Luke Vallory – Summer Tactics Revealed

Summer is no doubt one of the most sought-after periods of the calendar. Each year we always say, ‘can’t wait for summer’ and it rings so true. Long warm days, lush landscapes, cold beers and a barbeque and more importantly, hungry carp.

The time following spawning can be some of the most prolific months of the year, where carp will be actively seeking out food to replenish the weight they lost during spawning. I personally like to give them a little break initially after they’ve spawned, hitting it hard again from July and into August, which I believe to be one of the best times there is.

Through the years, August is a month that has accounted for lots of big carp for not only me, but many other anglers. I believe that the ‘autumn feed up’ is a bit of a myth or certainly a thing of the past and in my experience, autumn can actually be a really challenging period to get them. I’ve certainly found the back end of summer to be a much more favourable period to angle and this is often when I feel the carp will have their ‘big feed up’.

As I do all year round, I tend to keep my summer angling simple, focusing on finding the fish and going from there. There are of course, a few things I tend to do in my summer angling that personally, I feel bring me an edge.

Location

Location is always spoken about but for good reason. I literally have to find those carp before setting up and that applies all year. I’m there to catch carp, as simple as that. Some people go fishing to switch off from the outside world, to forget about work and relax. For me, that’s not the case. I’m rarely relaxed when fishing, working as hard as I can do find the fish and create chances for myself. I’ll often come home totally ruined and sleep deprived, but that is how I like to operate and ultimately, what catches me more carp.

In terms of specific summer location, I’ll always keep an eye on the weather and go from there. Moon phases and of course, new winds can be really good through the summer, oxygenating the water and in turn, turning the carp on. If there’s a new wind, I’ll be looking on the end of it first and then go from there.

Much of my summer fishing however is done at close quarters, often finding them in the edge near snags or in little bays or channels. I personally find this much more exciting, and these are the situations I love. Having eyes on the carp, you can learn so much more. This is generally how I’ll fish. Travelling light, keeping mobile and spending much of my time walking and walking, getting up trees looking for chances. When an opportunity presents itself, I’ll then look to set the rods and fish for a bite, minimal disturbance and a small amount of bait.

Watching

Following on from looking and as I already alluded to, I’m constantly watching the water at all times. Getting up to watch at dawn is essential. I’ll spend as little time on my phone as possible, giving as much of my attention as I can to watching the water. The cooler periods at dawn are when the carp tend to do their heavy feeding, so I’ll be watching for carp rolling and fizzing in these early hours. You’ll often find the areas the carp spend their days are not necessarily where they’ll do their feeding. In this I mean the carp will often migrate to open water or slightly deeper channels to feed, and then through the day, the carp will sit very dormant taking in the sun. Usually in south facing bays or in dense weed beds.

If I do a blank night or feel the carp have moved, I won’t hesitate to reel in and go for a walk. Comfy footwear, polaroids, suncream and a water bottle are essential bits of kit when looking in the summer. Look after yourself, keep hydrated, stay out of the sun where possible and avoid burning yourself out. You’ll fish better if you’re fresh and well hydrated.

Baiting

It seems quite an ‘in trend’ approach to summer fishing to ‘bait and wait’ or start ‘filling it in’. Of course, there is a time and a place for this, but for me, I try to avoid this approach at all costs. Sitting in one swim and waiting for the fish to come to me is not the way I want to spend my summer. No matter if you have one night a week or three, time is precious, and you need to maximise the time you have. I can’t justify nor would I want to sit and wait. I want to be actively searching and seeking out chances. By baiting heavily, you’re committing yourself to an area and are far less likely to move. You’re also setting yourself up for possible disappointment, constantly worrying if the swim will be free. For me, this is unnecessary stress and I’d much rather arrive to a lake, keep the kit in the car and go for a lap or two, seeing who’s on and more importantly, tracking down the carp.

When I do find carp, it’ll often be a stalking opportunity that will present itself, so I’d usually go in with just a boilie only approach, maybe catapulting a few handfuls of boilie over a rod. I’m not looking to feed them; I’m looking to catch them. By using boilies only, I’ll be less pestered by any nuisance fish, and I can just take a couple of kilos on the barrow and won’t be weighed down with buckets of particle.

Of course, there’s a time and a place to bait and on quieter waters or if fishing a neglected swim, then it can be much easier to bait. If I’m consistently seeing fish in an area and I’m confident of them staying, then of course, I’ll happily up my baiting if I feel it’s being eaten, and I can maximise the chance.

Kit

I try to travel as light as I can at all times, taking with me only the essentials so that I’m able to fish off the barrow. A lightweight brolly and lightweight bedchair, a medium Compac Food Bag, and if I’m doing a few nights, I’ll take the Compac Cooler to keep any meat or drinks chilled. My rucksack has all my tackle in as well as my gas and brew kit. A small Compac bag keeps my boilies fresh, then it’s just my 5 Rod Compac Holdall, 2 Springbows and my Compac Mat. Loading the heavy bits at the front of the barrow makes it super easy to manoeuvre and I know with this set up, I can be packed down and on the move within minutes.

 End Tackle

As I’m usually fishing in the edge near snags or weed, I’ll always use Sub Braid as my mainline of choice where allowed, opting for 15lb Kontour if there’s a braid ban. Braid offers no stretch, meaning I can be super accurate and means I’m in direct contact when playing fish, very important when in weedy or snaggy situations. I’ll always use a 10ft IQ2 leader, this helps keep the last few feet near my rig invisible and also gives an element of stretch, just giving that cushion when playing them under the rod tip.

Set up wise, I bounce between Hybrid Lead Clips and Heli Safes, probably favouring a Lead Clip when I can, particularly when fishing small spots between weed beds.

I use my same three rigs all year; Flipper rig for straight bottom baits, which I’ll fish on really clean smooth areas with a 20mm hookbait on a size 4 Wide Gape. A Spinner Hair rig when fishing a wafter, which I favour over seed and smaller items. I set this up with a size 4 Krank using a supernatural hair to give the bait that little bit more movement. The hook should be lying flat with the bait just wafting above it. Then for my pop-up work, I’ll fish a conventional spinner rig again, with a size 4 Krank my preferred pattern. For my Spinner Hair and Spinner, I’ll use an IQ2 hooklink of around 6.5 inches in length.

Summary

This pretty much covers my summer fishing. In short, it’s all about effort and putting in the work. Watch the water, locate the carp and then take time making your decisions and planning your approach. Don’t rush. It can be an exciting time when you see carp up close feeding on your bait. Relax. Don’t panic and keep cool. Mistakes are made when we rush. Compose yourself, make a plan and get the rods in.

Summer is a great time to angle, and just generally a lovely time to be outdoors where the carp are there to be had.