Catch More Carp Than Ever Before With These 8 Summer Fishing Tips
The summer is here! And now is the time of year when the majority of carp anglers will be spending the most time on the bank. Don't be fooled into thinking summer carp fishing is a walk in the park, however, there's loads you need to get right to put those hungry fish in your net. In this article, the OMC Team share their best tips for summer carp fishing...
Summer is an awesome time to be out on the bank, the days are long, the nights are short, the fish are active and often hungry, and hopefully the weather is dry too. This period in the carp angling calendar can also be very productive. The fish should now have spawned and they will be looking to rebuild their energy and strength after this exhausting process. This makes them hungry. Unlike other times of year, the fish will be really active too, often venturing into most areas of the lake throughout a 24-hour period.
Summer carp fishing can come with its challenges, however, and no, we aren't just talking about the mozzies. At this time of year carp are more clued up and angling pressure is at its highest. This makes getting on fish and then getting them feeding on the right spot, tricky to say the least. But don't worry, here are some tips to keep those alarms screaming and reels spinning...
TIME TO UP THE BAIT
Those of you who read our spring tips article will remember we said to keep bait to a minimum, well now is the time to flip that on its head. Of course, every lake is different, but as a general rule, the summer period is when you can really give them some bait.
Mix it up with what you're feeding too, really bring everything to the party by adding a variety of attractors. OMC Founder Ali Hamidi is a massive fan of this 'buffet theory' approach and will have his bait mix loaded with all sorts. Fishmeal boilies, nutty boilies, pellets, corn, maize, hemp, tiger nuts, groundbait, chopped worms, casters, maggots, you name it, get it all in there! A mix like this will keep fish visiting and feeding on your spot for hours, increasing your chances of a take.
If you prefer to just use boilies, you can do that too, but why not try chopping them and crumbing them, or enhancing them further with liquids. Another bait edge often used by Ali is to soak your boilies in lake water. This softens the baits and makes them more easily digestible to the fish, this in turn means they will eat a lot more of them!
Now is arguably the best time of year to pile in the pellets too. Fish love them, as they have everything they need in them. They breakdown quickly in the warmer water too, releasing attraction fast and drawing all manner of fish to the spot. A PVA Bag of pellets in the right place won't be left long before being investigated.
You don't have to pile all this bait in from the off but certainly you should be looking to introduce a good few handfuls onto each spot to kickstart the session. Don't be surprised to be using up to 2-3kg at a time for really big carp in the summer months. This can get expensive, so consider bulking out your mix with cheaper alternatives like corn.
GET ON TOP
One of the real joys of summer carp fishing are those days spent floater fishing. Carp big and small from lakes all over the country love to feel the sun on their backs, and this makes them vulnerable to surface baits.
Get down your local tackle shop or supermarket to pick up some floating pellets or dog biscuits, soak these in some Hemp Oil, and get firing them into your local lake. If you find the fish and steadily feed a pouch at a time, they will almost certainly start taking them eventually.
If birds like gulls are a problem, you've got two options: firstly, you can try feeding them off with some bread or cheaper dog biscuits. Second, you can try the marker rod trick; simply cast a heavy lead out with your marker rod, beyond where you want to fish. Then, tighten down to the lead and position the rod upright like a rocket launcher at the front of the swim. This process will suspend the line tight across the surface of the water, spooking the birds. It often gives you a 10-15ft clearance either side of the line, where the birds are uneasy about landing and you can feed some carp with confidence.
Most anglers use a controller float for surface fishing, but don't forget about freelining either. This is the simplest and purest form of fishing, and is just so exciting. If the fish are close to the bank or sat in weedbeds, you don't need a controller, and actually, having one on may be more of a hinderance than an advantage. Just tie a hook (both our Lock and Cassien are good choices) to your line, squeeze on a nice piece of bread and cast it out there. Wait patiently for that big slurp, and strike! Your heart will be pumping like mad afterwards!
If you do want to use a controller float setup, make sure you always overcast the feeding fish to avoid spooking them and slowly mend it back towards you.
Best bait options for this method are a trimmed down pop-up, or a pellet or mixer attached to the hook with either a band or superglue.
