PAUL GARNER Create a surface smokescreen
Fool wary fish into taking your bait
HOT AND sunny days with high air pressure can make fishing on the bottom tough, but this is a brilliant – and still often overlooked – opportunity to catch carp in the most exciting way possible, and that’s to use surface baits.
The sight of a group of big fish homing in on a trail of freebies, and then gaining confidence as their hunger outweighs the indignity of being caught, is something I’d not want to miss. Surface fishing can also be very productive, with short morning and evening trips often producing multiple catches.
HOOKBAIT OPTIONS
The mainstay of my surface bait menu is floating pellets. Larger 11mm versions are easy to feed with a catapult, and buoyant enough to support a size 12 hook. Most pellets have to be drilled to be hair-rigged, but try banding a pellet to the back of the hook. The main downside of pellets is that they absorb water and soften after a few minutes – it can be very frustrating when the hookbait falls off just as a big carp approaches it!
I like to use a tougher bait that’ll stay on the hook. A popup boilie, shaped to resemble a pellet, will last all day.
Normally, a sandy-coloured bait that matches the pellets is best, but it’s worth experimenting with brighter colours, which can sometimes bring a quicker response.
Carp can grow wary of even small hooks, so hair-rigged baits can become less effective over time. When this happens, switch to a soft side-hooked bait, with most of the hook buried inside. I use specialist floating hookbaits because they last longer, but a piece of breadcrust or a marshmallow are classic baits on the top.
GET ‘EM GOING
While it’s often easy to spot the dark silhouettes of carp sitting just below the surface, it can take time to get them feeding confidently. To begin with, they’ll circle under the baits and take the odd one, before drifting away. Don’t be tempted to cast out just yet. Keep feeding and wait until the fish are moving confidently from one bait to the next before risking a cast.
If they seem reluctant to feed, a useful tip is to try feeding a mixture of different-sized and shaped baits. This encourages feeding to start. Then, once they’re interested, switch to larger, easier to hook, baits.
There’s a vast array of floating baits that you can add to your feed. Many cat and dog biscuits float, and come in a range of shapes, sizes and flavours. I keep any old casters and add these to my feed too. Small 3mm-4mm expanders also make a great surface feed.
WATCH AND LEARN
One of the most fascinating aspects of surface fishing is that you can see how fish react to different baits and your end tackle. This might not be the same response as with bottom baits, but it can give some clues. I’ve noticed how quickly and far the scent of a bait can travel. Liquids will disperse over several metres in a couple of minutes and, if you’re lucky enough to be able to watch carp at close range, frequently you will see their demeanour change as they pick up the scent trail.
It’s often oils that travel the farthest, especially across the surface, and although not water soluble, carp will respond well
to these additives.