A Carp Fishing Tale (or should I say tail?)

Before traveling to the 2018 Carp Anglers Group Midwest Regional event this year I followed the weather forecast closely for several days. With 2018 being my 5th annual trip to the event, it's something I look forward to for several months. But nothing could have prepared me for the 65 mph wind gusts and 2-3 foot waves rivaling the Gulf of Mexico in Bay City, Michigan on Friday during the afternoon "pre-fish" portion of the event.

I prepared two kinds of homemade boilies, flavored corn and birdseed with intentions of using it to pre-bait heavily on Friday in preparation for the Saturday morning starting time. I planned to pre-bait again on Saturday evening at 6:30 p.m. in preparation for the Sunday morning starting time.With the winds on Friday and the heavy boat traffic on Saturday afternoon/evening I changed plans; and there would be not pre-baiting. With the conditions on the river at the time, I considered it a waste of time, energy and resources.

Saturday's weather was nearly perfect to start and the river conditions correlated closely behind. The water had barely a ripple anywhere and as close to a "mirror" that a river likely ever gets in springtime. The wind and waves were only a memory.

I set-up and cast 3 rods at short distance. I noticed a small carp surface at first to the right side of my swim and a little while later I noticed my left rod was flickering. Experience told me that a carp or possibly a catfish was bumping my pack bait, which is a promising indicator of feeding carp and a reliable predictor of a future bite and a high probability of catching a fish in the near future.

The indicator would rise a little bit, and then fall. It was moving very slowly, but very deliberately. I kept watching and within a few minutes, I had a fish on the line.

I've noticed a trend locally that larger fish sometimes end up being lazy fish. As an example, my recent 37 pound personal best from a local lake made a couple of bob's and weave's at first when hooked, but ultimately gave up the fight early and was "dead weight" on 90% of the retrieve. But this river carp had other plans.

This fish made several runs straight away, but tired and I gained some line. Then as it neared the shoreline it darted hard to the right and after a while darted hard back to the left and toward the bank. There was a bunch of fallen tree limbs and submerged roots nearby. Ultimately, my adherence to patience and persistence corralled the 33 pound fish in the net with some assistance from Vinny in the swim to my left. (Thanks Vinny.)

33 pounds 2 ounces

I love it when careful planning, experience and luck join forces and result in catching fish. It's even better when the fish is the second largest fish you have ever caught.

In another "first" for me this year, this fish bent a size 4 hook at a 45 degree angle. In the end I was fortunate that I did not loose her to a hook pull. I've bent hooks on snags before, but never on a fish.

19 pounds 8 ounces

I weighed this fish 3 times and with two different scales hoping it would weigh 20 pounds and count for total weight at the tournament, but no luck. It weighed just under the mark.

If only he'd eaten a little more the week before! LOL

Casting Packbait

My wife took this video of my cast on Sunday morning.

I used a 12' rod, 50# braid and 4 oz. inline lead in this video. The cast landed about 60 yards from shore.

33 pounds 2 ounce Common Carp

Here is a video of the release of my 33 pounds 2 ounce common carp from last weekend.

28 pounds 3 ounce Common Carp

Here is a video of the release for a nice sized carp I caught last weekend.

This fish weighed 28 pounds 3 ounces.

It's Not a Carp, It's a Pike

Five years ago I was carp fishing on the Saginaw River and caught a pike while fishing for carp.

This pike took pineapple flavored corn during the retrieve.

In nearly the exact same spot on the river 5 years later I caught another one.

This pike took corn on a hair rig.

The corn was flavor was Cherry Berry from Trilogy.

Final Results and Pictures at the 2018 Carp Anglers Group Midwest Regionals

After a great weekend fishing at the 2018 CAG  Midwest Regionals, I'm now back at work.

Over the course of the 3 day event, I caught some fantastic carp and even a pike.

My largest two fish were 33# 2 oz. and 28# 2 oz. I caught 12 common carp and 2 catfish.

Thanks to World Classic Baits for sponsoring the Big Common trophy and also Trilogy Carp Baits for providing a bait package.

All of my fish were caught on Trilogy Tournament Corn as hook baits and I used World Classic Baits anise flavored boilies in all my ground/packbait mixes.

Here are a few highlight pictures from the weekend.

