Fishing for True Giants of the Depths

If I ever relocate from Michigan back to Florida at some point in the future I am definitely going to start grouper fishing.

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.

What Carp Does This New Spot Hold?

I will have to wait for spring to find out, but there is ample food as evidenced by some other large gamefish caught at this location.

My new secret carp fishing spot (LOL)

Carp Fishing Video

Underwater Carp Video

Carp Killer

Patrick put the GMC Sierra in reverse and eased the trailer hauling his top of the line fiberglass bass boat down the boat ramp like he’d done 100’s of times. He put the truck in park as the trailer’s rear wheel rolled into the water’s edge. He winched the boat off the trailer and into the water, then tied it off so he could return to park the truck and trailer. The morning was shaping up to be a great day for fishing.

He returned to the boat and fired up the 200 horse outboard motor, circled the boat 180 degrees and thrust the throttle forward. The boat was humming at full speed within a few seconds. The wake slammed onto the boat ramp as he left the launching area and proceeded to the main lake.

Fifteen years ago, Lake Wannabee had enjoyed a reputation locally as the Holy Grail for bass fishing. There were three professional tournaments and numerous other amateur level events hosted annually that raised thousands of dollars for local and national charitable organizations.

Patrick grew up fishing the lake. He joined his grandpa almost every Saturday morning when the weather was hospitable from the age of 8 for several hours on the water. They’d take the fourteen foot aluminum jon boat and its puny 9 horse outboard to fish the outer edges for blue gill, crappie, and catch an occasional bass or channel catfish. Using night crawlers for bait, they’d cast out a bobber about 10 feet from the boat toward the shoreline and wait for the bobber to drop below the water line, jerk the line slightly by moving the rod tip upwards, reel like hell and land the fish. It didn’t much matter what they caught, but that they caught something. Anything would do. It didn’t much matter, but it was a way to get out of the house and spend time with grandpa.

By his 17^th birthday, he’d saved enough money earned mowing lawns to buy the first boat of his own. It was a ragged out flat bottom painted flat black. The guy selling it said he used it for duck hunting. It was ugly as hell, but he didn’t care. It was a boat and it meant he could fish on his own anytime he wanted. Many times he’d head out in the late afternoons during daylight savings time months and every Sunday after church during the fall of the year and even some winter weekends as long as the lake wasn’t iced over.

He traded up to an aluminum V-bottom and then to his first used fiberglass boat with a real live well. He fished his first bass tournament in that boat and even finished a respectable 9^th in the event. Truth be told, he should have won the tournament. He’d spent more time fishing every nook and cranny of the lake; more than the other fifty-plus contestants combined. But with their sponsorships for tackle, rods, reels and a few who were pro staff for the big three boat manufacturers who also provided sponsorships to include fully rigged bass boats, he was outgunned.

And now ten years later he’d been a pro staff angler himself for two of the same three bass boat manufacturers. They were practically throwing money at him at times hoping for a few minutes of precious TV time; a priceless product placement worth its weight in gold or a least it’s weight in plastic or silicone so prevalent with the manufacturers of popular bass lures. It was a good gig for those lucky enough to get the opportunity.

All the time on the water, traveling the country fishing the professional bass touring series events had been hard on his marriage.

Patrick married Kelly two months after high school graduation. She was voted homecoming queen as a senior and named most likely to marry a redneck by her classmates. He was definitely redneck, but what the hell; he was her redneck after all. Besides they’d been going steady since 5^th grade. They were the “it” couple throughout high school and getting married was almost an afterthought. It just happened, as everyone expected.

They lived simply the first couple of years with Patrick preferring to spend any spare money left over at the end of the month on fishing equipment instead of saving up for better living conditions, clothes, groceries, or a better car for Kelly. When she’d suggest a purchase for her convenience, he always resisted preferring instead to prioritize everything toward fishing.

She had to admit, he was good at it. He was getting paid to fish, something he’d been doing for free two-thirds of his life. His first win at a $10,000 to win out-of-state event down in Okeechobee, Florida turned into a nice second honeymoon. They left Okeechobee Sunday night after the final weigh in and arrived at Boca Raton a few hours later. They got a room at a beachfront hotel and spent a week lounging around the pool and on the beach watching the waves rolling in from the Atlantic. He won the next three professional tournaments he entered and used the money buying a second bass boat, a new 4 x 4 to tow it with and even bought a little house for the two of them.

