Michigan Small River Carp Fishing

Since I started catching carp in 2013 I have been wondering about the possibilities for catching carp in a local river (really more like a creek compared to rivers where I grew up in Missouri), so I decided today was "the day" to try it out.

My day of carp pursuit started at 6:30 a.m. When I was in the U.S. Army my Sergeant Major had a saying for days like today - O Dark Thirty. Hey, that would make a nice title for a novel wouldn't it? If I ever give up carp fishing, maybe I'll give that a try (probably not).

The area of town has a shortage of street lights so I had to scout out the area in the dark and picked a spot. I got set up and rods out, but after sunrise doubt set in.



The spot was weedy, shallow and generally a "downer", but I stuck with it for awhile. I ended up catching a small catfish before deciding to try another spot 14 miles down the road to the west.



After a short drive to the second venue it didn't take long to put a fish on the bank. My fishing partner, Bill "Buffalo" Wazelle landed a nice 9 pound 11 ounce catfish.



A few minutes later I landed a nice fighting carp, which confirmed the decision to move had indeed been "wise".



It took a while to land the second one; so long in fact that my fishing partner had to leave before the "screamer" occurred. I landed the second fish and couldn't have been happier.



The fish hit the bait hard and headed for the hills before the drag got him under control and in the net. I didn't notice it until looking at the picture later on, but the fish had an interesting tail "notch".



I called it a day around 4 p.m., but regret it for not staying a little longer. I am confident I could have caught at least one more (if not two).

I am happy with my "discovery" today. It's a spot with good average size (so far) and I'll definitely go back there to fish another day.

Looking for Gold at a New Spot Close to Home

First fish weighing 10 pounds

Second fish 8 pounds

I love this close up of the scales on the 2nd fish

Small Mouth Buffalo, Common Carp and Catfish

I spent the Labor Day fishing.

Here are a few pictures.

After catching 4 catfish I broke through with this chunky common carp

A few minutes later I landed this small mouth buffalo

For some reason the small mouth buffalo I'm catching this time of year are little "beat up" looking. This one was no exception and looked like he'd done a few rounds with Mike Tyson in the prime of his career.

A Few Fish Pictures

Here are few pictures from last week and this week so far.

Four Carp and a Catfish

Today I returned to a venue that has been very good to me lately. The carp are not consistently large and range in the vicinity of 5 to 20 pounds with most in the lower teens with a small and large thrown in occasionally.

A couple of weeks ago at this venue I caught 15 carp. I was absolutely on fire that day and left with blisters on my fingers from fighting and landing so many carp.

Today my luck wasn't quite as good, but I landed some good fish nonetheless. Here are some pictures.

This fish weighed just over 20 pounds and was my big fish of the day

This was my fourth fish of the day and weighed in at a few ounces under 15 pounds

The second fish of the day was a scrapper

I even caught a nice sized catfish weighing somewhere between 5 and 6 pounds

I like the golden tint on the scales of this fish

I don't often catch silver colored carp at my normal venues so seeing this one hit the net was a real treat

The first two fish came early with the 20 pounder caught shortly after sunrise in the early morning. You can probably tell from the shadows and sunlight on the fish scales that the sun was still a very deep reddish orange, which brings out the nice golden shades on the fish.

My third fish was a unique silver color. The scales were nearly perfect and the silver shades are not that common in the waters I normally fish. Although I've caught much bigger fish here and other places I was pleased with the fish because it's not common to catch common carp with the lighter shades of green and silver.

A Carp and a Catfish

I headed out today hoping to continue my good carp fishing fortune from last weekend.

I arrived at 5:30, set-up and casted the 3 rods. Within 5 minutes, the BFS alarm nearest me was sounding off. I thought things were looking up for carp, but I soon learned that I had a channel catfish and not a carp after all.

I had to wait another 10 hours to land a carp. Unfortunately, there was a slight algae bloom and the water was stained a dark green.

Here are a few pictures from today's session:

My spot for the day

15 1/2 pound carp

Channel catfish

New Personal Best - 15 Carp in One Summer Fishing Session

Last Saturday I headed out to my favorite local carp fishing spot. I was on the bank by 5:30 and made my first cast shortly before 6:00. I had my first fish on the mat shortly after 7:00.

I ended up with 15 total fish ranging in size from about 4 pounds all the way up to 15 pounds. I landed two doubles (4 total fish) and those 15 fish in on session fishing completely by myself are a new personal best for me.

Here are a few pictures from the days activities:

If you get a chance, come fishing with me sometime. We may not catch anything, but getting outside in the sunshine and enjoying summer weather is its own reward.

