October is Discovery Month

A few years ago I fished a small local pond on a hunch and a vague rumor that there may be some carp on hand.

Carp exploration 

Fall carp in a local park pond

Fishing for Carp in Weedy Lakes

I have discovered this year that just like confronting life's challenges directly, if you want to learn to catch fish in heavy weeds you have to fish the weeded swims more often.

Practice makes perfect.

I've learned that a loose drag works for me. I palm the reel to stiffen the line when needed, but it also gives me feedback from the fish to ease up and let them run when needed too. It takes practice but its helped me tremendously this year.

Fins Up Carp Photo

I caught this mid teens carp recently

I love it when the carp, camera, lighting and my ability to correctly pose a fish while keeping all those variables in check come together to achieve an intriguing photo like this one.

I have found that rather than taking photos in direct sunlight, it's best to find some shade. The shade helps filter out some of the harshness that causes fish to turn "white" or become "blotchy". I have developed a huge dislike for "blotchy" photos recently. But best of all, they are entirely preventable with some prior planning (and a little luck).

Carp Photo Editing

I did a little quick photo editing for less than 2 minutes. I think it improved this photo, which was already pretty good, a few more rungs up the ladder.
We spend a lot of time working to catch a carp. So it's always nice when the photo does justice to the fish and everything that went into landing it and safely releasing it to be caught another day.

Late Summer Suburban Carp Fishing

I had a vacation day today.

If I'm in town during vacation there's an excellent chance that I'm going to be fishing. Today was no exception.

In this new-to-me spot I did pretty o.k. in spite of some thick weeds an a few boaters that drove pretty close to shore before making the U turn back to the main lake.

It was a hour there and 90 minutes back, but the 6 fish were worth the drive.

I used a size 6 Gamakatzu G Carp R hook, sweet anise tournament corn from Trilogy Carp Baits, panko, bird seed, cream corn, and peanut suet with a few ground up boilies for ground bait / pack bait.

  

9 Steps to Success in Carp Fishing

Develop a Plan:

A goal without a plan is only a dream. Write down the steps to achievement.

For me, setting a goal is inherent with developing a plan. I can't really have one without the other. If I do set a goal without defining a plan, then I'm really just dreaming. If my goal is to catch 10 carp during my next fishing session, it's just a dream unless I take some steps to make it happen (tie rigs, make ground bait, purchase hook bait, decide what body of water I plan to target, decide how much time I have to devote to the fishing session, etc.)

Always be Learning:

Learn what you need to know. If you want to catch more fish, then develop the necessary skills.

Read carp fishing forums and websites. Watch videos, network with other fishermen and read fishing magazines. When I learned that the Department of Natural Resources in my state publishes fishing surveys, I started reading them in detail. The DNR also provides a database of lakes with the prominent fish species most likely to be caught in those lakes. If I want to catch 10 carp in my next 4 hour fishing trip, I probably shouldn't target a lake that lists the predominant species as pike, musky, bass and walleye. I need to use sharp hooks, tie the rigs correctly, use appropriate reels, rods, landing nets, etc.

Take Decisive Action:

Pursue your plan to achieve your goal aggressively with single minded purpose.

If your goal is to be a professional baseball player, you practice hitting, catching and throwing. A lawyer reads the law and learns it in detail. A business man learns marketing, promotion, hiring and firing. To me, it makes sense that a  carp fisherman should learn to make ground bait, identify and purchase carp baits that will be more successful than others on a particular body of water, learn to cast accurately with minimal effort, reel in fish without over thinking the task, how to effectively tire a fish out sufficiently before trying to net it prematurely, and on and on.

If you have been fishing for 4 hours a day, try expanding the timeline to 6 hours and see if that improves the results. If you have been fishing the same location for the last 5 sessions with few results, then switch up to a new location. If you have been losing hooked fish with dull hooks, try ordering some new hooks, hook patterns, change the hook length, sharpen the existing hooks, etc. Doing the same thing over and over will probably not change the results significantly.

Focus on the Goal:

Prioritize the goal over the “nice to haves” and “want to do’s”.

If your goal is to catch 10 fish in your next 4 hour fishing trip then you have to make sure you are prepared. For me, that means organizing my fishing gear, packing it where I can find it, loading the vehicle early in the evening the day before I plan to go fishing, mapping out the route I plan to drive to the fishing location, fueling the vehicle, identifying the specific location on the body of water I plan to set-up, etc.

If I decide to forgo those things and watch television, or go to a party the night before my trip and leave those fishing "priorities" to a later time, then I risk 1) forgetting "must have" carp fishing items (I've forgotten bite alarms and bank sticks in the past), 2) wasting time with unnecessary stops for supplies (cream corn, fuel, food, ice, can openers and drinks are items I've had to stop for in the past), and 3) arriving late to the fishing location only to find someone else already set-up in my preferred fishing spot.

Always be Improving:

If the progress is not what you thought it would be, then do better next time.

If something about the trip doesn't go as planned, make a mental note (or better yet a written one) for avoiding and preventing a repeat performance on the next fishing trip. For me, that means finding those missing bite alarms, hangers, bank sticks, favorite ground bait flavoring, etc. and put them in a good location to ensure they are not forgotten on the next trip.

Be Persistent:

Hard work and grit can overcome lack of luck, talent and or money.

My time for fishing is limited, so when I go fishing I need to make it count. Just because there are sometimes obstacles to my fishing plans, that doesn't mean I should just give up or quit. For me, that means I can't always fish the more desireable lakes or rivers on a given day and I have to stay closer to home.

