Where are they

As the water temps rise, the larger carp will seek out the cooler, more oxygenated water. Good places to find these fish are near a shelf or flat that is close to deep water or a drop off. You should still be able to find the smaller carp, and even fish into the teens in shallow water in all but the hottest weather. Also, fish will often be more active at night, and even the big fish will typically move shallow to find food at night. In general, the closer a shallow area is to deep water, the more likely you are to find carp there. As always it depends on the lake, and it usually takes a bit of scouting and fishing to find where the active fish are located. Look for places with a lot of carp activity or jumping fish and give them a try...

 

CW what about shallow lakes like Buckeye, I take it they have to remain shallow even in the hottest weather?

 

Yep...Buckeye is a classic example of a lake that becomes more productive at night and the early mornings as the water temps rise. The fish don't really have any deep water to move into...though for some reason the larger fish still tend to move further out into the lake as the day progresses. Right now the fish are still quite active during the day, particularly if you have a moderate wind blowing toward the area you're fishing. Come mid-July and into August the fish can become quite sluggish during the day...though there are so many carp in Buckeye that i usually can still get a little action before nightfall.

 

i dont think iam a big believer anymore of the
big carp go deep when it gets hot,ect.i fish lakes with
depths of 50-80ft,were not talking just a little hole
here or there either.i fish in these lakes anywhere from
3-14ft of water from late may to late august (last year for
example) and still caught MANY,(40+ last year) 20+lbers
in the blistering heat of day!only caught a handfull of these
at night and none in the deep waters,i just plain quit
fishing the deep water all together.i seen 2 big 20's (27and
29lb caught in a 2 ft deep inlet channel a 3pm and 5pm
in the middle of july a few years back.i havent seen any
carp come from the deep,deep,depths.but then again
i havent seen any REALLY big commons in person either,
your 42lb+ fish,yet.seen a dead 42lb that come out of
teh chagrin river,also in july.the chagrin river is pretty shallow for a river and it dumps into deep Eire.this was
also during a lack of rainfall,so teh river had to be even
lower than normal at that time of the year.

 

I would have to agree that i wouldn't be fishing any of the 50-80 ft holes. Even in the dead summer i wouldn't be going any deeper than probably 20 ft. It's interesting to hear that you do so well in the hot weather even during the day...maybe my approach is all wrong or else there's something different about these lakes, but i usually don't do so well from July into September.

 

Just fish Clark lake (It should be Carp Lake ) - you'll catch them night or day, hot or cold. There must be 1,000 carp per acre in there! I'm a rookie carp fisherman and I've been catching them between 2-12 lbs regularly there on corn and wheeties. If any of you experienced carp guys want to try it out sometime - shoot me a pm and I'll do my best to meet ya there. I need to learn a few things "first hand". I tried to get crappielooker to come down, but I guess the carp are too small
Heck, I even offered to bring my boat!

 

It's funny that you mentioned Clark Lake...I fished there three times last summer without even a bite...didn't even see very many carp any of the times i fished it. I tried morning, night, afternoon...nothing. It's not far from me...I'll take you up on the offer to fish it sometime.

 

The fish do tend to and will go to the thermocline just like walleye, etc. and feed in those mid depths. Guys have been known to fish at 20' over 40+ foot of water and land very large fish.

 

Fish N Fool....

Size of the carp don't matter when hooking up with a fellow OGF'er and possibly a future carper If I ever get down your way, I'll be sure to look you up.

 

i would like to know why this is true.i know
that the guys that fish the great lakes,and St Larry,
ect fish sometimes as deep as 100ft (Globetrotter
has wrote about it)they also do the depth thing in Euorpe
on the big lakes.i tried,i mean realy tried to fish the depths
or other areas that have been said to be the best for
larger carps in summer.but i was getting sick of watching
others fish the same areas we did in spring and catch
the 20's while i would only get a catfish in the deep.
i keep finding it like this on most all the lakes i fish
up here.its really frustrating sometimes,even when you
have all the will power to fish these areas.

another thought,look how many BIG carp are shot
each summer by bowhunters.not all of these guys
are set up to shoot at night,so they get them in the
day,in the heat.and they have to be visable in the
shallows to be shot.and this is after the spawning is
been long done.that is just another thing to add to
my turning away from what i beleived before.

 

Question is though.........WHY are they in the shallows? LOL. If that question could be answered, then we would have a better idea of what is going on. Most fish I've seen in hotter waters in midday in the summer aren't doing anything but laying there.

 

Or another thought.............those lakes, etc. around here aren't going to be in abundance of 40+lb fish. BUT.........if those fish that are of that range are in that depth......perhaps it will just take a little longer to get them on your bait? Maybe days or weeks? Perhaps a summer (high energy) boilie mix baited over a 1 month period (perhaps every other day) in the extreme depths will keep them there.......instead of roaming all over the 50+' water depths.

 

i have several theories why they(larger carp) can be caught in the depths of 10ft or less in the heat of day.
with water temps 75 degrees plus.first is that
these lakes are EXTREMELY weedy,all over.
theres not a place where there is not weed on the
shoreline.another reason i think its good fishing
in the heat is the fact that there is alot of boat
traffic on a few of the lakes,where constant wakes are made in the day.but this cant hold true for the other lakes where gas motors are banned.which makes me lean more
to weeds being the factor.then again we use to get 20's
mid day on a lake thats totaly weed free.its wierd,but
it makes me seriously think about all this ''fish deep for
biggest carp in hot weather''stuff.

 

CW - It seems funny to me that you would say that about Clark Lake I've seen them jumping and mouthing the top of the water everywhere in the back of the lake this year. I usually fish it from boat though, so maybe your spot just didn't produce. Look me up and we'll give it a try.

 

The theory of the "wake......roughing up the water" point has me wondering if it has something to do with diffused oxygen in the water, the higher O2 content keeping the fish in the shallows?

 

as mentioned,thermocline is a key factor in warmer weather,as with other fish.
in larger,deeper lakes it normally sets up somewhere between the 20 and 30 foot depths.below that,there's little or no oxygen.therefore,little or no fish in warmer weather.carp will feed shallow and deep(20 foot range).i doubt many will be caught on bottom,in warm water,much deeper.
as mentioned,they will suspend over deep water,but due to the lack of oxygen in the depths below the thermocline,they will not frequent that area.
big rivers might be the only exception,as there is constant flow,which may oxygenate the deeper water,preventing the developement of a thermocline.

 

on several of the lakes with a good average depth of
like 25ft-30ft i do see carp jumping over these depths,
sometimes over 80ft holes.but fishing in or around
these holes has never produced anything but cats.
but as these carp jump over these holes the bite dosent
stop in the shallows,it appears the fish may be just travleing the lake or such and not spending time in these
areas.

 

another thing is,like a place like west branch or even
at Alum creek i seen it.is that you will see carp jump
WAY,WAY out in the lake,but still catch the hell out of them
in the shallower areas in the day.

 

I have 2 cents to add


Oxygen that the growing weeds provide...

Temperature or comfort zone...

I did not hear about food sources which is the one I'd roll over above the other two