Carp Fishing Tactics Observations

When I first started fishing for carp in early summer 2013 I used 3 pieces of corn on a hair rig and a mixture of oatmeal, cream corn and pineapple flavoring for my pack bait molded around an inline lead. I tended to recast with another round of pack bait about every 45 minutes. My catch rate was sporadic and inconsistent.

In 2014 I switched to panko bread crumbs instead of oatmeal, but stuck with the cream corn and pineapple flavoring. In the beginning of the year I experimented with waiting for longer periods of time between recasting with new pack bait. I extended the time to 90 minutes and even 120 minutes in some cases. Sometimes I would catch carp within 10 or 15 minutes of casting and other times it would be closer to 90 minutes before hooking up.



22 pounder caught in October

Toward the end of the 2014 I started noticing the hook ups were coming sooner and sooner. In fact most of the time, if I caught carp it was within the first 20 to 25 minutes of the cast. So I gravitated back to recasting every 60 minutes or so.

I actually think the time between recasts has a direct impact for me on the catch rate. It seems that recasting time after time to the same spots also helps draw in more fish to the area as the bait builds up in the water. Also, it seems like the time between recasts makes some difference in catch rate.

You might want to pay more attention to whether or not this impacts your carp fishing and make adjustments if you think it will help. I know I will.

Maybe this will work for you; maybe it won't, but it may be worth experimenting.

2015 Carp Fishing Goals

Last year I made out a list of 2014 goals for my carp fishing exploits. I've been thinking through my 2015 goals today and have included the list below. Most people probably don't care about them like I do, but posting them here will keep me accountable for doing my best to achieve them.

• I would like to help two or three new folks learn how to carp fish. I'd like to continue paying it forward. 
• I hope to catch 175 or more carp in 2015. (I need to average 5 fish per session to do it, which is a significant increase in last year's catch rate. Otherwise I need to fish a few more times.)
• I hope to catch multiple fish weighing more than 30 pounds, which would give me a new personal best.
• I'd like to catch a small mouth buffalo.
• I'd like to catch a koi or goldfish.
• I'd like to catch a fish from the Raisin River in Dundee and spend a few sessions fishing the river in Monroe.
• I'd like to catch multiple carp from Belleville Lake. I live with 2 miles of the lake, but can't seem to catch a carp from there to save my life. :-)
• I would like to fish at least 4 times per month starting in March and ending in November. That's 36 chances at a 30+ pound fish.
• I hope to continue developing the blog. I wrote 153 posts so far. I'd like to add another 150 posts this season with lots and lots of pictures with a few videos sprinkled in to make things a little more interesting and to add variety.
• I really hope people enjoy reading what I write, looking at the pictures I post and just hanging out reading about carp fishing. I do it to share what I've learned because someone was kind enough to share it with me about 18 months ago and I now love carp fishing. I am hopelessly addicted in fact!

What goals do you have for 2015? I'd love to read a few of them. Feel free to post them in the comments below.

Prepping for the Upcoming Year of Carp Fishing

A nice 17 pounder from the fall

I like this time of year. It's still much too cold to fish here locally with temperatures at 2 degrees this morning. But this is the perfect time of the year to begin preparing for what's to come. I love the anticipation and expectations for bigger and better fish when spring finally arrives.

I use this time to scout new spots via Google Maps/Earth and talk to friends about potential new fishing spots. I found a spot on the River Raisin today using that technique.

I also use this time to tie up a bunch of hair rigs. With 14 weeks until warm weather here, if I tie 5 or 6 hair rigs each weekend, I'll have more than 70 pre-tied rigs ready to go. That will keep me fishing for quite a while once the weather breaks. Preparing hair rigs bankside is a highly inefficient use of valuable and what's becoming scare fishing time for me. I prefer to keep 15 to 20 in my Korda rig box safe ready-to-go.

I plan to hit it hard in the spring because starting in mid-summer my time will need to be focused more on my day job responsibilities for several weeks (and possibly months). My time will be limited to weekends and holidays exclusively for a while, but hopefully things will free up toward fall when the bigger fish return.

For anyone trying to build up their supplies for the season, it's a great time to take advantage of a fantastic sale going on at ResistanceTackle.com. I ordered leads, hooks and baiting needles there myself last weekend. When the season gets a little closer I'll pick up some flavored maize, dips and a few dumbbell pop up boilies to round out my carp fishing supplies.

Crosswinds Marsh Preserve

My primary spring venue for carp fishing is going to be Crosswinds Marsh near New Boston. I discovered this hidden gem in July 2014, but by that time the lily pads had taken over much of the area. I am hopeful that I can catch a few carp here in March and April before the lily pads take hold when the weather warms up.

Fishing Tip #5 for Carp - Bolt Rig

Yours truly baiting the hair rig.
You can see the 2 oz. lead in the picture.

