Scouting a New Spot

A couple of weeks ago I headed out to a new spot with high hopes. It was a river location that feeds into Lake Erie near the park where I decided to fish.

With the warmer weather and relatively shallow waters, the moss and weeds were very heavy. Although much heavier than I like, recent reports regarding state record fish being captured in this location convinced me that it was probably worth overlooking the weeds and giving a shot.

I started the day with rods casted near, far and medium distance. After an hour of no bites, I tried 3 in close. Then I followed that with two at far distance and one medium. Although I could see fish, the bites were non-existent. As luck would have it, I was seeing spawning fish just a few feet from the bank. They apparently had other things on their mind than eating my panko, field corn and butternut offerings.

Just I had almost packed up everything to leave, I had a nice run on my right rod. It also happened to be the rod farthest out in the river just past what I believe was the edge of a big bed of weeds.

I was rewarded with a fish weighing just under 20 pounds.

Caught on three pieces of flavored corn and a piece of fake orange maize.

I cropped this one a little tighter to show the size of the mouth a little better

I was casted out at least 70 - 80 yards in the river and although there was no current to speak of it still took quite a while to land this fish. An audience developed on shore consisting of several others who always hoped to catch a carp there, but never had the luck or skill. At least now they know there are some higher quality fish to be had from that river spot.

There was zero boat traffic while I was there. It probably had something to do with the 3 feet depths, which is pretty shallow for any motorized boats of size. I do think this spot is pretty popular with kayakers at various times of the year.

Pleasure Boating and Shoreline Fishing

Shoreline fisherman (me)

I had an experience yesterday while fishing in Washtenaw County that made me very angry.

I arrived at 7 a.m. to fish a new-to-me-spot on a popular lake. The lake is apparently very popular with pleasure boaters. After 4 hours of fishing with no real issues to speak of, boating traffic near my fishing location from the shoreline increased dramatically.

I have found that some boaters apparently have very little awareness and understanding that people do enjoy stationary shoreline fishing in a lake and they just as they have a right to launch their boat in it, the shoreline fisherman has a right to fish as long as it's not marked as a "no fishing" area.

An example from yesterday:

My friend and I were fishing in a stationary location with 6 fishing rods between us perched on bank rests to hold our rods while we wait for a bite. This location was not at a boat ramp. The boat ramp was at least a quarter mile (maybe more) from my fishing spot.

A woman and children walked up to the shoreline between the two of us with a bag of ice, a couple of bags and a cooler. At this point, I was actually pretty laid back with the idea that she planned to board a boat in that location even though we were obviously fishing there; and despite the fact that there was an area to our left and right where no one was fishing at all which could have allowed her to board the boat that was on it's way.

Understanding that shoreline fishermen and boaters have equal rights to the water I didn't say anything.

Her boating friend arrived and they boarded the boat. At this point I was still fine and not the least bit upset.

The boat then backed up, veered to the left, and proceeded to back directly over all 3 of my lines in the water. (I use 50 pound braid on my rods, which is not a cheap line at all.)

The boat throttled up and began streaming line from my left rod at a very high rate.

I yelled at about the same time a passenger on the boat realized that they snagged my line with the propeller. The boat captain throttled down the motor at that point.

I retrieved some scissors and cut the line to avoid the boat dragging my entire $100 reel and $100 rod into the lake. At that point he then moved forward and snagged my other 2 lines. Luckily those were not wrapped in the propeller as well.

Some words were exchanged between the boat captain and I and they were on there way out onto the lake.

Some observations for would be boaters that may read this:

• Please remember that just because you own a boat and launch it into a body of water it doesn't give you priority rights to that body of water over anyone else.
• Please be courteous.
• If you decided to beach your boat near a fisherman and drive straight in to that spot, please try to drive straight out when you leave.
• If you are in doubt as to where lines may be in the water, please ask.
• If there is an alternate location a few yards down the bank to beach your boat, please be considerate and beach in that location.
• These few simple considerations will help make your boating experience more pleasant and it will also help the shoreline fisherman have a nice day on the lake as well.
• Boaters and shoreline fishermen need to share the water. Each have equal rights to use the water. Neither has priority over the other one.
• Common sense and courtesy are the order of the day in those situations.

Missouri Carp Fishing

Here are a couple more pictures from my Missouri trip.

