In modern carp angling there is so much different kit you can take. Travelling light helps you keep on the move when you are fishing and from the popularity of Nash's Urban Banx videos, traveling light and keeping on the move is becoming more popular than ever.

How To Pack Light

Luggage Organisation

This depends on your situation on where you are fishing and how you are fishing. If you're night fishing for 3 nights then you are going to have more kit as you need to stay comfy during those nights. What you can do is organise the way you pack your gear. If you have a barrow, keep your bivvy and bedchair at the bottom and keep your tackle and rods right on the top. This will make it ten times easier to get fishing quicker as your tackle is accesable as well as your rods and net. Your bivvy, bedchair and other bits you won't need can stay on the barrow which makes being on the move a lot easier. As well as this keep your barrow loaded when fishing so all you have to do is reel in, pack your rods and net away and move!

Think about how you pack your rucksack. If you're rucksacks fully packed, keeping your essenitial items like your tackle pouch, rigs and hookbaits accessable makes this sort of fishing a lot more efficent. You won't have to be emptying bits from your bag just to access your leads or rigs.

When you can, go through you're kit and decide what you don't use. It is pointless carrying lots of 2oz leads if you know you never use 2oz leads. This will make it a lot easier to find your tackle. Reorganizing your rucksack to fit the most in the space available is also a game changer for packing light.

Leave Some Gear In the Car

Things like your bivvy or bedchair don't be afraid to leave in your car for the day. If your spending the first day moving around the lake and figuring where to fish the night then leaving your night kit until you need it is a massive edge for keeping on the move. Obviously, if it is chucking it down with rain then get that brolly up so you can keep yourself and your gear dry, but if the weather allows then there is never a rush to set your bedchair and bivvy up!

Brollies over Bivvies for Light Travel

Use a brolly rather than a bivvy. Bivvies are a lot more bulky and heavier than a brolly.  I've been using a Titan Hide for coming upto four years and for keeping on the move and being light and mobile, it is perfect. Brolly systems like the Hide and Tempest Brolly erect in a flash and are lightweight, making the pack down part super fast.  Bivvies are still fine and you can still be mobile with one, they are just a bit bulkier and generally take a bit longer to erect.

If the weather allows then the ultimate for travelling light is sleeping under the stars or a shroud.

Compact Bedchairs

Compact bedchairs are a massive factor for packing light. They are probaly one of the bulkiest items you may need on a session and there is quite a big difference between a wide and compact. If your willing to sacrifice the comfort of a wide bedchair, then a standard or compact is a lot less bulky and easier to fit on the barrow.

Baiting Poles

This can sound surprising to you but I've found that the Bushwacker is a masive edge for keeping mobile. You can get your rigs out a lot more accurately than casting which can make it quicker and easier than casting and also there is less disturbance on the water which can result in quicker bites. Its extremely rare for me to leave the bushwacker at home, it always comes in useful with my angling.

Best Fishing Methods for Traveling Light.

PVA Solid Bags are a brilliant method for traveling light. You can present over the majority of different lake beds and they are a simple way of fishing quickly. You simply make a cast and then your hookbait has a lovely parcel of food for any carp around the area. A lot more quicker than having a lead about for an hour and baiting up just to fish a spot for a couple of hours.

Zigs are perfect. You don't have to worry about weed on the bottom of the lake as your hookbait is off the bottom anyway. Just make sure your not fishing in a weed bed what is taller than your zig and you'll be presented.

Single Pop-Ups are a good method. More suited for winter fishing but they can still get bites all year round. Just fish a super attractive hookbait!

A chod rig is super ideal as like a zig, you can present over any low-lying weed or silt

Benefits of Traveling Light

As explained below, there are plenty of benefits for staying light and mobile.

Keep on the Fish

You can only catch if there are fish infront of you! The less gear you have the easier moving round the lake will be as you will be able to carry things a lot more comftorably and it will take you less time to pack kit down and set it up meaning it will make for a quicker move. Moving swims on some lakes and following fish can prove a successful method and to be honest it is no surprise. If you moving onto fish then there is going to be fish near your rig which means you are closer to getting that bite. As well as this, you also have the chance to fish a lot more swims on the lake which can teach you a lot about what areas of the lake the fish prefer or where their patrol routes are on certain areas.

Comfort

Transporting your kit will be lot more comftorable, as reducing your kit will make your rucksack ten times lighter meaning a grueller of a walk can easily turn into a breeze. As you can imagine you don't want to be carrying lots of gear for two / three hours in one spot because you're not going to need lots of gear for that time.

Winter Fishing

Keeping on the move and fishing multiple swims in a day is a brilliant winter tactic. As we know the fish tend to shoal up making location even more important than normal and it can be harder to locate the fish. Moving round the lake is a brilliant way to find fish in the winter as different swims will also give you different veiws of the water meaning you may be able to see more in one particular swim. As well as this, it could only take one swim move in the winter and that could be the start of a session to remember! As much as you are going to need more clothing to keep warm in the winter, you can still keep mobile by keeping your barrow as loaded as you can!