19 edges the experts are using this summer

1 Beef up your kit

"With the waters getting weedier and weedier, summer fishing tackle needs to be up the job of coping with heavy weed. The carp’s safety should be uppermost in your mind, and of course, you want to be in with a chance of landing your hard earned prize!” IAN CHILLCOTT

2 Get healthy

“Keep yourself healthy, as a healthy angler is a motivated angler. Drinking plenty of water and staying hydrated, sorting out your hay fever and allergies and not bloating yourself on crap and alcohol will make you fish a lot better. So many anglers restrict their potential by being unhealthy… don’t let it be you.” JULIAN CUNDIFF

3 Be mobile

“The key is definitely staying mobile and being versatile with your approach. Anyone who relies on static bivvy boilie fishing will severely limit their chances. Strip down your gear and go looking for them, fishing little bits and pieces, aiming for one bite at a time.” SIMON CROW

4 Get on the riser...

“My tip for summer fishing, and I hope the reader will understand that this is not a product plug and rather that I am giving you the most awesome edge I know at the moment. Pick your day, a nice hot day with a slight breeze. Then go upwind and start feeding in Riser Pellet. Three or four catapult pouches full every minute or so. On most lakes the reaction will be amazing, with all the carp on the top with their backs out of the water hoovering it up as they think a massive insect hatch has kicked off. Then fish a high visual floater and haul! I can’t recommend Riser Pellet enough. Until you see the reaction you will not believe how awesome this stuff is. It is THE gear to get on this summer – before someone else does and cleans up on your lake!” KEVIN NASH

5 Set the alarm clock

“Although the nights are short and it gets light at silly o’clock, it’s always worth making that effort to watch the water as dawn breaks. I know this can be hard after having just a few hours sleep but what you might see may well help you put a few extra fish on the bank the following or next night you fish. Anyway, after a couple of hours surveillance you can always get your head back down and catch up on a few hours whilst the rods are still out.” NIGEL SHARP

6 Tigers are deadly

“Tiger nuts are my summer tip, backed with a bit of fake corn and a very small amount of a decent sweetener added to about ten nuts in a bag.” BEN HAMILTON

7 Zig it up

“Get on the Riser Pellet and Zig Rigs. The Riser Pellet is a unique mix of small pellet, some of which floats but a small percentage sinks. During testing we found that pellet drifting down through the water column must imitate what the carp think is a fly hatch. Even on waters where the fish are known for not feeding on the surface, Riser Pellet intrigues them into searching the upper layers for grub.” NICK MADDIX

8 Don't forget the mixers

“A tip for summer fishing is to keep mobile and be willing to adapt – whether that’s Zig Rigs or floater fishing. And NEVER leave the dog biscuits at home!” JAMES ARMSTRONG

9 Trout pellets are winners

“A small handful of good quality oily pellet will get them grubbing about! They can’t resist them in the warm summer water!” JAMES TURNER

10 Summer = oils

“In a word: oils! Try L-Zero-30, salmon oil or Pure Krill liquid on floaters, boilies or pellets. They will all individually or combined pull fish up, down and onto your hookbait whether you are fishing on the bottom, mid-water or the surface.” LEON BARTROPP

11 Get up

“Get your head off that nice comfy Gardner pillow earlier! This is when the fish are most actively in feed mode, so this is the time to identify the spots they are visiting each morning to harvest the available food (natural or bait).” TIM CHILDS

12 Night floater fishing

“Many anglers regard floater fishing as something to have a go at on a hot summer afternoon when nothing else is happening. However, that couldn’t be any further from the truth and I will be looking for surface opportunities right through the day and even into darkness. Try it and you just might be surprised at the results.” IAN POOLE

13 Lose the bivvy

“I look forward to the summer nights when the bivvy can be left at home. Sleeping under the stars makes it much easier to stay mobile, as a shelter mentally ties you to a swim. Believe it or not, the mozzies tend to leave you alone too!” OLI DAVIES

14 Pre-dawn recce

“Get there early. I mean really early – like pre-dawn! You can see where the fish prefer to ‘overnight’ and then spend a bit of time through the day being mobile and trying different spots. If you get on ‘em and they are in a feeding mood you’ll catch straightaway.” ROB HUGHES

15 Learn to fish mid-water

“In the summer months carp will spend a large majority of their time up in the water during the days, especially in bright conditions. Don’t hide your head in the sand, learn how to fish mid-water and floater fish effectively, you won’t regret it!” DUNCAN MACLEAN

16 It's something to capitalise on

“Get up at first light. The heat of the summer can slow things down during the days but at night the carp will get their heads down, often showing at first light and giving away their location. It’s something to capitalise on.” ELLIOTT GRAY

17 Forgot boilies

“After June, when most of the lake’s stock has been hooked on a boilie, it’s at this point when I think things like tiger nuts and other particles really come in to their own. A simple tiger nut balanced out with a bit of cork can be absolutely deadly, especially with just a pinch of hemp and a couple of loose tigers in with the mix.” JOHN ELMER

18 A barbless trick

“When fishing waters that have a barbless hook only rule, there is one little touch that will increase your hook-to-landed ratio by far. Simply use a section of curved shrink tube. The curve will not only make it far harder for the fish to shake the hook but also during the fight if there are any moments when the tension isn’t kept it will definitely help to keep it in place.” JOE MORGAN

19 Surface fish early

“Keep a floater rod set-up in your rod bag and have it ready to rock at a moments notice, even to the point of putting a bait on the hook before you go to bed the night before. When the fish first ‘pop up’ on the surface, it seems far easier to get them to take a floater at that point in the day than it does, say, at midday. Don’t be afraid to cast out single hookbaits either, especially if birds are a nuisance, as these seem to know that a ‘thwack’ of a catty means food, far more than the ‘swish’ of a rod being cast out.” JASON HAYWARD