Blast From the Carp Past

This fish was featured on my employers' home page and seen by up to 200,000 people world wide.

I need to fish this venue again soon

Carp Picture Editing

I love Google Photos. The free editing tool is fun

A Nice Catfish

If I have to catch a catfish, these are what I prefer.

My Smallest Carp This Year

Tipping the scales at a little more than 1 pound, I caught this small carp today.

Carp Before Rain

I spend the week looking forward to my Saturday fishing time. So when the forecast is for bad weather it's a major downer.

I did manage a couple fish before the thunderstorm.

Michigan Carp

I got out today to do some carp fishing here in Michigan at a spot my friend Bill found earlier in the week. We made a new friend in the process, so it was already shaping up to be a good day. And now when we do catch the dreaded catfish going forward, we can help someone out who will really appreciate it.

Catching 7 carp and 3 catfish made it even better.

Here are some pictures:

Detroit River Carp

I got out yesterday for some carp fishing on the Detroit River. The river holds many carp and I'm sure some trophy size fish reside there.

I have caught about 12 fish from the river in my 5 sessions there so far. Here are some pictures from yesterday.

An unexpected small mouth bass

A mid-teens carp

A picture taken while
returning the carp to
the river

Summer Carp

Sometimes summertime is pretty tough for fishing but I managed this nice fish.

Small River Carping

I had a great session last weekend at a local venue. I prebaited the prior afternoon and was hopeful it would help. Boy did it ever!

I had my first carp within 2 minutes of the first cast. The bite was so fast and furious that I had to call my wife to come help net the fish. It was wearing me out. But she declined and I was wiped out at day's end. It's a good problem to have.

I ended up with 35+ fish landed.

Local Carp Venues Hidden Possibilities

There is a lake venue 5 minutes from my home that I seldom fish. It has a reputation as a lake with smaller carp that range below 12 pounds. As a result of that reputation, it doesn't get a lot of love from carp fishermen. In the interest of full disclosure I do know someone who caught a 20 pound carp a while back, but that is very rare in this lake.

Earlier this week I prebaited a spot that we fished and it produced results. We ended up with 8 or 9 carp today. The picture below represents the typical size fish you can expect at this venue.

This fish was caught in 15 feet of water

Want to cast farther? Get new reels.

I blanked today but I did learn / confirm something.

I used Sonik 6000 reels for 4 years on 12 ft Hurricane rods. I switched to Sonik 8000 reels when they were on clearance and use the same rods.

I can easily cast 30 to 40 yards farther with the bigger reels.

Dancing Carp

Getting the right pose for a picture takes a few "tries" if you want to make a good picture of the fish.

Here's a funny animation of the process.

River Carping

I really enjoy catching carp from rivers. Lakes are fine too, but there is something about the carp in rivers that make it more rewarding.

It could be the expanse of the river making it all the more challenging, but likely it's the current in rivers that make the carp stronger pound for pound and very unpredictable.

I didn't have any luck today, but I did take this interesting picture of my spot.

This river runs into Lake Erie. The spawn is at its peak this weekend so fishing is pretty tough going right now.

This picture is from a few years ago, but it's still one of my all-time favorites.

Carp Videos From Saginaw

33# common carp from Saginaw.

19# common carp

My New Sonik Quickdrag Reels

I used my new Sonik Tournos 8000 QD reels last weekend for the first time and caught my first carp on the new reels.

I still need to get used to them, but I like them so far.