own adventure.

[@justinsteel6360]

I only fish for river and canal carp. The river carp are beasts but ive had a blanking spell of 13 months in the past. Still worth the effort

[@matthewcollinsangler]

@@justinsteel6360 I blanked for a year my first year. Can’t beat the buzz when it all comes together though right? Happy hunting. Cheers, Matt.

[@jonasgil459]

Hello Matthew I'm from South of Brazil I fish only river carp. So i learned that persistence is a better chance of getting a big wild carp River carp have routes for searching food, we have baiting a few days, weeks, moths in same spot to add of the "food routes" Thanks for yours videos, I learned a lot from you!

[@matthewcollinsangler]

Hi Jonas, thanks for commenting. I agree 100%, applying bait consistently and regularly is key. Happy hunting! Matt.

[@SirUnaiEmery]

the best carp channel on yt - thanks matt

[@matthewcollinsangler]

Thanks very much mate 😊

[@doogled6749]

I agree river fishing requires another dimension of finesse that movement, flow and the unpredictability of everything, different every time and you are never fully in control. Shame there are basically no rivers with carp in near me, so if i want carp it has to be lakes. Thanks for the video Matt, keep them coming....

[@doogled6749]

@@minicopilot1 Hi buddy, i live in diss in the waveney valley. There are a few very old looking carp in the wensum in norwich city centre, but you dont really want to fish there and there nomadic. Havent seen any anywhere else in person tho, i would really like too!

[@vim107]

Hi Matt, Ukraine is here 👋 It’s pleasure to watch your videos and learn something new about carping 👍🏻

[@matthewcollinsangler]

Thank you very much indeed 😊 🇺🇦🇺🇦

[@MarkSexton887]

Enjoyable watch,once again.perfect for a Sunday morning.😊👍🏻

[@matthewcollinsangler]

Thanks Mark 👍

[@Sixx2099]

Man i can not wait to watch this video! Thanks Matthew for bringing the river content!

[@Sixx2099]

Watched it now. Matthew what a great video.

[@matthewcollinsangler]

Hi mate, thanks for the positive vibes man. Glad that you enjoyed it!

[@joshplays3494]

smashing it matt!!! love your vids buddy

[@matthewcollinsangler]

Wow, thanks very much mate, glad you're enjoying the variety of content we've got!

[@ianleicester7066]

my dream , one day . away from everyone hopefully. been carping for 30 years a lot of the top syndicates but give me this any day . thanks matt.

[@matthewcollinsangler]

Glad you enjoyed it Ian and all the best with your dream 👍

[@thomasbarker5064]

Fantastic video , great skills 🎣🎣

[@matthewcollinsangler]

Thanks very much 😊

[@bashab3098]

Great film and advice . I’m booked on the boat for September looking forward to putting your tips into practice on the Mayenne .

[@matthewcollinsangler]

Thanks mate, best of luck 👍

[@PossessedGaming07]

Love it! I definitely need to find a good river to fish here in the UK. I would love a wild 20lber!! Also, I caught 2 fish this week from my local lake with your mono hair rig :D

[@matthewcollinsangler]

They are out there for sure mate! Good to know the mono D-rig did the bizz for. Cheers, Matt.

[@peter1873]

Cant wait till im at the river again..

[@herrjanssen8531]

