As the weather warms up the opportunity for catching carp off the top has never been better! Wayne Box offers his best tips for catching carp off of the surface.
Catching carp off of the top has to be one of the most exciting but equally frustrating ways of catching carp. With the water temperatures creeping up, knowing how to surface fish effectively could turn a potential blank session into a day to remember!
Choose the right surface fishing tackle.
A rod of between 10ft and 12ft with a 2lb or 2.5lb test curve, coupled with a small baitrunner or mini big pit reel will be spot on, I use the Fox Horizon X3 floater rod coupled with a Shimano 5500 XTD reel, this gives me a good chance of reaching the fish even at 75 or 80 yards. Loaded onto the reel I use the Fox Surface line in 12lb, designed specifically for floater fishing with its low diameter and neutral buoyancy I absolutely love the stuff. That’s the basic surface fishing tackle covered, a lighter test curve rod will help protect those light hooklinks when you hook a fish and the reel will allow you to cast a long way but is not too heavy allowing you to hold the rod for longer periods. Probably the most essential item in your tackle bag or on your head, should be a decent pair of polarised sunglasses, I always have two pairs with grey lenses and amber lenses for different conditions.
The best surface fishing end tackle set up.
Over recent years I have moved away from the light controller floats and replaced them with a heavier bolt effect type of controller. There are two reasons for this; firstly the extra weight allows me to cast much further with a lot less effort, important when ensuring you cast past the fish to avoid spooking them before slowly retrieving your bait into the area the fish are feeding but most importantly is the self hooking bolt effect you get with this sort of float, the fish really do hook themselves and this allows me to rest the rod on the floor and concentrate on feeding without worrying about missing a bite! Hooklink material is the Fox zig and floater in 12lb and I change the length of my hooklinks according to how hard the fish are feeding. When they are really having it I have been as short as 18inches! On the business end I prefer a size 10 Korda Mixa and I start with a fox zig aligner with a sliver of brown foam to mimic a pellet, sometimes a trimmed down hi vis pop up can also work wonders.
The best surface fishing bait.
Choosing the right bait for surface fishing is so important and it can really make a big difference to your catches. Obviously when surface fishing we need to use floating baits or do we? One of my favourite baits for catching carp off of the top is the Nash Riser Pellet. Riser Pellet imitates a natural fly hatch creating a floating slick of micro pellets and a small percentage of slow sinking pellets to draw the fish up to the surface, it is especially good when the fish are a little bit cagey and it can really whip them into a feeding frenzy! They are small so you cannot catapult them great distances but you can spomb them out or put them into golf ball sized PVA mesh bag and catapult them out, as the PVA breaks down thee baits float to the surface then the sinking pellets begin to work their magic by falling through the water as they absorb water, clever! One of my other favourites are the Sticky Baits Krill floating pellets, more of a traditional sized pellet these are perfect for catapulting and throwing stick work and the Krill flavour really gets the fish going!
Essential floater fishing extras.
I will not leave home without a pair of good quality polarised sunglasses and a baseball cap, when the sun is up, the cap comes into its own as it stops you having to use your hands to shield your eyes from the sun, also don’t forget the sun cream! A good quality catapult with soft elastic and a throwing stick, PVA mesh and your spomb rod are also good items to have with you, obviously you can leave the spomb rod in the van until it’s needed. You will need your carp care kit, net, mat and sling etc along with a bag to put all your bits and pieces in, I love the Trakker NXG bucket bags as I can put my bucket of bait in there and all my end tackle goes in the pockets, there is even room for my catapults and PVA. All of my floater gear comes with me on every trip, I stash it in the corner of the van and it’s there if I need it. There is nothing worse than the fish looking well up for a floater but all your floater fishing tackle is in the garage at home!
Getting started.
You wake up at the lake, look out your bivvy and the sun is beaming, now is the time to grab the floater gear and get on your toes to go and find the carp. After a cup of tea of course! Have a good walk round, sometimes it will take 3 or 4 laps of the lake before you find them but they will be there somewhere. When you find a group of fish gently place your gear on the ground and sit back and watch. Even better if you can get up a tree for a more elevated view. By watching the fish they will show you where they want to be and you can plan accordingly. Once the fish look like they are happy to stay in one area it’s time to introduce some bait, a cross wind is perfect as you can introduce bait upwind and let it drift naturally over the fish, this is when they should start to show a bit of interest, the odd swirl and gulp as they start to feed. Now IS NOT the time to cast into the lake! Wait. Keep feeding little and often so the fish get used to feeding un disturbed. Once the fish are feeding confidently (you will have to judge this), it’s time to make the first cast. Cast well beyond the fish and slowly retrieve the rig until it is just on the edge of the feeding zone, momentum will do the rest. At this point if you are using a bolt effect float you can put the rod down with the baitrunner on or drag slackened off and carry on feeding and watching, if you get a bite the line will whip up tight and away you go!
Things to remember when surface fishing for carp.
Polarised sunglasses are a must have item of kit, don’t leave home without them! Tackle up according to the conditions, if you are fishing a heavily weeded area then 8lb line and a size 10 hook is not the way to go, beef it up a bit to 12lb line and a size 8 hook. Take a good look at the bolt effect controller floats, they enable you to fish hands free for baiting up as the fish will hook themselves, just look out for the big swirl as the fish takes off! Try to get the fish feeding as competitively as possible before you cast in, sometimes it can take over an hour but be patient, casting in too early can ruin your chances before they have really begun. Mix up your floating pellets with a bit of hemp oil, the slick created will not only attract the fish but flatten the water off and make fish spotting much easier.
So there we have some top floater fishing tips and advice and with the weather warming up there is every chance of bagging some surface caught carp!