Michigan Rouge River Carp Fishing

I love fishing local Michigan Rivers. Some of the urban rivers around Detroit are my favorites.  Thousands of people drive by these locations daily unsuspecting of the monster sized fish that swim there. 

There are several rivers that feed into Michigan's St. Clair - Detroit River - Lake Erie chain. All of them are home to a healthy common carp population.

Saturday brought sunshine and common carp. I ended up with 8 fish, but one skeedaddled before I got a photo. 

The biggest fish was a mid-teener (16-17# or so). There was a very active bite until the cold front arrived.

It was a good time, netting, baiting, photoing, releasing. Once or twice I actually hoped the fish would slow down a bit. I love days like that.

16# common carp

This fish will grow much larger and eventually
fill out it's bulk and size to match that long tail fin.

I'm not quite sure why I was making that silly face.
While posing the fish, it tried to wiggle itself free.

Two Common Carp

2020 has been a rough year for carp fishing in Michigan.

By this time of the fishing season I would typically have caught at least 20 - 30 carp, but this year I've caught only 2 common carp and 2 big mouth buffalo.

This Detroit River fish was in pristine condition. The scales were perfect.

This fish was smaller than I hoped, but very welcome for my first carp of 2020.

I'm always on the look out for new fishing locations for carp fishing. Many of my typical go to spots are not producing fish consistently right now.

The lull at established spots creates a need to locate, scout and fish new place to catch carp. Being an effective scout for new carp swims pays dividends in the long run, but in the short term it can be pretty tough.

Some ideas for effective scouting:

• Michigan DNR website
• Recommendations from fellow fishermen 
• Carp fishing forums
• Facebook groups
• Google search
• Blogs
• Fishbrain
• And on and on...endless possibilities 

Catching Carp, River Rouge Michigan

We headed out this morning to try a new spot. The big fish haven't yet arrived at the normal spot, so I thought today would offer an opportunity to fish some new waters. Chances of rain are also near 90%, so I decided to stick a little closer to home.

We found a nice spot with shore access and were set-up by 8:20 a.m.

I got the first 2 rods in quickly. While working on the 3rd rod, the first rod got a run. By the time I set everything down and walked to pick it up, the run stopped. I tightened the line a little and returned to cast the 3rd rod. Before I could cast, the first rod got a run again. I set the 3rd rod down and before I could pick up the first rod the run stopped. I hesitated a few seconds, but picked it up anyway and cranked it a few times. I had a fish on!

It turned out to be a little guy, but little guys grow up to be big guys someday so I enjoy catching them just the same.

3 pound common carp

Within 30 minutes, I had a second fish.

6 pound common carp

The rain clouds moved in and out for the next 2 hours. There were several false alarms with the rain starting and stopping; starting and stopping. We had a few more mini runs, but no more fish were caught.

When the fish weren't biting, Linda found a way to entertain herself at my expense.

Funny

And here I am surveying the situation

A bank of nasty looking clouds rolled in so we called a day shortly before noon.

Bank side view of today's spot near the Rouge River

If the weather cooperates, I'll be out fishing again tomorrow somewhere.

Hopefully, I don't go anywhere that looks like this:

This Rough River tributary was looking pretty rough this morning
after the strong rains last night.

The possibilities for productive carp fishing here in Michigan are plentiful. Someday I'll head back out to this spot when things calm down a little more.

Milan, Michigan - Nature Park and Wilson Park

All week long I planned to fish for carp in Milan. The Saline River forms Ford Lake near downtown Milan and it looks like a nice carp habitat above the dam. The downside though is that there is precious little bank space for fishing. The best place to fish I could find was nearly on the sidewalk. Besides that the best spots are in the VFW front yard, but I am sure that it out of bounds unless maybe you are a member. (and that may be stretching it).

Below the dam (in front of the police station) there is Wilson Park. I did not get out and walk around, but it does appear there is some open bank space for fishing. I didn't give it a try today, but I might make a trip back to Milan sometime in the upcoming weeks.

Tomorrow I've decided to try Nankin Lake or Newburgh Lake in the Rouge River chain of lakes. Wish me luck.