SUMMER CARPFISHING

We’ve just wrapped up the topics dedicated to spawning season (pre and post-spawn), and now we are thrown almost “violently” into the summer season, the favourite period for most anglers.

Temperatures are pleasant, spending time on lakes and rivers becomes easier, fish are generally more responsive to feeding stimuli, and the desire to fish reaches its peak. These are certainly the main advantages of summer, all linked to the angler’s comfort and favourable conditions, even though we all know that the hottest months rarely produce true personal bests. Big carp usually reach their maximum weight before spawning, in the case of large females, or at the end of autumn when they build up energy reserves for winter.

Summer still remains the most popular period on commercial venues of all kinds, from gravel pits to sand or clay pits, and on canals especially when targeting big grass carp. For these fish, this is truly the period of maximum metabolism, with feeding activity that is often impressive and makes them easier to catch compared to other times of the year.

So let’s analyse a whole range of venues, possible approaches and strategies dedicated to the warmest season.

First of all, in most Italian venues we start talking about true summer dynamics when the water temperature consistently rises above 25°C. That’s when the lake completely changes its face.

The increase in temperature mainly depends on four factors:

1. Solar radiation and water colour;

2. Size of the venue and thermal inertia;

3. Wind;

4. Presence of spring water inflows.

The first point refers to the water’s ability to absorb solar radiation depending on its clarity and the material suspended within it. As we know very well, turbid, dark and eutrophic waters tend to retain much more heat compared to clear and crystal waters, which reflect part of the solar radiation and maintain greater thermal stability.

This is why the classic shallow irrigation pond or small eutrophic pit heats up much faster than a deep, clear lake. A similar concept also applies to rivers and canals, although in this case another key factor comes into play: current, which helps keep the water fresher and more oxygenated. I’ll talk more about flowing water later on.

The second factor determines how quickly a venue accumulates heat. Small shallow waters warm up much faster than large pits and deep lakes, which possess a sort of “thermal flywheel” capable of slowing down temperature fluctuations.

The third point is probably one of the most underestimated aspects of all summer carp fishing: wind.

Many anglers see it only as a nuisance or simply a factor that moves fish around, but in reality wind profoundly changes the biological quality of the water. It stirs the upper layers, increases oxygenation, partially breaks thermal stratification and often creates real feeding windows.

Wind action can be strong but short-lived, as often happens during summer thunderstorms across the plains, creating extremely interesting feeding situations. Large reservoirs exposed to air currents benefit enormously from this phenomenon, especially when fed by inflowing streams or hydroelectric discharges that keep water temperatures within biologically sustainable values. This is very important because beyond 28–30°C water can begin to become critical in terms of oxygen levels, and carp tend to drastically reduce activity during the hottest hours, concentrating movement and feeding into very specific windows.

The fourth point concerns spring water inflows, typical especially of extraction pits. The presence of fresh incoming water, often around 12–13°C, helps maintain the environment more stable and biologically efficient even during the hottest months.

All these factors determine a specific reaction known as summer stratification, or thermocline, an absolutely fundamental phenomenon that every angler should fully understand. In practice, the very warm surface layers separate from the colder deeper layers. In eutrophic venues subject to summer anoxia, below the thermocline oxygen levels can become extremely low, to the point where those depths are rarely frequented by either carp or the benthic organisms they normally feed on.

As a result, fishing below this layer very often means placing your rigs in a biologically poor zone.

When I used to fish Lake Endine, to mention a famous example, I was often dealing with a natural eutrophic lake with very dark green water and low visibility, capable of absorbing huge amounts of solar radiation. During summer, surface temperatures would easily exceed 30°C. Back then I became friends with Dr. Garibaldi from the CNR, a biologist studying the lake, and through discussions with her I began to better understand certain dynamics. The thermocline was generally located between 2.5 and 4 metres deep, and virtually all captures occurred within that range.

This meant the fish spent most of the day stationary in the weedbeds close to the bank or suspended in the upper layers of the water column, preferably in shaded areas, descending to the bottom to feed only during the night or early morning when temperatures dropped slightly.

In fact, the thermocline itself can vary by several metres between full sunlight hours and nighttime. For this reason, I often went out with the echo sounder in the middle of the night to understand the real depth where I should place my rigs.

In lakes affected by this phenomenon, fishing is generally carried out within the weedbeds or immediately outside them, because that is exactly where oxygen, microfauna and natural food concentrate. Molluscs, crustaceans and small benthic organisms thrive among the roots of aquatic plants, which represent one of the best indicators of dissolved oxygen.

