Why Isn't Carp Fishing More Popular?

I am in one of those moods tonight. The kind where I start wondering about things that most people could care less about. Tonight I am pondering why carp fishing hasn't gained much traction here in the United States compared to fishing for bass, crappie, bluegill, perch or even catfish.

Catch and release fishing has been in vogue for quite a while now. If I recall correctly, catch and release was made popular by the rise of bass fishing and bass fishing was made popular by the creation of BASS Masters and BASS Masters' success was fueled by sponsorships from boat manufacturers like Ranger, Stratos and Tracker.

A top of the line Stratos bass boat with a 200 hp outboard motor that is 3 or 4 years old sells on the used market for $25,000 to $40,000 depending on the way it's outfitted, accessorized, and the trailer it comes with. And then they need something to tow it with that totals another $15,000 for a reliable used tow vehicle and $40,000 or more for a new pick-up truck.

So there are literally tens of thousands of guys spending big bucks on used boats, burning gas running up and down the lake, catching fish that average 4 or 5 pounds (or even less) when they could have spent less than $500 fishing from the bank, and catch fish that average 15 - 18 pounds (or even more) depending on the specific fishing venue.

I don't know about you, but I'll keep the $80,000 in my retirement account and fish for carp!

Results of Boilie Making

Caught on a homemade boilie

I wrote a previous post about my first attempt at boilie making several weeks ago. I tried them out in early March at a local venue, but water temps were still pretty cold and it wasn't really a good time to test them. This past weekend I finally got around to testing them out thoroughly and was pleasantly surprised with the results.

I fish with corn 95% of the time, but occasionally I will use commercial pop up dumbbells if fishing is slow.

The weekend was typical and I baited up with corn. I fished for 4 hours with no catches, so I decided to switch over to my homemade boilies. Guess what happened? I caught a new personal best small mouth buffalo near Lake Erie within 30 minutes!

You're probably wondering about the recipe. You can access it here via my previous post or simply keep reading.

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

It's probably not a conventional recipe that most people would use, but I had to improvise a conventional recipe with ingredients I actually had on hand.

I am pleased with the results.

Small Mouth Buffalo and Common Carp Catches

I caught my first buffalo a few short weeks ago at 11 pounds. I broke my personal best twice in about 30 minutes on Monday afternoon.

One of these fish was caught on a WCB pink pop-up dumbbell and the other was caught on a homemade habanero boilie. In fact I caught 5 fish on my homemade boilies.

The first buffalo weighed # 20.4 and the second one # 21.11. I really enjoyed catching these fish.

I hope you enjoy the pictures.


20 pounds 4 ounces

The colors on this fish were very unusual



21 pounds 11 ounces

 

Profile picture?

Small Mouth Buffalo close-up

I caught 8 others ranging from # 20 down to # 7 for a total of 12 fish (2 catfish and 10 carp).



13 pounds



10 pounds

Catfish

8 pounds

7 pounds

9 pounds

8 pounds

11 pounds

Saginaw River Carp Tournament

Some pictures from Saginaw River.

My view at the event on day one

My spot on day one of the event

Day one, first cast

A view on day two

Getting set up on Sunday

My spot on day 2 of the event

Memorial Day Weekend

I headed out early on Saturday to my favorite local lake for carp fishing.

The day started off with several catfish. I ended the day with 3 catfish in total.

9 pounder

3 pounder

The carp weren't far behind.



13 pounder

Big common carp in the net

Nice 20 pound 6 ounce common carp

Just prior to release this lunker back into the water

Here are a few more pictures from today's activities.

A shot of my Sonic bait runners

3rd carp of the day

4th carp of the day

I had another fish on that I lost. It was a good day to be sure. Bill was with me and landed the first fish of the session weighing 30 pounds 11 ounces. That gave me something to shoot for today, but I didn't catch anything nearing that size.

We'll back out on Monday to try again.