Hi Matt, your river sessions are just wonderful to watch. They remind me of a time, when I was fishing in a syndicate lake in my hometown. (Yes, I know, this video is about rivers) Cyclists, dogs, joggers etc. just everywhere. On the other hand it was (and still it is) a wonderful lake with almost unexplored big carp. Unfortunately I had to quit the syndicate, since I just couldn’t stand all the noise and pollution caused by the “young people” who had regular barbecues and were heavily drinking at the bank. I feel still kind of sorry that I had to quit but I just couldn’t bear it anymore. What a pity! Being well organized is a must in such areas, as you correctly underline. You have a quite limited space for your gear and you need to use it wisely. River carp are told to be fighting much harder, compared to carps of similar size from lakes, or is it just a myth? I’m afraid, it will be difficult for me to prove it. I live in a crowded area with hundreds of quarry lakes (a lot of gravel is explored here, since I am located near the river Rhine) and slow rivers are just the ones which are crowded the most. Fishing for carp in Rhine, will be surely possible but I believe that I simply do not even have the time to find the right swims in this extra-large industrial river. It is really good to see that there are areas in France (I think we have similar things in Germany but I would have to drive hundreds of kilometres…) where you would face certain difficulties but on the other hand side you are still catching nice fish. (Let’s forget all the usual blanking that is not shown in all the fishing videos 😉) Some years ago, I have been in close contact with some people, who use vintage split cane rods (restored by British specialists) and pin reels for river carp fishing. This is something that seemed to be lot of fun, denying the “tackle madness” and just fishing using this minimal gear. Of course this is a totally different kind of carp fishing but it was interesting to see that they succeeded even regularly. I know that this does not necessarily belong here, since I has almost nothing to do with the contents of the video but it just came to my mind. Sorry. Cheers, Alex

[@matthewcollinsangler]

Hi Alex, really interesting to hear about your experience! River carp absolutely fight harder than lake carp because they have to be fitter to fight against the current.

[@peter1873]

Great stuff..would like to see some more river fishing,i love the river... We do kayaking weekends in the summer just fishing all weekend long,its indescribeable fun!!!!😋😋😋😋😋

[@matthewcollinsangler]

Sounds amazing mate 👍

[@peterjohnson8935]

Thanks for this video Matt. I'm targeting the Carp on my local river again. Location the hardest part. I'm prebaiting a spot with boilies and pellet. Nice strong simple running rigs. Lot of Bream so maybe just introduce boilies. Or a hemp and Tiger Nut approach?

[@matthewcollinsangler]

Hi Peter, I have issues with bream, chub, roach too on the river and you need to use big baits like the 24mm Scopex Squid. Any pellet or hemp will only attract nuisance species so it can work against you. You also need to make the hookbaits extra hard. Nash makes extra hard hookers called Hard-ons (yes the name is ridiculous) but the cost can add up. I used to air dry my baits but nowadays I salt cure them in Himalayan Rock salt for a few weeks before use. These have worked really well for me. I haven't used any tigers on the river but they work great at my lake and the catfish don’t touch them either which is a bonus. Sweet tigers over particles is a highly effective approach on still water but on a river you need to use massive quantities of particles as you’ll lose most of it due to current and other species. If the river is 12ft deep (like mine) I’d say you’re wasting your time with particles and tigers. Hope that helps, cheers, Matt.

[@peterjohnson8935]

@@matthewcollinsangler Hi Matt. Thanks so much for your help. I like the idea of curing with Himalayan salt. Will stick to big boilies as hookbaits. I'm using the mono rig you covered in another video. Simple effective and strong. Tight lines to you!

[@markosman5762]

Good work Matty. Once the planets align, we'll have to do another one!

[@matthewcollinsangler]

Thanks mate, I'm sure we'll make it happen soon!

[@jaylewin3701]

That’s proper carp fishing at its finest I must admit the river Trent beat me I wish I had the motivation to to go back but my health isn’t great at the minute Hopefully I’ll get back myself back on track

[@matthewcollinsangler]

Hi Jay, thanks for commenting and I hope that you can get back on the hunt soon. Cheers, Matt.

[@damonlappin8793]

Great watch never river fished can imagine it being a challenge

[@matthewcollinsangler]

A challenge for sure but very rewarding 😊

[@liamwebb9638]

Thank you for your for your video

[@matthewcollinsangler]

Glad you enjoyed it.

[@beataddiction6954]

Do the French understand "it's all gone a bit Pete Tong"... LOL.. Great video, looks like a beautiful place...

