Night fishing for carp – make the most of your overnight carp fishing trips

The term ‘quick overnighter' has become popular in carp fishing, and perhaps even a bit trendy, but all it really means is that you are going on a night fishing trip inbetween doing other things, whether that be work or being with family.

For those with a busy lifestyle and limited time, overnight sessions can sometimes be their only option to catch carp, or give them the chance to get some extra fishing time when they wouldn’t otherwise be able to.

These short sessions, literally arriving late afternoon or evening, and then packing up the next morning, can still be very productive though, as can be seen from the success that some of the Korda team, such as Neil Spooner and Scott Sweetman, have had with this style of fishing, and where they have other commitments that limit their time on the bank.

To get the most out of this type of fishing though, organisation and choosing the right venue are key if you want to put yourself in with a decent chance of catching.

Choosing the right venue

Venue choice is important if you only have limited time on your hands and where the times that you can actually be on the lake are dictated by other commitments.

That doesn’t mean you need to choose an easy or high stock venue – in many cases anglers who are fishing mainly overnight sessions are doing so on the same waters that they’d be going to even if they had a lot more time available – but it does make sense to pick one which fits in with this type of fishing.

For some anglers overnight sessions will be in addition to spending their weekends at the lake as well, and are a way for people who work fulltime to get some extra time on the bank during the middle of the week.

Probably the most important consideration is whether fish actually got caught at the time of day when you are able to be at the lake, although that can vary massively depending on the time of year.

Some lakes though definitely have more form for producing night bites so will suit overnight sessions. It doesn’t matter how good the lake is and how big the carp are, if most of the bites are coming during the day, and you have to be packed up and gone early morning, you aren’t going to catch much.

So, you definitely need to pick a lake which at least gives you a chance, even if that happens to be a different water to where you spend the weekends.

Maximising your time at the lake is important as well, so generally it makes sense to pick somewhere that isn’t too far away from home, or from where you work, and where you don’t have a long drive and potentially end up wasting a big chunk of your available time on travelling and sitting in traffic.

Quieter venues are always nice as well, although that often isn’t easy these days, as after making the effort to go fishing after work, it is nice to know that you are at least in with a chance, rather than just dropping into whatever swim happens to be still free when you get there.

Access to the areas you want to fish also plays a part, and if it involves very long barrow journeys, or even having to set up a boat to reach your swim or drop your baits, then that requires a lot more effort. Some anglers do go to all that trouble just for the night, but you need to be really motivated for that, especially if you’ve had a hard day at work.

The more information that you have available to you prior to your arrival, the better, and that can either come from friends and other anglers who are fishing there, via WhatsApp groups etc where other memebr post reports and catch pictures, or by being able to have a walk round a night or two before you go fishing, to speak to the other anglers and also to see for yourself where the fish are.

This at least gives you a starting point when you arrive for an overnight session, although it is of course still worth spending time when you get there for your overnighter making sure that you end up in the right area, rather than just plonking your gear in a swim with nothing much to go on.

Time of year

The time of year, and in particular the length of daylight hours, is also a big factor, and whilst from late spring through until early autumn you will likely be able to arrive and pack up in the light, that won’t be the case if your planning to do overnighters at other times of the year.

Setting up and casting out in complete darkness comes with its own set of challenges, but it is still perfectly possible to still get your rods out on a good spot, accurately, and to bait up.

If you are fishing a venue that you go to regularly, then hopefully you will at least have some idea of what is in front of the swims, or even better if you’ve fished the swim before and know how many wraps it is to certain spots and in which direction.

This is also where some advance preparation can really pay off, if you’re able to get down to the lake before you fish, and as long as it isn’t disturbing other anglers, do a bit of plumbing in a few likely looking swims – preferably in different parts of the lake, so wherever the fish are you can drop into a swim you already know to some degree.

If you do go to the trouble of plumbing in advance with a marker float, then as well as your plumbing rod, make sure you take your Distance Sticks so you can measure the number of wraps to the spot, and not it down on your phone, along with any far bank markers that you can line up with and see even after dark.

How to find spots in the dark and get your rods out accurately

Failing that, you can of course still lead around, taking note of the direction you’re casting in, and if you feel a nice spot with the lead, simply clip up, reel in, check the distance around your sticks, and you can then clip your fishing rods up to that number of wraps and easily cast them out to the spot – it may not be quite as exact as plumbing in the daylight, but it isn’t going to be far off. The Korda Distance Sticks even have a slot for an isotope in the top to make them even easier to use at night.

When you cast your rig up, line up with the same far bank mark as when you were leading around, and make sure you stand in exactly the same place.

Once you’ve felt your lead down to the bottom, sunk the line and let it settle a bit (so it straightens), you can then use your headtorch to check that your line is pointing in the right direction.

To do this, initially have a quick check that the line appears to be pointing the right way, before you unclip it  from the line clip on your spool (it it is obviously off target then reel in and recast it), then to be absolutely sure it is bang on – especially when fishing more than one rod on the spot - simply pay out enough slack so you can bring your rod back until the tip is level with the edge of the bank, as this will make it easier to line up and see exactly where your line is pointing by torchlight. Just be careful not to annoy other carp anglers by shining too much light across the lake.

This should enable you to get even three rods on a fairly tight spot, and in a way that they aren't crossed over each other.

If you are fishing your rods on separate spots, then you can simply repeat the process for each one – it really is no different to how you’d recast after catching a fish in darkness.

Baiting up in the dark

Once you’ve got your rods it, the next thing you’re probably going to want to do, depending on the time of year, is to get some bait out around your rigs – or you can bait up first if you prefer.

