Kids Carp Fishing Event in Ann Arbor

Here are my pictures from the Reel Fish Reel Fun event today at Gallup Park in Ann Arbor.

It was a nice event. We arrived early. We conquered rain. We conquered wind. We conquered some strong fighting Huron River carp and shared carp fishing with some interested, studious, excited kids who hopefully left the event with some new knowledge and appreciation for what is one of the most accessible, largest average size, and strongest fighting freshwater fish available to the average angler in the Ann Arbor area.

We met, networked, swapped fishing stories and tips with some other local carp anglers. If you haven't hosted or participated in this type of kids fishing event before, I'd urge you to try it. It's an easy way to get more involved in the community and pay it forward.

Budget Carp Rods and Reels

I caught 10 carp today using what is probably the most economical combination of carp rod and baitrunner reel available on the market - the NGT Carp Stalker rod and Okuma Carbonite baitrunner. 

I haven't priced them specifically for purchase but after a couple of Google searches it appears you can get the combo brand new for $60-$65 not including shipping costs. 

The rod's 2.0 test curve is fine casting 2 oz. leads and packbait up to 40 yds. The reels were spooled with 30# braid and were able to do the job okay-ish. The reels are rated at 12#s of drag pressure I believe, which might be enough in clear, weedless, and snagless lakes and small rivers/creeks. The reels show their weaknesses quickly with heavy weed and/snags such as submerged tree branches. I had to apply manual drag with my hand to help compensate while fighting several fish today. 

I would rate the rods as "good" for an economical price. They are decent stalking rods. I would rate the reels as "fair", due to lack of drag pressure while fishing in heavy weed beds.

This combination is a decent option for a kids' setup or quick hit and go sessions.

How to Catch Carp Fast Fishing Video

Almost anyone can learn to catch carp FAST with a little effort and planning.

Kentucky Afield recently featured a segment about carp fishing. Carp fishing guru Erik Taylor hosted the filming crew from the TV show at his home lake.

Erik demonstrates pack baits, hair rigs, fighting, and landing common carp, which are gaining notoriety as a worthy sport fish.

Check out the video online. It's a very good representation of modern day European-style carp fishing.

Steps to catching carp:

1. Get a suitable rod and reel: Almost any medium action bass fishing rod 7' or longer will work to get you started.

2. Find a body of water with carp: Spend some time reading the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) website. There is a section that allows you to search by water and by species. While you're there read the fishing regulations.

3. Do a web search for "how to make method mix for carp fishing"

4. Search YouTube for "how to tie a hair rig"

5. Mold your method mix around a  2 oz lead. 

6. Cast your bait into a spot close to shore that is at least 5 feet deep with signs of carp. I like to cast out about 30 to 40 feet.

7. Loosen your drag completely so it free spools allowing fish to run with the bait.

8. When you hook a carp gradually tighten the drag as you reel in the fish.

How to Avoid Fishing Frustration

Frustration and fishing go together like baseball and apple pie. They are joined at the hip. You can't have fishing without frustration; otherwise, they would call it "catching". 

In my 8 years of carp fishing I have developed some techniques that help prevent that frustration from getting to the point that I don't enjoy fishing any more. 

For me, I try to focus most on getting out of the house during months of nice weather, meeting new people, enjoying time with friends, seeing new places, traveling a little, exploring, visiting new cities, fishing in new locations, etc. 

In my first couple of years of carp fishing, I focused a lot on fish size and less on those other things that help make the process more enjoyable.

Although it is certainly difficult, I try to focus less on catching my new personal best, a koi, a fantail, a mirror, etc. But I am certainly happy if it happens. 

I spend all week at work dealing with a level of stress that melts away for 8 or 9 hours when I get to do some fishing on Saturday morning and afternoon.

As an example, I took the photo above while fishing. Photography and fishing make good companion hobbies. Fishing takes us to various urban, rural and city environments where we see unusual things like this bulk container vessel that is 600' long.

