Spring carp fishing guide

Spring is one of the best times of the year to be out carp fishing, as the fish have only recently woken up and can be very catchable, and they also tend to be at their highest weights as well in the run up to spawning.

So, if you do manage to get it right in terms of your tactics and rigs, as well as finding feeding fish and being on them consistently, then you can enjoy a really good spell of fishing that sets you up for the rest of the year.

There are undoubtedly tactics and baits for carp fishing which prove to be most effective at specific times of the year, and that applies to spring possibly more so than any other season, as this is when the fish are often least wary, having just woken up and in some cases having seen much less angling pressure for a few months, and having not paid a visit to the bank. They also tend to feed well once they do wake up properly, and prior to spawning, which makes them even more catchable, and even fish that are caught less frequently can slip up at this time of year.

Get all your kit ready for the new season

Plenty of anglers have a bit of a break over the winter or fish for carp less frequently, so it pays to get all your gear ready for a spring campaign – the same is also true even if you have been out all winter.

This involves things such as stripping monofilament lines from your reels and re-spooling with fresh mono – the Korda Compac Spooling Bucket is perfect for this and ensures that it winds on tightly and evenly, with as little twist as possible. Or if you are planning to fish a different lake to normal, then you might be switching over to something like Sub Braid or Kontour fluorocarbon, depending on the type of fishing.

It is also a good time to restock your Tackle Box, or whatever storage system you use, with all the items of terminal tackle that you might be running low on, such as hooks, hook link material, swivels, and the like.

The same goes for bait as well, and now is the time to be restocking your freezer with boilies, or buying dry particles ready to prepare as and when you need them throughout the season. Even hook baits often need replenishing, or even just glugging again in whatever liquids you prefer to give them a renewed extra boost.

Location is key

Finding the fish before you set up is very important at any time of the year, but probably even more so during the spring where their movements can be less predictable, and they tend not to be settled in particular areas, and are more responding to weather conditions and the water starting to warm up.

There isn’t yet much in the way of natural food or fresh weed growth, which means that larger areas of gravel are often devoid of anything that will naturally attract the carp to feed there, so it is worth considering this when choosing spots to fish on. What food there is can usually be found in areas such as old weed beds or silt.

Certain parts of the lake, and particularly shallower areas with some cover, such as reedbeds, are always worth a look on sunnier days, as the water will warm up faster, and especially so if it is on the back of the wind and gets the sun directly on it. These are the sort of spots that can be devoid of carp earlier on in the day, yet by the afternoon a load might have turned up and can give a good opportunity – especially if you are able to get your rods out before they arrive.

This is why a good quality pair of polarised sunglasses is essential at this time of the year, where spotting some carp moving can lead to a quick bite. The Korda ranges of sunglasses offers a variety of different styles to suit any taste, as well as different lens colours to suit any light conditions, and you can read about the full range here.

Reed beds can be a very productive area during the spring, especially as they tend to be sparser, and you can actually fish into the edges of them using tactics such as solid PVA bags, and often the carp will spend significant amounts of time in amongst them.

The fish will also give themselves away elsewhere in the lake when they are feeding, and if they are doing it over areas where there is debris on the bottom, such as old weed or in amongst silt, then you will see patches of fizzing, as well as carp possibly jumping or rolling.

Exactly where they could turn up and feed can be quite unpredictable – unlike at other times of the year where they might feed in similar areas every morning, for instance - and often the windows of opportunity will be quite short, so it makes sense to be as mobile as you can so that you are able to move quickly if you do get a decent chance of catching one.

The easiest way to stay mobile is to fish off of your Carp Porter barrow, or certainly to have it kitted out that you can pack up quickly, and the range of luggage that has been specifically designed to go with these barrows gives quick and easy access to all the essentials you need without having to unload all your gear before you can get your rods out. You can read more about the full range of Carp Porter barrows, luggage, and accessories here.

Adapt to the weather conditions

As has already been mentioned, the carp will respond to different weather conditions in the spring maybe more than at any other time of year, and especially anything that relates to water temperature.

The weather will largely dictate the areas where they are likely to be found, and any change to that can quickly cause them to move elsewhere.

Some sort of weather app, such as UniFish, is very useful as it can help you to predict where the carp will be, and to get ahead of them – assuming of course that the forecast is correct, which isn’t always the case in the spring when conditions can change very fast.

One minute it can be warm and sunny with carp cruising around in a shallow bay, the next there can be hailstones which quickly cool down the water and result in the fish disappearing to another part of the lake.

So make sure you fish based on the conditions, and just because the carp were in a certain part of the lake the previous day, or have been caught from a particular swim, it doesn’t necessarily mean they will still be there, especially if the weather has changed dramatically, as it can be prone to do.

