Trying Out New Fishing Spots

I like to fish new spots every now and then, but it's not without a few risks in the process. But how do you know whether or not it's better than another spot unless you try it out?

This morning we tried a new spot at Sterling State Park. It's in the same lagoon we usually fish, but farther west. The plan was to fish a spot just off the walking trail, but finding a spot with room enough for two people proved difficult. That part of the shoreline is not maintained/mowed like the areas around the east parking lot, so we headed farther west and crossed the walking bridge to a floating fishing pier.

A view from the pier looking west

A view from the pier facing south

My spot fishing from the pier

We fished here until 10:45 a.m. and then decided to pack up and try another spot. I had no bites, no runs and no fish. My fishing partner caught 2 small carp below 5 pounds fishing from the opposite side of the pier.

The best part of fishing here was a very nice bald eagle that flew overhead around mid-morning real slow and slow cruising the lagoon looking for a few tasty morsels.

We walked more than a 1/2 mile back to the east parking lot and got set up a little before noon.

It doesn't look like much, but it's been a very successful spot for me this year.
I've caught more than 30 carp from this particular spot.

18 pounds

After 3 1/2 hours of silence at the new location, I landed this nice specimen within 20 minutes of putting my lines in the water at my normal spot. This one was a strong swimmer. I knew right away that it was a nice fish. It made three separate strong runs, but ultimately land in my net.

I caught another smaller carp later in the day, but didn't get a picture.

My lucky red carp fishing shirt was good for a quality fish today, but I can only imagine what might have been if we'd stuck to the original location early on in the morning instead of trying something new. But you know what they say, "Nothing ventured, nothing gained."

Reusing Old Fish Hooks

Size 4 hook

Before I started carp fishing I didn't really worry a great deal about the hooks I used to catch bluegill, bass and crappie. But fishing for carp is a different story. Sharp hooks are a basic necessity to increase success rates for landing big, bad carp in the net.

I use braided line and when it starts to fray a little I replace it. The line below the swivel down to the hair rig always frays first. The reasons are obvious - the rig drags along the bottom of the lake or river on the retrieve, scrapping against rocks and debris along the way. So early on in my carp fishing exploits, I started replacing old hooks nearly every or every other fishing trip.

Today I found a stash of old hooks in my tackle box. I checked them for sharpness and decided to re-tie some of them (the sharper ones of course).

I'm heading down to Sterling State Park tomorrow, so I might get a chance to try some of them out. If re-using old hooks turns out to be a bad idea, I'll write about it in a future post.

Scouting Potential Carp Fishing Venues

I spent some time this week scouting for new fishing venues. One night after work I visited nearby Crosswinds Marsh in New Boston. The marsh was created in the 1990's following expansion of the Metro Airport, which included development of some wetlands. Crosswinds was created to offset the destruction with wetlands replacement.




Late July to August weather patterns have left the marsh with lots of lily pads, moss and vegetation. That is great for carp, but not so good for carp fishing. I look forward to returning to this spot next spring before the vegetation kicks into high gear.

I did not see any carp, but I did see potential signs. As we walked through the winding wooden walk-ways forming trails throughout the marsh, I noticed fish moving between the lily pads. Some of the fish were large fish, which to me indicates potential carp. I guess it could be large mouth bass moving the lilies like that, but some of the fish were large based on the movement.

Here are some pictures:

Rain, Thunderstorms - Catching Michigan Carp

We actually started off the morning hoping to fish at Crosswinds Marsh off of Haggerty Road in New Boston at 6:15 a.m. The site looks very "carpy", but this time of year it's very weedy. I'll be going back to that spot next spring to give it a try.

So we decided to drive down to Sterling State Park. Shortly after arriving at 7:30 a.m. the rain started.
Then the lightning started.

We hustled to get the lines in the water and then retreated to the vehicle to wait out the roughest part of the thunderstorm. I got a run and had to jump out of the truck to land it. As luck would have it, the rain slacked up a little so we could get a quick picture. That first fish was the smallest of the day.

Then it was back to the truck to stay dry, dodge more lightning bolts, and keep an eye on the weather radar on the Android Smartphone.

I seemed to build momentum as the day went by. It took a couple of hours for the first and then an hour and then the fish started to come 30 minutes apart. I wish I could have fished several more hours this afternoon, but that's always the case when the fish are biting well.

First fish of the day

12 pounds

Biggest fish of the day weighing 14 pounds and change.
I might need to check my scale because this fish felt bigger in the net.

10 pounds

9 pounds

12 pounds

"The Thrill of Victory; and the Agony of Defeat"

 

North American Carp Angler

Three of the pictures my wife took at the Saginaw Carp Fishing Tournament earlier this year were included in the 2nd Quarter edition of the North American Carp Angler magazine.

