Bait
Carp (except for Grass Carp) eat practically anything! They particularly like sea baits such as Whiebait. Other fruitful baits include processed tinned meat, sausage, salami, tinned dog food or cat food. Potatoes, cheese, bread, marshmallows, sweetcorn, kidney beans, butter beans, maggots, worms, hemp, birdseed and boilies. Boilies are a great bait for Carp because there are so many different flavours and colour varieties. You can quickly and easily switch between many different tastes until you find exactly what flavours are making the Carp bite on the day. The boilie flavour most likely to bring success though is the one which is closest to the Carp's dominant food source at that venue.

As with all other fish, groundbait is a good way of attracting the Carp to feeding in your chosen swim. Peanuts (ordinary unsalted from the supemarket) can be soaked overnight and then boiled for about an hour. Following that, leave the nuts in a container for three days until they start to ferment. The scent will draw Carp in from feet around. Remember not to over do the groundbait though, use it sparingly to draw attention to your main hook bait.

Your tackle needs to be anything from a 8-20lb main line with a 5-12lb hook trace. A simple running ledger with size 6 - 10 hook depending on size of fish you think you'll be hooking. Use a strong rod and reel combination because once hooked they fight hard!

There are many different rigs which you can make yourself or buy for Carp fishing. It really depends on your preference and your venue ie. weed cover and potential for snags, chosen bait, wind conditions etc. but some of the most successful Carp rigs include the hair rig, helicopter rig, line aligner rig and the semi-fixed rig. The semi-fixed rig is one of our favourites whereby it fixes the weight while the hook becomes set in the lip of the Carp, as soon as the Carp gives a sharp tug as it starts to fight the hooklink is pulled free of the lead and the lead becomes loose so that it doesn't hinder the landing stage should the lead become snagged.

Optimum feeding times and position
The end of the summer is a good feeding time for Carp. The dropping temperatures trigger them to feed more readily where they attempt to gain as much weight as possible to see them through the winter.

Locate the Carp before you start to fish. You can often see them in the water although you may need a pair of polarised sunglasses to see them properly. Look for Carp close to islands, large over-hanging trees, snags and in-lets and amongst weed beds. Look for areas where food such as nuts or berries may be falling in to the water from nearby trees and bushes. Also, in summer they can be seen basking in the sun close to the surface and so floating baits just over the areas where you have seen disturbances in the water are a very good idea. There's no point in trying this in the heat of the day though, watch these fish and try to hook them as the sun is going down or try those areas first thing in the morning on the following day just before the sun is fully up.

Once you've chosen your swim, feed the area with groundbait and other morsels and keep to that area. Focus on presenting your bait well (as you would when fishing for all other species). Carp might eat anything but you still want to attract them to your bait over and above all of the other offerings.