Big catches! Find out how you take take a big haul off the top right now
Carp are up and feeding in the warm water, so try surface fishing
OW’S the time to smash your carp personal best as venues across the nation hit their best form for surface fishing in 2016.
NTwo of the most popular dayticket fisheries in the country have told Angling Times that anglers have been using surface baits to devastating effect as water temperatures continue to rise.
The prolific Drayton Reservoir has seen those who have been using a controller float and pellets report the capture of some of the biggest catches ever taken off the surface at the Northamptonshire venue – anglers have had up to 40 fish to over 24lb in a single evening session.
“Surface fishing is absolutely devastating here at Drayton. Just a few days ago some of the guys fishing here were catching 15 fish or more an hour,” said Mark Ryder, who runs the fishery.
“Those who have been spodding out floating 4mm pellets and fishing a simple surface controller have been taking it apart. Pegs 35 to 40 and the Point have been by far the best areas to try.
“The bigger fish are being caught on floaters, so anyone who’s going out for some evening fishing at this time of the year would be mad not to have a go at this method.” Not only has it been a similar story at Linear Fisheries in Oxfordshire, but venue bosses are trying to encourage more anglers to try surface fishing. It’s been responsible for the capture of many fish over 30lb for the few that have been adopting this approach. “It’s crazy that there are only a few guys who actually give this tactic a try. Many just sit there fishing bottom baits, even if they can clearly see fish in the upper layers of the water,” said Ian Roper, head bailiff at the complex. “We have some of the local anglers who creep around in the evenings on lakes such as St Johns, B1 and Hardwick and they have been having amazing results with just a rod, a rucksack and a pocketful of mixers.”
Ian’s views have been echoed by many top carp anglers, and one of those is surface fishing expert Craig Mortimer (above right).
“Anglers are put off by fishing on the surface because it takes a bit of effort, which just astounds me. I think, come on…do you want to catch carp or not?” said Craig, who is backed by Gardner Tackle and Sticky Baits. “Anglers have been using surface baits to devastating effect.”
“The art is to get the fish feeding in the first place and then as long as you don’t send a controller float crashing on top of them, hooking fish can be really simple.
“I’ve had up to eight fish over 30lb in a week on floaters before, which just shows what’s possible.