How the weather affects carp fishing

There are many factors that can greatly affect your chances of having a successful carp fishing session such as location, rigs, bait and fishing depths. However one of the most important overlooked, is the fishing weather which goes hand in hand with the carps feeding pattern.

Air pressure

Typically carp like to feed during low pressure conditions, if the pressure is low the standard way to fish for them is at the lower depths with either a float or a rig on a ledger.

If the pressure is high the carp are most like to be feeding in the middle to higher depths of the water, in this case it makes sense to float on top with dog biscuits or bread. Another upcoming tactic fisherman use during high pressure days is zig fishing. Zig fishing is great because you can modify your rig to different depths at any time. It can take some trial and error to find the current depths that the carp are currently located, however once this is done the tactic can produce some incredible results.

Most good fishing weather reports should provide you with a pressure reading for the day or over an hourly breakdown. Learning to read these pressure readings is essential.

Temperature

When fishing in the colder conditions carp are less likely to feed, if they do feed they tend to only feed small amounts at a time, so its best to adjust your fishing approach. Using a small hook and baits such as maggots and sweetcorn and keeping pre-baiting to the minimal amount can really pay dividends. During the summer months Carp tend to pack on the lb’s and often clear the baits in swims in minutes. A great tactic to use in the warmer months is either to use Spombs or bait boats to pre-bait a spots in the lake with lots of bait to attract the carp. Another thing noting is that carp tend to spawn when the water is warm, if you fish during spawning you are unlikely to receive any bites. So it’s best to maybe ask the fishery owner before you turn up to see if the fish have already spawned or not.

Rain

Rainy days can really contribute to a great days fishing, when it rains is oxygenates the water which really gets the carp going. This is why people often target water infills and waterfalls because they also oxygenate the water.

Wind

If the wind is blowing down to one bay of the lake it makes a lot of sense to fish there, one of the main reasons fish tend to follow the wind is because the food in the lake will be concentrated in that area. If its a very windy day it can become a real nuisance for fisherman who are ledgering with bite alarms because the wind can keep setting of the bite alarms and give false indications. If this happens to you it makes sense to turn down the sensitivity on your bite alarm or use heavier bobbins.

A great website to check the fishing weather local to you is FishAdviser. The fishing weather reports include a bite rating guide to help you get the most out of your sessions.