First Carp Session of 2016 - Two Carp and a Catfish

I have been looking forward to getting out on the bank in search of some gold for the past couple of weeks. The weather here is Michigan has been teasing us with some above normal temperatures and until this weekend I have been stuck indoors. Yesterday was a beautiful day with a high temperature near 60 degrees with sunshine and a very light breeze. Unfortunately I was not able to fish yesterday though and my only available time was today. The forecast when I went to bed was for rain in the afternoon, so I slept well with a plan to get out early after taking my wife to the airport at 4 a.m. for a flight to Nashville.

I dropped her off and returned home. After pulling up the radar on my laptop I confirmed my suspicion. The weatherman is terrible at forecasting the exact timing of when rain will arrive. He is are usually early with the forecast, but today he was late. The rain arrived at 6:30 a.m. It was a light rain so I decided to chance it with the hope and a prayer that it would be a light drizzle and I could still fish.

I drove 35 minutes to my fishing spot and started pulling out my gear. When I started making the pack bait, I searched around in a panic for a can opener. It was starting to rain a little harder at that point and I wanted to hustle up and get lines in the water. But without a can opener it would be a major bummer because I had no other way to open the cream corn and no other options for ground bait this morning.

A guy out for an early morning walk stopped by and offered his Leatherman tool. I gave up on that after about 10 seconds and besides that the rain was really starting to come down. I decided to throw in the towel return home. It was still dark so I figured with rain that hard so early it might not get any lighter for a while.

Instead of going straight home I headed to Mejier and purchased a can opener. Of course the cheapest can opener I could find was $11.99. Ouch.

I got home and flipped on the Sunday morning talk shows. It didn't take long before I was so disgusted with listening to who's accusing who of what and when, where and how, that I turned off the TV. I looked outside and noticed the rain had let up a lot. So I decided to head back out to the fishing spot. At that point I had a can opener.

I drove the 35 minutes back to the fishing spot. When I opened the rear hatch of my Ford Explorer there was the can opener staring me right in the face. I have no idea how I missed it earlier, but I'll chalk it up to early year rustiness. It was my first carp fishing trip of the year.

I got my Panko mixed and lines in the water. It was still a very light drizzle at that point and 48 degrees with almost no wind. Things were looking up.

The rain gradually picked up. And picked up some more. And picked up some more.

And the winds came. And it got a lot colder. And before long it got even colder with more wind.

But then I got a run, so all that discomfort went away at the first sound of the alarm screaming.

Then after a few turns of the reel handle I knew it wasn't a carp. I landed a small 3 pound channel catfish a couple minutes later.

By this time I was rather damp.

But I decided a rainy, windy, cloudy day fishing was much better than listening to the Sunday morning talk shows and it was light years ahead of going to work, so I continued fishing.

About an hour later I landed a small carp. But my hands were almost numb before I got him back in the water.

First carp in 2016

I just love catching a nice, clean golden bones

2nd carp caught in 2016

And my favorite part -  Returning the fish to be caught another day by another carp angler

And after a recast and a lot more rain, wind and cold. I even caught another one.

 These were the worst conditions I have ever fished in. That automatically makes these the most challenging two fish I have ever caught.

And after a rocky start earlier in the day, my first session of 2016 was salvaged. My confidence is sufficiently boosted now after a long, cold, snowy winter of no carp fishing.

Now I can't wait until next weekend to do it all again.

Posting Carp Pictures - Big or Small

I saw some comments recently on a social media carp fishing page making reference to posting pictures of small fish vs. large fish. Reading between the lines the poster was insinuating that pictures of small carp are somehow "unworthy" of posting to social media. I disagree with that sentiment.

Catching carp is not a simple process. Preparing for a session usually entails several hours of packing, traveling, unpacking, setting up, casting out; waiting, waiting, and waiting for a bite; and then hopefully - it all pays off with a fish on the bank.

And then when everything goes as planned - you might get lucky enough to catch a nice 20+ pound fish. If you are living right and are blessed enough by the fish giving gods - you might catch a carp weighing 30+ pounds.

To me, its' immaterial whether the fish weighs 30 pounds, 20 pounds, 15 pounds, or 3 pounds (yep I've caught one of those). I'm going to take a picture to document the moment - every single time!

What is your opinion?

Here's a picture of my 3 pound carp. Believe me, the fish was smaller than it looks in the picture!

Promoting Carp Fishing

I am writing this post as a "report card" or "editorial" or "opinion piece". Some who read it might not agree. Some might not like the post at all. I am taking that risk with the hope that my words might help change attitudes and help the growth of the sport.

I have been writing this blog, sharing pictures, tips, information about equipment, etc. for more than 2 years. I don't have a lot of regular readers yet, but that is also not surprising because compared to other types of fishing; carp fishing in the U.S. is still in it's infancy. I am fairly sure that a blog about Michigan bass fishing would have more readers. But I believe in carp fishing and I keep writing, keep teaching and keep sharing.



