Carp Fishing Tips with different methods and tactics to help fish for carp

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Quick Carp Fishing Tips

UPDATE - More Tips Added 11th June 2009, See Below!

This page lists many quick tips and ideas that can help in any carp fishing situation from tactics to making your fishing more comfortable. New carp fishing tips will be added to this list at regular intervals so be sure to bookmark this page.

Feel free to send us your tips and tricks and we may publish them here on our site!

85 Pounds of pure pussy meat!!

Try to limit the use of fishmeal boilies when fishing over silt. Fishmeal boilies can take on the smells of the surrounding lake bed, this can over power the nice smell of the bait and cause it to become less attractive to carp.
Never pull lead towards you when casting on hard gravel unless using rig foam, dragging hook along gravel will blunt point making it hard to set into carp lip.
Always try to pin down as much line as possible by using drop back leads or flying back leads.
Keep eyes open for potential features where carp may patrol, these could also act as a large marker to cast to for better accuracy and presentation.
Before visiting a new lake always try to find out as much information about the lake as possible, such as average depths, features, type of lake bed, wind direction, etc.
If you haven't caught for hours try casting again, but place the rig slightly to the left or right of baited areas. Underwater current may have dragged spodded baits in either direction before hitting bottom. So don't be afraid to try casting away from your bed of bait.
Try to feather the main line on casting so the whole rig stretches out straight ahead of the lead. Feathering the lead at the last few moments of a cast will help limit any tangle. The whole rig should then lie straight on the bottom with hook bait should be at the furthest part away from the lead.
Cast harder than normal then feather line down so tip number 7 above can be used AND gain better accuracy.
Use a marker and mine-sweeper lead to gain a clearer idea of the lake bed, then cast to the area where your rigs system best suits the bottom.
When casting towards a marker float aim slightly to the left or right, but always opposite to the blowing wind to avoid potential tangles.
Also cast a little past a marker float, as the lead will come back towards your rods as it falls through water. How much it draws back will depend on the depth of the water.
Trim all sharp points on bait stops, hairs, braids, stiff links or anything which may come into contact with carp.
Always try to use braid for feature finding with a marker float. Unless the fishery does not allow their use!
Use very small lengths of thin lead core to wrap around the line or tubing about every six inches. This helps keep all parts pinned down to bottom.
Try not to bully a hooked fish into the bank, they have soft lips so a hook can easily pull out if too much pressure is applied. Also, a fish dragged in quickly can become lively on the bank making it harder to handle.
When plagued by wild birds (coots, moorhens or ) diving down on your bed of bait, try baiting up using only hemp seed. I have heard that some of these birds don't seem to dive for hemp.
Use damp leam soil along with bloodworms or jokers when fishing for carp. The damp leam settles on the bottom of the bed and the jokers wriggle clearly on top of this soil. this makes them more visible and attractive to feeding carp. The damp leam can be bought in small bags from many good tackle shops.
Don't forget bread as a bait, either brown or white is good, however, don't use granary varieties, or think before using any that contain nuts or seeds. Some of them are in the raw state and may cause problems if any swell up inside the intestines.
If fishing for carp in your local water has become a little tough, try using natural, rarely used baits such as mussels, snails or slugs. These are all great carp fishing baits that can hook a huge fish!
Always use sharp hooks when creating new rigs. Also, remember to test each hook before casting a rig out.