Dear Spug

I fish a lake where the carp very rarely show themselves – no jumping, and no bubbling up. I got myself a pair of binoculars and now I do see the carp on the surface on sunny days. The lake is 6ft deep and there is no surface fishing or night fishing allowed. I am seeing the carp between 11.30 a.m. and 3.00 p.m. and then they are gone. What rig setup should I use to tempt them in this short space of time, as I only intend to fish for them for 3-4 hours. I would appreciate any help.

Thanks, Garry Legge

Hi Gary

I think you have a couple of options here. The first would be to try using a Zig Rig and place the hookbait just under the surface; if the lake is 6ft deep then I would set up one Zig at 5½ft and the other rod at about 4½ft deep, and position it 30yds away from the first rod. If the fish are in the upper layers of the water then you are basically putting a bait straight on their noses, so yes, a single bait, possibly a hi-visual pop-up, would be a great starting point. However, along with this style of fishing I would start baiting some spots up in the margins. The reason for this is that you will start to get a feel for if the fish are feeding in the edge, or you may be able to create a feeding spot in the edge where, in time, they will come in and feed confidently. Perhaps if you turn up at the lake and cannot see any fish just under the surface, maybe on an overcast day, then they may well be on the bottom having a feed, so hence you know you have a spot. Keep an eye on your margin spots because they could just pull some fish in for you.

Of course you can also try one rod on the margin and flick out a Zig with the other rod, then at least you are covering your options. No doubt, after a while you will get your first bite and the rest will just unfold for you.

I hope this helps, and be lucky.

Spug