Lucky Seven Carp Today

I usually fish on Saturday's, but with the rain yesterday I had to wait for Sunday.

We got out early and fished until about 2 p.m. The fish weren't in a feeding frenzy by any means but the action was fairly steady all day. It would have been better if I'd figured out that the carp were only hungry for boilies today and not maize.

I caught all but one of the carp on my homemade habanero boilies.

I really like the colors on this fish

Fish from this lake are generally darker in color than some of the other lakes we fish

This 17 pounder had very light and very interesting scale patterns. It was the biggest fish I caught today.

 I got a new cell phone. So far I am liking the picture quality of these 21 megapixel photos.

One of these days I am going to learn to pose my fish pictures in the shade to prevent the glare seen on this nice fish.

This is the typical size for carp in this lake

A nice looking fish that came close to the session's end as I was beginning to pack up to leave

TUF Line XP Alternative to PowerPro

Courtesy Amazon.com

I have been using TUF Line XP braided fishing line this year instead of Power Pro. It's less expensive than Power Pro at times when buying 1,200 or 1,500 yards to spool up multiple reels.

Aerospace technololgy has been utilized to produce this high performance fishing line. Tension Lock Technology TUF Line XP is produced under high tensions allowing more compaction of the fibers during the finishing process. This line is more compact, smaller in diameter, packs better on reels, offers better knot performance, casts farther, reduces rod tip wraps, and has higher abrasion resistance. Available in green, red, yellow and white.

Amazon currently has 1,200 yards for $118. Power Pro typically sells for about $150 on Amazon although it's occasionally available for less. They also have 2,500 yards for $173, which I think is a real bargain. That's enough to spool up 8 or 9 reels, which for me is 3 or 4 years worth of carp fishing.

In my experience braided line does not deteriorate with age like monofilament does, so it does not bother me at all to stock pile some extra line.

Carp Care Doesn't Have to be Expensive

When I started carp fishing the last thing I was thinking about was a landing mat. Luckily I saw some others fishing for carp at my local lake and they were using landing mats so I just emulated them.

The mats come at a variety of price points from $8 to $100 or more for a "carp cradle" that suspends the fish above the ground.

For the budget conscious here is a medium price range solution that should work well.

Available for about $30 or less from Big Carp Tackle

Thoughts About Carp Fishing

To whom it may concern,

As a carp angler who enjoys traditional rod and reel angling at carp tournaments in Michigan and recreationally almost every weekend in spring, summer and fall in Southeastern Michigan, I encourage Catch and Release carp fishing for trophy sized carp. I've seen such great joy in faces, young and old, when a large 25 pound common carp or 20 pound small mouth buffalo carp are landed. Many people from neighboring states including Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois actually travel to Michigan to fish for these large fish providing significant economic impact to Michigan communities. 

Brian Pearcy
Belleville, MI

Homemade Habanero Boilies Strike Gold Again

Back in February when it was still too cold to fish I decided to make some homemade boilies to help scratch the fishing itch.

The boilies have been successful catching fish so far. I headed out today and started with traditional carp bait on my hair rigs - flavored maize.

After a couple hours with no bites I switched over to my habanero boilies and wham bam boozzle we had 3 fish on the bank in less than 30 minutes. I think I need to make some more habanero boilies!

Early June Carp Fishing

Here a few pictures from a recent Saturday carp fishing session near Lake Erie. Commons, buffalo and catfish were caught. I hooked two very nice fish that weren't landed due a snag directly to the front of my swim.

Low teens

Nice colors on this catfish

Small mouth buffalo

15 pounds 9 ounces for this small mouth buffalo

Low teens

Low teens

Mid teen

My photographer had to leave so those last few pictures were the best I could do with my cell phone.