Photo by Linda Pearcy

Photo by Linda Pearcy

Photo by Linda Pearcy

Common Courtesy is in Short Supply Sometimes

I'm going to get up on my soap box for a little bit this afternoon. The topic - fishing bank courtesy.

When I decide to fish on a Saturday or Sunday, I set my alarm clock and get up early. I even pack the vehicle with rods, reels, and supplies the night before. A fishing day is just like a work day, I'm up before sunrise.

This morning I arrived at Ford Lake in Ypsilanti Township a few minutes at 6 o'clock. I was the second car in the parking lot and that car was left over from the night before.

When I set up for carp fishing I fish with 3 rods, with either rod pods or bank sticks. Today it was bank sticks. I spaced them 13 size 11's apart to leave enough room to fight and land a fish without tangling my lines, but compact enough not to take up an unreasonable amount of bank space.

At 8 o'clock a big group of guys come in and set-up nearby. Eventually they put out 12 rods in total between 2 kids and 3 adults in their group. They started about 100 feet away from my position and started moving towards me down the bank. When he casted the 12th rod, it crossed over my right side line a little ways and I headed over and retrieved it. He said sorry and retrieved his line. No problem...it happens. I'm happy he's happy.

At 11 o'clock 2 more guys arrive with 3 more rods. They commence to set-up between my position and the guys with 12 rods. It turns out they all know each other. I tried to talk to them, but there was a communication barrier so I headed back to my lawn chair and waited.

They don't immediately start fishing. They assemble their rods, mix bait, bait up and then kick back for a while. They were using shrimp. I don't know the name of the rig, but it uses a sinker and then 3 separate hooks spaced about 4 inches apart leaving a bout a foot of line with 3 hooks below the sinker.

I'm wondering when they plan to make their casts because I'm anticipating trouble, but I decide to give them the benefit of the doubt and I wait patiently. After 30 minutes which includes 10 minutes talking to the guys with 12 rods one of the new comers makes his cast.

Predictably, it's right over the top of not only one; but two of my lines. I take a deep breath and calmly walk toward them calling out.

"I think you casted right over me."

Response.

"No I didn't."

Not an "I'm sorry" or "My mistake" nothing. No apology. He just turns around to his buddy and they continue talking like nothing happened. I am sure I had an incredulous look on my face, but I resisted the urge to say anything. Experience has taught me that it's not worth it, most of the time. Besides that, I was outnumbered 7 to 1.

I retrieved my far right rod.

Then the guy comes over and says again, "I don't why you're mad because I'm not anywhere near you."

I was steaming at this point, but decided to say nothing. I sat back down for a few minutes and calmed down. The last thing I'm going to do when I am trying relax spending a day fishing for carp is get into an altercation with strangers.

The guys continued on like nothing had happened and seeing that I'd pulled in my rod started moving their stuff toward me on the bank. Like a couple of bullies. Fishing bank bullies.

At this point I decided to leave.

One guy comes over and says, "You leaving?"

"Yes."

And he says, "Oh good then we'll fish your spot." They immediately turned their backs on me and casted out the other 2 rods right in front of me. One guy even tripped on my left rod and bank stick as he made his way down the bank into my spot.

Amazing.

So I calmly packed the rest of my stuff and left. But the two fishing bank bullies turned a nice day into a bad day with one cast and no apology.

I realized later as I walked back to the vehicle their intention all along had been to bully me into leaving so they could fish with their buddies.

Well, the solution to that is to get out of bed earlier. It's first come first serve at my house. But these guys don't roll like that apparently. My blood pressure is rising again just thinking about it.

I don't know if the two guys will ever read this, but if they do I hope it makes them realize the rudeness of their actions and maybe they won't do it again.

The day wasn't a total loss though because I did snap these two pictures:

Belle Isle - Lake Muskoday

I'm am back from Lake Muskoday on Belle Isle. We headed out about 6 a.m., drove the 34 miles to Belle Isle, arrived at 6:40 a.m., put the rods in about 7 a.m., fished for 6 hours, had 1 run, gave up and returned home. That was my day in a nutshell.

It was my first time fishing Lake Muskoday. I obviously fished the wrong spot because I have it on good authority that the carp fishing in that lake is usually pretty good. Here's a picture of our spot.

It was very foggy this morning with a 1 mph breeze that was barely distinguishable. The temp gauge registered 62 degrees as we drove into the parking lot.

We actually looked at a few other spots on Lake Muskoday, but decided they were too mossy and too far from the restrooms. I guess the joke's on us though because on the way out we saw several other carpers set-up in that mossy area. (I don't know if they were catching anything though.)

If I try Lake Muskoday again, I will probably try a different spot.

The only fish I fought today was a quick hit I got retrieving my final rod prior to packing up. I don't know if it was a carp or not, but it was B-I-G. It got hung up on a snag near the shoreline, so I didn't get a chance to see for sure.

