Fly Fishing for Carp

Sometimes the cold weather of late fall and early winter gets expensive.

When temperatures drop into the low 30's and overnight lows get no higher than low 40's for day time highs, carp fishing ceases in my normal carping spots. Lack of fishing means I have some time for research. Lately, I have been looking into fly fishing for carp, smallmouth bass, pike and even muskie if the opportunity arises.

Never having fly fished before, the learning curve will be steep; but any worthy pursuit requires effort. That's what keeps it interesting for me.

My local fly fishing outfitter is about 7 miles away, so I stopped in on Friday afternoon to check it out.

I met some nice guys at Schultz Outfitters who love fly fishing and spent time with me discussing the possibilities and considerations.

I also found a plethora of videos on YouTube to help pass the cold months and help cure my no-fishing-itis.

I would love to find some used equipment to save a few dollars, but I will buy new too. The winter months provide some time to pull together a proper budget for spring fishing.

Based on my trip to Schultz Outfitters the ballpark all in investment is approximately $450 for gear and then $150 for 1-on-1 lessons.

I am not a boat owner, so being restricted to shore fishing and wading-accessible spots should help keep costs down too.

November Carp Fishing

I miss the good old days when we had 60 degree weather in November.

This is a screenshot from a video of a capture I had 4 years ago today. The fish weighed 22.5 pounds and was my 3rd fish that day (I caught 2 more after this one).

22 1/2 pound carp

2015 and 2016 were outstanding for carp fishing in November.

Carp Fishing Art

It's been a dreadful few days locally weatherwise. I was hopeful to catch a few more carp on Friday, but the approaching cold front had other ideas.

So, absent carp pictures, I've been working on some abstract photos this weekend.

These photos were taken near a river with the sunlight creating an interesting reflection of the fall colors using random camera settings.

I may have over done it on #2, but it was an interesting experiment.

Michigan Fall Colors

I fished all day on Friday. Carp were jumping to the left, right and center of the swim.
I absolutely crushed the same spot 3 weeks ago, but today I didn't get a single, solitary bite, bump, run, or fish.

I didn't sleep at a Holiday Inn Express last night (I haven't been in one since May), but I did see some nice fall colors.

Urban Carp Fishing

I caught this nice looking carp in late summer on the outskirts of urban Detroit.

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