Julian Cundiff’s top tips for spring carp fishing

WITH the sun out and carp at last making themselves known on most waters it would be very easy to think that you really can’t fail at the moment. If only that were true!!

High pressure conditions, blue sky in the day and frosty nights mean that carp can be all over the place when it comes to ‘patterns’ so here’s a few tips from my near 30 years of carp fishing to help you put some on the bank this spring…

Dawn and dusk…

THE two times to see carp are dawn and dusk and waters that appear lifeless can come alive an hour into dark and an hour before light in the morning. Set that alarm for 5 am and ensure you are watching the water.

They will show themselves, I assure you, and if you are NOT on them then move and if you’ve yet to set up then make the right choice.

Reeds and shallows…

THE two places to find carp. If there is any warmth in that sun the carp will be in the shallows as that’s the first place to warm up. It’s where the natural food will first start to appear.

If it’s deep enough to cover their backs it’s deep enough for them to be there. If your water has any reed growth they certainly will be there too rubbing against the stems and feeding on the food that is found on and in them. Watch carefully for stems moving, they are there I promise.

Singles Rule…

At this time of year you are fishing for bites so forget piling lots of bait in but concentrate on single pop ups on multi-rigs just off the deck. The TWO best colours in the spring for a bite are yellow and white (with maybe pink getting up there..)

I also find the colour MORE important than the flavour so go for the right colours rather than attractors. Also vary your colours. White not working ? Try yellow. Yellow not working try pink…

Targeting carp off the top is a great early-summer tactic.

Up top…

Surface fishing is not just for summer and in spring it’s just as good, in fact sometimes even better as not everyone will have been hammering it.

The TWO surface baits I favour are Riser Pellets and mixers. Combined, these two really do undo the hardest to tempt carp far better than either on their own.

Use a 50/50 mix of both and catapult or Spod them out at dusk with maybe a coating of Scopex Squid liquid on them, and watch that water for proof of their effectiveness.

And finally…

The TWO most important factors to catching carp are going, and keeping on going!

Anyone can talk a good game at home on social media but you can’t catch them there, can you? Get your diary organised, sort the time out and stick to it.

No excuses, no putting it off…Get out there and keep getting out there…

See you on the bank

Julian