Through the years she’d always played second fiddle to fishing. Fishing paid the bills, but for the past few years, money from fishing was slowing a little.

Patrick pulled back on the throttle and let the boat settle in the water as it neared a shallow bay on the north end of Lake Wannabee a full 3 miles from the launch ramp. It’s where the bass came to spawn. Lately he’d been spending more and more time in this area of the lake than years past. He’d need a calculator to count the numbers of prize winning bass he hauled out of this honey hole. Three of the keepers he caught here during the bass tournament a few years ago, clinched the tournament and the $25,000 purse. He won enough to pay for the new hair plugs to cover up his balding head and replace the veneers on his upper and lower teeth. He needed to look good in the winner’s circle, on the TV commercials his sponsors insisted he be in and for the occasional out of town rendezvous becoming more and more common as he spent more and more time away from home. With the slowing economy the big money tournaments were fewer and farther between and Kelly didn’t like spending so much time away from home anymore. She knew the deal; keep the fisherman happy and the checkbook stayed fat and happy. She sure as hell didn’t mind spending the money he won.

His favorite fishing spot was cooling off lately. In year’s past, fishing this area guaranteed a 7 or 8 pound fish or even two or three every fishing trip. Something was definitely up and hurting the fishing. And it wasn’t only in this area of the lake. It was getting harder and harder to catch a trophy sized bass in the lake period. There were rumors some of the manufacturers were considering pulling out of the sponsorship deals on the annual pro tournament. And with sponsorship drying up, that would put an end to local pro tournament events on the lake requiring even more travel to events farther from home.

Some of the locals said the slower fishing might be caused by the algae blooms that were becoming more common each year. The theory was that with more housing development near the lake and a couple of luxury resorts catering to out of town bass fishing weekend warriors.

Who could blame them anyway? If you got the dough to build a mega mansion you ought to have the right to fertilize the grass to keep it green. Run-off? The water’s got to go somewhere right? If it’s near the lake, it’s logically going to run into the lake. Right?

The way he saw it, the realtors and developers were making money from his reputation anyway. It was his fishing success nationally that was bringing in the weekenders wanting to fish where the pro’s fish anyhow. They should be paying him a commission.

The development could be causing the algae blooms, but little could be done about that. Patrick had another theory. It was caused by the freakin’ invasive species - German carp - that were taking over the lake. You could hardly spit off the boat these days without the spittle hitting one of them.

Everybody knows carp eat bass eggs during the spawn. He’d met one of the biologists from the university once and asked him about the carp eating bass eggs. The biologist was not really definitive with an answer, but he said it couldn’t be ruled out, but he didn’t really know for sure.

Who cares if they really know for sure. Who knows anything for sure anyway? If it couldn’t be ruled out, then that was enough for him.

But he had a fix for them freakin’ kraut fish. He had some control over them. Damn jack wagon mother… Errgh! He was getting all worked up just thinking about it. Time to get to work.

The boat had drifted 10 feet from shore and sat in two feet of water. This area was always good for some of the larger carp that seemed to school nearby. If bass spawned here then it stood to reason carp probably did too. But who really knew for sure? All he knew is the German carp were costing him chances at some prize money. And what if the damn carp took over other popular bass fishing lakes? How many more tournaments were in jeopardy?

Those carp are not going to jeopardize my livelihood. Stupid trash fish. Stupid bottom feeders.

He took the compound bow from storage and selected an arrow.

It’s the biggest ones I’m after. If a 5 pound bass spawns 2,000 eggs, how many eggs does a 20 freakin’ pound carp spawn? 10,000? 20,000? 50,000? With that many carp spawn, those bass don’t stand a chance. How’d the carp get in this lake anyway?

He preferred broad heads on the arrows rather than the quick release variety. In his experience the broad heads provided more penetration and a cleaner kill.

Those carp have thick skulls sometimes. But everyone knows you’ve got to shoot the carp just behind the gills.

He steadied himself in the boat and trained his eyes on the water below.

Where are those mothers…? Here carpie. Ahh, there you are.

Come to daddy.

Let it  fly! Got him!

In a matter of a few hours, Patrick killed more than 30 carp – the smallest of them weighed 22 pounds – which is an average sized adult carp in most area lakes and matching the weight of the largest largemouth bass ever recorded caught in the state during the depression era.

