Tips for Beating Summer's Slowdown

This fully scaled mirror is number 700 on the
year for me.  I landed 7 fish this morning using
some of the tips in this post.

Carp fishing has slowed for me as the heat has increased although I did land my 700th carp of the year this morning. However, in the last ten days, the numbers and sizes have decreased, but I am still catching them.  This is all quite normal with summer fishing around here.
Here are a few tips that might lead to some better and bigger catches in the coming month:
1. Fish moving water- I try to fish rivers at this time of year because those fish in moving water are far more active than the ones in still water ponds and lakes.  The MA CAG guys had a fish-in in the Merrimack River this weekend and did quite well. Big rivers like the Merrimack and CT River and to a lesser degree the Blackstone are all good bets.
2. Fish the right times- Think cooler hours.  Mornings are good as are evenings.  Nighttime also produces well at this time of year.
3. Nasty days can be a turn on- After a warm spell, there is nothing like a cool, rainy day that turns the carp right on. A couple of years back I landed a 30 lber. in early August on a rainy day after some real hot weather.
4. Get away from turtles and pests- Yes, they are super active in summer.  Some places have a lot of turtles, some have few.  Avoid the spots with a lot of them as they are relentless in stealing bait.
5.  Experiment with baits- In some places that one kernel of maize works well, in other places combo baits with pop-ups might work.  Still, in other places boilies might work.  In bigger waters, bigger baits tend to work better.
6. Try freelining- In small places you might be able to lure carp in front of you by tossing in bread or sweet corn.  If they show close enough to shore, freelining can be super effective. Just put the bait on a hook...no hair rig, no sinker.