A picture of scales weighing a small mouth buffalo

I have been thinking a lot about how to promote carp fishing to more people, get more people out on the banks fishing for them, and remove some of the stigma that exists with guys and gals that have fished primarily for bass, bluegill, walleye, and catfish.

A lot of people who fish for carp talk about growing the sport, teaching more people how to catch carp, and promoting carp as a sport fish. In my 3 years of focus on species angling for common carp I have heard it 100's if not 1,000's of times, which I applaud, but I haven't seen a lot of people follow through by taking action on those desires.

I think there is a tendency to say we want growth of the sport; we want respect for carp; we want them regarded as a worthwhile sport fish on the level of bass or walleye; but what have we done to actually help that happen.

Sometimes rather than share the sport with others who mention an interest in carp fishing things are kept close to the vest. The specific techniques, equipment, baits, lakes, rivers and streams are a closely guarded secret. That is something I haven't seen as much with bass fishing. Bass fishermen I have known and do know are fairly open about the lakes they fish and the baits they use. There are probably close to 25 or 30 weekly television programs about bass fishing on at least 10 or 15 different cable TV channels. This free sharing of information has promoted bass fishing and allowed it to grow and prosper.

If we want carp fishing to prosper at that level, then we need to open up the doors and bring carp fishing out into the open with more vigor.

To demonstrate what I am referring to, I am reminded of an example from last year when I posted some pictures taken during a recent fishing trip on a "secret" closed Facebook page focused singularly on carp fishing. Within two or three minutes I received a private message asking me to remove the pictures from Facebook because the particular spot was a place where other carp fisherman have also caught fish. I was asked to "safeguard" the location of this public park as a "secret" because other carp fishermen have at some point fished in the same park at some time in the past.

I was pretty upset by the request. I was asked to keep carp fishing "quiet" at that location because someone else might go to that public park and catch a carp. This park has yielded some 30 pound carp in prior years, so I was being asked to keep the secret presumably so someone else might not go there and catch a big carp.



A day on the banks of the Rouge River last spring

So please, if you are serious about promoting carp fishing to the masses, share your information (and yes, some of your fishing tips and secrets), so that others may also begin enjoying the sport.

The counter argument of course is that bow fisherman may go to that public park and shoot a trophy sized carp. True. That is a risk, but bow fisherman already know where the trophy carp are. That sport is promoted. Secrets are shared. Big money corporate sponsors host large events with large prize money for bow fishing. So if we want carp fishing as a sport to grow and reach those levels, we need more people fishing for them to create a bigger voice to curtail or place some limits on the bow fishing and unlimited killing of trophy carp.

Keeping carp fishing a secret is actually counterproductive in that regard. Bass fishing has a large voice because they have large membership organizations that mobilize and influence regulations, corporate sponsors, advertisers, and televisions producers by providing eyeballs who watch programs. They didn't grow those bass fishing organizations by keeping bass fishing a secret.

But if the real goal is keeping the trophy carp to yourselves. Keep the sport in the shadows and limited to a small fraternity of people, then by all means; continue to keep it secret.

Making Homemade Carp Boilies

Update:

I wrote the original version of this post last spring to document my first experimental attempts to make homemade boilies. Following several days of traveling during the holiday season I plan to start making boilies for the upcoming spring carp fishing season.

I will use the recipe below in addition to some new ideas that I have come up with, but hot peppers are going to play a big role in my ongoing boilie making and carp fishing efforts. I am going to continue with the sesame oil and also incorporate peanut powder and some other items I've been reading about during the off season.

Original post:

I have read through the articles Mario Kok writes for the Carp Angler's Group and will use his basic recipe suggestions for my own attempt at carp boilie making.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup corn meal

1 1/4 cup wheat flour

6 jalapenos

3 habaneros

2 TBSP cayenne powder

1 TBSP white pepper powder

2 whole eggs

2 TBSP sesame oil

2 TBSP Southern Comfort

1. I sliced up jalapenos and habaneros, added the sesame oil to a sauce pan and then fried the peppers for about 10 minutes on medium heat taking care to stir occasionally to prevent burning. The strategy for frying is to release some of the oils and juices in the peppers. I used plastic gloves for this process.

2. I added just enough water to cover the sliced peppers and brought the mixture to a boil. Once boiling I reduced the heat to simmer and cooked the peppers for 20 minutes to soften them up. I left the mixture on the stove top to steep for a couple of hours without heat. Then I brought the mixture to a boil again and simmered for nearly an hour to make a soup.

3. I allowed the peppers to cool for about 30 minutes and used a small hand blender to a make a "habanero and jalapeno" mushy paste.