I have written a few articles with specific tips about things I have learned that helped me catch more carp. It's only fair that I share what I've learned because many have helped me too.

In the past I have tried to rank the tips in order of importance, but thinking about it more today I realized that there is no one particular tip that helped me more than others. It was a combination of all the above!

I prefer flavored maize, hair rigs, inline leads and braided fishing line. I rig it all up using a "bolt" set-up.

Here is a photo series from Flickr.com that helps explain it in pictures: Click here The photos were put together by user TimJC513. I found them via an Ohio fishing forum.

I have used 2 oz. and 3 oz. inline leads from Resistance Tackle with success. I like to keep it lighter when possible, so I use 2 oz. leads 90 percent of the time.





I typically store the hook like in the picture below for casting. I have tried it a few different ways including 1) leaving it loose (hanging below the method ball) and 2) wrapping it inside the method ball (as in the Flickr pictures I linked above).



This picture was taken just prior to landing a 21 pound common carp
 near Lake Erie this fall.

The disadvantage to #1 is that it can tangle during the cast. The disadvantage to #2 is that sometimes the method ball will break apart during the cast leaving the hair rig laying on the bottom of the lake without the aid of the "method" to attract the carp.

If using a 1 oz. or 2 oz. lead for the bolt rig, be sure to keep the slack out of the line. It will help you catch more fish. With a 3 oz. or heavier lead, and appropriate test curve rod, you should be able to cast farther and when the fish "bolts" it will still get hooked if everything works as hoped. Even so, I still prefer the 2 oz. leads when possible because it's easier on your tackle, knots, rods, line, etc.

CAG Midwestern Regional - Saginaw River - Near Bay City

I just signed up for the CAG Midwestern Regional today. I enjoyed this team event last year. I hope the weather is a little better this time around.

We stayed in Bay City last year at the Doubletree and we plan to stay there again. It's a nice hotel within walking distance to downtown Bay City (as long as it's warm). Last year we had raging wind gusts of 30 - 35 mph for much of the weekend, but we still caught carp. For anyone who is planning to go in 2015 I'd encourage you to bring plenty of warm clothes along. You may not need them, but you'll be glad to have them if you do.

Here are a few pictures from last year's event:

Baiting up

My spot on day 1

This was the first fish caught in the tournament by the Michigan Team in 2014.
It only weighed 13 pounds, but at least I was on the board for a short time.

Our spot for day 2 of the event

I caught 4 fish on day 2, but for some off reason I didn't take a picture of the largest carp I caught all weekend. It only weighed a little over 15 pounds. By that time it took a 17 pounder to make it onto the team board.

My 4 fish on the second day, including the pike in the picture above, were caught in the last 90 minutes of fishing. It was quiet all day long and then bam, bam, bam, bam. It was an onslaught of small carp.

This is my favorite picture of the weekend taken on Linda's cell phone and featured in CAG's online magazine. Linda wasn't given credit for taking the photo in the magazine, but I'll give her credit here again.

The calm morning turned into a very, very windy afternoon on day 2.

2015 Wooden Shoe Carp Classic - Holland Michigan

It looks like I'm going to miss the event this year because I didn't see the sign-up for it until last weekend and it's full up at this point. I fished it last year and had an enjoyable weekend. My luck on the first day was terrible, but the second day was pretty good.

For anyone who will be going to fish the event, make sure you take a very sturdy net with a long handle. A 10' to 12' handle would be best. We were able to make our 6' handle work but it's borderline depending on the water level.

Here are some pictures from 2014:

My largest fish was in the 16 pound range if I remember correctly. I caught several nice catfish on day 2.

For anyone who missed the "official" Wooden Shoe Carp Classic event sign-up, but would like to take a nice drive to Holland and do some carp fishing anyway on another date; I plan to fish that venue this spring.

One of My Favorite Sessions from Later Summer 2014

I miss summer carp fishing!

My Favorite Fishing Spot for Carp Fishing

I can't wait for days like this one to return next spring.

Koi Pictures

If I can't fish for carp because it's too cold, I guess I can peruse pictures I took when the weather was a little warmer.


Koi at Belle Isle
 



Koi Close Up

Trakker EQ 42" Carp Landing Net

My struggles to find a reliable carp landing net are well documented on the Michigan Carp Blog. I've also written about it extensively on the CarpAnglersGroup.com forums.

Few things in carp fishing are more important than the landing net, but it's the weak link for most beginners starting to catch carp. It's understandable. Carp fishing isn't cheap. It takes different equipment to land 12 - 15 pound carp than it does to catch 1 - 2 pound bass and crappie; and that equipment isn't something you can pick up at the typical discount big box store around the corner.