[@matthewcollinsangler]

Haha, I'll have to find the equivalent!! Cheers mate, glad you enjoyed it 👍

[@adventureswithfrodo2721]

Where I live all carp are wild the were planted in the 1880s. The usually mainly stay in the lake which is 95000 acres, 25x16 miles. In the past only a few would swim up the tributaries but this year hundreds migrated upstream. I sight fished for them using a quarter ounce lead jid with a plastic tube jig. They were strong enough in the current they would straighten a size 1 stout hook on jig. Otherwise it is just paclbait fishing. No chumming.

[@pauledmonds3249]

Is that the Mayenne river Matt? If so I've fished it myself a few times just downstream of the town of Mayenne. Snaggy, but hard fighting fish indeed. Nice video.

[@matthewcollinsangler]

Thanks mate, yes it's the Mayenne. I fish it further south. I've only scratched the surface really, there's so much to go at!

[@sifishes]

Did your friend weigh the cyclist 😂 Great video Matt. I must try river carping.

[@matthewcollinsangler]

If only I'd had my catfish sling and 200lb scale, we'd have given it a go mate 🤣🤣🤣

[@sifishes]

@@matthewcollinsangler 😂😂😂

[@RFT24]

Wow 😮

[@matthewcollinsangler]

Thanks 😊

[@MarcDip]

Great Motivation for myself. Haf 110m to the River Mosel in Germany. unfortunately hard to get some Fish on the Mat. Nest week trying again with my Son. Fingers crossed Greetz from Germany

[@matthewcollinsangler]

Hi Marc, ah nice! Best of luck for your session. Keep your hooks sharp, rigs strong and keep the bait going in and the carp will find you! Enjoy, Matt.

[@peter1873]

I fish a small river now and then Only 8 meters wide..the strenth the carp have on such a small stretch amazing.. And whats weird is that once hooked ALL the carp swim in one direction,down stream to the left... Another river n fish ALL the hooked carp run upstream to the left...it boggles me.. Cheers 😊😊

[@matthewcollinsangler]

Haha, all rivers have a unique character, that's what makes them interesting, happy hunting 😊

[@danielwalker8989]

WOW mat this is so mouth watering how dare you tease us with such content😂 Love all your videos but this one really appeals mate👊 are u allowed to disclose the name of this river?? Thank you Dan

[@matthewcollinsangler]

Hi Dan, glad you enjoyed this one, it was a bit different and a bit special for us to do as well 😊 and it’s the river Mayenne mate.

[@adrianconnock1785]

Informative and inspiring video thanks Matt. IMO rivers and canals are now the only places in the U.K. you can experience that pioneering feeling with most stillwaters now either overpressured or expensively syndicated with waiting lists longer than my life expectancy! So thanks I’ll be applying your tips to my local waters and hopefully across the channel sometime. One question, do you think the 1oz plus back leads could move the fishing lead when sliding on? Experiments I have conducted in the garden suggest they can, but water is of course a different medium, and would say a 4oz gripper stay well put in a slow flow?

[@matthewcollinsangler]

Hi Adrian, glad you found this video useful. I understand your concerns, it does depend if the lead is fishing on a slope or not. Generally a 3oz lead with a 1oz back lead shouldn't be an issue, but it pays to carry a range of sizes of leads and back leads to cover different eventualities. When I slide a back lead, I hold tension in the line so I can tell if the lead moves at all. All the best with your season! Cheers, Matt

[@adrianconnock1785]

Thanks very much Matt that’s good advice

[@kevenwatt8409]

Hi Matt hope your well just a quick question are you using braid or not on your fishing reels?

[@matthewcollinsangler]

Hi Keven, I used to and I would again if conditions dictated. That massive mirror was landed on 90lb Spiderwire (0.35) from a rocky weir pool. Nowadays I use 12lbs Nash Bullet with 6-10 m of Nash mono Snag leader in 30lbs (0.50) straight down to a running clip. This is my general purpose setup and hasn't let me down. If things gets serious then I have a HD setup. 20lbs Bullet 40lbs (0.60) snag leader. Hook links are either 30lbs mono snag leader or 35lbs Skinlink fished multi rig style. Here’s another peek at my river carp rig: kzbin.infoCh032Nsihcc?feature=share