Very carpy looking river location

That's me, my dad and mom watching the rods

Vacation Carp Fishing in Missouri

For the past several years I have spent the 3rd weekend in May visiting relatives in Missouri to attend graduation ceremonies. It's a really great opportunity to do some carp fishing and try out some new spots. This year I tried an old spot and also a new spot. One on a lake and one in a nearby river.

Smallish carp from a popular park lake

Nice sized catfish

My spot on the Lamine River

Largest carp of the trip

First carp from the river

The river turns out to be a spot with some good potential. I definitely want to return to this river next year when I head back to the area.

Mirror Carp

A very cool scale pattern on this fish. It's only the 3rd mirror carp I have every caught, so I was pretty excited to see it in the net.

Mirror carp

More Saginaw River Pictures from 2017

I found a few more pictures on another camera from the Saginaw River trip. Between phones, cameras and Go Pro I sometimes forget to download them all.

Carp Anglers Group 2017 Battle of the States Midwest Regional

I really enjoyed this year's event (my 4th). The rules were changed a little for 2017 and the change proved to be very popular with anglers.

In prior years, pre-fishing was allowed on Friday with a peg draw on Saturday and then a peg change on Sunday. This year the peg draw was on Friday and then anglers were allowed to fish their swim on Friday afternoon, fish it for the contest on Saturday and then again on Sunday. This allowed anglers to "build" their swim and learn all the in's and out's over the duration of the weekend event.

My two largest fish weighed 23 pounds 14 ounces and 24 pounds (although our scales registered 25 pounds 12 ounces). The variation in the larger fish was likely attributable to the wind gusts up to 20 mph we were experiencing making it challenging to "tare" the scales.

Here are some more pictures:

Upper teens

20 pounds

Look at that big tail

25 pounds

23 pounds

Mirror Carp

I was lucky enough to catch this very nice mirror carp this past weekend in the Saginaw River.

Mirror carp

I am going to post some other pictures from the Carp Anglers Group Midwest Regional tournament in the following days.

The 2017 event is definitely my favorite so far.

2017 champions

Detroit River Carp Fishing

We in the Detroit area are lucky to have such great access to a water with tremendous potential for big carp: Detroit River.

I like to fish the river a few times a year at least. Truth be told...I'd fish it even more if I ever find a spot where I can catch fish consistently.

My friend Bill and I fished the river last weekend. We both caught fish, which is never a bad thing.

Here are a couple of pictures:

My spot on the Detroit River



A quality carp I caught from the Detroit River





2nd Common Carp in 2017 - Lake Erie

It's been a strange spring this year. We had upper 60 degrees in February and 6 degrees in March. It's rained a bunch in April too, which has made fishing challenging.

I got my first fish in February, but didn't get the second until today. It was worth the wait I guess because it was a quality common weighing 22 lbs. 11 oz.

My 2nd carp for 2017

The fish was caught with panko pack bait with cream corn, chicken feed, peanut suet, a few chopped up homemade boilies with habernero and jalapeno and a couple of Hungarian paprika boilies, with anise hook bait, tipped with a pink piece of Enterprise fake corn.

Catch and release carp fishing

First Carp of 2017

With a forecast of 60+ degree weather for this weekend I couldn't resist the chance to get out and try to land my first February carp and first carp of 2017.

I scouted a few spots last weekend and settled on a shallow pond connected to a small river. It was completely ice covered on Saturday of last week, but on Sunday the ice was a very thin layer.

I work nearby so I kept an eye on it during my lunch times a couple of times during the week. I did throw in about 9 baseball sized panko balls yesterday, but with the cool water temps I wasn't really sure if it would help or not.

I arrived at the spot at 10:45 with temps at 45 degrees. I had a fish about 90 minutes later caught about 15 or 20 feet from shore in no more than 3 - 4 feet of water.

With the warm weather, I had hoped for a couple more. Apparently the carp had other plans. Here is the one fish I did manage to land today.

One bite, one run, one fish.

First carp of 2017 and the first fish I have ever caught in February

 

GoPro Hero 5 Black for Carp Fishing

I have added a new tool to my fishing efforts for the upcoming season.

The camera provides a lot of big features in a small package including 12 megapixel pictures, 4K video, burst and time lapse photo functions. The camera is also waterproof in shallow water.

I can't wait to test it out on the bank soon.

Hero 5 Black by GoPro

I hope to get some cool video mounting the camera on my net, using the chest strap mount and head strap mount.

I need to get a second battery and a charger when I save up a few bucks.