My dilemna often goes like this: 1) Should I risk a blank at Lake X because I can only fish a few hours and there are fewer (but bigger) fish in that body of water, or 2) Since I have blanked the last 3 sessions, should I go to a location that has more fish and increase my chance of multiple catches? or 3) Since it's going to rain, should I go somewhere that allows me to keep the vehicle closeby?

Re-Assess the Plan:

If things are not progressing as expected, desired or needed; decide if the plan needs to change.

If I don't get the results I want, then I change the plan and sometimes change the goal. I decide if the goal is realistic. I decide if the plan is effective as is or needs changing.

Re-Launch:

If you decide to change the plan or adjust the goal, then re-group and start again.

You don't fail in the pursuit of a goal until you decide to give up trying. If you blank a few times, keep at it because on that 4th or 5th trip you might catch a new personal best. But don't get me wrong, sometimes giving up can be the best choice in a given situation. If there's a thunderstorm with lots of lightning headed my way, a shady character hanging around that makes me uncomfortable, or there's a tornado warning in the immediate area; I don't risk short term success for long term pain. Catching a new personal best or breaking a streak of blanks is not worth the risk of being struck by lightning, encountering a tornado, getting frost bite, or endangering my personal safety.

Enjoy Your Successes:

When you achieve a goal, celebrate it and enjoy the results of your hard work.


My final thoughts -

I hope these thoughts help you or at least guide you into developing your own plans and goals for what you hope to get from the sport of carp fishing.

Sometimes I think we forget that just because we see others achieving success based on their efforts and financial investment, doesn't mean that we have to desire those same plans, goals and results. We can decide at what level we want to pursue the sport as determined by the time we have available, the money we have to invest and even where we live in the state or country.

Big Carp Plans

I had big plans today. Then the weather forecasters had to go and mess it up. :-)

I was planning to fish a new (to me) body of water. But with the supposed rain, we stuck closer to home and fished a friendly venue where the vehicles can remain nearby.  I caught 11 carp and a decent looking catfish.

Once I dialed in on the proper casting distance, the fish "were on" (like Donkey Kong). The ground bait included prepared field corn, bird seed, cream corn, panko, peanut suet, and butternut flavoring. The hook baits included a piece of Enterprise buoyant fake corn soaked in Trilogy's bumbleberry flavor and two pieces of creamy butternut tournament corn from Trilogy. The catfish and one of the carp were caught on a pop up from World Classic Baits tipped with a piece of fake corn.

Lake Michigan Carp Fishing Video

I think these gentlemen are from Wisconsin. They have a nice fishing channel on YouTube and have some cool videos catching carp in Lake Michigan.

I'll also admit that I am extremely jealous that they have a fishing site that is so accessible. If that is a warm water discharge, I'm even more jealous because nearer Lake Erie I've not found a site like that after several years of searching.

Carp Fishing Friends

If you are interested in learning more about carp fishing, trying to catch some carp yourself, or are just interested in seeing it done and learning some techniques to try on your own, the Michigan Carp Anglers Facebook Group is available to help you.

A few of the fish caught at the recent Michigan Carp Anglers Fish In at Ford Lake

A member of Michigan Carp Anglers is available to help you learn to target and catch these exciting, powerful, sporting fish almost every weekend from April to late October. Post a comment below expressing your interest or visit the Facebook group to make contact with us.

If you have pictures of Michigan carp you've recently caught and would like to see them featured here, send me a note. I'm always looking for carp fishing pictures and stories.

Duck Video

Some ducks stopped by to visit on Friday while we waited for the next run. Ducks want to eat carp bait too I guess.

There was something peaceful about watching them.

First Time Carp Fisherman

My niece and her boyfriend have been visiting this week from Missouri. While the girls went shopping, the guys went fishing.

Zack is used to bass fishing, but did enjoy landing 3 carp in about 4 hours today.

Urban River Fishing

I got to fish one of my favorite spots from last year this morning. It's a very convenient spot as well. Unfortunately, it has stopped producing fish like it used to.

I landed a couple of fish early on with the largest being 17 pounds.

With 6 rods in the water, we could not buy a bite after 9 a.m. It made for a long day, but the weather was definitely one of the best days of the entire summer.

Increasing Your Carp Fishing Success Rate

Today I had an experience I would like to share. My goal is to help someone else who might experience the same issue in the past, present or in the future.

I prebaited a spot to fish on Saturday morning. Immediately upon casting I started getting runs.

The first run was a nice fish that ended up getting off after a fight and jumping out of the water. I landed the second fish, but then 4 more runs and all those fish got off after a short (or no) fight.

At that point, I decided to change strategy. These river fish today love to run downstream when hooked. They take a lot of line out fast.

Sometimes you can't get too rough with them or you start getting hook pulls. That was happening today, but I decided to just use my palm placed on the reel spool to slow down the fish instead of throwing the brakes on using the reel drag. This worked beautifully and I landed the next 10 fish.

I've been carp fishing seriously for 6 years and 85% of the time a stiffer drag will work to slow down fish. However, when what you're doing isn't working, you have to change. The alternative is a 6 carp day compared to a 14 carp day. I like 14 much better than 6.

Hot Weather; Hot Carp Bite

With a forecast high temperature of 88 degrees and 20% chance of rain I got out early, got lines in and guided 14 carp to the landing mat by 1 p.m.

At one point I was trying to eat a sandwich and everytime I tried to take a bite I got a carp run. Four carp later, I finished my lunch. :-)

I love days like today.

The carp from this venue are not big, but they are fiesty river runners that love to fight you every step of the way to the net.

I was fishing right in the middle of snags to the left, right and near side. I lost a couple early on, but dialed in the correct strategy by carp number four and had no further issues.