4. I mixed up the dry ingredients and ran them through a flour sifter.

5. I added the eggs to my pepper mush mixture and thoroughly combined them before starting to add the dry ingredients.

6. I added a little of the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mixed them up; and then added a little more; repeating the process until I achieved a consistency that would form a dough ball.

7. I rolled the boilies in sizes from 12 mm to 22 mm; ending up with 125 boilies total. I used plastic gloves to prevent problems with the habaneros burning my skin.

8. I brought a pot of water to a rolling boil and then added the dough balls in groups of 10 allowing them to boil for 90 seconds before removing and placing them on cooling racks used for cookies.

9. I allowed the boilies to cool for several hours before placing in plastic bags for storage. I took great care to make sure they were completely cool so that there was no condensation in the plastic bag during storage.

This is my first attempt making my own boilies. It wasn't too hard to do. When I make them again I will boil the pepper soup a lot less. The peppers were plenty soft after about 30 minutes. I am afraid the extra cooking loses some of the potency of the peppers.

Don't ask me why I decided to try the Southern Comfort. I was trying to think of something sweet to add a little extra to the boilies.

Here is a post I made using these boilies to catch smallmouth buffalo.

Carp Fishing Tip - Peanut Powder

My first two years of carp fishing I primarily fished with flavored maize with some commercially produced boilies utilized occasionally to add a little variety.

Last year I started making my own homemade boilies with some very good results. But after analyzing my results I am confident that I can improve the results from these homemade boilies by adding more protein to my base recipe.

When I made my boilies earlier this year I used items that I could find in my cupboard and didn't really put a lot of thought into it. I have posted the specific recipe previously, but here's the link again if you need it: Homemade Carp Boilies

A few weeks ago I was surfing around the internet and ran across something that will provide an interesting source of protein that I am going to incorporate in my recipe next season and it's readily available at the local grocery store.

Peanut powder

I am also going to try some of this stuff in my ground bait mix and see how it goes, but adding it to boilies is likely a better strategy unless I can find it available in bulk. The volumes needed for mixing it in ground bait are cost prohibitive in smaller package sizes.

Carp Photo Gallery

This slideshow includes a few of my carp catches in 2015.

Improve Your Health, Start Fishing for Carp

By most accounts, I live a fairly sedentary lifestyle. I work indoors. I sit at a desk. My daily work is more mental than physical. At times it's very stressful, but there are no physical aspects to it whatsoever.

When I was several years younger I loved to run, ride my bicycle, walk for miles, play basketball, etc. But that type of activity halted once I had surgery on both of my knees several years ago. Those years of physical activity put a huge strain on my knees and now I have degenerative arthritis in both knees.

But exercise is not always physical. There is also mental exercises that provide fantastic benefits too.

The nature of fishing for carp requires physical exercise, mental exercise and a certain amount of quiet time where you are doing next to nothing while waiting for the fish to take the bait being offered.

As I continued carp fishing into the second year and now as I head into my third year it became clearer and clearer to me that the quiet time means almost as much to me as the time spent fighting and landing fish. I have spent the last several weeks trying to pinpoint what it is about the quiet time that is so attractive.

I now understand that the quiet time on the bank while carp fishing equates to meditation. The benefits of meditation are scientifically proven.

Here is a list of some benefits that I have noticed:

• Stress reduction
• Anxiety reduction
• Improved concentration
• Decreased blood pressure
• Better sleeping habits
• Improved decision making
• Improved mental strength
• Improved mood
• Improved creativity

LiveAndDare.com published an article that lists many more benefits as well.

November Carping Session Provided 9 Common Carp

I wish I had some out of the ordinary story to share about my fishing session today that would make this story more interesting like catching a 40 pound mirror carp, a triple run, a thirty fish effort, a couple of 30 pounders, a new personal best, a girl in a bikini, a 75 degree temperature Indian Summer day, or something else to keep you interested, but these pictures contain none of those items. But they do depict my opportunity to spend the day fishing with my faithful carping buddy Bill Wazelle at our favorite fall carp fishing spot near Lake Erie.

I arrived at 5:45 a.m., off loaded my gear into the little red wagon, and proceeded to my chose spot on the bank. I got everything set up and had all 3 rods in by 6:40 or so.

20 pound common carp

Things started off well with a nice 20 + pound fish shortly before 8 a.m. in a spot that has yield 2 prior PB's for me, so I was excited at the possibilities. A second fish in the upper teens fell for my peach flavored maize dipped in 4 seasons 3D powder within 20 minutes.

Upper teens common carp

I caught a 3rd and 4th fish after re-baiting the rods about an hour later.



I was happy to catch a 4th common carp, but size was definitely headed in the wrong direction with this little 5 pounder.



Number 5 joined the party a little later.



And then I got number 6 on my third rod and as soon as the fish hit the net, number 7 sent the alarm screaming. Without Bill there, it would have likely been a one arm paper hanger moment (or Bad News Bears if things went badly). Both fish weighed in a little more than 14 pounds.

