i read Buck Perry's book on fishin bout 35 or so yrs ago. he discovered that predator fish(game fish) could be enticed to "strike " out of a predatorial response. get the rite depth an you should catch some of these fish, get the rite speed an you'll catch the most. he also coined an defined "structure" as applied to fishin situations. i still catalog what ever knowledge i obtain, to catch game fish, within these parameters. i can see that carp fishin can be just as intricate...find the rite depth an you should catch some, find the rite 'trigger" an you'll catch the most....an maybe the biggest. 'preciate the info!

Carp are bottom feeders. TROLL ALERT!!!

Fishdoc

My knowledge of predators is a lot less than yours but as you rightly say, they can be enticed to strike whether they are actively hunting or not. I spent some time in Canada trying to catch big Muskies and would have given up if it weren't for an old local guy who showed me just how important the whole speed and movement issue was, especially when the fish were not actively feeding.On one of our last trips we were taken out by a relative to catch Stripers and was lucky enough to get a couple, one of which was trophy size. More luck than judgement I guess but I found that whilst everyone else was casting into the shoals on sonar I went around 75yds wide of the pack where there seemed to be the odd larger fish. I don't know about Stripers particularly but it is common amongst predators of most species to hang around on the edge of activity rather than in get involved in the chaos of a feeding pack.

Take care.

That same theory goes for schooling fish. If you are catching the small ones on top water, try a spoon or little george to catch larger ones below the little schooling fish.

ru

True .... I think it's easy to get trapped into tossing a bait in amongst the shoal where a bite is pretty much certain rather than look for the bigger fish ....... mind you, some days have been so deperate anything is welcome !
Take care.