Ducks, geese, frogs, dogs, bobcats, dear, squirrels, etc. also make interesting photographs.  I recently watched a squirrel swim across the small river where I was fishing. I didn't know squirrels could swim so well.

City Fishing in Ohio

Four years ago Linda and I were in Toledo exploring downtown and I scoped out some fishing spots.

It took 3 years, but last fall I fished in Toledo a couple of times catching about 12 catfish and 3 carp. 

Today I headed back and in 8 hours caught a fourth carp. It's making its way down my list of spots to fish, but I still love downtown, catching a Mud Hens game, the restaurants and the fireworks on the 4th.

Making Carp Photos More Interesting

I used to post a lot of carp fishing photos on my personal social media pages. It became inevitable that one of non-fishing friends would comment or tease me about the poses and pictures all looking alike. Now I mainly post the photos in a fishing group page where the readers/viewers have a bigger interest in seeing them, which has helped reduce those type of comments. 

But, I do still share carp photos on my personal page if its an unusual fish that has unique size, color, location, weight, etc. I have also tried to add variety to them to help appease my friends and family. 

An easy way to do that is with Google's color pop feature via Google Photos.

Here are are a few color pop photo conversions from the past couple of years:

This mid teens carp is from the Rouge River in suburban Detroit.

I caught this fish at Elizabeth Park in Trenton.

And here's one from the Huron River in Ypsilanti.

I've been surprised at the attention to detail people pay when viewing my fishing photos. I receive a lot of comments about my hat choices. So, that's another easy way to add some variety and fun for friends and family.

I'm a Cardinals fan and Ford employee, so those hats are my "go to" head gear for many of my photos.

My good friends in Tennessee are big fans of Mississippi State football, so they sent me a MSU hat that I have also worn in the past for something fun. They actually loved it.

Carp Fishing Mat Shots

Sooner or later us carp fishermen often find ourselves fishing alone without anyone to take a photo of our catches and we have to settle for an improvised photo.

Who says mat shots can't be cool in moderation? Sometimes they kind of break up the predictability of our regular "standard" poses when we present our catches.

Having something available to offer a sense of the fish's overall size is helpful. In this photo I used my Ranger landing net.

You can keep the photos interesting by featuring a particular fish feature like the mouth, fin, scale pattern, etc. In this photo I featured the magnificent golden tail.

8 Tips for Detroit River Carp Fishing

After a slow outing last weekend fishing from shore on the Detroit River, at a different spot, my expectations for today were hopeful but realistic. Luckily, things improved. 

On the hottest day of the year, so far, the carp bite also heated up. I ended a 7 hour session early with 13 fish and a new Detroit River personal best at 26 pounds. The better fish were in the first 45 minutes and they got smaller as the temps heated up.

The fish above is my new personal best from the Detroit River. At 26 pounds, I am very grateful to catch such an out-of-the-ordinary large carp from this river spot.

The fish had obvious signs of recent spawning activity with some redness, minor injuries and two missing scales. This river warrior was very leery of being netted as well and is one of the most difficult to net I have seen in several years of carp fishing.

The Detroit River provides many options for catching some large lifetime best sized fish from walleye, sturgeon, muskie, carp, sheephead, pike and more.

I'll also add some 8 tips and observations about fishing the Detroit River for carp to help make your carp fishing efforts more enjoyable and successful:

• Average size of Detroit River carp are not very large. 
• Based on my catches the past 6 years, 12 to 14 pounds is the average size for this area. 
• The river fish in this area will wreck you pretty quick if you're not paying attention. 
• There are snags and some decent current in this particular park. 
• Fishing the river requires an acknowledgement that some tackle will be lost and some hook pulls will occur.
• Some rookie fishermen will snag you because they try using 1/2 ounce leads and don't police their lines very well.
• I'd budget 15 bucks a session on lost hooks, leads, swivels, fake corn, etc.
• You use twice as much pack because to catch numbers you need to recast fresh pack every 25 to 30 minutes.