The Carp Trap: A Different Way of Surface Fishing

“The Carp Trap” is a different way of surface fishing. I came across this new form of surface fishing via YouTube. The Carp Trap is a kind of large float with a bread crust on it. It’s a bit like a small rod standing on the water with a leader and a crust.

Where you can’t cast very far with “regular” surface fishing, you can with The Carp Trap. This way you can fish in places you couldn’t reach before, but where the carp are.

How Does it Work?

Because the float is at an angle to the tight leader, it will snap on the water when the carp sucks the crust in. This way it will hook itself! You can compare it a bit to striking a fish with a float.

Making your Own Carp Trap

I thought it would be fun to make a Carp Trap myself, but in my own way. I will explain how you can make one yourself and what you need.

The Necessities:

Tip of an old telescopic rod of 85 cm
Anti tangle sleeve
Hook (size 4)
Safety clip with rubber
Swivel lead,
Swivel
Balsa wood 6cm by 6 cm
Balsa wood glue
Super glue
Black paint
Cordless drill or wood lathe if you have one
Sandpaper 180, 220, 360
M6 bolt + nut and ring length 100mm, but you can also use a piece of threaded rod.

We start with the balsa wood, I couldn’t get a block of 6cm by 6cm so I did it differently. I glued 9 pieces of balsa wood of 2 by 2 cm together with the balsa wood glue. When that is dry, drill a 6 mm hole in the middle of the wood where the bolt can go through.

Make a circle with something round, this is the diameter of the float. Put the bolt through the hole and secure it and clamp it in the drill. Turn it on and run the sandpaper over the wood to get the right shape, always start with the coarsest paper. It is better to do this with two people, or you must be able to clamp it.

When it is nicely shaped, you can paint it black. Why black, you might think? Because this is the least noticeable in the water for the carp. When it is dry, slide the float over the old top to 15 cm from the end.

Do not glue it yet in connection with the plumbing. Cut a tip off the rubber to create a larger opening for feeding the leader through. Now glue the rubber of the safety clip into the bottom of the top, in such a way that the safety clip remains clamped in it.

Take a leader that is thinner than the main line as a safety for the carp, should you get a line break. We don’t want the carp to keep swimming around with The Carp Trap. Thread the leader from the bottom through the top and then put the anti tangle sleeve on it.

Then put the safety clip on it and then secure the swivel to the leader. Tie the hook to the leader, keep the leader extra long because the most difficult part is yet to come..

The Plumbing of the Carp Trap

Now we can start plumbing. Go to the waterfront and take different weights of swivel leads with you. Put a crust on the hook and a lead on the safety clip and try to plumb it so that the leader and the carp trap are at a nice angle and tight. This is precision work, but necessary to create a good working. When this is ready, glue the float.

Now you can get started with The Carp Trap in a safe way.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

Greetings Marcel

Marcel Dolderman

I have been fishing all my life, but the carp bug started around when I was sixteen, in the western part of the country where I was born. I was less active in fishing for a few years, but the passion runs where it cannot be suppressed. Fishing truly brings me peace, being out in nature, and feeling the adrenaline rush when the bite alarm goes off. Besides carp fishing, I enjoy experimenting with everything related to carp fishing.