Belle Isle Park

I am going to find out if the carp are biting at Belle Isle Park tomorrow. Lake Muskoday looks promising for a nice day of carp fishing. I've only been to the island one other time. I'm looking forward to seeing the changes now that it's essentially a Michigan State Park now.

Flavor Testing

A little guy

I've been fishing exclusively for carp during the last 12 months. Until last weekend I had always used a flavor dip on my hook bait immediately prior to casting. I used both pineapple and fruity flavored dips. Since I have always used them I was unsure whether not using them would cause my fish count to decrease.

For Sunday's session I omitted the dip flavoring in favor of a pineapple amino flavor spray. The spray is convenient and doesn't create the mess that the dip does, which is more of a syrup. But would it work just as well?

I caught 9 carp in 5 hours. The last time I fished that venue I caught 13 carp in 7 hours. The syrup flavor dip yielded 1.86 carp per hour of fishing. The spray flavoring yielded 1.8 carp per hour. I'd call that a very similar comparison.

The sample size is still relatively small. It would be interesting to do the same test over a time span of 24 hours or 100 hours of fishing and see if the ratios remain the same.

Sunday Morning Fishing Session at Ford Lake

Today's fishing session got off to a slow start with some rain rolling through shortly after I put the lines in the water. Then the wind gusts started. Then the white caps and 2 feet rolling waves started hitting the shoreline.  Luckily, the carp didn't seem to mind.

We ended with 9 fish landed and a couple of others lost at the shoreline. The biggest fish was 19 pounds, which is good size for Ford Lake. The smallest was about 3 pounds (maybe even less I didn't weigh him). Here are the pictures:

19 pounds

15 pounds

12 pounds

10 pounds

12 pounds

8 pounds

13 pounds

This fish goes down in history as the smallest carp I've ever caught.
I didn't weigh it, but it couldn't be more than 3 - 4  pounds max.

Today I did quite a bit of testing throughout the session, but my biggest test was to stop the trend of hook pulls I was experiencing last weekend. At one point last Saturday I had 7 hook pulls in a row.

To make the testing as objective as possible I only changed one variable at a time. I started by loosening the front drag. I didn't change hook length or hair length. Loosening the front drag helped a lot.

Secondly, I eased up when fighting the fish. I simply picked up the rod, cranked it a couple of times and tightened the front drag keeping the rod tip upwards. Then I started the retrieve. That also seemed to work well. I lost 3 fish on a line of weeds about 30 feet from shore and another one that beached himself faster than we were able to get the net under him, but I only had one hook pull today. I feel much better about my fishing technique today.

I also tested using a longer hook length on a rod or two later on. I caught one fish on a 5 1/2" hook length, but all the bites and runs were coming on the 3 1/2" and 4" hook lengths today.

Sunday Carp Fishing

The vehicle's packed, but it's still a little rainy nearby my fishing spot. I am watching the weather radar as the rain makes it way here. The rain should be gone in a hour or so; then I'll be heading out for a day on the banks of my favorite carp lake.

Longer Hooklinks and Shorter Hair Rigs

Last weekend's carp fishing exploits didn't yield many fish. I hooked 7 fish at one point and lost them all to hook pulls. It's time to change it up a little because, although my current techniques using a 3 1/2" hook link and 1" inch hair rig length, yielded me 40 - 50 carp year-to-date 2014. The hook pulls are concerning. I received a tip from a fellow angler with more experience that in warmer weather sometimes a longer hook length and shorter hair rig length work a little better.

I am heading out for a early session tomorrow and tied up some rigs tonight to prepare. I tied up some rigs with size 6 hooks, 5 1/2" hook lengths and 1/2" - 5/8" hair rigs.

Those tips sound reasonable to me. Check back tomorrow evening to see how they worked. Hopefully I'll have plenty of pictures as evidence.

If you want to read more about hook lengths and hair rigs; and how they apply to carp fishing, the article from Big Carp News is a good source of information.

Carp Quest Video

 

 

Sometimes it can take awhile to get the carp biting, but when you do it can be rewarding. This angler was rewarded with a nice 18 pound common carp.

Detroit River Carp Fishing

We headed out to a spot on the Detroit River to catch some large carp today, but someone forgot to tell the fish. We had no carp hook-ups today. There were carp surfacing in the area near us, but none were interested in our Panko and corn. I offered up some boilies later in the day with no takers.

My wife snapped a few pictures near sunrise that turned out pretty well.

Sunrise on the Detroit River

Setting up for a day of carp fishing on the Detroit River near Trenton
 

First cast of the day

It was a beautiful day to be outside enjoying the river view. It was pleasant with a gentle breeze and sunshine all day. Too bad the carp didn't come to join the party.

My best carp from this spot is 12 lbs. but I know the Detroit River has more to offer. I'll keep trying this spot from time-to-time because I know it holds a lot of promise for a new personal best carp. I don't think 30 lbs. is out of the question at all. It's a big river, so I am sure it has some B-I-G carp just waiting to be caught.