B-I-G Fish = B-I-G Business

Reprinted from CarpAnglersGroup.com

Trophy fish of any species will attract anglers from far & wide. This means more license & tackle sales as well as travel, food and accommodation expenditure coming into the economy of the region. It is therefore vital to help educate more anglers toward the positive benefits of careful handling and the live release of trophy fish of ALL species.

This includes the catch and release of trophy common carp (Cyprinus carpio) that are increasingly sought after by top anglers visiting the St Lawrence river.  The presence of big trophy carp indicates a healthy environment that will also support trophy fish of other species. The killing of large carp (as well as native buffalo, muskie and gar) only serves to stimulate the rapid increase in smaller fish which can lead to negative impacts on the aquatic environment.

You cannot ‘un-kill’ a fish. The concept of catch & release, especially for trophy fish, is a win-win for everyone. When a trophy fish is killed anglers know that it is no longer there to be caught. But when a trophy fish is released it stands out as a beacon of hope for other anglers to come test their skills and maybe catch it at an even heavier weight.

The economic benefits that result from the ‘catch & release’ of trophy carp as well as other species will be a significant boost for the local community.

I wholeheartedly support the catch & release of trophy fish while allowing anglers to retain a limited number of smaller fish for the table.

Fourth of July Weekend Carp Fishing

I had Friday off from work and decided to head out early and spend the day carp fishing.

I took about 2 hours for the first one landed on my homemade habanero boilie and 2 more hours for the next one caught on two pieces of Trilogy Baits maize tipped with a piece of fluorescent pink plastic corn from Enterprise.

Got there early and set up in a spot that has produced commons, small mouth buffalo,
 mirror carp and s smattering of catfish

This one was a single digit fish

A little bit bigger

The biggest of the day in the mid teens

Second fish caught on the maize, my first caught on maize for several weeks

Lucky Seven Carp Today

I usually fish on Saturday's, but with the rain yesterday I had to wait for Sunday.

We got out early and fished until about 2 p.m. The fish weren't in a feeding frenzy by any means but the action was fairly steady all day. It would have been better if I'd figured out that the carp were only hungry for boilies today and not maize.

I caught all but one of the carp on my homemade habanero boilies.

I really like the colors on this fish

Fish from this lake are generally darker in color than some of the other lakes we fish

This 17 pounder had very light and very interesting scale patterns. It was the biggest fish I caught today.

 I got a new cell phone. So far I am liking the picture quality of these 21 megapixel photos.

One of these days I am going to learn to pose my fish pictures in the shade to prevent the glare seen on this nice fish.

This is the typical size for carp in this lake

A nice looking fish that came close to the session's end as I was beginning to pack up to leave

TUF Line XP Alternative to PowerPro

Courtesy Amazon.com

I have been using TUF Line XP braided fishing line this year instead of Power Pro. It's less expensive than Power Pro at times when buying 1,200 or 1,500 yards to spool up multiple reels.

Aerospace technololgy has been utilized to produce this high performance fishing line. Tension Lock Technology TUF Line XP is produced under high tensions allowing more compaction of the fibers during the finishing process. This line is more compact, smaller in diameter, packs better on reels, offers better knot performance, casts farther, reduces rod tip wraps, and has higher abrasion resistance. Available in green, red, yellow and white.

Amazon currently has 1,200 yards for $118. Power Pro typically sells for about $150 on Amazon although it's occasionally available for less. They also have 2,500 yards for $173, which I think is a real bargain. That's enough to spool up 8 or 9 reels, which for me is 3 or 4 years worth of carp fishing.

In my experience braided line does not deteriorate with age like monofilament does, so it does not bother me at all to stock pile some extra line.

Carp Care Doesn't Have to be Expensive

When I started carp fishing the last thing I was thinking about was a landing mat. Luckily I saw some others fishing for carp at my local lake and they were using landing mats so I just emulated them.

The mats come at a variety of price points from $8 to $100 or more for a "carp cradle" that suspends the fish above the ground.

For the budget conscious here is a medium price range solution that should work well.

Available for about $30 or less from Big Carp Tackle

Thoughts About Carp Fishing

To whom it may concern,

As a carp angler who enjoys traditional rod and reel angling at carp tournaments in Michigan and recreationally almost every weekend in spring, summer and fall in Southeastern Michigan, I encourage Catch and Release carp fishing for trophy sized carp. I've seen such great joy in faces, young and old, when a large 25 pound common carp or 20 pound small mouth buffalo carp are landed. Many people from neighboring states including Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois actually travel to Michigan to fish for these large fish providing significant economic impact to Michigan communities. 

Brian Pearcy
Belleville, MI