Whilst the wind can play a part, being on the end of it during the spring isn’t necessarily always a good thing, and especially if it doesn’t feel particularly warm – even a south-westerly at this time of year might well feel cold. There is just as much chance that the fish will be on the back of it, so don’t immediately head for swims that the wind is blowing into, unless you see signs that the fish are there.

These changeable weather conditions not only affect the carp, but also anglers as well and it is easy to get caught out by a sudden drop – or big rise – in temperature, or a torrential downpour.

Making sure that you have the right type of clothing with you will ensure that you can carry on fishing effectively and stay comfortable – if your clothes get soaked, or you are too hot and sweaty, then you aren’t going to fish very effectively. The Korda clothing range covers anything conditions you are going to encounter, and has been purpose designed with angling-related features, and not only feels great to wear, but also looks the part as well. You can find out more about Korda clothing for spring fishing here.

How much bait should you use

Whilst the carp may have woken up and become more active, that doesn’t mean that they are feeding hard yet, and it pays to be very careful with the amount of bait that you use.

This will of course vary from water to water, and with different levels of stocking density, but generally it is worth remembering the old adage that you can put more bait out, but you can’t take it back out of the water again.

Often you will be fishing for a bite at a time, rather than a big hit of fish, and will be taking advantage of opportunities as they arise. Certainly up until later in the spring when the fish will often feed well prior to spawning and larger amounts of bait are more likely to pay off. 

So, you should only really consider putting out loads of bait if you find yourself really on the fish and are getting regular bites – just because the air temperature might feel warm to you, it doesn’t mean the water temperature is and the metabolism of the carp could still be quite slow. Spombing out a big bed of bait at the start of your session can easily kill your chances before you even start fishing.

The type of bait that you are putting out also makes a difference, and it is unlikely that the carp are looking for big beds of boilies at this time of the year – again that of course depends on the venue as there will be exceptions to that – but could well slip up to natural baits such as maggots, casters, and chopped worm, which are easily digested and aren’t too dissimilar to the natural food that is in short supply in the lake until the water warms up.

You can of course still put out boilies, but rather than spombing them, you can use a throwing stick or a catapult, especially if you are looking to get a wider spread of bait, such as when fishing with chops and you want the carp to be moving in-between each mouthful bait, which increases the chances of hooking one.

Your baiting tactics will of course also be determined by how long you are expecting the fish to stick around in an area, and if you are just looking for a quick bite before they move elsewhere, you aren’t going to get that by causing a load of disturbance putting bait out.

Bottom fishing tactics and rigs

One of the most popular methods during the spring is the use of chod rigs, which can be cast pretty much anywhere and you know they will be fishing effectively.

Chod rigs can be used effectively over areas of dead weed and other debris, or fresh weed growth, as well as think silt, which are all spots where carp could well be found feeding during the spring.

The idea of them is that you can present a pop-up over any type of bottom, without the need to locate clear spots, meaning that if you do see signs of feeding fish you can cast rigs to them with the minimum amount of disturbance, knowing that your bait is presented and can be picked up by a carp.

These chod rigs often involve the use of brightly coloured hook baits, fished on their own to attract the attention of any passing carp, but they can also be fished over a scattering of boilies that have been put out with a catapult or throwing stick, the Korda Eazi Stick is great for this. You are relying on the carp to be moving when it picks up the bait, in order for it to hook itself, so you don’t want a tight patch of bait.

To find out exactly how to use chod rigs and set them up, plus all the tricks to make them more effective, see here.  

If you know the lake bed is reasonably clear and you can get some sort of half decent drop when you feel the lead down, then solid PVA bags can also be a very effective tactic that allows you to fish for a bite at a time with the bare minimum of bait in your swim.

Solid bags, such as the Korda Solidz, allow you to fish your rig and hook bait directly in amongst a small amount of bait – the size of solid bag you use dictates exactly how much, but often a mouthful is enough for a bite.

If you do see signs of feeding carp, such as fizzing or fish moving around in a reed bed, then you can quickly chuck a solid bag at them with minimal disturbance, knowing that as long as you get some sort of drop your bait and rig are going to be presented in a way that means that a fish can pick it up, and this can often lead to a quick bite.

You can find out more about solid PVA bag fishing and how to use the Korda Solidz bags, by reading this section.

Conventional tactics on the bottom such as Ronnie rigs or spinner rigs, combi multi rigs, or whatever rig you normally favour, will still work well in some situations, and it is generally best to target the edges of gravel areas, rather than fishing in the middle of them where there will be little in the way of natural food, certainly during the earlier part of spring.

Then same goes for hinged stiff rigs, which are a popular choice with some anglers and can be deadly, especially if you want to fish a pop-up a bit higher off of the bottom than you typically would do with a Ronnie rig. This is definitely a rig that has accounted for the captures of a lot of big and highly sought after carp over the years, and especially so during the spring time.