33 pounds 2 ounces

My favorite carp photo

The 33# fish early in the morning
prior to the official weigh in

Big Common Trophy from World Classic Baits
and bait package from Trilogy Carp Baits

Day 1: 2018 Carp Anglers Group Midwest Regionals

On March 4th, 5th and 6th, we attended the Carp Anglers Group Midwest Regional Tournament in Bay City Michigan on the Saginaw River.

Friday afternoon had wind gusts up to 65 mph and sustained winds at 35 mph. Practice and prebaiting was not really possible. You could have surfed some of the waves on the river.

Saturday morning provided fantastic conditions on the river. It was glass smooth for the first hour or so.

I was fortunate enough to catch a common carp tipping the scales at 33 pounds 2 ounces. It's the largest fish I've caught on the Saginaw River and 2nd biggest carp I've ever landed. Here are some pictures.

33 pounds 2 ounces

I love this picture.

Here are some other fish I caught on Saturday.

We only weighed fish at 20 pounds or bigger.  I had one at 19 pounds 10 ounce and another at 18 pounds 9 ounces. If they had only eaten a little more last week those fish might have made the cut. :-)

My New 2018 Personal Best at 37 Pounds and 7 Ounces

The local Michigan guys know that I've been hoping to catch a 30# fish for quite some time.

I think I might be one of the last of the local carp angling club crew who hadn't caught a fish of 30 pounds or greater. The absence of the magic 30# carp has much to do with the waters I fish as anything else. The convenient water near me just doesn't seem to produce many big fish at this point.

Four years ago I had one in sight but the net person zigged instead of zagged; and it literally became "the one that got away". I've had a 29# fish once since then. I was fortunate enough to improve upon that fish and increased my personal best by 8 pounds and change to a whopping 37 pounds and 7 ounces.

I could tell the fish was special when it was still 50 feet from the bank and knowing that; I got really nervous as it approached the net.

This water has produced some 30# fish in the past, but none in recent years. This fish was completely unexpected and much bigger than any fish I know of caught on this water in at least 2 years.

37 pounds and 7 ounces; my new personal best

Look at that tail. For reference the mat is 36 inches long.
I didn't have a tape measure, but I am guessing almost 40 inches.

What a tail span

This fish was very long and very dense

When I have more time, I may be able to adjust some of the over exposure in these photos to bring out more of the details in the fish. The trouble with fishing in bright sunlight is the difficulty taking pictures in bright sunlight. It's kind of a bummer when you catch the biggest fish of your life.

Posing a fish like this is also not easy. It was heavy to hold it up properly and kept wanting to lean backwards. I did manage a few shots to give the fish the justice it deserves.

Here's an example of how posing affects the pictures of the fish we capture. The fish is heavy and I'm having trouble keeping it perpendicular to the ground. It's tilting backwards about 60 degrees and compared to the picture above you can see how different the outcome is.

Homemade Carp Bait Boilies and Chops

With the ice storm we've been experiencing today accompanied by rain and temperatures in the 30's, I decided to make some baits so they are ready when spring finally arrives in Southeast Michigan. It's a late spring this year and it's really eating into my carp fishing exploits. Hopefully the preparations I have been making while waiting for better weather will pay off.

I made some for hook baits and some for pre-baiting

Can you imagine a bed of those on the lake bed?
Those hungry carp won't be able to resist them.

Basic Recipe for Boilies

• Semolina
• Soya
• Protein meal
• Wheat germ
• Bird seed
• Whey
• Cayenne
• Garlic powder
• 6 eggs

I used equal parts Semolina and Soya with 1 1/2 parts protein meal added. Example: 200 grams Semolina, 200 grams Soya and 300 grams Protein meal.

You can experiment with different amounts, but I've had success with equal parts Semolina and Soya. In my experience the bolies form up better that way.

Sonik Tournos 8000 reels

I purchased some new Sonik Tournos 8000 reels for this coming season. These reels are "quick drag" style versus the bait runners I've been using. Hopefully it won't be too much of an adjustment.

I found myself fishing with a very loose drag and then adjusting tighter when fighting the fish. That's exactly how a "quick drag" reels works, so I bought some.

