Summer carp fishing isn’t everyone’s favourite, and Gaz Fareham admits it has never really been his. This year, though, things were different. With a few months of landscaping work taking him into the Cotswolds, it presented the perfect opportunity to squeeze in a few sessions on a syndicate he’d barely fished since the previous autumn.
Having only managed a single overnighter on the water since last year, Gaz was keen to reconnect with the lake and hopefully catch one or two of the bigger carp that had eluded him during the previous summer. Even with temperatures forecast to climb into the high 30s, his enthusiasm wasn’t dampened.
After a bit of searching, Gaz found the carp tucked away in the margins on the end of a fresh wind. Waiting until the area was undisturbed, he carefully located a handful of dinner plate-sized clear spots before introducing just a tiny amount of bait.
The approach was simple but highly effective. Each spot received no more than half a handful of hemp, chopped tiger nuts, peanuts and casters. Over the top, Gaz lowered a shortened version of his trusted Combi Multi rig, trimming the hooklink down to around three inches. He also swapped his usual quick-change setup for a Ring Swivel Hybrid Lead Clip, giving the rig a little more freedom to move over the tight spread of small food items.
The results came quickly.
By the end of the session Gaz had landed five carp, including a very special 33lb mirror that had reportedly not been caught for three or four years. With fewer than a handful of captures to its name, it was a truly rare fish and the perfect reward for a well-executed edge fishing approach.
Sometimes, all it takes is finding the fish, keeping the baiting subtle, and letting a simple presentation do the rest.