How Darrell Peck Baits In Summer

On many venues, the summer time can be the most productive, and post-spawning the carp can really be willing to feed with gusto. Location at this time isn’t just about jumping carp at dawn either and it can certainly pay to reel in during the heat of the day and explore the lake’s perimeter for stalking opportunities. The days are long and I love to pre-bait margin areas with a couple of handfuls of boilie crumb and Response Pellet soaked in Fosoil, whilst resting my intended swim for the night ahead. Inevitably in clear water the birds tend to find this bait quickly but due to the micro particles of the boilie crumb and the breakdown of the pellet there is always something left for when Mr. Carp arrives.

It’s all too easy to get bogged down behind rods waiting for a take that simply isn’t coming. My advice is to only fish during the day when you are absolutely certain that you’ve got your location absolutely correct and there is a real chance of a bite. Use the down time between this for searching out the carp, plumbing, and rig tying etc.

With regard to bait, every venue is different but boilies are generally always my opening gambit, because boilies catch big carp. Crumb and pellet are definitely more effective than just boilies at generating a response, but on the flip side they can really cause nuisance fish trauma. Nuisance species are also at their most active during the summer months and fishing with pellets and particles out in the lake can be an overly effective recipe for bream and tench.

Obviously you can and will catch these species when fishing straight boilies but it will certainly be less, especially in bigger sizes such as 18-20mm. My advice is as follows: if you can get away with crumb and pellet, then it’s a great method in the warmer period. If not, then whole bigger baits and tiger nuts are another great starting point. Oh, and a final tip: I love to pre-soak my boilies in the water from prepared tiger nuts 24hrs before introducing them.
DARRELL PECK