Winter Tactics: Effectiveness of 1 Artificial

Just one artificial corn on the
hair rig wil do it. This washed
out pink color has been very
effective for me.

This is one of many carp that fell for the one
 artifical approach this week.

I was back to using winter tactics this week.  I started off with my cage feeder/sweet corn set-up that I outlined in the last post. The problem I ran into with this was dace or fall fish.  These little varmints are active in the cold water and they will rip apart the sweet corn in short order. So, my cage feeder set-up was rendered useless by these cold water pests.
So, onto option 2 that I've used in past years in this situation. This option involves the hair rig.  I've tied a bunch of small hairs onto #10 hooks with light, 30 lb. test braid.  This delicate set-up is perfect for winter use.  The key is to put on just one artificial corn.  In this case I was using a white or washed out pink Enterprise artificial, plastic corn. The hook is so light it allows the artificial to actually float upwards on the hair rig in an alluring fashion.  It did just the trick as the carp keyed on this one bait while the dace left it alone for the most part. I also used a method ball packed around my sinker.
I used this one artificial in the last three outings including today.  Yes, I was out in this absolutely miserable weather this afternoon.  It was cold (40 degrees), windy and pouring rain, but the carp were hitting.  I landed seven nice fish up into the teens. It lessened the misery factor.

These are real hot in the wintertime. Sold at Big Carp Tackle! Best
colors for me have been washed out pink and white.