[@bistroteamfishing]

👍👍👍

[@matthewcollinsangler]

Thanks mate 👍

[@EricPollarrd]

Used a throwing stick recently - massively inaccurate 😂 but man do they go absolutely miles when u wanna hoy some at ur mate 300 yards up the path home 😂😂

[@gavinlaxton7820]

Been river carping the last 7 years solid . Cut my teeth on the river when I was 14 years old when I first started carp fishing 30 years I'll never go back to fishing a lake now in the uk because of how busy they are . What ounce lead are you using to gauge the depth because obviously a heavier lead will fall through the water quicker and vice versa with a lighter lead ?

[@matthewcollinsangler]

Hi Gavin, my go-to lead is a 3oz pear but I in certain swims I have to use anything up to 6.5oz gripper lead. To calibrate different leads I use a standard marker float setup on a lake to accurately measure the depth, then by casting a lead of a certain size and feeling it down, you’ll get an idea of what the count is at this depth. It takes a bit of practice of course but it’s a good ready reckoner on the river and it’s good enough for my purposes. Cheers, Matt.

[@gavinlaxton7820]

@@matthewcollinsangler yeah I thought it would be 3-3.5oz as that's about right for a meter a second falling through the water

[@danielswatske5780]

I'm like you sir I like to get as far away from people as I can when I'm fishing

[@matthewcollinsangler]

Nothing quite like the feeling you get on the river 😊

[@TheIridescentFisherMan]

This was wonderful!! Just listening while at work. Question for my fellow anglers. Has anyone ever tried running a Helicopter method feeder? Where I live in the US it's illegal to do any form of chumming. To get around this we use pack bait and obviously stuff the hook. My question is would this work mechanically? In my mind the feeder would break up slightly on contact with the water and obviously the choddy setup would help me over some of the weeds. My point of interest is figuring out a good feeder style for safe ejections on this unconventional setup-Yea I know I'll be dumping 5$feeders haha

[@matthewcollinsangler]

Hi Joshua, I’ve never used pack bait but it sounds very similar to a technique we know as “the method feeder”. These are fished running or semi fixed so there’s no tackle loss on the take. It’s a very successful method on well stocked waters. You mention helicopter rigs and dumping the feeder 🤔 I’m very confused because the feeder is not dumped on the take when you fish it helicopter style (unless you use a heli safe system). I’m against the deliberate loss of tackle, it’s not necessary in most situations. If the lake is so weedy that you need to eject the feeder to land the carp then I would find an alternative solution. The best method I've found on weedy lakes is to fish for them above the weed using zigs. If you use small zip leads fished running style they should come through the weed okay. Use small bits of foam soaked in liquid attractors to create a power food signal. That will do away with the need for the feeder. I’ve caught some very large carp doing this. Best of luck, Matt.

[@TheIridescentFisherMan]

@@matthewcollinsangler Right on.( Sorry for my improper use of some terms) Yes I was referring to a method feeder. And I don't want to intentionally drop the lead/feeder every time, just if I get snagged up during a fight as the rig would be quite combersome and hard for the carp to release itself in that case. Would this be something I should just overlook then? As always thank you for your responses and time. Sitting at my local lake now hoping for the best. -Also I'm very curious about your meaning for "intentionally dropping" it was to my understanding that heli safe/ quick link lead safe systems could be rigged as such they'd only come off under quite a bit of tension. Somewhere just passed half way on the tail rubber. Cheers

[@matthewcollinsangler]

@@TheIridescentFisherMan I think the safest setup would be to set up the feeder to be free running. When the carp pulls on the rig he’ll get nailed and you’ll get an immediate bite indication. In the event of a mainline failure the feeder will fall off the mainline when the carp draws it through. I would always advocate fishing barbless anyway. If you are used to barbed hooks then just crush the barb. They go in further with less force without the barb on. Some semi-fixed carp rigs can be set very delicately so that the lead is ejected as soon as the carp pulls on the rig. This happens with Korda’s heli safe system which is why I mentioned it. Personally I see no need for it (unless the weed is horrendous) which is why I use running rigs.

