The State of Carp Fishing in the United States

Many of my friends and family are perfectly content spending the day fishing for 1/2 pound and 1 pound bluegill, 2 pound crappie; and 3 or 4 pound largemouth bass with an occasional channel catfish hooked every now and then. Carp provide a viable alternative to those smaller fish. Catching 10 - 12 pound common carp is normal among fishermen targeting carp.

When I am out fishing in some of the local spots people commonly ask me whether I eat the carp I catch - I don't. Their next reaction is usually very negative. Some people actually shake their head at me in disbelief and continue their line of questioning with comments about it being a waste of time to fish for something you can't eat. Some more knowledgeable fishermen who have tried eating carp or know others who have, often comment about removal of the "mud vein" to help improve the taste.

22 pound fall carp

There is another group of people - including many visitors to this site - who are sickened by the fact that I take great care of the carp I catch and do everything I can to return them to the water unharmed to be caught again another day. Some of them leave comments on my posts expressing their disdain that I promote carp fishing to others as something desirable to do. One person left a rather lengthy comment about how I shouldn't be returning carp to the water at all. He said I should kill them all like he does when he bow hunts for them. Really? Well, no.

I know bow fishing is a legitimate way to catch fish, but I do not support bow fishermen who shoot fish and leave them laying on the bank. I've seen pictures posted on the internet with three or four bow fishermen posing with at least 50 or 60 carp laying on tarps with comments below the picture bragging about their kills. Call me a cynic, but I have a lot of doubts about those guys eating one single fish from their kill. I've seen other pictures and comments about taking the kills and planting them in flower beds for rose bush fertilizer. I understand it's not illegal to bow fish, but I think it should be illegal to kill fish (or any other animal) just for the sake of killing something and then discarding it like an used cigarette butt or an old newspaper.

Bass fishing in the U.S. hasn't always been a multi-million or multi-billion industry either. Bass fishing has benefitted from promoters who have profited handsomely from tournament fishing series and television shows.

Carp fishing is going to get there too someday. It's been widely popular in Europe and other parts of the world for decades. I am completely confident that carp fishing will rise in popularity too. There are economic benefits for companies that cater to carp fisherman. Right now it's probably still in the niche stage, but the momentum is slowly shifting. The possibilities for carp fishing in the U.S. are huge; and I want to be prepared to ride the wave when it does finally arrive.

Here is an example of the popularity of carp fishing in the U.K.: Carp Universe Magazine

How to Generate Money from Carp Fishing

12 pounder caught in the fall

I went to high school near the Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri. Bass fishing is very popular in that area. I recall sitting in history class one day and the teacher asked each student to explain their plans after high school. Most responded with college plans, some responded with plans to work in local businesses and one responded with, "I'm going to go on the professional bass fishing tour."

Intrigued by that response I later learned that his father had been a guide on the lake for 25 years and earned his living mainly by hunting, fishing and teaching others to do it too. A few months after graduation, that same student was in the local newspaper for winning an event on the Redman fishing series.

We can't all be professional fishermen and we certainly all can't count on earning enough money consistently from carp fishing competitions here in the U.S. to earn a realistic and consistent living from doing it. But I think there are options for supplementing our incomes and earning some part time money following our carp fishing passion.

It's a long shot to gain full-time or even part-time employment with a tackle or bait company; and even more remote that one of them would contact you at random and offer to sponsor your carp fishing efforts. I guess it can happen, but the odds of it happening are very long (maybe even 1 in a million).

Starting a bait company or tackle company catering to carp fishing is another possibility, but that requires a fairly high up front investment and ongoing working capital to sustain it for the long term.

That leaves eBay, Craigslist, garage sales, flea markets and trade shows buying and selling used fishing equipment. I have a very good friend and fishing partner who has taken this approach and does earn money doing it. Being successful requires some special knowledge about the more valuable antique tackle to make it lucrative. That is simply knowledge that most people don't possess and don't have time to learn.

That leaves us with creating our own website...

Besides this carp fishing blog I have others and some of them are monetized with advertising and affiliate links to Amazon. In my opinion, it's more realistic to earn some money from carp fishing efforts with a website. Here are some ideas for potential methods:

1. Affiliate programs like Click Bank
2. Adsense ads and other ads and banner programs
3. Building a list
4. Amazon.com products
5. Relevant fishing advertisers
6. Create your own fishing product
7. Teach fishing lessons
8. YouTube.com
9. Write a book about carp fishing
10. Do all of the above

I have been earning money from simple websites since 2001 using a mix of the items on the list above. If that sounds like something you would like to learn more about, let me know and I'll be happy to help if I can. Or you can read some of the free step-by-step training materials from this affiliate training website.

Carp in the News

There is a nice article about carp fishing in the online magazine Outdoorhub.com written by Dave Mull. Yours truly is even mentioned in the article.

A nice example for how we use hair rigs to fish for common carp as seen at Outdoorhub.com (photo by Dave Mull).

This article was written about the Wooden Shoe Carp Classic in Holland, Michigan earlier this year.

