Spring
The spring offers some very good fishing for carp, especially during a warm front. Cooler weather makes fishing more difficult, but you can usually catch some fish during the afternoon as water temperatures warm up a few degrees. Once the water stays in 60s, you should be able to catch plenty of carp at all times of the day and even at night. When the water temperatures stay in the mid-60s to low-70s, carp will move into the shallows to spawn. Catching carp during the pre-spawn and post-spawn is much easier than when they are spawning. You will be able to see carp all over disrupting the shallows, but it is difficult to get them to bite. Carp are much more involved in what they are doing once they begin spawning and it’s hard to get them to stop and notice your baits.
In early spring, find the warmer water. Carp will feed in cooler water, but warmer water is definitely more appealing to them. You can fish the murky water ponds or backwaters in the rivers because the darker water warms up faster. On ponds and smaller lakes, fish the north shorelines because the sun warms those shorelines up faster and the south winds will push the warmer surface water to that part of the lake or pond.
Spawning Carp
Carp will move into the shallow to spawn when temperatures reach the mid-60s to low-70s in the late spring and early summer. Carp prefer warmer water temperatures, so a cold front will push them back into deeper water until the next warm front comes through. During the spawn, you can see carp all over the shallows making quite a disturbance. Fishing for carp during the spawn is difficult because they move around a lot and are more into what they are doing instead of searching for food. The fishing is usually much better during the pre-spawn and post-spawn.
Summer
The summer offers very good fishing for carp, especially during the mornings and evenings. Carp are more active during the low light conditions, but you can still catch plenty of carp during the middle of the day. Just plan on fishing deeper water during the middle of the day in the summer, especially if you want to catch bigger carp.
Fall
The fall provides some good fishing for carp. These fish will put the feed on just like most other fresh water fish will as they try to fatten up for the winter. You can find fish shallow and deep throughout most of the fall, but as temperatures drop into the late fall, fish will move out of the shallows and into deeper water. During cooler weather, fishing can be tough. A passing warm front in the fall will trigger the carp to feed aggressively.
Winter
Carp will shut down for the most part during the winter. They prefer warmer water, so don’t expect to catch many carp in the winter, especially if you are ice fishing. In the warmer states, fishing can pick up during warm fronts.