But as mentioned already, be careful with the amount of bait that you introduce initially, as you don’t want to kill your chances before you’ve even started, by filling it in when the fish aren’t feeding hard.

What to do if the fish are up in the water?

There can be prolonged periods of time during the spring when although the carp might be in a certain part of the lake, they aren’t actually anywhere near the bottom or feeding in a conventional way, and standard rigs and tactics aren’t going to get you a bite unless something suddenly changes.

In this sort of situation some sort of zig rig can be incredibly effective as it allows you to target carp anywhere in the water column, and to put a hook bait in front of them whatever depth they are swimming around at.

On shallower lakes zig rigs tend to be fished in the traditional way, with a hook link of a length that matches how far off of the bottom you want your bait to be presented, and with a buoyant hook bait that remains popped up and sat mid-water. This can be a very effective method, night or day.

On deeper lakes you will want to use an adjustable zig rig, incorporating one of the Korda Zig Floats, as this allows you to use a shorter hook link and be able to net the fish far easier – for instance if you wanted to fish 20ft off of the bottom, with a conventional zig this creates all sorts of problems when it comes to casting out something that long (even with a Zig Magnet) as well as netting anything that you hook if you are fishing on your own.

Adjustable zigs, as the name suggests, also have the big advantage that you can change the depth that you are fishing at, without the need to even wind in – unlike a traditional zig where you would need to change the length of your hook link and then recast.

Zig rigs tend to be fished with pieces of foam or small pop-ups as the hookbait, and with the hook size and hook link material scaled down as much as is practical to try and make it less visible to the fish – Korda Zig Line and Mixa hooks, with our ultra buoyant Zig Foam, are popular choices.

To read about both types of zig rig in more detail and to find out the best way to fish with them, see here.

Surface fishing can be deadly in the spring

By later spring there will also be chances to catch the carp off of the surface and it is definitely well worth taking kit for that with you, even if it stays in your car until it is needed, along with some floating dog biscuits or pellets.

If you do spot carp cruising around on the top then definitely fire some floaters out and see if you can get them taking them – carp are often at their most catchable off of the top before anglers really start targeting them and they won’t have seen floating baits since the previous summer. So, if you can be the first on your venue to get a chance on the surface, you can enjoy some really good fishing before the carp start to wise up and become very wary of surface baits.

Whatever range you manage to get them feeding at, you will be able to reach them and present a bait to them using one of our inline Interceptor controller floats, and the larger sizes can be cast a long way with our dedicated Kaizen Green Floater rod.

Like with zig fishing, the more you can scale down your tackle, the more bites you will get, but you also need to balance that with giving yourself a realistic chance of landing them – a size 12 Mixa hook and 6lb Kruiser Control hook link might be fine for some open water situations where there are no snags, but the presence of any snags, weed, reeds, or lilies, will mean you need to up that to something more sensible for the situation.

Hook bait choices for spring fishing

Brightly coloured hook baits can work at any time of the year, but are especially effective during the spring when the carp haven’t been caught on them for quite a while and are still waking up properly.

A brightly coloured pop-up or wafter can be enough to get the attention of a passing fish and lead to a pick up, purely on the basis of how visual it is, whilst a more natural match-the-hatch style bait might be ignored.

Popular colours include pink, white, yellow, orange, and red, and which works best can vary from venue to venue, but many anglers swear that pink has the edge at this time of the year, and it is a popular colour choice with our Team Korda anglers, whether in the form of a pop-up or wafter boilie, or a plastic bait like the Korda Fake Foods range, which includes corn, maize and dumbells.

Any of these hook baits can be made even more attractive to a passing fish via the addition of some sort of liquid additive which gives off a cloud of scent, in addition to the visual aspect of the bait, and the Korda Carp Goo range is perfect for soaking your hook baits in to ensure constant leak-off over a longer period of time once it is in the water.

To read about hook bait choice for the spring in more detail and find out the best ways to make these baits even more attractive, see here.

Natural baits can also be effective at this time of year, especially as many of the other species that make them harder to fish effectively once the water properly warms up are still less active, so there is less chance of them being quickly ripped apart by small roach – depending on the venue and fish stocks of other species.

Baits such as maggots and worms can be fished as a big bunch on something like the Korda Maggot Klips, or added as a topper for a pop-up or wafter, where they are threaded onto a piece of Bait Floss via a fine baiting needle and then several overhand knots are tied in that to attach it to the end of your hair - after your pop-up or wafter has been threaded on – to leave you with a wriggling bunch on top of your hook bait. The advantage off this is that even if small species do attack the maggots or worms and pull them off, you will always have a pop-up or wafter still fishing and giving you a chance of a bite. Where large numbers of silver fish, or even eels, are present it is best to avoid this tactic.