A few weeks ago he mentioned to Kelly that he’d been out shooting carp with bow and arrow. She started asking questions about what he did with all those dead carp. He could tell she didn’t approve. She’d never questioned the bass he caught, because the bass were caught and then released. In the tournaments, there were penalties if the fish were not brought to the weigh in alive. Aware that a dead largemouth bass could cost an angler a big pay day, she did not approve of killing fish – even carp – and just throwing them on the bank for the coons and buzzards to scavenge.

Later that day he arrived home, unhooked the trailer and headed into the house. Dishes in the sink remained in sink, unwashed from the prior night’s dinner meal. Laundry lay on the couch where it was placed after removal from the dryer earlier in the morning. An empty bag of potato chips and empty container of sour cream dip lay on the foot rest.

Why should he be surprised? Did she ever do anything anymore?

He checked the basement workout room. He checked their bedroom. The bathrooms. Nowhere to be found. He found her outside later on lounging in the pool on a large floating lounger sun tanning in a pink bikini. The blue colored lounger had cup holders on both armrests. She had a margarita in one and a daiquiri in the other.

Did she even own a one piece suit? Didn’t she know she’d outgrown that bikini at this point? It’s a good thing the pool was in the backyard. The neighbors don’t want to see that.

And then it happened again, she started in with the third degree about the carp.

Did he throw them on the bank? Did he leave them for the coons and buzzards again? Why’d he kill those poor little innocent fish? It’s barbaric she said. You’re a monster she said. Why did he shoot the biggest ones first?

Didn’t she realize those poor little innocent German carp were jeopardizing the lifestyle she’d grown so accustomed to?

I bet it’d be a different story if I don’t keep bringing home that prize money and endorsement checks. That ungrateful little b….

He headed out to the garage and pulled the bow and broad head tipped arrow out of the boat. He walked through the gate into the pool area. Took up a position, steadied the bow, drew back the arrow, took deliberate aim, and let it fly.

Halloween Carp Fishing Video

I made this video on Halloween while fishing for carp near Lake Erie.

I apologize in advance that the carp is out of the frame for part of the video. I didn't have anyone to help take the video and had to prop the phone up on a 5 gallon bucket I use to store my ground bait and particles.

Fully Scaled Mirror and Nice Mid-20's Common Carp

I have been carp fishing for almost 3 years at this point. That's 3 solid years concentrating on carp specimen fishing. I don't fish for anything else.

There is a local venue known for mirror carp. I fished the venue a lot when I was starting out because it's loaded with carp and it's close to my house. I see others catching mirror carp at that venue on a regular basis, but they have been elusive for me at that venue. I fish there because the action is usually fairly steady, although a 20 pound common would be considered "large" for that particular location. I had always hoped to catch a mirror and finally did last year.

There is another venue that I fish quite a bit as well. I like it because it's near Lake Erie and there is a chance to catch a nice lake fish at any given time, especially in autumn.

I was at that location today hoping to catch a new personal best, which for me is 27 pounds or greater. The action was fast and furious for me beginning within 30 minutes of my first cast.

I never really considered the chance to catch a mirror carp at that location, but today I was rewarded with a very nice fully scaled mirror.

Mirror carp

I caught 14 fish in total ranging from 4 pounds to 24 + pounds. Most of the fish were in the mid-teens.

Here's a picture of the largest fish I caught today. It's not a new personal best, but I enjoyed catching it.

24 pounds

How to Tie a Blow Back Rig Video

I have been using a simple bottom bait for my first 2 1/2 years fishing for carp. While it is satisfactory for a basic rig, it does have some limitations for more serious carp fishing efforts.

The primary draw back to a simple hair rig that rests on the bottom of the lake or river is the bait sitting down in the mud, silt, vegetation, etc. and the fish doesn't see it as an easy opportunity.

I still manage to catch my share of carp with the simple rig, but I am sure I can improve my catch rate by branching out into some more flexible rigs.

I am committed to using the blow back rig as my "go to" rig next year. This winter will be spent mastering this rig and tying up as many as possible to prepare for next carp fishing season, which in this part of country really doesn't get started in earnest until mid-April.

Here is a video that provides step-by-step details for the blow back rig that my friend Adam uses. This rig caught a 53 pound common carp this year on the Susquehanna River in Pennsylvania.

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

Another Carp Casting Video

This cast was so good my wife missing the splash down! So funny.

Carp Casting

A video of me casting

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.