Chunky Monkey 2 Years Ago

The photo below was taken 2 years ago this week.

The 20 pound fish was a welcome surprise that day because this swim has not been producing fish of that size with regularity any longer.

Focus on Your Own Effort

Quote of the day from Eric Kim -

Spend large swaths of time NOT looking at anyone else’s work. Spend more time looking at your own work! 

I couldn't agree more about this  concept. I try to follow this philosophy in my personal life.

Improving Carp Photos

It's always frustrating when our hard work catching the fish ends with a sub-par photo. 

Here's a nice option for you - a photo app called Snapseed. Examples of the kind of possibilities the app has to offer are included below with the original and filtered photos.

Original 

After filtering in Snapseed

Mirror Carp at Huron River

I haven't caught many mirrors over the years, so this one was very welcomed earlier this summer at the kid's fishing event.

Exploring New Carp Fishing Spots

The past two days I have been exploring potential new fishing venues. Today's trip was also a strikeout for catching carp.

After arriving at the chosen location at 7:30 a.m., I learned that the park remains closed until after 9 a.m.

So I picked an alternate location nearby. After arriving there I noticed a posted memorandum stating that accessing the lake and fishing from that location is prohibited by local city ordinance.

I identified a 3rd location and fished it for 3 hours.

In summary, I no longer recommend setting out in search of new waters without a great deal of intelligence gathering in advance. It will save a great deal of gasoline, money, time and ultimate frustration.

Carp Fishing is Hard Work Sometimes

Shallow men believe in luck, believe in circumstances.

 Strong men believe in cause and effect.  

Ralph Waldo Emerson

October is Carp Fishing Discovery Month

I left the house early today to do some exploratory carp fishing in the Jackson County area. We arrived at the first spot at 6:30 a.m. with it still pitch black. I used the flashlight on my cell phone and quickly determined that the access for fishing was extremely limited.

What looked like wide open bank space on Google Maps was actually posted "no trespassing" and "private property". It ended up being the driveway to a lakefront residence, unfortunately. It looks like it used to be part of the park, but not any more. :-(

So we headed to an alternate spot 12 miles away near a boat ramp that I've actually looked at previously. With the weather, the boat traffic was very sporadic but I'm not really sure there were any fish in the swim.

There were not signs of fish surfacing at all, but we tried for 3 hours or so. But with no beeps and no signs of fish, we determined that the day was a bust.

Has anyone else been out this week in the spirit of "Discovery Month"?

Have you "discovered" some new fishing spots?

Posing Your Carp Catches

A mid teens fish I caught recently 

There is a train of thought in carp fishing that says, "You must not look directly at the camera when posing your fish." The idea, I've been told, is that by not looking at the camera it gives more respect to the fish. If you look at my pictures of the carp I have caught you will immediately notice that I do not subscribe to that train of thought.

It's my personal preference to look directly into the camera, but I do not disrespect or disregard the fish. I respect both the fish and the person who is interested in my carp fishing hobby enough to seek out my pictures. It is my belief that looking directly into the camera conveys my appreciation for your interest in carp fishing and for taking the time to seek out my carping blog.

Thank you.

Time Lapse Mode for Carp Photography

The Hyperlapse Mode on my Samsung SmartPhone provides the capability for taking some interesting photos while out fishing.

I haven't used it yet, but I plan to begin experimenting with it on my next fishing trip this weekend.

This mode basically provides capability to take photos at specific intervals. Then those photos are looped together into a video.

Have you tried it yet? I'd love to see some of your results.

Small Mouth Buffalo

I love catching small mouth buffalo. Many people mistakenly call them "buffalo carp". They are not.

Without getting all scientific,  they don't have barbells. And small mouth buffalo are commercially raised and sold for fish meal used in animal feed.

The largest specimen caught in the United States weighed 82 pounds. I only wish they grew to that size in Michigan.

This one weighed 16 pounds from Lake Erie

Triple Run; Triple Release

This video was taken in 2016 and it brings back some great memories. I had 3 fish on the lines at once. It's only happened to me one other time and I landed those also. 

Remaining calm is key and focusing on one fish at a time helps. I left the rods in the holders and tightened to drag a little to slow them down slightly.

Fish for Enjoyment

Fishermen are competitive.  I am no exception. I like to catch fish where others have avoided or ignored. If a particular lake or river is difficult then I'm more likely to desire fishing there.

I ran across a quote recently from street photographer Eric Kim:

"Ignore your 'competition' - because you have no real competitors.  You are in a category of your own, therefore it is pointless to try to compare yourself with others."

Those words are a good reminder that we will likely enjoy fishing for our own enjoyment more than if we focus purely on its competitive nature.

So the next time someone asks why you fish for carp or display skepticism with the weight of a fish, recalling that quote might help.

A fish picture I processed in Snapseed, a free post -processing application

And if you want to improve your general photography knowledge, check out Eric's website.

New Best Carp for 2019

This 31 lb. 6 oz. carp was the 5th of five fish caught on Day 1 of my fall carp fishing extravaganza this past week. I don't often show a lot of emotion, but I think you can tell from this video that this fish made me pretty happy.

It was a good day.

More Carp Fishing Pictures

Here are some more pictures from earlier this week.

The first one provides a good example of how not to pose a fish. Finding some shade helps filter out the harsh light making for a much better picture. Shaded light will help prevent or at least minimize the blotches of white that occur from over exposure.

After that first picture I moved locations for picture posing and achieved much better results.

I love it. He's saying, "Put me back in the lake please."

Those streaks of white are very frustrating,
but preventable.

Much better

Similar pose, different fish

Fins up, near perfect photo for a carp selfie

More Michigan Fall Carp Fishing 2019

I don't always have the luxury of fishing when I really want to. I'm limited to weekends, holidays and vacation periods.  When I have bank time on the schedule  I like to arrive early.

This week's venue is located about an hour from home. Traffic can be a challenge with construction this time of year, but it's likely to occur on the trip back home.

I arrived about 15 minutes predawn and was unpacked and on my way to the spot when the first signs of sunlight appeared.

I could hear fish surfacing in the area, although they weren't all carp. The lake is popular with bass fishermen too and some were definitely bass. There's something about that sound that causes my heart rate to rise.

Setting up my bank sticks, alarms and nets first helps "mark" the spot, although in the offseason it's seldom an issue here.

I mixed up some panko, boiled feed corn, boiled bird seed, some deer mineral attractant and some flavored field corn using some "nut" powder as a binder to hold the ground bait mix together.

I caught my first carp within 15 minutes of casting and always feel the familiar relief - there would not be a "blank".

Over the course of two days I caught numerous carp in all ranges of size from low teens to twenties. I even managed one a little bigger than that too.

Here are some pictures from my favorite day on the bank this fall so far. Tune in later for some pictures and video of my biggest fish of the session.

22 pounds

This was not my biggest fish of the session

Close Up

Alternate side view

Thick, strong carp

Round and thick carp

Catch and release