Carp Fishing is Hard Work Sometimes

Shallow men believe in luck, believe in circumstances.

 Strong men believe in cause and effect.  

Ralph Waldo Emerson

More Michigan Fall Carp Fishing 2019

I don't always have the luxury of fishing when I really want to. I'm limited to weekends, holidays and vacation periods.  When I have bank time on the schedule  I like to arrive early.

This week's venue is located about an hour from home. Traffic can be a challenge with construction this time of year, but it's likely to occur on the trip back home.

I arrived about 15 minutes predawn and was unpacked and on my way to the spot when the first signs of sunlight appeared.

I could hear fish surfacing in the area, although they weren't all carp. The lake is popular with bass fishermen too and some were definitely bass. There's something about that sound that causes my heart rate to rise.

Setting up my bank sticks, alarms and nets first helps "mark" the spot, although in the offseason it's seldom an issue here.

I mixed up some panko, boiled feed corn, boiled bird seed, some deer mineral attractant and some flavored field corn using some "nut" powder as a binder to hold the ground bait mix together.

I caught my first carp within 15 minutes of casting and always feel the familiar relief - there would not be a "blank".

Over the course of two days I caught numerous carp in all ranges of size from low teens to twenties. I even managed one a little bigger than that too.

Here are some pictures from my favorite day on the bank this fall so far. Tune in later for some pictures and video of my biggest fish of the session.

22 pounds

This was not my biggest fish of the session

Close Up

Alternate side view

Thick, strong carp

Round and thick carp

Catch and release

Michigan Fall Fishing - Pictures from September 2019

Before I post the pictures below, I'd like to reflect back to earlier in the year and summarize what has brought me to this point.

At times 2019 has been a frustrating year for carp fishing. I got off to a slow start in the spring, thanks in part due to some cooler than expected weather, several weeks of rain on the weekends, a shortage of available time for fishing an some distractions at work.

With the work distractions behind me as of late May, I started focusing more on catching carp, and less on things I had little, if any, control over.

I had several great sessions with numbers in double figures at local venues. My favorite summer venue this year was at a local river that is under carp fished in my opinion. It has plenty of shade. The fishing spots are on a paved path, close to the parking lot and restrooms are located nearby. But even better...the river has plenty of carp ready to be caught. The carp in the river are strong, healthy and fun to catch. For comparison purposes some of these river fish weighing 10 to 11 pounds on average provide the same strength of the 18 to 19 pound fish from a popular local lake that is frequented by carp fishing enthusiasts. The current, thick weed cover and sometimes fairly lively current provide some challenges to keep the fishing very challenging. 

I caught some fish at the Detroit River, several in Lake Erie, some at another local river in urban Detroit, in the St. Clair River, in a new-to-me-lake with limited access and lots of recreation boaters, and at an extremely popular park at a venue near Ann Arbor. 

Some of my past "go to" spots that have yielded fish weighing up to 37 pounds, turned cold in 2019. One venue in particular used to be good for multiple carp weighing in the 20's each and every time out, but the best I have managed in 2019 from that spot is a 24 pounder back in late April after 3 days of 8 hour sessions. Those 24 hours of bank time returned only that one fish.

Fall fishing in Michigan is always promising and I always save some vacation time that I use to get in a few extra fishing trips before the cold weather sets in later in mid-November. I usually focus a little more on October, but we're going to be traveling to Tennessee in a couple of weeks so I have fished more in September.

I spent Thursday and Friday fishing at a spot that I've fished twice previously with some promising indicators. It's packed with weeds. It's packed with boats. It's packed with people at certain times of the year, but with some prior planning it can be a good spot to fish occasionally. It's a good spot to go on a rainy day, but pack your rain gear and portable shelter because there isn't anywhere to keep you dry.

It takes a little effort to find the limited opening in the weed bed that will allow your hook baits to reach the lake bed. Cast in close and you're going to be in heavy weed mat. Cast out at long distance and you run the risk of boats running over your lines. The magic distance seems to be in the 60 to 80 yard range into a spot that is about 20 to 30 feet wide. I caught a few fish outside that general area, but they were few and far between. 

And now on to some of the pictures. I have other video footage and pictures I will continue to post when I have more time, but here are some of my favorites so far. Some of these photos could use a little more post processing to improve their clarity, but I'm fairly satisfied with them. They are screen prints from a video. When you fish alone, you have to improvise on the photos. 

High teens carp

Mid teens carp

Scrapper

I love the fall colors just beginning to show up

The scales on this fish were almost perfect

Look at that tail. When this fish grows up, it's got potential to get even bigger

I try to avoid "mat shots", but sometimes I snap them anyway to get a good look at the scale colors

The tried and true way to photo a fish when you don't have a friend with you to take a picture

Autumn Carp Fishing in Michigan

We've definitely been spoiled with some fantastic carp fishing weather recently; with only an occasional exception here and there. And you can be sure that I have taken advantage of this cold weather hiatus to get out on the bank and do some fishing.

