Big River Carping

We've reached the time of year when the easy carp fishing successes start to decrease. This provides opportunities to branch out a little into untapped venues.

We live near a carp fishing resource that I don't fish enough - the Detroit River.

Pre-COVID I had big plans to fish the river a lot in 2020, but some popular spots are pretty congested at peak fishing times and days.

While not directly on the river, there are nice accessible spots with parking and shade on Belle Isle. Unfortunately, I've not caught a fish there yet.

Urban River Carping

I like the convenience of carp fishing in smaller urban rivers. Food, gas and other conveniences are close by and it's a shirt drive from home.

This is a typical size at the venue.
Average weights range from 8 to 12.

If it ever grows into its belly,
this fish may be a PB the next time
it is caught.

Two Common Carp

2020 has been a rough year for carp fishing in Michigan.

By this time of the fishing season I would typically have caught at least 20 - 30 carp, but this year I've caught only 2 common carp and 2 big mouth buffalo.

This Detroit River fish was in pristine condition. The scales were perfect.

This fish was smaller than I hoped, but very welcome for my first carp of 2020.

I'm always on the look out for new fishing locations for carp fishing. Many of my typical go to spots are not producing fish consistently right now.

The lull at established spots creates a need to locate, scout and fish new place to catch carp. Being an effective scout for new carp swims pays dividends in the long run, but in the short term it can be pretty tough.

Some ideas for effective scouting:

• Michigan DNR website
• Recommendations from fellow fishermen 
• Carp fishing forums
• Facebook groups
• Google search
• Blogs
• Fishbrain
• And on and on...endless possibilities 

2nd Buffalo of 2020

After blanking on Friday, I headed out to a different spot on Saturday. It was a long day as well, but I did grind it out for 7 hours and managed to catch this small big mouth buffalo on a tiger nut / maize combo hook bait.

I think the water temperatures here are still a little cooler than optimum for successfully catching more than a fish or two at this point. Things should improve as we have more consistent temperatures in the 60's during the next couple of weeks.

If you want to learn how I catch buffalo, this prior post will help:

Tips for Catching Smallmouth Buffalo

First Fish of 2020 - Big Mouth Buffalo

I caught this big mouth buffalo during my first outing in April 2020.

It was my attempt at social distance fishing. Normally, I encourage people to ask questions when I'm out fishing. People are always interested when they see big fish being caught. It's something they are interested in and for most folks this normal sized buffalo weighing about 13 pounds would be the biggest fish caught in their lifetime.

I caught this first on my second round of casting on a hair rig of maize for bait.

I carried hand sanitizer, baby wipes and a face mask with me. The sanitizer helped with hand washing and the face mask was available if I needed to have direct interaction with someone at any point. Car trouble, medical trouble, flat tires, a vehicle accident, buying gasoline are all possibilities.

The release video turned out pretty well. Its tricky to video with my cell phone and maneuver the fish concurrently.

If you want to learn how I catch buffalo, this prior post will help:

Tips for Catching Smallmouth Buffalo

39 Hours of Angling - Season Premiere Tonight

Watch it now:

39 Hours of Angling

Happy 2020

It's the time of year people set some goals for the upcoming year. I have lots of personal goals regarding my personal life, health and career, but since this is a carp fishing blog I'll keep it carpy.

I don't like to put a timeline on catching new personal bests because I usually catch them when I least expect it.

But my primary desires are two fold:

-- Catch some carp on a fly rod
-- Fish more in 2020 than 2019

That's going to require purchasing fly fishing gear, learning to use it, and brushing up on tactics for stalking fish.

The second one should be easy, but it does require a little luck with favorable weather and is sometimes reduced when unexpected family or work events arise.

-- And last, but not least, I'd like to take 3 people carp fishing that haven't experienced it before to help grow the sport.

If you know someone who might enjoy reading this blog, please share it with them.

I am grateful for my core group of 40 or so casual readers and I'd like to continue growing it.

Don't Apologize for Catching Fish

Today I saw a post on a popular Facebook Group of a spectacular looking fantail carp.

The poster had taken some stunning pictures of the fish, which would be a once in a lifetime fish for most carp fishermen around where I live.

The poster felt a need to apologize for the fish not being very "big" (i.e. less than 30#).

The fish was likely a mid-teens fish, but the weight is beside the point. For me, those comments apologizing for the size detracts from the great looking fish.

I did the same thing in the past myself. As carp fishermen I think we sometimes place too much importance on weight. I'm getting away from posting weights on my catches unless it's a 20# plus fish (and I don't post all of those depending on the body of water).

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.