How to Tie a Hair Rig for Carp Fishing

Here is a "how to" video from Carl and Alex to help you learn how to catch carp using a basic "hair rig".

18 Pound Common Carp Video

This video of an 18 pound common carp landed in Bigelow Park on the Saginaw River was taken by my wife during the 2016 Carp Anglers Group Midwestern Regional fishing tournament.

Carp Fishing Video from Saginaw

 

 

A little video my wife filmed last Friday. This fish weighed 15 pounds and was my second fish that day.

Pictures from the CAG Midwestern Regional at Saginaw River

I look forward to attending the Carp Anglers Group Midwestern Regional each year. I have been making plans to attend the 2016 event since late 2015, so Friday morning I headed out early for the trip to Saginaw as a member of Team Michigan.

On Friday I fished a new area of the river (for me) and within 30 minutes of casting out I landed the first fish – a small 10 pounder.

It took several more hours to land a second fish, at 15 pounds, which was unfortunately my last fish for the day.

 

10 pounds

15 pounds and then some

Saturday morning we arrived at the peg draw anticipating a day filled with carp fishing and hoping for high quantities of high quality fish topping the 20 pound mark, which on the Saginaw River is fairly common.

I landed a 13 pounder very early on and a nice channel catfish later in the day, but unfortunately carp were regretfully absent from my swim the remainder of the day on Saturday.

13.1 pounds



Team Michigan was in second place heading into Sunday. My teammates started landing fish early in the day, but unfortunately my luck was running cold for the first few hours. I was fishing my particular spot in Bigelow Park peg for the first time. Heavy winds impacted my casting and prevented me from putting the bait in the proper zone. Teammates were landing fish closer to shore, so I tried that awhile. But I kept trying my preferred spot off and on with little success.

The winds subsided in the late afternoon. Casting and current improved substantially as a weather front approached. The skies turned dark blue and it looked like rain was imminent. I commented to my wife that all heck was going to break loose at any minute. Sitting back in the sport umbrella out of the wind, she asked why and I explained that it was likely to start raining hard soon and I had a feeling the fish were about to start feeding heavily.

14 pounder

16 pounder

18 pounder

25 pounds 9 ounces

It turns out I was incorrect about the weather, but right about the fish. After a tough day playing the waiting game on Saturday afternoon, these fish were a welcome arrival. Just when it seemed like they'd never come, things turned around.

This was my third time fishing the regional. I think this year's conditions offered the biggest challenges (at least for me), but a tweak here and there; and suffering through a pity party or two paid off with some nice fish at long last.

4th consecutive Team Michigan victory

Carp Fishing in Bay City Michigan

Here is another video from our weekend fishing the Saginaw River near Bay City, Michigan.

Saginaw River Carp Fishing

My wife shot this video last weekend during the Carp Anglers Group Midwest Regional Tournament.

 

This is a video of me fighting and landing a 16 pound river carp in high winds and moderately heavy current. Some people wonder I why I enjoy carp fishing so much. I offer this video as an example.



Lake Erie Michigan Carp Fishing

In Southeast Michigan carp fishermen are lucky to have access to Detroit River and Lake Erie. On Saturday I headed out to a spot near Lake Erie hoping for a chance at landing some catch and release carp.

The Midwest Regionals are next week in Saginaw. After blanking 3 times in a row my goal for the day was to bank some fish and build confidence for next week's event. We succeeded.

Today's effort included a nice small mouth buffalo and spunky 18 and 14 pound commons.

Mid teens common

13.5 pound small mouth buffalo

 

18 pound common carp
 

 

These fish were all caught with Trilogy Carp Baits flavored corn and R & W Carp Juice flavorings.

Blanking is Never Fun

I am kind of bummed out today.

Last weekend the weather didn't cooperate so when the 70's finally arrived yesterday I was excited to get out and fish. I was confident that fish would be caught in significant numbers. But 7 hours later with only 1 small bite and no fish caught I packed up the Explorer in complete disappointment.

This Buddy Guy song just about sums it up.

Carp Art

It's too cold to fish this weekend, so I tried to make some carp art indoors where it was a little warmer

Saturday Night Blues with Albert Collins

I fished today in some tough conditions and blanked, so I am drowning my sorrows tonight with some good old Texas blues from Albert King. When you listen to his music you can definitely see his influence on Stevie Ray Vaughn. Stevie Ray took Albert Collins style and improved on it.

2016 Michigan Fish In Event

The Michigan member of the Carp Anglers Group are hosting the first fish-in of 2016 on Saturday April 2nd at Sandy's Marina on Belleville Lake.

