Summer in a snap

01 James Armstrong

“There’s nothing like drifting around in the boat on a hot summer’s day when suddenly my quarry ghosts out from underneath a weed raft. Carp are constantly on the move in summer months and it’s this that I love the most, actually being able to see my targets face-to-face.”

02 Shaun Harrison

“When it gets far too hot to catch there is nothing finer than a good social in excellent company. This is one of the East Midlands B.C.S.G. fish-ins I organised.”

03 Oli Davies

“One of my favourite things about summer is the long, warm evenings. This was a picture taken as the sun went down over Horton Church Lake as I sat drinking a celebratory beer with long time Horton member Pete ‘Weedbed’ Tolchard who sadly passed away recently (from lung cancer). Pete had banked two carp that day and was on good form. One of the best bits about carp angling for me are those shared experiences that help to forge life-long friendships. RIP Pete.”

04 Iain Macmillan

“The ultimate summer theme for me: a bite at first light and all around in full summer greenery. More of the same for this year, please.”

05 Ian Poole

“Why do I like this picture? Well, I think the image sums up many of the reasons we all go carp fishing: a proper misty carp fisherman’s dawn.”

06 & 07 James Turner

“Choosing just one photo for my favourite ‘summer snap’ is a hard one. I have so many from Wraysbury, Yateley, Tolpits, Silvermere, the CV pits and so many social shots! But the shot I have chosen is from last summer, it is of my brolly all tucked away on a quiet ‘home counties pit’. I was the only angler on the lake with carp in front of me… essentially paradise! But what the photo doesn’t show is the pond’s second biggest common’s sulking in the net (above)… a magical morning capped off by a roaring fly-past from a Spitfire a few minutes later.”

08 Lewis Porter

“These days people seem to take carp fishing so seriously and many of them are missing one of the key aspects that I enjoy so much and that is the social aspect. Carp fishing brings people from all walks of life together and the banter and social times can bring really special memories. I enjoy nothing more in the summer than cracking out the barbecue and having a social with a few mates. What can be better than sitting out in the sun in shorts and T-Shirt with half a cow cooking on a BBQ and nice cold can of cider to wash it all down? That, my friends, is what summer carping is about!”

09 Duncan Maclean

“This photo was taken just as the sun was rising on a fresh summer’s morning on a southern pit. The photo sums up for me what summer fishing is all about: being hidden away in an overgrown swim, soaking in the peace and tranquility of it all in a world which seems so detached from the hustle and bustle of everyday living.”

10 Ian Chillcott

“This picture of me playing a carp hooked inches from the edge sums up what summer carping is all about for me: No bivvies and loads of gear to slow me down, just a rod, a little bait and hopefully some carp to stalk… Heaven!”

11 Mat Woods

“This was taken during a session on a private Shropshire estate. The balloon nearly landing in the wedding marquee was hilarious and topped off a bizarre but entertaining session. The lake itself was heaven, a real jungle of a lake full of character.”

12 Matt Eaton

“In a tucked-away swim on the end of the breeze with both baits in the edge… That’s summer in a snapshot. Bliss.”

13 Elliott Gray

“This shot outlines exactly what I love about summer, those tropical storms that arrive out of the blue. One minute you’re sat there enjoying the sun and the next minute the heavens have opened and it’s time to hide under the brolly. It’s warm, wet and… carpy, just how I like it!”

14 Dave Ellyatt

“I’ve called this picture ‘The calm before the dawn’. A perfect summer’s dawn taken just before the sun rises. It looks like the horizon is smouldering.”