2014 Wooden Shoe Carp Classic – Holland, Michigan

We just returned from competing in the Wooden Shoe Carp Classic on May 17-18 on Lake Macatawa, which connects to Lake Michigan. The lake produced some common carp in the 27 pound range this weekend, which is a little lower than the upper 30’s range achieved in the 2013 event.

Koellen Park is a fabulous venue for fishing with plentiful bank space, good parking areas, good lighting and very clean rest rooms. Lake Macatawa flows from Lake Michigan toward downtown Holland, MI. Located in the southeast corner of the lake, Koellen park has a walkway spanning more than a quarter mile with direct access to the water. For landing larger carp or catfish, a substantial net with a long handle is a requirement. From the railing to the water is at least 4 feet depending on the lake levels.

Hotels are plentiful in Holland. Hampton Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Days Inn and others are within reasonable distance to the park. We stayed at the Days Inn for $99 a night. It was no frills accommodations, but the front desk staff were very friendly and efficient. The décor in the rooms was a little dated, but clean. We had two double beds, a refrigerator, microwave and coffee maker.

On Saturday, I had the first pick in the peg draw. Since it was my first time at the event, I relied on input and advice from a few others as we gathered for the drawing. I picked peg 11. On Saturday that peg along with 12 and 13 were pretty poor producers. We fished from 7 a.m. until 6 p.m. and my peg produced exactly zero fish, runs or even bites.

The weather was on the cool side for May with temperatures in the mid-30's when we arrived at 6 o'clock. At mid-day the wind picked up with 10 -15 mph gusts and conditions remained challenging for the remainder of the day. High temperatures on Saturday topped out in the mid-50's.

 



Peg 11 shortly after arrival.

Carp fishing can be a brutal mistress sometimes. Some days your catch so many carp you get tired fighting and landing them. And on other days (like Saturday), you wonder if all the carp in the lake went on vacation because bites and runs are no where to be found. That's just a part of fishing. Sometimes you're the windshield and sometimes your the bug.

My neighbor's pod at peg 12

On Sunday, I had the last pick and selected peg 21. My peg on Saturday was in a clump of other anglers so I had a change of strategy and picked a peg located away from the thick of things on the outer edge of the venue. My results improved significantly with 3 catfish and 4 common carp.

My first carp weighed in at 15 lbs.

Early morning carp

The second weighed 10 lbs.

Mid morning carp

The third weighed 8 lbs.

Afternoon carp

I hooked two other fish in the after that I lost due to hook pulls. The biggest was a real nice one that I fought for 2 or 3 minutes. I may have gotten a little aggressive playing the fish and as the fish surfaced I had a hook pull. The fish was looking right up at me and then…wham...that was it…gone. Over. Done.

My fourth fish weighed 12 lbs. (if I remember it correctly, give or take a few ounces). I had to turn in the score sheet, so I might be a little low or a few ounces too high. The rules allowed us to double the weigh on one fish upon landing it. Luckily I chose to double my first fish, so it scored 30 lbs. toward my total of 61 lbs. for the two day contest.

Last carp of the day

I did not win Big Fish or Total Weight awards, but had a lot of fun. I’m a competitive person so the challenge of proving I could actually catch and land fish on day two was fulfilling. With gusting winds, rough water with white caps and waves in the 1' - 2' range from time to time, peg 21 at the far end of the fishing area was intimidating at first but after I started catching fish my confidence improved.

 

My first 2 catfish and largest carp fell to a hair rig of pineapple maize and fake maize soaked in pineapple flavoring, but the other three carp were caught on a pineapple boilie topped with a piece of orange colored fake maize.

 

When fishing for carp, sometimes catfish find your bait and cause a little aggravation for anglers. After my drought on Saturday, the catfish didn't really bother me. I just wanted to catch fish at that point. Here are a few catfish pictures.

 

My first catfish weighed 9 lbs.

 

I caught two other smaller catfish at 5 - 6 lbs.

We met several guys who fish that spot for catfish on a regular basis. One guy told me that he had been fishing that spot for 8 years and never caught a carp after hundreds of casts. Hearing him say that, I groaned a little and had resigned myself to catching a lot of catfish to fill the time. Casts to the right of the red buoy yielded catfish and casts at the buoy or slightly left yielded carp. So I dialed in on a spot about 20 feet left of the buoy and 50 feet from the walkway.

 

I had trouble near the end of the day getting my panko to hold together during casts so fixing that with a firmer "pack" slowed the breakdown and delayed the bites. I am sure that a couple more hours of fishing time would have yielded at least a few more carp. If the event is held again next year, maybe I'll try that spot again.

 

Here is a link to some pictures taken by Dave Mull during the last hour of the event on Saturday:

 

Great Lakes Sport Fish

Saginaw River C.A.G. Midwest Regional

Preparing for a Sunday session tomorrow near Lake Erie I pulled out my digital camera and video recorder today for charging. I the process I discovered some pictures on the digital camera that my wife took that I had forgotten about. I have attached a few of them below.

Bigelow Park near downtown Bay City, MI

A view from the gazebo at the rowing club

 

My rod pod at the water's edge

 

Baiting up the hair rig

We  needed the rain gear for most of the morning, but it did clear off later in the day



I hooked my first common carp a little before 9 a.m.

