Michigan Small River Carp Fishing

Since I started catching carp in 2013 I have been wondering about the possibilities for catching carp in a local river (really more like a creek compared to rivers where I grew up in Missouri), so I decided today was "the day" to try it out.

My day of carp pursuit started at 6:30 a.m. When I was in the U.S. Army my Sergeant Major had a saying for days like today - O Dark Thirty. Hey, that would make a nice title for a novel wouldn't it? If I ever give up carp fishing, maybe I'll give that a try (probably not).

The area of town has a shortage of street lights so I had to scout out the area in the dark and picked a spot. I got set up and rods out, but after sunrise doubt set in.



The spot was weedy, shallow and generally a "downer", but I stuck with it for awhile. I ended up catching a small catfish before deciding to try another spot 14 miles down the road to the west.



After a short drive to the second venue it didn't take long to put a fish on the bank. My fishing partner, Bill "Buffalo" Wazelle landed a nice 9 pound 11 ounce catfish.



A few minutes later I landed a nice fighting carp, which confirmed the decision to move had indeed been "wise".



It took a while to land the second one; so long in fact that my fishing partner had to leave before the "screamer" occurred. I landed the second fish and couldn't have been happier.



The fish hit the bait hard and headed for the hills before the drag got him under control and in the net. I didn't notice it until looking at the picture later on, but the fish had an interesting tail "notch".



I called it a day around 4 p.m., but regret it for not staying a little longer. I am confident I could have caught at least one more (if not two).

I am happy with my "discovery" today. It's a spot with good average size (so far) and I'll definitely go back there to fish another day.