When it comes to carp fishing, locating the fish, and knowing where the fish are most likely to be depending on the weather, the time of year and the venue you’re fishing is the hardest and most essential part.
If you have no knowledge of watercraft and chucking your bait out without any thought, then you’re playing a game of look and will most likely be unsuccessful in putting a decent number of fish in the net.
Sometimes, when the conditions are right, you may turn up at a venue to see the carp cruising around in the upper layers of the water enjoying the sun and other days, you may spot them feeding in a shaded area under overhanging trees.
So, do carp like shade or sun? In this post, I’m going to let you know.
Do Carp Like Shade or Sun?
Unfortunately, the answer to the question is not as clear as simply one or the other. Carp will spend time in both the shade and the sun.
To help give you a bit of an understanding of how this affects your fishing approach, I’ll discuss some of the reasons why carp can be found in the sun or shade.
Carp in The Sun
During the summer or long periods of high pressure and sunny days, the carp can often be found in shallows or the top few feet of water, taking in the heat from the sun.
As carp are cold-blooded creatures, body temperature stays to that of the water surrounding them. When the sun is out and the top few feet of water increases in temperature, the carp love to “sun-bathe” in the warmer water.
During these periods of consistently warmer weather, the fish will very much like the sun and will spend a lot of their time cursing underneath it.
During these times, it is even possible to catch them from the surface using surface fishing techniques.
If you spot a shoal of carp swimming on the surface, slowly approach them with a light rod and a single hook tied to your line.
Start by throwing in a few pieces of bread or a few floating dog biscuits. If the carp begins to feed comfortably, you can attach a piece of bread to your hook and cast it to them.
Although carp enjoy the sun in consistent periods of warmer sunny weather, if temperatures are to rise considerably fairly quickly, then the carp will often stay out of the way of the baking sun.
During these times of quick weather parameters and water temperatures, the fish will generally not be overly active. They will most likely be hiding away in the shade near features on the water.
Carp In the Shade
If conditions are grey and overcast with no sun to noticeable warm the first few feet of water, then it’ll be very uncommon that you’ll spot the carp swimming on the surface.
If you have a slight understanding of carp fishing, then I’m sure you’ve heard people talking about “features” on the water.
These features are areas where carp will spend much of their time near as they feel safe and comfortable.
A lot of these areas could be classed as in the shade.
Features include weedy parts of the venue, overhanging trees, islands, the margins, Lilly pads or any snags or features underneath the water such as a fallen tree.
In these shaded areas, the carp will often feel comfortable feeding here as they feel no predators or anglers will be able to reach their hiding place.
That’s All
The bottom line is, carp enjoy both sun and shade depending on the weather conditions and what time of year it is. During long periods of consistently increased temperatures, the carp can often be basking in the sun in the top few feet of water.
When the sun is extremely hot and the temperature has increased quickly the carp will often be shaded or deeper in the water.