My first fish of the day and the 2nd fish our team caught in the tournament

Carp Fishing at Saginaw River



Last weekend we competed in the Carp Anglers Group Midwest Regional event on the Saginaw River. Michigan can not seem to jump into spring, so conditions at the event were tough to say the least. With wind gusts nearing 40 mph in the afternoons, sporadic rain and rough water, it was a challenging event. The fishing zone assignments were given at 6 a.m. daily and first cast at 7 a.m. so there was plenty of fishing.

We arrived in Bay City on Friday evening and stayed at the Doubletree Hotel. The route to the morning meeting was a short 6 or 7 miles from the hotel max.

On the first day, the Michigan Team drew Bigelow Park. The park is an island in the Saginaw River with plenty of bank space. We had part of the team near the rowing club and distributed at various locations nearer the "point".

View Larger Map

My bank mate for the day, landed a fish nearby and I was helping him with the landing net. As we moved from water's edge to the upper bank and headed toward the weighing station, I got a run on my left rod.  Depositing his net and fish in the grass I almost decapitated myself with his rod as I sprinted to my rod pod.  Luckily I made it to the rod in one piece and had an early success.  Here's a picture taken after the catch at 7:45 a.m.

Saginaw River, Bigelow Park

This event was a "Biggest 10 Fish" format, so my fish was caught early enough in the day to actually make it on the leaderboard for a few hours. At 13 1/2 pounds, it was a fat fish that weighed in a little less than I anticipated based on the thickness.  I caught him using a World Classic Bait pink pop-up dumbbell. These dumbbells have been my "go to" bait this spring.

It's hard to make out in the background, but Saturday morning arrived with a lot of rain showers that were very heavy at times. Luckily the rowing club had quite a bit of available shelter. The guys were very friendly and didn't mind us using the area to stay dry. They even gave some of the team a quick tour of the facility. I missed the tour unfortunately, but it was full of sculls. One bit of trivia I do recall is the $250 price tag for an oar.

Yikes.

We fished until 6 p.m. and then headed to Krzysiak's for dinner. The buffet had an extensive variety of choices including about 6 kinds of fish, salad and dessert bar. It was all you-can-eat and I think I ate my entire $19.95 on in my first plate full. The lemon crème pie was a very good choice for dessert.

After dinner we headed back to the Doubletree and I feel asleep in the chair, happy to "chill out" for a while. We were in bed by 10 p.m. and up again at 4:30 a.m. for another day of fishing.

Our zone for day 2 was near the boat docks on M-13 south of the airport.

Here's a wonderful picture of our spot on the bank following an early morning rain.

Our view for day 2 of the Saginaw event

I had my first run at 7:20 a.m. or so, but after a couple of minutes, the fish escaped to parts unknown. By all indications, it was a good sized fish. It was peeling off line to beat the band. It was katy-bar-the-door-type stuff. I have a bad habit of keeping my drag a little on the loose side -  ever afraid of pulling hooks. In this case I wish I'd kept the drag a little bit tighter.

The water remained calm early on, but by mid-morning the winds picked up and so did the white caps. Fortunately the sun also made an appearance occasionally and the reeds helped to make a bit of a windbreak.

We fished for 7 more hours without so much as a mini-run.

But as is usually the case persistence paid off and we started getting multiple runs shortly before 3 p.m.

Day 2, first fish

Close-up of the first fish

This fish was caught on World Classic Bait's pineapple flavored maize and a piece of orange "fake" maize.

 

I didn't get a picture of my second fish on Sunday. It took longer than expected to remove the hook and after getting a weight I returned the fish to the water quickly. It turned out to be my biggest fish I landed that day at 12 pounds.

 



Day 2, third fish

Within a matter of 3 or 4 minutes, we landed a third fish also on the pineapple flavored maize and "fake" maize.

 

Northern Pike

Nearing 4 p.m. and the end of the event I hooked my last carp. It managed to snag on a nearby good sized branch in the water I'd been trying to dodge all day, but on the retrieve this Northern Pike attacked my hair rig and hooked itself cleanly through the snout. It was a nice fish and the first pike I've caught. Although it was an accidental catch, I'll count it just the same. For anyone reading this story who attributes it to just another fish tale, I had witnesses who can vouch for it occurring exactly as described.

I can't wait to get back out on the bank.

Carp Fishing Tournaments - 2014

May 2014 is shaping up to be a very competitive month for carp fishing in Michigan.

C.A.G. is sponsoring a 2014 Midwest Regional tournament in Saginaw, Michigan on May 3rd and 4th. The event is open to participants from Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois. The first 20 to sign up and pay the $15 entry fee from each of the eligible states will secure a place in the contest.

The Wooden Shoe Carp Classic will be held near Holland, Michigan on May 17th and 18th. At this point the field is basically set, but there may be a few spots that come available in the event that some registrants fail to pay their entry fee and send in the appropriate paperwork.

I have never fished a tournament before, so I am pretty humble in my expectations and will be happy just to participate, observe and learn from others during the events.