River Carp Fishing

I headed out to a local river spot today and fished for a while. The day was fantastic with sunshine, light wind and overall great conditions. There were a couple of periods of light rain, but nothing to worry about.

I started slow with only 2 carp by noon, but things picked up in the afternoon hours. Here are a few pictures of today's catches.

These weren't quite the "river monsters" I was hoping for, but maybe they will grow up to be "river monsters" someday down the road.

12 pounds 12 ounces

12 pounds 12 ounces

I love the colors on this fish.

17 pounds

15 pounds 4 ounces

14 pounds 14 ounces

Saginaw River 2015 Midwest Regional Carp Anglers Group Event

We headed up to Bay City on Friday afternoon. Arriving at 3 p.m., it was a little too late to fish so Linda and I headed to the hotel for check-in; and then to downtown Bay City. We walked around downtown checking out the shops and visited 5 or 6 different antique shops.

After eating at the buffet at Bay City's most popular Polish buffet restaurant, we turned in early.

Saturday morning we headed to the peg draw and the to Veteran's Park for day #1 of the tournament. I spent the morning passing time by watching my rods. In the early afternoon the alarm on my middle rod screamed.



13 pounder



 

Then it got very quiet for 5 hours. Until shortly before time ran out my right rod screamed.

 

Carp fighting pose

 

 



17 pounds 14 ounces

It was a long time coming, but this fish was worth the wait. I landed the fish and snapped this picture with less than 15 minutes remaining in the Saturday session.

Day two on Sunday was not very productive for me except for a small channel catfish. I had a good spot on the bank that held a lot of fish just a few weeks ago at the pre-tournament fish-in, but someone forgot to tell the fish.

The fish were AWOL from near shore and those to the right and left of me were catching fish farther out near the main channel. I was unable to cast the 100 yards out to the channel and did not catch any carp. There is nothing worse in carp fishing than your friends and neighbors catching loads and loads of carp; and you not catching any.

My First Small Mouth Buffalo

I have been fishing a venue that is known to have a supply of small mouth buffalo. Everyone I know who fishes for carp has caught one there, but I had never caught one -- until today.

I caught this nice 10 pound small buffalo at mid day on Sunday.

Michigan small mouth buffalo

Small buffalo in sephia colors

Saginaw River Carp Anglers Group Fish In

We headed to Saginaw on Saturday in search of big Michigan carp and a new personal best common carp. This social event provided a nice orientation to the river in advance of the CAG Regional in early May 2015.

During last year's event I caught 3 carp and a pike so hopefully with a little practice I can do better this time around.

My goal for Saturday was to catch a lot of carp and in the back of my mind I was hoping to catch a new personal best weighing in at more than 26 pounds to provide a new personal best.

I caught 2 carp and a catfish on Saturday.

My first fish on the Saginaw River near Bay City in 2015

My third fish (second carp) in the range of 15 to 16 pounds.

I didn't get a new personal best, but the weather was excellent and I enjoyed fishing with some of the Michigan members of the Carp Anglers Group. We'll be back in Saginaw in early May for the Regionals. I hope I can sort things out a little before then and catch some more fish.

Fishing With Bow and Arrow vs. Killing Fish for Fun

Follow-Up 4/12/15:  In case anyone is wondering what ever became of the letter I sent the DNR back in March I am sharing an update. I am still awaiting a reply to my e-mail. I don't know how long those types of things usually take, but I honestly expected a note back by now.

I can only guess that it's because there aren't many people writing them letters along the lines of mine. For anyone that enjoys carp fishing even half as much as I do, please consider sending your own e-mail to the DNR and let them know that there are those of us who enjoy carp fishing just as much as others enjoy killing them with bow and arrow. It would be a shame if all the big carp are exterminated and all that's left are the run of the mill 8 - 10 pounders.

It might make more sense to limit the killing of carp with bow and arrow to those below 10 pounds and preserve the larger trophy sized carp for those like us who carp fish for the enjoyment that comes with catching the once-in-a-lifetime fish weighing 25, 30, 35 or even more than 40 pounds.

