The sun is shining and the carp are more visible than ever, which makes catching them that bit more frustrating. Here are a few tips to put you one step ahead of those summer stunners…
Head to the shallows...
As soon as that first ray of sun hits the water, you can guarantee carp will be looking to make the most of it, either by basking in the upper layers or heading to the shallower areas of the lake. These areas warm up quickest and are great for the carp to explore.
On a lot of lakes, carp will be in the shallows through the day and move back into deeper water at night. With this in mind, try to predict the carp’s movements and be ready and waiting in the shallows by mid-morning for when they arrive.
Remember, the carp will be able to detect everything much better in shallow water, so take it easy with bait, limit casting and keep yourself hidden.
THESE ARE THE PERFECT WEATHER CONDITIONS FOR CATCHING CARP!
Get those floaters out!
Surface fishing may be frustrating at times but get it right and there are few better methods to catch carp. A lot of anglers make the mistake of trying to fish with floaters too far out and make that first cast way too early.
Spend time giving the fish a free feed on your floating offerings, this will give them confidence and get them competing for baits. Once they are taking multiple baits and readily looking for the next one, you can begin thinking about casting out.
Try to mix up your floating feed too, cat biscuits, chum mixers and varying sizes of floating pellets, will help keep the carp guessing.
Start by feeding as close to the bank as possible and use any wind to your advantage to blow the mixers where you can easily cast. To avoid spooking the carp, it is vital you overcast the and gently wind back over their heads. This can’t be done accurately at 50 yards!
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Turn to the fishmeals
Boilies that smell like a candy shop may be super attractors of carp in the winter months but come summer, the fish will more readily be swayed into feeding on baits packed with oils and fishmeals.
Oils breakdown far quicker in the summer months, which make these baits super attractive to the carp. The fish will be feeding regularly and looking to pack on the pounds post spawning, so these highly nutritious baits will keep them coming back again and again.
Don’t be afraid to favour more natural colours in the summer months too, don’t worry the carp will have no trouble finding them!
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Be ready at bite time
When the temperatures really shoot up, carp can become quite lethargic, spending a lot of the day sitting in weedbeds or under snags. That doesn’t mean however, they aren’t still partial to some bait, it is just all about timing.
On these hottest of days capitalising on bite times is vital, be sure to have done all your preparation in terms of finding spots and baiting up, before thepeak times of first and last light.
You can find that on some waters during the summer heat, the nights aren’t particularly productive, this is because the oxygen levels decrease throughout the hours of darkness. So, in this instance, have a good night sleep and be ready for early morning action.
CONSIDER USING ONE OF THESE BAIT BOATS TO POSITION YOUR RIG AND BAIT ACCURATELY.
Become a stalker
You won’t get a better time than the summer months to watch the stock in your lake and particularly your target fish. This is the perfect time of year to instead of playing the numbers game, specifically go after that one dream fish.
The best way to start this process, is to spend some time baiting up clear marginal spots and spend the day rotating between each one.
Watch and observe. Fish will often behave in a similar manner, they will enter the swim from the same angle, often only dropping for a quick mouthful initially, then leave for a predictable amount of time.
Watching this routine will help you plan ahead, be sure to bait up and place your rig onto the spot before they arrive. Then it is just a matter of sitting back and waiting. Try not to spend too much time over the water once the rig is in play, this is often the hardest part about stalking!
TRY THESE TIPS FROM BIG CARP ACE ADAM PENNING TO CATCH MORE CARP THIS SUMMER.