How to Tie a Multi Rig for Carp Fishing

I have spent some time this winter learning to tie some better rigs to use for fishing with pop-up baits. Here is a good one for the multi-rig.

How to Catch Common Carp

With temperatures at 7 degrees this morning the carp fishing is very, very slow locally where I live in Southeast Michigan. That leaves more time for updating information on the carp fishing blog.

I have written articles featuring specific hooks, fishing line, fake maize, etc. in the past and plan to get back to doing more of that in the next several weeks and months. I am far from an expert, but I have learned a few things in the past 4 years that helped me and a few others learn to catch more common carp.



Catch and release carp fishing

There are few things more frustrating for a new carp fisherman than spending hours on the bank and failing to catch a fish. Occasionally channel catfish will bite the corn, maize, boilie, etc. being used to target carp, which is a bonus that helps reduce the disappointment, but only for awhile (at least in my case).

But there are things we can do to help increase the odds. Some are obvious and others not so much. Please don't take this list of carp fishing tips as the "one and only way" to approach the task; and please decide whether it makes sense for your personal situation, but I hope some of my experiences help folks who are new to the pursuit catch a few more fish.

1. Fish in waters that hold carp in larger numbers

You might think this tip is obvious, but I think it bears mentioning. There are likely carp in most every water locally where I live, but some waters hold more of them in total. And in some bodies of water the carp "school" or "shoal" up in common areas in concentrated numbers. So it makes sense for me that when faced with a choice between casting a line in Water A with 15 to 20 carp per acre vs. Water B with 100 to 200 carp per acre (as an example for the sake of demonstration), going with Water B is the simple choice.

• Where can you find this type of information on waters that have a greater density of carp?

There are several options and at one point or another I have used many strategies, but the fastest approach is to make contact with other local carp fishing enthusiasts. There are groups on Facebook and websites for clubs such as Carp Anglers Group that focus on carp fishing, which will help you a lot. Do a Google search for carp fishing in your local area, do a search on You Tube, on Facebook, on Instagram, find a local hunting and fishing forum and ask others for tips, read the fishing survey reports for various lakes available via the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) websites in your state, etc.

Going to a water that you think may hold carp and walking the shore line looking for obvious signs of carp is another good option. It takes more time and effort, but it can pay big dividends in the long run. Finding the places within the lake, creek, river, or reservoir that hold carp will help you decide areas to concentrate on when you come back later to fish those areas.

2. Use bait that has been tested and proven to attract carp

Techniques for catching carp are very different than those used for catching sunfish, bluegill, walleye or bass. Top water buzz and spinner baits won't get the job done. Float fishing with night crawlers might yield an occasional carp, but it won't catch them consistently day-after-day in most waters.

Sweet corn, bread, and boilies have proven successful over the years. And to kick it up a few notches higher, adding sweet flavors to those offerings works even better.

A productive day

 I prefer flavored maize/corn over bread and boilies, and more specifically; corn/maize flavored with a fruit such as pineapple or sweet flavors such as butternut, anise, or vanilla. Commercial carp bait makers offer many different varieties that I encourage you to try, but you can start out with sweet corn straight from the can dipped in corn syrup or even maple syrup. But if you get serious about catching carp I'd recommend you try flavored maize sold by Trilogy Carp Baits or World Classic Baits to start. I mention those to bait companies because I have personally tried their products and fully support the effectiveness of their flavors like "Brendan's Bumbleberry", "Sweet Anise", "Sweet Plum", "Four Seasons", or "Scopex.

3. Learn to ties a knotless knot aka "hair rig" to improve the odds of catching carp

While placing sweet corn directly on a hook can work, threading it on a "hair" that floats below the hook works much better. Search for "How to Tie A Hair Rig" on YouTube for a tutorial.

4. Use "pack bait" or "ground bait"

Mixing up some bread crumbs, oatmeal, Wheaties, panko breadcrumbs with some type of binder for moisture like water or cream corn works well enough to allow the mixture to be molded around a lead and adhere tightly enough to be casted. It's not absolutely required to catch carp, but it will increase the odds dramatically.

Two pieces of flavored maize
 tipped with a piece of plastic corn

A picture of the typical pack bait
molded around the 2 or 3 oz. lead

Experimentation is encouraged. From time to time I have added chicken feed, bird seed, flavoring, peanut powder, salt, chili powder, and even peanut bird suet pellets to my pack bait mixtures. Try not to go overboard and add everything on the list all at once. I don't think it's necessary.

