I've been wondering about why carp don't bite much in shallow ponds in the summertime. The obvious answer is: The heat, Stupid! But I've always heard that the metabolisms of cold-blooded animals are higher in warm conditions, so doesn't it seem like carp should need more food in the summer and hence should bite more often?

Maybe the problem is that they do eat more, but since there is probably more natural food available to them in the summer, they don't need to try our weirdo offerings like sweet corn and range cubes. (I've read that bass are harder to catch when there is plenty of natural forage available.) Maybe one solution to catching more carp in the summer is to use baits that are similar to their natural foods, just tastier/bigger/whatever. Any thoughts?

I am going to suggest that it may be because of the reduced oxygen levels in the water. Warm water can't retain oxygen as well as cooler water. That probably make the carp more lethargic. They don't want to move around as much to eat. The less they move, the less they need to eat.

True, but just "existing" requires a certain amount of energy, too. Maybe they do have high metabolisms, but because of the reduced oxygen content they just live off stored body fat instead of moving around searching for food.

I think its true that there is a lot of food in the summer and most of it is in the water plants like weed were you dont fish
Carp dont like the heat but they have to eat because they move a lot in the summer so they burn energy
In the fall a lot of the weed dissapear and the food drops out
Around this time carp is building up fat reserve for the winter
In the winter mussels dive away in the sand (most of them)
leaving very litle food for the carp thats why fall is such a good time
The biggest fish are mainly caught in winter because the biggest fish HAVE to eat to maintain there weight
Brett i send you a pm yesterday did you get it?

No, I don't see it in my messages.

ehh sorry but can you send me a pm so I can respond SORRY

Done.

It's a really good question. I think Curt probably hit the nail on the head with the oxygen thing. Or maybe, like most other temperate freshwater fish (besides channel catfish, which seem to eat plenty good in the hottest parts of the summer), they just have a temperature "sweet spot" where they are most active, say between 60 degrees and 80 degrees (I may be way off there). The less active they are, the less they need to eat.

I believe in our local ponds the carp do most of their feeding in the middle of the night, when the sun's down and the water is coolest.

ding ding ding

Does anyone have much experience fishing overnight in some of these ponds where the carp don't bite in the daytime?

Not yet, most of them you're not really supposed to be there at night.

Obviously we need to set out some trot lines festooned with treble hooks....

use a rubber band line

Whatzat?

its an old way to set trotlines out.you can buy long spools of rubber and you tie that to some kind of weight or tree.then you tie a trotline to the other end and on the other end of the trotline to a car bumper or whatever even a tree.put some bells on it and when it moves you just pull the whole trotline out of the water.its great for kids when camping.and you dont need a boat

Has anybody tried fishing early in the morning at some of the local ponds that go dead in summer? If carp don't feed much in summer because the high temperatures reduce the oxygen content, then early morning should be the best time for them to feed because the water temperatures are lowest and there is light for them to see. (Of course, it could be that they feed all night just fine without daylight, and by early morning they're no longer hungry--can't say).