Surface fishing for carp

Andy (you should have been here yesterday) Cowley last year took me floater fishing for carp. It was a local commercial fishery with plenty of doubles. I enjoyed myself so much I decided to have another attempt.

I prepare the chum mixers the night before so that are soft enough to hook. I do this by adding some water to them about 250ml per 1kg of mixers. I then shake around in a poly bag to coat all of them. Finally in the morning I add some oils to give it some flavour.

The fishery was somewhere I’ve not fished for 20 or 25 years I guess. Arriving it had changed quite considerably. The trees had matured into huge things and it look beautiful in the secluded valley. There were alders and willows around the lake.

There were a couple of anglers there when I arrived at 10am. The main reason for fishing on the surface was that it was the first hot and sunny day for weeks and for sure the carp would be on the surface. A quick chat to one of the anglers and he told me about the lake and very few people got to the top shallower area. So with the lake warming up in the shallow water that’s where the carp would be. Plus a keen easterly wind was blowing into the area. The only down side was that all the debris from the trees was blown up into the area making it almost impossible to spot the mixer on the hook.

It wasn’t long after introducing the mixers that carp came to the surface taking them with gay abandonment. The first fish was a lovely 15lb mirror that fought really well on the light 1.5lb test curve rod. I was only using 6lb main line as there were few snags in the lake.

What a great start. I had them going in 2 swims so I ventured between the 2 of them. The carp grow to well over 20lbs in the lake and the bailiff said that the largest is 30lbs.

The sun beat down all day long however i was lucky enough to be in the shade under the trees for most of the day. The fish came at a steady rate during the day. I didn’t perhaps fish as hard as I could as just watching them take the mixers was enough satisfaction for me. There were certainly some better ones there but I caught a few around 10lbs or so. Great excitement but disappointment on the state of their mouths.

As the day moved into the evening I was think of dinner at home for 7pm, so I had sufficient time for one more. There was a sucking sound from right at my feet in the debris and scum that had gathered. I could see a big framed carp moving below it taking in the mixers that had floated into it.

Well I lowered down the mixer carefully waiting for the carp to come along. I could just about see it’s lips approaching the mixer and in a flash the mixer was gone and struck into a fish that lead me a merry dance around the swim. It felt a better carp as it took line from the spool often in surging runs. The tick tick of the clutch told me how fast it was going. The fight lasted for 5 mins I’m sure. The carp took a few gulps of air and the fight was over as it went into the net.

On the scale it went 17lbs 10oz and a common carp too. The mouth on this fish was in near perfect condition.

So after this lovely carp it was time to head for home. 6 fish for the day was a good return. Happy days.