Plenty of carp have been caught on plain old bread molded around a hook and floated free line-style on top of the water. In fact, for those confident enough to use that method consistently, with the ability to stalk the carp, locate them in a body of water, and then deliver the bread bait to that exact spot have had a great deal of success.

The best part about carp fishing for me is trying different things and deciding what will work best in a given body of water under specific conditions.

5. Pre-bait

I don't usually go to my planned fishing spot the day prior and through bait into the exact spot I plan to fish, but when I do I always catch more fish. Most of my fishing spots are 30 minutes from my house or more, so heading out the day before isn't usually possible. I wish it was something I could do more consistently. Here's why:

Sometimes I go out to my spot, cast and start catching fish within a few minutes. Other times I cast out and wait...and wait...and wait. I have spent a lot of time analyzing and thinking about the reasons for this.

There are all sorts of scientific explanations that might help explain it - like temperature, oxygen levels, available natural food sources, barometric pressure, etc. - but it can likely be boiled down to one simple concept and I suspect it's correct the majority of the time.

• Sometimes there are numerous fish in the area and sometimes there are not.

I am sorry to disappoint you if you were hoping for something more substantial, but many times the simple things are most meaningful and insightful. And that's were pre-baiting might help.

• If there are fish already present, pre-baiting gets the fish feeding on the specific bait you will be fishing with.
• If fish are not already present in the spot then pre-baiting adds the missing ingredient - food to attract the fish.

Or, as I often have to do, if you can not pre-bait and pack your patience; because if the fish are not present it may take awhile to draw them into the spot by casting and re-casting for a few hours to draw them in. That's why after fishing for 6 or 7 hours, many of the fish are caught during hours 8 and 9 (or not caught at all because we give up before the fish arrive and start feeding).

I also recommend a close reading of the current fishing guidebook before implementing any of these suggestions. There are some restricted streams where pre-baiting restricted.

The State of Carp Fishing in the United States

Many of my friends and family are perfectly content spending the day fishing for 1/2 pound and 1 pound bluegill, 2 pound crappie; and 3 or 4 pound largemouth bass with an occasional channel catfish hooked every now and then. Carp provide a viable alternative to those smaller fish. Catching 10 - 12 pound common carp is normal among fishermen targeting carp.

When I am out fishing in some of the local spots people commonly ask me whether I eat the carp I catch - I don't. Their next reaction is usually very negative. Some people actually shake their head at me in disbelief and continue their line of questioning with comments about it being a waste of time to fish for something you can't eat. Some more knowledgeable fishermen who have tried eating carp or know others who have, often comment about removal of the "mud vein" to help improve the taste.

22 pound fall carp

There is another group of people - including many visitors to this site - who are sickened by the fact that I take great care of the carp I catch and do everything I can to return them to the water unharmed to be caught again another day. Some of them leave comments on my posts expressing their disdain that I promote carp fishing to others as something desirable to do. One person left a rather lengthy comment about how I shouldn't be returning carp to the water at all. He said I should kill them all like he does when he bow hunts for them. Really? Well, no.

I know bow fishing is a legitimate way to catch fish, but I do not support bow fishermen who shoot fish and leave them laying on the bank. I've seen pictures posted on the internet with three or four bow fishermen posing with at least 50 or 60 carp laying on tarps with comments below the picture bragging about their kills. Call me a cynic, but I have a lot of doubts about those guys eating one single fish from their kill. I've seen other pictures and comments about taking the kills and planting them in flower beds for rose bush fertilizer. I understand it's not illegal to bow fish, but I think it should be illegal to kill fish (or any other animal) just for the sake of killing something and then discarding it like an used cigarette butt or an old newspaper.

Bass fishing in the U.S. hasn't always been a multi-million or multi-billion industry either. Bass fishing has benefitted from promoters who have profited handsomely from tournament fishing series and television shows.

Carp fishing is going to get there too someday. It's been widely popular in Europe and other parts of the world for decades. I am completely confident that carp fishing will rise in popularity too. There are economic benefits for companies that cater to carp fisherman. Right now it's probably still in the niche stage, but the momentum is slowly shifting. The possibilities for carp fishing in the U.S. are huge; and I want to be prepared to ride the wave when it does finally arrive.

Here is an example of the popularity of carp fishing in the U.K.: Carp Universe Magazine