Another good alternative to a controller if you need distance, is to simply create a small PVA bag of dog biscuits and attach it to the hook on the cast. You just have to keep an eye on that hookbait at all times and strike when it disappears, a controller often does that job for you.
GO IN STRONGER
Strong tackle is an absolute must in the summer months. The fish are at their most energetic and their environment is suddenly full of all manner of obstacles. Weed, lily pads and reeds will all be at their highest and thickest in this period, and whilst carp love them, they can make extracting the fish very difficult.
Your mainline should at minimum be 15lb breaking strain on a lake with any abundance of these obstacles, and in really snaggy situations heavier may be required still. Our Dancefloor Monofilament has superb abrasion resistance, which makes it a reliable choice for fishing in weed. The last thing you want is a line failing when attached to a big carp.
It is also worth considering upping your hook sizes during this period. Size 6, 4, and even 2 hooks are going to be the best choices on the majority of lakes. The hooks in our Surrender Range are not only available in big sizes, they are also sharp and incredibly resilient too - the perfect choice for catching multiple fish during the summer months.
BOTTOM BAITS ARE KING
This might be controversial considering we have just come out of a period where carp all over the country have been getting caught on Spinners, Hinges and Chods, but, in the summer, try using a bottom bait where possible.
As mentioned previously, fish are now at their smartest. They've likely already been caught this year, some, many times. They won't keep falling for the same things. Whilst a big juicy pop-up may be the first thing to catch their eye in the swim, it can also make it easy for them to avoid. If the spot you're fishing is flat and clean, and you've baited with a tight mix of particles, a bottom bait or wafter is by far the best choice.
There are loads of good bottom bait/wafter rigs out there, but few beat the Fluorocarbon D-Rig on a flat gravel or clay bottom. The responsiveness and invisibility of this presentation make it a superb carp catcher.
If you want a rig with a little more play, should there be any debris on the bottom, consider using the Blowback Rig with a Coated Braid Hooklink.
Both these rigs are hard for carp to eject and can be used with both heavy bottoms baits or wafters. It's worth nothing the German Rig also offers similar properties and can be fished with both Fluorocarbon and Braided Hooklink materials.
WORKING OUT WEED
One of the things anglers find really challenging in the summer months is weed and how to fish in it. Weed can not only make presenting a rig difficult, it can make landing the carp extremely challenging too after you've hooked them. As we have already discussed, however, going in stronger with your end tackle should help with the second part.
So, how do you find the best spots in weed? Well, the first thing you can do when it is really high to the surface, is to look for them. This is actually when fishing in weed is arguably at its easiest. On some lakes you will be able to see with polarised glasses, channels in the weed fish and birds have made, as well as the big clearings that indicate a spot. Simply cast a lead in the hole to check yourself, and if clear, get that bait in!
If you can't see a clear spot to fish to, you're going to have to do a bit of leading about. You don't have to have a marker rod or braided mainline for this, but both will help. What will also help is using the right lead, and there is one that transmits the message better than all others - The Donky Pear.
With the Donky tied to the end of your line, cast it out to a likely looking area and stop it before it hits the surface, then feel the lead down through the water until it hits the bottom. If you feel the lead hit down with a firm 'donk', you're on clear ground. Pull it back towards you slightly to check the surrounding area. If it is bumpy, you're on gravel, if it glides, you're either on firm silt or clay, and if it locks up solid or is difficult to move, you can bet you're in a weedbed. For those wondering, the Donky is best for this feeling down process due to its wider profile base.
But, what if you can't find a clean spot? There are some lakes where finding a polished clean area is like looking for a needle in a haystack. This is mainly because the bottom is covered in a low-lying silkweed, which fish absolutely love to feed in! If this is the case in your swim, your best option is to find an area where you get a good fall of the lead through the water and fish on top of this low-lying weed.
For fishing on the weed you will need to make some rig adjustments and ignore our previous advice on hookbaits. Pop-up rigs fished 'Helicopter' style are the best choice in this scenario. The Hinge is great if the weed is not too high, but the Chod Rig can be fished over practically anything. Just remember, if you can keep your bait and hook out of the weed, you're fishing!
