Carp Fishing Buying Guide - Surface Fishing in the Summer

For many carp anglers, one of the most exciting ways to fish for carp can be fishing on the surface of the water. There is such a thrill in finding the carp when the weather is hot. In this Buyer’s Guide, we will cover the top fishing tackle items to take with you on a surface fishing session for carp.

Carp are likely to stay on the surface during the summer months, taking shelter near trees, plants, water lilies and other bankside features. Once you find the carp, you can follow them! From baiting up to the final bite, surface fishing can certainly increase that heartbeat because the fishing is all done right in front of own eyes.

What Do I Need to Go Surface Fishing for Carp?

Surface or float fishing tactics are common with many new carp anglers as you do not need too much fishing gear. 

• Carp Fishing Rod

• Carp Fishing Reels

• Fishing Bag

• Fishing Line

• Lightweight Fishing Chair

• Fishing Float

• Sunglasses

• Catapult

• Fishing Net

• Bait 

These are the bare essentials that you will need to get you started and keep you mobile. It is important to travel light for surface fishing as you often need to walk a bit before you find the carp. Of course, you can also search for the carp first, without gear (in the boot of your carp still) to make it easier. It is also a good idea to bait in some more spots on the venue to see if the carp start feeding.

What Fishing Rod is Best for Surface Angling?

Get yourself a high-quality stalker rod. It is easier to use a smaller stalking rod for this style of fishing because you have more space when manoeuvring around bushes to reach the carp.

Surface Fishing Reel and Line

For surface fishing, be sure to kit yourself out with a smaller lighter fishing reel in combination with your choice of smaller, stalking rod. You also want to load your spool with special lines and hooklinks for float fishing. Check out the offering from Fox and Korda.

What is the Best Bait to Use for Surface Fishing?

The good news is, surface fishing can be done successfully with a few different baits. A piece of bread can be a great bait as it floats on the top of the water, encouraging the carp to show. However, when bread gets wet it becomes less easy to cast.  See our How to Guide on Bread Rigs

Other good baits for surface fishing are floater pellets. These have been manufactured by big bait brands such as CC Moore and Dynamite Baits. See CC Moore Floating Bait Range.

What Is the Best Bait Application for Surface Fishing?

Ideal for boilies or particle-feed, a fishing catapult can achieve a reasonable distance with some practice. Carp anglers need a catapult to get the bait to reach the spot where the fish are located. Throwing the bait by hand is most often not good enough when it comes to surface angling.

Do I Need a Controller Kit for Float Fishing?

Best Sunglasses for Surface Fishing

A vital product in surface angling is a good pair of sunglass. Polaroid sunglass can help to take away the glare and shine off the water so that you can see the fish better in the water. The top brands to look for fishing sunglasses are Fortis, Korda and Nash.

Read more about picking the perfect pair of sunglasses in our dedicated blog; Buyers Guide to Fishing Eyewear.

Carp Fish Care

Typically, once the fish are feeding you can get a bite quite quickly after. With all the excitement of getting a fish hooked, be carefully when playing the fish because you have them at a much shorter distance. With less distance, the carp are much stronger. Once the fish is in the net, it is important to handle the fish carefully. This is why you should invest in a small or travel-sized unhooking mat. These mats tend to be super light and easy to carry whilst still providing a safe surface to unhook and care for your catch. 

What Fishing Chair is Best for Stalking Tactics?

When approaching a location where the carp are feeding, try not to make any noise and fish are very sensitive to their surroundings.  With the knowledge that there are carp now in your area, you can choose to stand and prepare your rods, rigs, and baits or take a small chair with you to make life easier. You can find special small stalking chairs in our carp fishing chair collection. https://www.anglingdirect.co.uk/carp-fishing-tackle/chairs 

Where to Find Carp in the Summer?

When fishing a venue in the summer, it is important to consider that many fish, like carp will try to hide in shady areas where they feel safe. Unfortunately, carp love to hide in snaggy areas but not to worry as we have a blog to help with that!

Top 5 Tips for Snags

Carp are better to catch in the morning and evening, try to avoid fishing for them at the hottest point of the day. Many anglers will note that often whilst searching for carp you will find them in a group. Over the last few years, a lot of carp anglers have started to use drones to find carp on the surface. Flying over the lake with a drone is much quicker than walking around and you get to see the view of the venue much better from the sky!

After you take a nice picture and put the fish safely back it’s a great feeling. Most likely your spot is disturbed for some time, so it is better to move to another spot. Try to catch another there and see later if the remaining fish still want to eat at this spot. Sometimes you must wait until the next day for this.

We here, at Angling Direct, wish you all the very best of luck with surface fishing for carp this summer. We hope you have fun and find some success with this surface fishing tackle list!

Let us know how your surface fishing goes by sharing your fishing tips, catch photos and go to tackle items with us via our social media!

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Want more Surface Fishing Tips? Read our Top 5 Tips to Surface Fishing Blog

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