Fall Carping in Michigan

I have been fishing for carp almost 4 years at this point and fall arrives each year with mixed emotions for me. On one hand it signals winter's pending arrival. On the other hand I got my personal best 26+ pound common a couple of years ago in October, so it can be a good thing too.

I had a vacation day on Friday and decided to head out to a local spot and spend the day fishing for carp and small mouth buffalo.

I arrived to my spot and got set up for fishing only to realize that
I left my alarms and bite indicators at home sitting on my garage
floor. I had to transfer my gear from one vehicle to another and
didn't get everything transferred. I fished old school style for a couple
of hours until my wife brought the alarms and indicators later.
 

There are realistically only 3 weeks or so remaining before I will be out of fishing season for a few months. I don't ice fish at all so we're in the home stretch for 2016. Here are some pictures from Friday's efforts. There were 3 catfish and 6 carp landed ranging from 3 pounds to 24 pounds.

I was fishing alone and had no one to snap pictures of my catches. So I posed the camera and took some test shots using the timer on my cell phone. I prefer someone else to take the pictures so I can get the fish posed properly, but self-pictures work in a pinch. I took several pictures to judge the distance and lighting and settled on this spot. Luckily I had fish to pose later.

 The day started out with 3 channel catfish. Even though I was primarily targeting common carp, I really don't mind catfish too much because it does help pass the time until the carp start feeding.


This was my first carp of the day. I took a little extra time reeling this one in because when I picked up the rod from the cradle I sensed this fish was very high quality. I turns out I was right. The fish weighed a few ounces over 24 pounds. I wish I could have gotten a better close up to show the size, but it's hard to judge the distance using my cell phone.

That fish was caught on plum/berry flavored corn with a butternut flavored pack bait.


This was the second fish of the day caught a short while later.

Third carp (6th fish of the day)



The 4th carp was uniquely shaped. I think this fish has the potential to be a lot bigger some day soon.
Although shorter and stocky, this was a very dense fish. I hope I get a chance to catch this fish again when it finally "grows into" that long and slender tail section.

I took this picture during one of the releases

Pardon my pose. The camera fell a little low on the tripod and I was trying to ensure I got the fish in the shot. Taking self-photos can be tricky at times when you're catching fish every 5 or 10 minutes in succession.

Little guy that actually jumped out of the net twice before I got him corralled for the final time.
I wish I had it on video because it was very funny to see.

Here's a picture of the 24 pounder being released back into the lake. Hopefully he'll be back to be caught another day (or by someone else who appreciates carp fishing like I do).

I took a short video to go along with the release picture above. It's not great, but this is on the side of a 3 foot bank that drops down into the water with one hand on the carry sling and one hand holding the camera and me trying not to fall or slip into the water.