The bottom of a lake suffering from summer anoxia is easily recognisable even without a fish finder because it quickly becomes black, rotten and foul-smelling.

Small irrigation ponds and peat or clay pits, generally shallow, suffer heavily from these phenomena, often worsened by eutrophic microalgae that consume additional oxygen especially during nighttime hours. This makes such venues among the hardest to interpret during summer using a classic static carp fishing approach, although they can still offer good results with zig rigs, surface fishing, or by concentrating action during nighttime or immediately after a thunderstorm.

We have instead seen how large lakes can present a much more balanced situation, with thermoclines located even at 8–10 metres deep, as happens for example in venues such as Pusiano or Varese.

In these waters entire sectors can become extremely productive, especially the bays exposed to the wind where fish often tend to gather.

Areas with the wind blowing directly into them are generally the most interesting, not simply because fish are pushed there but because wind brings oxygenation, plankton, biological movement and favourable environmental conditions.

Finding the right area therefore becomes fundamental.

Wide sloping beaches can prove productive in the presence of heavy wave action, while bays rich in submerged vegetation often represent the best option, although they require technical and far from spectacular fishing. In these situations, you often fish by “piercing” the weed layer using a heavy breakaway stone and a PVA-protected rig to allow the hookbait to reach the bottom intact. The fish tends to hook itself thanks to the heavy weight, and you must react very quickly because you rarely get the classic screaming run. It therefore becomes essential to reach the fish rapidly by boat while maintaining minimal pressure on the line in order to free it from the vegetation.

Needless to say, a thin, strong and cutting braid often represents the best choice to slice through weed and free everything, although it is always important to keep the final section near the hookbait as non-abrasive as possible for the fish’s skin.

If I had to define which stillwaters generally offer the best summer opportunities, I would still mainly refer to hydroelectric reservoirs and gravel or sand pits. The former are often deep lakes located in mountainous environments, characterised by excellent oxygenation and continuous water renewal that greatly limits summer anoxia problems.

Furthermore, the presence of internal currents generated by inflows or hydroelectric discharges keeps fish metabolism active even at considerable depths.

In fact, it is not uncommon to catch carp at 15–20 metres in this type of venue, a situation practically impossible in small eutrophic lowland pits.

Gravel and sand pits, on the other hand, are extremely interesting thanks to the presence of spring water inflows introducing cooler water and mitigating summer temperatures.

It is no coincidence that many big commercial lakes originate from this type of extraction pit. Obviously, here other factors come into play compared to natural waters, especially those linked to high fishing pressure and the huge concentration of large fish.

Finally, flowing waters such as rivers and canals represent an almost absolute guarantee of summer activity thanks to constant oxygenation.

The real issue in these environments is often the invasion of nuisance species such as small cyprinids and catfish. (go and read the dedicated article on how to avoid them)

It therefore becomes fundamental to choose spots less affected by the problem and to establish a baiting strategy capable of selecting bigger fish.

Personally, I still prefer irrigation canals maintained at constant flow, especially when it is possible to carry out a prebaiting campaign with digestible and nutritious boilies capable of holding big carp in the area.

Very often it is the large fish themselves, once they become established on the food source, that keep most smaller nuisance fish away.

One of the most interesting aspects of summer carp fishing, and probably also one of the hardest to truly understand, concerns the so-called feeding windows.

Many anglers still think in terms of a “good day” or a “bad day”, but experience has taught me that during the hottest months carp behaviour is much more linked to extremely short favourable moments that can completely change the outcome of a session. This happens because in summer fish constantly live in balance between metabolic demands and biological necessities. On one side, high temperatures accelerate metabolism and increase energy requirements; on the other, warm water contains less dissolved oxygen and forces carp to continuously optimise energy consumption.

For this reason, it is very common to observe apparently inactive fish for hours, perhaps sitting motionless in the weedbeds or suspended beneath the surface, which suddenly begin feeding violently for extremely short periods. Many of the best summer sessions of my life were not built on the number of hours spent fishing, but on being in the right place during that exact biologically favourable moment.

And this is where you really begin to understand how summer is a season of observation more than simple waiting.

Dawn, for example, almost always represents one of the most interesting moments of the day. During the night, surface temperatures tend to drop slightly, the environment stabilises and fish often become more willing to move onto the bottom to feed. In many eutrophic lakes, the early morning hours are probably the very best moment of all, especially after windy nights that helped maintain good surface oxygenation.

