Carp fishing on the surface
Fancy catching a carp before breakfast? – me too. I love short, early morning sessions in the summer, carp fishing on the surface with mixers or bread. It’s exciting stuff, getting the fish feeding confidently and catching them off the top.
CARP FISHING SURFACE FREE LINING - Watch it on YouTube.
You can view a full video of this session and my approach to Barbel Fishing on Small Rivers on my YouTube channel – please click here and subscribe to follow more of my angling adventures.
In true opportunist style, I arrive at the lake just after daybreak and look for signs of fish. I need to be stealthy, using bankside vegetation, bushes and trees for cover. I enjoy creating opportunities by feeding with mixers until the carp are mopping up the freebies.
This cracking mirror took my bread bomb within a few seconds of casting out.
Keep your options open
I use two methods to catch carp on the surface, either a controller float to give me casting distance, or fishing closer in with trimmed down pop ups to match the mixers I’m feeding.
I look out for warm conditions, not too sunny and with little or no breeze to entice the carp into feeding on the top. I use a throwing stick to feed mixers until the carp are munching on my free offerings.
Looking for signs of fish in the area before baiting up with mixers
I’ve caught loads of carp on a freelined bread bomb using Korum Megabands. I thread a size 6 or 8 hook onto the band, stretch the band open with two fingers and push the bread through the hole inside the band.
The bread bomb with a Korum Megaband can be devastating in the right conditions
You’ll be surprised how far you can cast a freelined bread bomb. Before casting out, I dip the bread in the water for extra casting weight and cast over the free offerings, before gently reeling the bait back into position amongst the feeding fish.
Travel light and find the fish
Another carp caught on the surface comes to the net
I use my 8ft Korum Opportunist rod and Korum Axis 4000 reel which is great for Carp fishing on the surface and this style of stalking. It’s important to use a floating line and I use 10lb fluorocarbon mainline and an 8lb Smokescreen leader, tied with two back to back grinner knots.
I like to use the 8ft Korum Opportunist rod which is ideal for fishing on the surface in tight swims
The strength of line is very important as I don’t want to be leaving hooks in fish when getting smashed up. On this water, I can go a bit finer as there are no lilies, weed beds or snags. If I catch one of the bigger carp, I’m confident I can tire it out without losing it. But if in doubt, I’ll always use heavier line as fish care is paramount.
A floating line is essential when surface fishing for carp
It’s been pretty busy on another lake I fish with much bigger carp up to mid thirties. There’s been a lot of angling pressure, so my approach is to wander around the lake with a small amount of gear. I’m looking for signs of fish and trying to stalk them off the top.
It feels like trimmed down pop ups and small hooks are going to be the order of the day. I’m trying to ‘match the hatch’ so my hookbait looks the same as the free offerings. I find this works best when the carp have wised up to other methods.
To attach the bait, I tie a loop in the end of my hooklink and slide down a pop up the same colour as the mixers I’m feeding. I trim down the pop up to the same size as a mixer, by either using my teeth or some scissors. Then I tie a size 10 Korum Power hook on with a knotless knot so the bait is tight to the bend of the hook, before tying my hooklink to my mainline.
This trimmed down pop up sits nicely on the bend of the hook and is ready to go
In this lake, the fish are used to anglers using controller floats and are quite spooky. I need to tempt the carp closer to within my casting range, so I use the throwing stick to put the mixers out. I shorten the distance with each feed, until the carp are feeding confidently on the surface and then I cast towards the feeding fish.
As I’m fishing much closer in, I’ve moved to the side of the swim and I’m stood behind a bush, so the carp don’t spook from seeing me on the bank.
This carp took a trimmed down pop up and ignored other baits
Carp fishing on the surface, give it a go!
Every lake is different and it also depends on weather conditions too, so I try to keep my options open on each session, using either a controller float to cast a bit further out, or a freelined bait closer in if the fish are feeding more cautiously.
Carp fishing on the surface is exciting and great fun. So why not give it a go.