Wednesday, July 22, 2020

Huron River Carp Fishing

I live near the Huron River. It's a short, convenient drive to fish there whenever I am short on time. This spot is seasonal and is not open year round. It opens around Memorial Day and closes in October (or maybe a little earlier). It's usually a good summer spot, but has been very, very weedy in 2020.

Here are a few Huron River carp I caught in 2018 in a very good summer fishing spot.

A couple of years ago I had the best carp fishing day of my life in this spot and landed more than 35 common carp in a 9 hour day.

I don't often grow tired of landing too many fish, but that day I was hoping for a reprieve a couple of times. Landing 35 fish by yourself, re-baiting, recasting, etc. in light rain and 90 degree weather will wear you down just a little.

Sunday, July 12, 2020

Detroit River Carp Fishing

I fished the Detroit River Saturday for 9 hours.

I had 2 carp and a catfish by 8:30. Then another very stout, hard fighting catfish (surprisingly) at 10:30. I suffered through 4 or 5 hours of fish after fish getting lost in the massive weed bed that's developed in the past 2 weeks.

Fun all in all though.



When carp fishing, anglers are often disappointed to catch catfish. The Detroit River does have some pretty nice flatheads and channel catfish. For comparison though, my largest catfish is 12# and my largest carp is 37#. 

The record book for the Mississippi River reflects that catfish do grow bigger on average than carp, but accessing those big, deep holes that catfish thrive in on those bigger rivers is pretty tough for a shore fisherman like me.

Friday, July 10, 2020

Big River Carping

We've reached the time of year when the easy carp fishing successes start to decrease. This provides opportunities to branch out a little into untapped venues.

We live near a carp fishing resource that I don't fish enough - the Detroit River.

Pre-COVID I had big plans to fish the river a lot in 2020, but some popular spots are pretty congested at peak fishing times and days.

While not directly on the river, there are nice accessible spots with parking and shade on Belle Isle. Unfortunately, I've not caught a fish there yet.


Urban River Carping

I like the convenience of carp fishing in smaller urban rivers. Food, gas and other conveniences are close by and it's a shirt drive from home.

This is a typical size at the venue.
Average weights range from 8 to 12.

If it ever grows into its belly,
this fish may be a PB the next time
it is caught.