TO GET the best results in specimen carp fishing, ideally you need to fish for them at night, and not just during daylight hours.
At this time of the year the fish will be spending most of the day basking in the sun and capitalising on the warm weather, and tend to feed better during the hours of darkness when the temperatures and light levels drop.
Being efficient and getting the basics right are key to making your first night on the bank a productive one. The old saying of ‘if you fail to plan, you plan to fail’ perfectly sums up night fishing – especially if you haven’t done it before! Also, if your first night session proves to be a nightmare and you don’t enjoy it due to making simple but avoidable mistakes, you’re far less likely to give this exciting branch of the sport another go.
So, all you have to do is nail these eight basic ‘rules’ and you’re halfway along the road to big-fish city!
1 FISH EFFECTIVELY
During the day it’s easy to cast to your baited spot as you can see where your rig lands. But this becomes more difficult in the dark. To ensure that you are fishing effectively at night, pick out a far-bank marker that’s in line with your spot, such as a tall tree, which should provide a silhouette at night. This will give you the direction to cast towards. Also, use a pair of distance sticks to accurately measure how far out the spot is, so you can ‘clip up’ accurately before each cast.
2 BUY A RECEIVER
If you’re going to night-fish regularly, it’s well worth investing in a set of alarms with a remote receiver. This means you can have it in the bivvy, close to your head, so if you get a run through the night you wake up instantly and won’t miss out on fish.
3 EVERYTHING HAS A PLACE
Organisation is key when fishing night sessions. Before your trip make a checklist of everything you’ll need, from cooking equipment to portable chargers and spare batteries. When packing your holdall, ensure that the items you’re likely to need more frequently are easily accessible so that you’re not having to rummage around in the bottom of bags during the middle of the night.
Once in your bivvy make sure that items such as your headtorch are somewhere you can grab them quickly during the night. Anything that is less likely to be needed can be stored out of the way at the back of the bivvy or under the bedchair.
4 WAKE AT FIRST LIGHT
It is better to fish an hour in the right place than two days in the wrong one. Setting an alarm to get up at first light ensures that you will be awake and alert to see any fish showing, which will allow you to plan your attack for the day ahead. A lot of top anglers will also sit up during the night and listen for carp showing, as this is often when they are at their most active. Of co