Twin 14 pounders

 The biggest fish of the day weighing more than 22 pounds sounded the alarms a little later on. We actually weighed it with two different scales because the fish looked much bigger than 22#'s to us. The second scale confirmed it was a little lighter than we thought.

22 pounder

By this time it was 1 p.m. and there was still plenty of time to get the PB I was hoping for. If had a couple fish I lost to hook pulls trying to net them around 2 p.m. and then the sun decided to go hide behind the clouds for the rest of the day and fishing action slowed dramatically and it actually started raining for a while.

I did manage to land fish number 9 before packing it up and heading to the house.



We have had mild October and November weather in 2015 and I'm grateful for it. The fishing luck has provided several quality fish for me too. I am sure the weather will return to normal Michigan ranges soon and fishing will slow to a crawl around here. I am going to enjoy it while I can, but today may turn out to be my last outing for 2015 unless we can hold onto 50 degree temperatures for another weekend. I am not holding my breath, but I'll take what I can get.

Carp Fishing Video

Screaming Carp Run

My wife took this video yesterday.

Vacation Day Spent Carp Fishing

I had a vacation day today and decided to get out and enjoy the wonderful fall day with temperatures in the mid-60s. It was cool to start and remained windy throughout the day with gusts near 30 mph, but the carp didnt seem to mind. Many times during the day there were white caps, but unlike the last time I fished this venue it was sunny without a cloud in the sky.

I ended up catching 9 carp and a small bullhead catfish today. Individual fish weights were on the low end, but I dont mind one bit. Multiple carp are better than no carp any day. I had two that were about 11 ½ pounds, but most were near 10 pounds or less.

I fished this same venue on Friday with bigger average size, but this particular spot is pressured a lot more in autumn. Water levels at this location decreases in October and this spot provides easier access for netting fish. The other spot a little further down the bank has a 3 foot drop from the bank down to the water line.

I left for home at 3 p.m. thinking that my 9 carp were enough to put me at 100 carp for the year, but after checking my records today's carp put me at 99 and not 100. I guess I need to get out again soon and catch some more fish so I can top the century mark before the snow starts flying in a few weeks.

Last year I was still catching double digits on November 2nd, so I should have plenty of time to add to those numbers.

I also have some video clips from today that I will post a little later on.

 

More Michigan Carp Fishing Pictures

Here are a few recent pictures from various local sessions.

Nice 17 pounder

Mid teens common carp

Another mid teens common carp

First fish caught at a new water last week

Interest tail "notch" on this fish

Michigan Fall Carp Fishing

I have been looking forward to autumn for a few months. The leaves are turning, college football is in full swing, Thanksgiving is just around the corner and the chances of breaking by personal best weight for common carp increases to way above average. Last year I caught my current personal best of 26 pounds 10 ounces in October when the weather was very similar to our current temperatures, winds and cloud cover.

I left the house at 6:30 and arrived to my favorite fishing spot about 7:10 after a stop at the convenience store for snacks and soda to tide me over for the next 10 hours or more. With the thermometer registering 39 degrees, I was appropriately layered up, gloved up and wearing a stocking cap to keep my bald head warm.

I started out with peach flavor for my ground bait and peach flavored maize for my hook bait and had lines in by 7:35 and my hopes were high.

My strategy was to feed them and feed them some more and keep on feeding them until I landed a couple of carp. I had a 5 gallon bucket full of panko bread crumbs and lots of cream corn so the race was on.

I re-casted every 75 minutes until the first fish was landed and then backed off to every 90 minutes. With water levels lower than normal, I had to cast out 70 to 80 yards and started hooking fish shortly before lunch time.

I made a miss-cast one time and the bait landed about 15 feet from the bank. I decided to leave it and see what happened. Well guess what happened…20 minutes later I hooked a fish. Unfortunately I didn’t land that one due to a hook pull.

Overall it was a very good day of fishing. I hooked 12 fish, landed 10 and had 2 hook pulls. My second hook pull was a very good fish. I am kind of bummed about that one. I would have loved to see just how big it was. I am sure it wasn’t new PB material, but it was very likely the biggest fish I hooked today.

My smallest fish weighed 10 pounds and the largest tipped the scales at 19 pounds 5 ounces. The majority of the fish caught today weighed in the 16 to 18 pound range. The average size for this time of year is lower than in the two previous seasons. I am sure the commercial fisherman who cleaned out the lagoon back in June impacted the average size. It will take a while for bigger fish to move back into the lagoon from the main lake.

Here are some pictures I snapped during the session. My photographer had to work today, so I had to do my best with the 10 second timer function on my cell phone. It’s not perfect, but it’s better than nothing. Hopefully I’ll have my photographer back for the next session for some better snapshots.