[@TheIridescentFisherMan]

@@matthewcollinsangler Definitely barbless. And I can't think of a good way to run it inline with a chod setup. The feeder above the chod portion would make a tangling nightmare and im not sure if it will work the same mechanically. All in all I'll just have to simplify I think. I'll do some probing and see if I can't solve my chod problem by finding a clear spot. Cheers my friend. And thank you for helping me out so frequently the passed few days.

[@matthewcollinsangler]

I wouldn't worry about the chod element mate. It’s easy to get hung up on this. The method is very similar to a solid PVA bag and I’ve caught loads of carp from weedy water just by lobbing a solid PVA bag into the green stuff. Just fold the rig into the pack bait and lob it out. They’ll find it and they’ll have it!

[@davec9515]

I've been fishing the same lake for 5 season's now,winter is good the bigger fish do show.but summer is Very hit and miss, even after spawning.the fish are there it just goes dead sometimes for weeks . wouldn't say it gets to heavily fished any suggestions thanks

[@matthewcollinsangler]

Hi Dave, totally understand what you mean, we see it at Beausoleil as well. The warmer the temperature, the easier the carp find it to eject the rigs (without you knowing it). The best suggestion I can make (based on my experience) is to use a simple running ledger like in this video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/gqupmqGXbpeVqK8 I know it sounds mad but I believe the running ledger will trick them into believing that they’ve got away with it… but they haven’t. This is what’s working at Beausoleil right now with very wily carp. All the best, Matt.

[@davec9515]

Thanks Matt great info,I'll take that on board. I'll also let you know the out come in a month or two,keep up the good work have been following you for some time, always handy to look back at some of your comments if in doubt

[@JTvlogs984]

" Hooked a Cyclist " i bet that was a screamer of a Run lol

[@matthewcollinsangler]

Yes mate, it was mad lol. It was dark as well. Luckily everyone walked away un-injured lol.

[@JTvlogs984]

@@matthewcollinsangler told some of the gents about it today on the lake ! Hahaha glad everyone is okay

[@Mypitbull82]

I have caught 4 from the river thames your right they fight 10x harder than lake carp

[@matthewcollinsangler]

Nice, yes they do pull back much harder for sure!

[@shaynemeadows7859]

Hi would you giveaway the name of the river 😊

[@matthewcollinsangler]

Hi Shayne, it's the Mayenne river 😊

[@kevenwatt8409]

There are some great rivers all round that area Shayne and a fantastic holiday area so much to see and do there is a brilliant little campsite right on the river Sarthe called Camping Moredena with some amazing spots to fish and close to the river Matt is fishing so loads to pick from. The river runs through the town of Sablé-sur-Sarthe which just looks awesome to fish definitely worth doing sone research it’s a blast.

[@matthewcollinsangler]

Looks like you've found a great spot there Keven 👍 Hope you're enjoying the area.

[@kevenwatt8409]

@@matthewcollinsangler love the whole region Matt

[@shaynemeadows7859]

Thanks Matt appreciated Shayne 👍

[@felipfelop8220]

River fishing, 4.5kgs of pre baiting beforehand then boilies on top,thats 70=80 quid mate,i dont think so,wow your charging your customers over the odds at your fishery to be able to afford those kind of prices,for a bite when its and n miss on a river,as much as i like your vlogs,i find your self to be so condradictory,you have lost me,now your long gone

[@matthewcollinsangler]

We got our wires crossed mate. I was pre-baiting for 2 back to back day sessions 2 days in advance. The boilies I use cost £6/kg and the pellets £1/kg. I used 2kg of boilies plus 2.5kg of pellets, that’s £14.50 pre-baiting for 2 days of fishing. Then I’ll use 0.5kg on arrival and then top up if I catch.

[@kevbridge6355]

4.5kg of particle costs about £5 or half that if you make it yourself. Hes not trying to rip you off. Id find a new hobby if your not even willing to pay for 4.5kg of particle 👌👌