Sonik Tournos 8000 reels

A guy on one of the fishing discussion groups was razzing me about buying a "knock off" reel. I did a little research and it does appear that the Sonik Tournos 8000 is a "private label" version of the Akios SCORA 80. I'm not quite sure what he was hoping to do by pointing that out. Perhaps he wanted to tarnish my purchase in some way, but "private label" manufacturing is quite common. I haven't confirmed it one way or another, but if it's true it doesn't bother me at all. Also, I paid much, much less than the $189 retail price via Carolina Cast Pro. One could make a good argument that buying a "private label" is a shrewd way to get quality for a lower price.

Buick, Oldsmobile, Pontiac; Ford, Mercury, Lincoln; Toyota, Lexus; Nissan, Infiniti are examples of "private labels" and there are many, many more I could name (motor oil, gasoline, food products, etc.). Private labeling and leveraging brands in that way is very common and a way for small companies (and big companies by the way) to compete in the market place.

$75 Finder's Fee Available

I am renewing my "finder's fee" offer for 2018 and increasing the offer to $75.

What I'm looking for...

• New places to fish for carp
• A place I haven't fished before
• A place where I can access shore fishing within a couple hours (or less) from Ann Arbor
• A place where I can fish from shore and catch a carp of more than 30 pounds

How to earn $75:

If I catch a carp of more than 30 pounds in 2018, at a location you recommend, I will pay you a $75 finder's fee. I will pay the "finder's fee" to the first person who recommends the location to me, once I catch a 30 pound (or greater) common carp at the recommended location.

Here's an example of the type of fish I'm looking for:

 

Recipe for Coconut Boilies

I have another homemade carp boilie recipe to share.

Coconut Boilies

Dry ingredients:

I roll into sausage rolls and cut (chop) with a knife.

1 cup soya flour
2 cups semolina
1 cup coconut flour
1 cup soya milk powder
1 cup protein powder
1 tbsp kelp powder
1 tbsp salt

Wet ingredients:

5 eggs
2 tbsp coconut cream
2 tbsp condensed milk
1 tbsp coconut essence
1 1/2 tbsp fish oil

Directions:

Combine wet ingredients, mix thoroughly and then mix in dry ingredients.

Roll into boilies. Boil for 2 minutes.

Dry on a cookie drying rack.

Store in Ziploc bags and refrigerate.

Finished chops, drying 

Small Mouth Buffalo

It looks like I may have forgotten to post this picture. I don't see it when I scroll down the page. Forgive me if it's been posted before, but even if it has, it was such a nice fish I don't mind posting it again one bit.

This fish was from a tough session this past fall of 2017. We tried a spot in the morning that didn't work out and then moved to another spot just before lunch. The wind was gusting to 30 mph at times and the conditions were pretty tough, although luckily it was a sunny day.

After losing a fish around lunch time, it was beginning to look like we'd end without a fish. My fishing partner threw in the towel around 3 p.m. and then about 20 minutes after he left, I caught this absolutely beautiful, flawless small mouth buffalo. This was the most pristine small mouth buffalo I have ever caught in this location. It weighed 16 pounds. Most of the bigger buff's look a little rough when they grow very big at all, but this one made me a happy fisherman.

Lake Erie

Update 12/4/17: After some additional research online, I'm beginning to think the fish in the picture below is not 100% small mouth buffalo. It looks to be a hybrid of some type. Black buffalo / Small-Mouth, Big Mouth / Small-Mouth, or something like that. Either way it's still a cool fish.

My favorite carp fishing spot over the years, which is near my home, easily accessed and a consistent producer did not let me down last weekend. I fished 7 1/2 hours with two bites and nothing landed, but as I started to pack up and head home I heard a few "beeps" on the alarm.

I picked up the rod and reeled gently and soon realized "fish on".

Very careful not to lose the fish, I kept the drag fairly loose. The fish started far right and ended up far left with the loose drag. I loosened it even more as the fish neared the net to be doubly sure there wouldn't be a hook pull once I say it was a very nigh small-mouth buffalo.

It turned out not to be a new personal best for me, but does rank 3rd on my largest small-mouth buffalo catches in the last 3 years.

This rig did not catch anything for me this time out,
but many people catch carp on similar rigs.

My personal best small-mouth buffalo is just over 21 pounds. This one was 20 pounds and a few ounces. It's a fish I am very
proud of. It saved a "blank" on a tough day of fishing and although you can't tell from the picture....it added a big smile
on my face when this fish was secured safely in the net.