Doing so obviously presents extra challenges if it is dark by that time – if it isn't then you can just bait up as you normally would do – and does restrict the methods you can use to do it, depending on how accurate you need to be and how far out you are fishing, as your night vision is only so good.

At closer range you may well still be able to use a catapult and see well enough, especially on lighter nights, to know the bait is landing in roughly the right place. Especially if it is at a range that you bait up at regularly using the same catapult and have a good feel for how much power you need to put into it – with the Korda Katapults coming in three different elastic strengths, and pouches that are designed to group the bait, that helps with judging the range and achieving accuracy.

For anything much beyond shorter range, and if you want to be really sure all your bait is going in the right place, then by far the best way is to use some sort of spod or spomb.

All you have to do is clip it up in exactly the same way as you would do during daylight, line up with your far bank marker and keep your eyes fixed on that throughout the cast (a bit like keeping your eye on the ball during a golf swing!) and the cast should go in the right direction, and as long as you’ve given it enough power, will hit the clip. After a cast or two you should get a feel for the distance, so you are hitting the clip near to the water, rather than miles up in the air.

Obviously seeing where the spod lands isn’t easy in the dark, even if there is moonlight, if you are fishing at any sort of longer range, so some of it is practice and judgement, and you also need to take into account the wind direction and the effect that might have.

Luckily there is now a solution to this – which you may have seen some of the Team Korda anglers using – and that is a product called Bite Light.

This is a light which can be easily attached to your spomb, meaning that you can watch it through the air during the cast - you'll see a streak or green light - and see where it lands, and it takes a lot of the guessing out of spodding at night – whether doing so when you arrive for an overnight session, or if you are re-baiting after catching a fish during the hours of darkness.

Or even low light conditions where you will be able to follow the trajectory of the spomb more easily and adjust for the effects of cross winds.

Prepare in advance

When you have very limited time on the bank, advance preparation is even more important than normal, as you want your rods in the water for as long as possible.

So when you arrive at the lake the first thing you want to be doing is getting them out – if it is tipping it down with rain then obviously chuck a brolly/bivvy up quickly first, or leave it under a waterproof barrow cover, such as the one that fits the Carp Porter barrows,  as there is no point getting all your gear soaked and wanting to go home!

That means having your rigs tied and all ready to go, and depending on what hook baits you are going to be using, you could even attach those as well – making sure of course that your hook points can’t get damaged, but a small piece of cork or foam can be used to help protect them in your rod bag.

Or you can just have them in your RigSafe, and make sure that is easily accessible, so all you need to do on arrival is open it and clip them on to your lead system.

Lots of anglers – such as Neil Spooner – will spend their lunch hour at work getting all their rigs tied and sorted, preparing hook baits, and even making up their spod mix, if they’re using something that isn’t going to deteriorate in the few hours between making it and spodding it out.

This makes things a lot quicker and smoother when you get to the lake, and again, is all about maximising your available time. As the saying goes, ‘fail to prepare, then prepare to fail’!

Scale down your kit - you're fishing not camping!

Obviously you need to take everything with you that you are going to need, but the last thing that you want is loads of extra clutter, as not only does this mean more weight on your barrow, but also makes it harder to find the things you actually do need.

Cooking gear being an obvious one, and ask yourself whether you really need to all the extra gear and hassle of cooking an evening meal on the bank, or whether you can grab some hot food at lunchtime and then just take some cold stuff with you. Obviously you can still take a kettle and some water to make yourself a cuppa.

You probably also aren’t going to need the fifty spare leads, dozen pots of pop-ups, or whatever else you might have in your rucksack ‘just in case’, and it probably pays to get yourself a smaller rucksack or carryall for just the essentials for that night – some of this gear you can just switch back and forth between the luggage you normally use for longer trips.

Although you might end up not doing so and realising just how much stuff you've been taking with you that could easily be left in the car, or even at home! Do you really need loads of spare batteries, kit for PVA bags if you aren't even intending to use them, or all sorts of other things that could be left in the car where you can get them if you really need them.

The last thing you want is for the session to become a chore, either in terms of setting up or packing up in the morning, especially if it is still dark and you have to be away early.

If you have a Carp Porter barrow and some of the luggage that goes with that, then some of your kit can even be stored there, so you only get it out if you actually need to use it.

Plenty of anglers for instance will leave a DryKore jacket and trousers in one of the waterproof barrow accessory bags, so they’re readily available if they need them in inclement weather – anglers such as Rob Burgess are also big fans of using the waterproof clothing when photographing fish, so as to avoid getting soaking wet, and not just for when it rains.  

In the warmer months you might need even need to put a bivvy or brolly up at all, unless it is forecast to rain, and that will save time when packing away, although it is still worth having one on the barrow as the British weather can change suddenly!

A good weather app such as the UniFishPro one, which a lot of the Korda team use, can help give you a good idea though of what to expect.

If you do decide to do the night under the stars then it is worth remembering it can still get very damp with dew during the summer, and some sort of waterproof bedchair cover such as the Korda Drykore Bedchair Cover, stops your sleeping bag from getting damp, and on warmer nights you might not even need a sleeping bag with it anyway, as it has a removeable fleece liner (if using a sleeping bag with it in the summer it is a good idea to remove the liner to avoid getting too hot).  

Obviously don't scale things down so much though that you end up not taking something which is essential and means you can't fish properly. You are still going to need things such as a head torch, bite alarms, camera kit for night photography, waterproof jacket, or even a bivvy light, depending on what you view as being essential.