Hot off the top surface rigs
10 rig and bait edges when it comes to surface fishing this summer
1. The sharpest hook you can get will make a massive difference when top fishing: straight point and mirroring the size of the bait is perfection.
2. Supple, light line that doesn’t stick out like a sore thumb will get you more bites than rejections. Look at Drennan’s Supplex or Gardner’s Hydro Soft.
3.Clear water, no weed, no snags, soft rods and add some pole elastic into the rig to fish as a match angler would… used sensibly, you can catch big carp on the lightest of tackle.
4.Fishing for riggy surface carp? Then invert the hookbait, so the fake floater is carrying the hook upside down; in other words the hook is out of the water, it makes the difference.
5.Always use the heaviest controller you can get away with, without creating too much disturbance. This acts like a bolt rig and nails more fish.
6.Try top coating your free offerings. Cod liver oil and a splash of Nash Pure Crustacean attractor is brilliant. Plus, when the surface is choppy it creates a nice attractive slick.
7.Another little trick is to use mixed sizes of floaters - this destroys their feeding pattern. An Air Bomb spod is ideal for getting the pellets out with some spread.
8.Hard, long-lasting hookbaits are best to ward off nuisance fish. Look at some of the specialist dog biscuits out there, such as Science Plan Adult.
9.To give your surface hookbait that extra pull, soak in soluble flavours such as Hinders Betalin or even their Betalin and Tutti combination… awesome attraction in a spray!
10.Sometimes it’s worth using a slow sinking critical bait, like wafter style or even pellet waggler style angling. Carp will often wait for pellets to sink where they have been hammered off the top.