It's something to think about.

Original post from 3/21/15:

Some may wonder about the title I chose for this post. The point of the title is to draw attention to the difference between fishing and killing.

In my opinion, fishing includes catch and release; and catch and eat. However, my definition for fishing does not include killing fish for entertainment, killing fish to use as fertilizer, killing fish to discard them on the bank after you return to the boat ramp, or discarding them in the trash can in the parking lot on your way home.

I have been following a conversation about shooting fish with a bow and arrow in a Facebook Group that I follow closely. I sure will be glad when the weather warms a little more and everyone can get outside on the bank and do some fishing because the arguing and name calling is getting a little old.

I headed out for a few hours this morning to fish and things were pretty slow. There is still some ice on the water, so the water is bound to be cold. There are fish being caught, but they are few-and-far-between right now. But it's nothing a couple weeks of 60 degree weather wouldn't cure.

The conversation over on the Facebook page inspired me to write a letter and send it to the DNR. I have included a copy of it below. If you have always wanted to write a letter, but didn't have the time; feel free to copy and paste the words below and modify them for your own use. You can e-mail the letter to DNR-Fisheries@michigan.gov.

Hello,

 

I am writing to ask a question about bow fishing. 

 

I am an avid common carp fisherman as are many of my friends. I have been wondering for a while whether there are limits to how many fish bow fishermen can kill each day. Are there any actual limits? Are there any actual regulations that bow fisherman have to follow when they kill fish?

 

I have seen pictures of bow fishermen with more than 30 common carp killed in one day. I have seen people locally shoot a boat bottom full of carp and empty the fish into a trash can. I am guessing that since they placed them in a trash can they were not planning to eat them. I completely understand killing fish to eat, but I do not understand shooting fish and discarding them like trash.

 

I realize that many people do not regard carp as worthwhile, but their viability as a sport fish is highly underrated. I have caught many bass in my life and I've never experienced catching a bass that compared to the experience of catching even a small carp. Everyone that I have helped learn to fish for carp have told me the same thing.

 

There seems to be a lot of animosity between those who are serious carp fishermen and those who are avid bow fishermen. I am sure the two groups can peacefully coexist, but I feel some improved communication is in order.

 

Perhaps the common carp's viability as a sport fish could be acknowledged by the DNR in some way. They provide a multitude of angling opportunities in Michigan. They are one of very few fish that can be consistently caught from the shoreline without a boat in good numbers and with average size in the 8 - 12 pound range by even inexperienced fishermen.

 

Not everyone who likes or wants to fish has a boat. Not everyone who fishes aspires to catch bass, crappie and walleye. I urge the DNR to take a look at indiscriminate killing of common carp for the soul purpose of killing them to discard on the bank ,near the boat ramp, or in the trash can. I would encourage the DNR to consider implementing some rules and regulations for fish killing. I also urge the DNR to discourage the posting of pictures to social media and other websites that promote the indiscriminate killing of common carp.

Sincerely,

Brian Pearcy
Belleville, MI

First Fish Caught in 2015 (and 4 more)

Yesterday was the first very nice day we've had in 2015 on a weekend and I waited all week to get out and enjoy it. I was hoping the warmer weather would help with the chances of landing my first carp in 2015. With water temperatures hovering near 48 degrees, my hopes were high.

I landed the first fish shortly after 8 a.m. and another after 9 a.m.

The third was landed in the early afternoon and then two more between 4:30 and 5:00. It was a nice day on the bank and the sunshine certainly helped a lot.

Started the day with this little guy

Landed this 20 pounder about an hour later

Waited several hours for the third fish

This one sounded the middle alarms about 4:30

This one made the left rod scream just before 5 p.m.

It was a wet swim, but pretty productive after all. The muck boots were a must have for this spot.

It was must first time using butternut flavoring and it did not disappoint. Overall the flavor was very productive with bites throughout the day, 6 fish hooked and 5 landed.