Time: 9 a.m. - 4 p.m.

This will be a fun, friendly and social fish in. If you have always wondered about carp fishing, but didn't know who to ask or how to get involved this is your perfect chance to get involved and learn the ropes.

20+ pound common carp

 



 

Catch and release

Carp Fishing Alliances

I have written about alliances, sharing carp fishing information, baits, techniques, locations, rigs, flavors, etc. in prior blog posts. No one has really taken me up on that idea so far, but it's still valid. Sharing information can provide better fishing results for everyone involved.

I am in a carp fishing club, but sometimes it does not lend itself to the type of fishing information sharing I am thinking of. In large groups there are people with a variety of goals, agendas and intentions. A segment of  any large fishing group might be purely recreational, some might be purely professional, others might be looking for sponsorship opportunities, and still others might be interested only in hard core competition.

I have a day job and can't seriously pursue fishing professionally; and besides that I don't have the talent for doing that. But when I do fish I am semi-serious about catching the most fish or the biggest size that I can on the days I am able to go fishing.

If this sounds like you and you are interested in sharing along these lines, let me know.

Two heads are better than one. We can cover more ground with two than as single individuals. Give it some thought and let me know.

At 24 pounds, this was my personal best carp for quite a while a few years ago

2017 Austin Team Championship: Cardinal Carpers

I missed the 15th annual Austin Team Championship in 2016, but I have plans to attend the 16th annual event in 2017. With 11 months to prepare I should be able to put a plan in place to maximize the opportunity to participate in the next event.

I'm new to tournament carp angling so I need to get up to speed throughout the year in 2016. I plan to fish a lot of new venues to challenge myself and find ways to make adjustments for conditions that I haven't experienced before.

I plan to fish as "Cardinal Carpers", which is a tribute to growing up in Missouri as a diehard fan of the St. Louis Cardinals. If the names Whitey Herzog, George Hendrick, Jack Clark, Tony LaRussa, Willie McGhee, Vince Coleman, Scott Rolen, and Ozzie Smith mean anything to you; and if you would like to fish with me at the 2017 Austin Team Championship next year in Austin, Texas drop me a line.

Throughout the year, I will be tagging my posts on Facebook as #cardinalcarpers and posting pics of carp I catch wearing my favorite Cardinals ball cap in the photos. To demonstrate your Cardinals pride please do the same and drop me an e-mail. With your permission I'll share the photos on this page to help promote our efforts to compete at the 2017 ATC.

Upper teens carp landed a couple of years ago near Lake Erie

 

If everything goes as planned I will spend a week in the Austin area and do some fishing at Decker Lake and Emma Long as well. I enjoy catching buffalo and carp. Texas has some huge buffalo opportunities that I plan to pursue.

Saturday Carp Session

I headed out this morning with high hopes. The weather forecast predicted a sunny day with temps in the low 50's. With temps in the low 20's, lots of frost, and puddles of frozen water on the bank when I arrived at my favorite carping spot this morning, I was a little nervous.

I got lines in by 8:30 and started waiting. I waited some more. And waited some more. I re-casted. And re-casted again. And then again.

By noon I was having some doubts about keeping my streak of catching fish alive (4 straight sessions).

And then the sun came out strong and proud. Activity started picking up on the rods in fits and starts. Then the right rod got a run.

As luck would have it I was in mid-cast on the left rod and had to stop mid-way through to pick up the screamer. It was muddy, wet and slick on the bank today and I felt a sharp tinge in my left side when I turned to grab the screamer. It truly felt like I had stuck myself with a sharp object. By the time I got to the rod the fish was gone, but my pain remained.

I pulled a muscle about midway down my rib cage and it hurt like everything and then some.

But the pain was all better about 30 minutes later when I caught my largest fish in 2016 so far.

18 pounds and change

This fish snuck up on me today. When I saw it in the water it didn't look very big, but once it was in the landing net it was much bigger than I realized.

Most of the fish I've caught in 2016 to date have been in the 10 - 11 pound range, so an 18+ pound fish was a welcome addition to my fishing efforts.

One of the pretties sights in carp fishing - releasing the fish to be caught another day by another carp angler

I really liked the contrast of the fish against the green on my carrying sling

Heading back home again

Good Friday Carp Session

I got out for a carping session today. The temperatures did not cooperate. With temps at 24 degrees when I left the house early this morning, I was a little skeptical and leery about whether the carp would be actively feeding.

It was cold, overcast and windy until about 1 o'clock. The sun popped out from behind the clouds and when it did the alarm on my far left rod sounded off on a run. The lone fish I caught today weighed a little more than 11 pounds.

11 pounder