On Saturday I decided to head to my favorite spot on Lake Erie. Things started out quickly, but instead of carp, it was a 2 pound channel catfish. I barely had a chance to sit down in my chair after casting before the alarms were ringing with the alert. It didn't take long to figure it out - Mr. Whiskers was hungry. The familiar thump-thump-thump as I retrieved the line gave it away.

Those who regularly fish for carp know that carp are more likely to 1) bolt away-from-the-bank and keep on going, 2) swim straight-at-the-bank with hopes of finding shallow water and rid themselves of the hook, or 3) swim sideways with the same goal.

Likewise I can usually tell the size of the fish with general accuracy based on the speed that the carp takes the bait. A blazing run usually indicates a small, but scrappy fish; while a slow-roller or intermittent speed that rises and falls usually indicates a bigger fish or sometimes a small-mouth buffalo depending on the venue. (Catfish will also sometimes take the slow-roller approach, but in the places I fish I catch more catfish than carp 99% of the time.)

Lucky for me I had a slow-roller, a fast-and-furious and a couple of straight-at-the-bank fish during the session.

Here are some pictures:

This is the typical size we've been catching this year

This 22 pound 6 ounce fish is my biggest carp since May 2017.

The shadow on this fish is not an indication of a two-tone color, but is a shadow from the person taking
the picture as the sun was behind the cameraman.

A quality fish

Safe return for someone else to catch in the future after the fish packs on a few more pounds.

Carp On, Carp On, Bang a Gong

I have truly enjoyed the prolonged fall this year and certainly took advantage of the extra chances to catch some fish. I had the day off from work, so after checking the forecast and seeing 60 degrees I headed out for what will likely be my last carp fishing session for 2015.

It's always a risk to fish this late in the season. It's a fine line with water temperatures that will prompt the fish to remain active. With the colder evenings the water is getting colder and it's inevitable that the bite will slow down before too long. Last night we had air temperatures in the low 30's. When I arrived at my spot today, the air temperature was 33 F.

I was fortunate to catch 9 commons today. Most of the fish ranged in the 8 to 10 pound range with a few larger fish for good measure. The biggest fish today weighed 22, 20 and 16 pounds.

Here are some pictures and a couple of videos of my captures.

22 pounds and change

 

20 pounds and change

Two Nice Channel Catfish

I got out this afternoon to a local pond and enjoyed the 60 degree weather and sunshine with hopes of catching my 100th carp for the year. With the year winding down I am unsure how many sunny days we will have left before the weather turns colder and the snow starts flying.

Things started off well with some nice fish, but they just happened to be c-a-t-f-i-s-h which are usually a big disappointment for carp fishermen, but not today for me. I loved catching these. The pair of cats had some of the best coloring on them for any channel catfish that I have ever caught.

The clouds came and chased away the sun, which killed the bite so my 100th carp will have to wait a couple of days when get back out again.

10 pound channel catfish

7 pound channel catfish

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

Election Day Carp Session

I had the day off work, the weather offered 53 degree temps, 25 mph wind gusts and a 60 percent chance of rain by midday.The forecast for the weekend is miserable with predictions of sleet, rain, flurries and a mix of all three with falling temperatures, so by all indications this just might be my last opportunity to catch carp in 2014.

I had lines in by 7:30 and my first fish on the bank by a little past 10:00. It was a nice 21 pounds and 9 ounces. I had more fish by 10:30 and even more by noon. Then the flood gates opened and I had several more fish before I had to leave at 2:15 because it was beginning to rain and I needed to go do my civic duty and vote. I caught several fish consistently in the upper teens and another topping the scales at exactly 20 pounds.

Here are some pictures. My photographer had to work, so I did the best I could with the timer on my cell phone. It's the first time I tried using it, so pardon the odd angles and poor lighting in some of the photos.

My window to the carping grounds this morning. When I took this picture it was still relatively calm.
A little later in the day there were 25 mph wind gusts with 1 foot white caps.

My first fish today weighing in at 21 lbs. 9 oz.

It's s blurry shot with the timer on my cell phone, but not too bad considering the low light levels.

 

My second fish today weighing 6 lbs.

Close-up

Third fish weighing 11 lbs.

Upper teens

Same fish, posed with the cell phone timer

Upper teens

Fifth fish of the day

I lost a fish before this one to a hook pull, but luckily there were plenty of others today.

I think I kind of like these types of poses after all. Fins up.

20 lbs. on the button. This one was a fighter for sure.

I fought this one with a real light drag to be sure I could land him.



18 lbs. and my last fish of the day (possibly 2014).

It couldn't have been a better day of fishing. I caught other fish, but these pictures posed on the landing mat are pretty boring. I will spare you those and just say that the action was good today and if it hadn't started raining, I probably could have caught more than 20 fish today.

And I still made it home by 3 p.m. to vote!

In October I set a goal to catch a 30 pounder before it turned to cold to fish. The 30 didn't come, but I gave it my best shot for sure. I have fished twice a week for the past 4 weeks catching fish ranging from 4 pounds to 26 pounds 6 ounces (my new personal best).