Pre-storm conditions are another situation that over the years has given me incredible captures.

Anyone who has spent a lot of time fishing during summer knows exactly what I mean: apparently dead days that suddenly ignite when the sky changes colour, the wind begins moving the water and atmospheric pressure rapidly changes.

At those moments the lake almost seems to “breathe” again.

The water becomes oxygenated, biological activity increases, plankton moves, and very often carp enter a feeding spell with a violence that is difficult to witness at other times of the day.

The same applies to wind.

After days of complete summer flat calm, especially on more eutrophic lakes, sometimes all it takes is a steady air current to completely change fish behaviour. Windward bays begin accumulating oxygen, microfauna and suspended organic matter, creating truly active areas where carp tend to concentrate. And it is exactly in these situations that the angler must learn to distinguish between fish that are merely present and fish that are actually feeding.

Because seeing carp on the surface does not automatically mean they are feeding.

Very often, especially during the hottest hours, big fish remain suspended simply to find a biologically more comfortable layer of water. That is a huge difference.

And it is probably one of the most common mistakes in summer fishing: interpreting every sign of fish activity as a feeding signal.

In reality, during summer carp spend most of their time managing their energy and respiratory balance. When conditions improve, even only slightly, then impressive feeding windows can suddenly open.

Those who learn to read the wind, water movement, thermal changes, weedbed activity, atmospheric variations and even certain sudden silences of the lake begin to understand many things.

Because once you truly begin understanding the relationship between temperature, oxygenation, wind and carp behaviour, many details that once seemed random suddenly stop being random.

And this is probably where one of the biggest misconceptions related to summer fishing is born.

Many anglers automatically associate warm water and accelerated metabolism with the idea of continuous and abundant feeding, but after many years spent on very different venues I have become convinced that reality is much more complex.

It is true that carp, in high temperatures, accelerate their biological processes and tend to digest faster, but this absolutely does not mean they spend the entire day feeding.

In fact, in the most extreme situations the opposite often happens.

Big carp seem to constantly search for a balance between feeding needs and energy saving. In practice, they need to introduce energy without consuming too much to obtain it, especially in low-oxygen environments where even simple movement can become biologically expensive.

For this reason, big carp much more than small fish tend to move according to an extremely precise logic.

Young carp and small cyprinids often continue feeding even in apparently terrible conditions, they move a lot and tolerate unstable situations better. Big carp instead become incredibly conservative, wasting less unnecessary energy, using very precise routes, remaining in the same favourable areas for long periods and exploiting feeding windows that are often extremely short but highly effective. The exception is large grass carp, which instead use the hottest months to grow, provided food is available.

Very often the angler continues seeing surface activity and moving fish believing the lake is “fully feeding”, while in reality the big carp are simply searching for biologically sustainable conditions. And this is where a concept I consider fundamental in summer carp fishing comes into play: biological comfort.

By this expression I mean the set of conditions that allow fish to maintain the best possible balance between temperature, oxygenation, safety and energy expenditure.

In summer carp do not only search for food, they mainly search for an area where they can feel biologically comfortable, and this is why certain weedbeds become true sanctuaries, certain wind-beaten bays suddenly fill with fish and some depth ranges seem to literally empty within just a few days.

Big carp appear to recognise these areas in an impressive way. They often use the same corridors, the same shaded areas and the same water layers for weeks on end precisely because there they can maintain maximum balance with minimum energy expenditure.

Summer fishing pressure also hugely affects this behaviour.

With the arrival of the warm season, anglers increase, baiting increases, noise along the banks increases and above all the continuous disturbance the fish are subjected to increases.

On heavily pressured lakes, big carp profoundly change their behaviour, reduce movement during hours of human presence, further narrow feeding windows and quickly learn to associate certain noises or situations with danger.

Very often the problem is not finding the fish, but managing to intercept them exactly during those few moments when they truly lower their guard.

This is why, especially during summer, presentation quality, discretion, noise on the swim and even bait management become aspects far more important than many anglers imagine.

In very warm water, organic degradation accelerates rapidly and an excess of unused bait can further worsen the biological quality of the spot, especially in environments already poor in oxygen.

And this is probably the greatest lesson of summer carp fishing: understanding that during the hottest months carp almost never think simply in terms of hunger, but mainly in terms of biological balance.

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