The Solid PVA Bag is another firm favourite on weedy lakes. This is because it almost punches a hole in the weed and protects the rig until the point it is interfered with by a fish. Still look for areas of lower-lying weed to fish Solid Bags, but don't be afraid to cast them onto spots where you aren't getting the best drop. Filling the bags with oil or Goo will only help the carp dig through the undergrowth to get at them, should they end up slightly covered.
Ok, so we have got rigs on a spot, how about playing them in a weedy lake? Well, there's loads here to take into consideration. The first, is to make sure you're not fishing with totally slack lines or clutches. All this will do is help the fish gain more line and dive further into the weed on the take. When that bite does come, you need to be on it quickly and keep a firm and steady pressure. If the fish goes solid, keep the pressure on and walk back slightly, you should eventually feel the weed start to give and the fish come free.
If you can and rules permit you to do so, heading out in a boat to free a weeded fish is by far the best option to securely land them. Always wear a life jacket and be safe on a boat. Take it steady and slowly, get above the fish, this should free them from the weed to be safely netted.
There are things you can do to lower your chance of the fish being weeded up in the first place, but it's worth noting that even on freelining tactics, fish can get weeded up in a weedy lake. Preventative measures like dropping the lead, certainly won't hurt your chances. This can be done consistently with our Pin Lead Clip system, and we have even designed our Flat Inline Pear Leads to be fished 'Drop-Off' style for weedy situations too.
MATCH THE HATCH
Another tip that goes against one we shared in the spring, and that's to try switching away from bright hookbaits. There are a stack of variables with this, so it is totally water dependent, but on some pressured lakes, fish may well start backing off colours they have been caught regularly on. If this is the case, simply matching your hookbait exactly to your loosefeed can win extra bites.
Think about it, how many times do you catch carp with corn in your mix but don't fish it on your hook? Similarly, when was the last time you put a boilie out the bag on the hair? They must be eating them, so why wouldn't they eat yours?
Go one step further in imitating your loosefeed and matching the hatch, with our Revibed Range. These plastic imitation baits are not only great for withstanding the attentions of smaller fish and crayfish, both prevalent at this time of year, they can also be stuffed with attractive pastes to make something the carp will search out before anything else.
GET DOWN THE MARGINS
Carp will come in very close to the bank at this time of year, so it pays to have a sneaky margin trap set. Sit well back and try to make very minimal disturbance - you'll be surprised how close they will come in.
If you can, moving around the lake, fishing and baiting marginal spots can be a mega tactic in the summer months, which could see you catch multiple fish. Grab a PB Bucket of bait, one rod, a net and get stalking - there's few things in carp fishing more exhilarating!
CLASSIC MORNING BITE TIMES
Our final nugget of advice is around bite times, and all experienced carp anglers who fish clear and weedy gravel pits will know, in summer, this is usually first thing in the morning. This is likely due to oxygen levels, but nights can often be surprisingly quiet at this time of year on some waters. Then, in the middle of the day, when the weather is at its hottest, fishing again, can be quite challenging. Early evening is the next great time for a bite, if you haven't managed to winkle one off the top or out the edge throughout the day.
Being prepared for these bite times is essential. Have everything in place, your spots baited, rigs cast and settled. As we mentioned, carp at this time of year are more switched on, so a load of disturbance right when they want to start feeding isn't going to do you any favours. Be ready to get rigs back out on the spot quickly too during these feeding periods, our Tweakers Dog Bone Ronnie Clips will help you with that!
No matter what, get out there and enjoy your carp fishing this summer. Stay safe in the heat by keeping hydrated and always wear the right protective clothing and sun cream.
Hopefully, the tips in this article will put more fish in your net and a bright and beaming smile on your face. Don't forget to share your catches on our social media, we love to see each and every one of them!
Author Chris Haydon has just joined the OMC Family after six years working for the UK's number 1 fishing publication, the Angling Times. He is a keen coarse and carp fishing all-rounder, fishing in the South West region, including the famous Cotswold Water Park.
