Tom Stokes - Tackling Summer

The summer can be a great time for catching carp, it's warm, the carp are at their most active, hungry after their recent spawn.

           
One thing that can often be associated with summer on many lake's though is weed. Weed growth is naturally at its most prolific during the warmest months, and this can be off putting for many anglers, but with a little bit of thought in terms of what your putting out there and where, the carp can still be fished for and landed safely.

The first and most important aspect in terms of fishing in and around heavy weed is ensuring what you’re putting out there is up to the job. Terminal tackle must be strong and robust, X gauge hooks are an essential, I will even step up to an XX version if I'm fishing for very big carp in particularly weedy situations. It can often take a fair amount of patience and pressure on the rod to extract carp from the weed, and the last thing you want is your hook to open out during the fight. The same goes for mainline, 20lb Sub Braid is my preference in these situations, it is super strong and sinks incredibly well, braid also cuts through weed rather than bedding into it like mono does, giving you much more direct contact with a hooked fish. Due to its lack of stretch, the braid will also enhance the feeling of the drop through the rod, give you a much better reading of exactly what you're fishing over and helping to ensure the rig is on the spot.    

If braid isn't allowed, then I will opt for mono such as Touchdown or Long Chuck as an alternative to the braid, in the heaviest breaking strain I can, ideally 18lb or 20lb. The key with whatever you’re using as mainline is to ensure it is strong and abrasion resistant, as the last thing you want is to be cut off by a big fish amongst the weed. The same goes for hooklinks, in these situations, I will always sway towards the heavier end of the scale, in fact, one of my favourite hooklinks is the XT Snag Leader in 55lb. Whatever hooklink I use, I’ll always use it in the heaviest breaking strain possible, always wanting to land everything I hook.

The next step is to ensure you’ presented, I will often have as many casts as it takes to try and find something in or as near to the weed as possible to present my rigs over. When the weeds up I feel you can get away with more casts as the fish will never go far, as they're surrounded by cover in the form of the weed itself. I like to use a Tournament Lead for leading about amongst weed, as its shape means you can easily pluck it from the weed and almost bounce it through the swim until it hopefully lands on something clean and presentable, whereas a more dumpy shaped lead will often just bed in, and you end up winding a big ball of weed back every cast. When it comes to the spot itself, anywhere I can get a decent drop and a clean pull back on the lead I am happy to fish, whether that be gravel, silt, sand, clay or whatever. If its firm and clean then I much prefer to fish a bottom bait/wafter presentation in Summer, but if I feel the spot is maybe a little dirty or has a small amount of low lying weed present then I would much prefer to fish a low lying pop up on a spinner just to ensure the hookbait is presented and hook is free of any debris.

If getting a drop is impossible then this is where the chod rig comes into its own, the choddy is always a last resort for me, but in the weediest situations, it can be incredibly effective, presenting hookbaits where no other rig can.    

If you can get your location, presentation, and rig choice right, and by ensuring your terminal tackle is up to the job, then fishing in and amongst the weed during the summer can be incredibly exciting, and prolific!