Many online store fronts selling carp equipment have a "budget" landing net for sale in the $30 - $40 price range. I've bought those and others up to $70 and they didn't get the job done for me.

My next carp net is going to be the Trakker EQ 42" carp landing net pictured below.

From Trakker Products the 42" EQ Landing Net

Selling for around $130 it's outside of the low budget price point, but it could actually save you money, time and frustration in the long run. Buying quality never goes out of style either.

Basic Carp Fishing Gear on a Budget

This time of year a lot of the fishing equipment web sites place items on sale that offer the opportunity to save some money. Whether for Christmas promotions, clearance, inventory reduction or a last ditch effort to implore some who haven't quite been able to pull the trigger on a purchase due to the various price points it really doesn't matter because it's a nice opportunity to pick up some of the basic equipment to help you get started fishing for someone more experienced to accumulate some gear to get a spouse or child started out in carp fishing.

There are a lot of opinions about what is "basic" gear. My basic might be a $40 reel and $40 rod, but there are others who believe a "basic" rod and reel cost upwards of $300. The list below is my suggestion and my opinion for how to started carp fishing with a minimal cash outlay.

LW 60 reel for $24.95
Black Phantom Classic rod for $29.25
GSP Black Alarm for $18.95
Unhooking Mat for $14.95
40" Landing Net for $39.95

For approximately $220 plus shipping, you can have two rods, two reels and two bite alarms and the basic items needed to catch, land and release carp effectively. I picked items that are all available from www.bankfishingsystems.com so that you only have to pay for shipping once. You can mix and match from different sites, but you will need to take shipping into consideration.

Of all the items on the list, the weakest link is the landing net. A quality landing net is essential to ensure that carp are landed and released with the least amount of stress for the fish. But I will offer a warning - you will need to be careful with the landing net and pick up the fish by-the-net and not by-the-handle. If you don't you will have a high probability of breaking the net the first time or two you use it and then you will have started your new hobby off with a huge disappointment. (I speak from personal experience on this topic.)

For slightly more money, you might opt for a Wychwood Signature 36" landing net priced at $81.49, a Sonik SKS 42" two piece landing net for $94.95 or a Trakker 42" EQ landing net for $120.99. (If I buy a new landing net at some point, I am going to buy the Trakker model.)

Lastly, I'd suggest buying a few cans of flavored corn/maize from either World Classic Baits or K-1 Baits. A can of the flavored corn will last you for 4 or 5 weeks of fishing easily. You don't have to re-bait with new corn every time you cast. I've caught multiple fish on the same few kernels of corn many different times.

• Keep a lid on it.
• Keep it out of the direct sunlight.
• Refrigerate when storing the corn at home.

It will last several weeks this way and you won't need to keep purchasing more and paying more shipping costs.

Whatever items you decide to purchase, please try to relax and have fun learning a new hobby. I hope you find it as enjoyable as I do!

If I can help you in any way, just ask.

New Carp and Catfish Book

New Sonik Carp Fishing Reels

Update 11/22/14 : UPS delivered the reels 3 days after I placed the order at Carp Kit International.

I have been shopping for new reels for a few months. I started carp fishing with some inexpensive Okuma ABF-50's. I used them for two seasons and decided to move up to something a little better. I considered the Okuma Trio and Epixor. I like Okuma a lot, but I was hoping for something a little better.

Many may wonder why I didn't consider Shimano or Daiwa. I have nothing against either brand. Shimano is out of my budget range and most everyone I know has Daiwa reels, so I wanted something different.

Carp Kit International had a promotion today for 20% off all reels. I took advantage and purchased 3 of the Sonik 6000 FS bait runner reels. Here's a description from the website:

A superb new bait-runner style reel, with a super smooth trouble free operation and sleek black cosmetics. Supplied with two spools, they feature S-curve Oscillation for even line lay, instant anti-reverse, front and rear drag, balances twin handles, thick Aluminium black bail arm, Titanium coated anti-twist line roller and a 4.6:1 gear ratio, which recovers a full 87cm/34 inch of line per turn of the handle.  

• 5+1 Stainless Ball Bearings
• High Strength Composite Body/Rotor
• Instant Anti-Reverse
• S-Curve Oscillation for even line lay
• Line Recovery Per Turn of Handle - 34inch/87cm
• Balanced Rotor
• Balanced Twin Handle
• Titanium coated
• Anti-Twist Line Roller
• Thick Aluminium black bail arm wire
• Free spool feature
• Sensitive sealed drag
• Gear ratio 4.6:1
• Supplied with 2 graphite spools, capacity of mm/m 0.30-460 0.35-340 0.40-260/lbs/yds 15-375 18-340 22-225.
• Reel Weight - 460g

Sonic 6000 FS photo courtesy CarpKitInternational.com

I got 3 reels for $258 with shipping included. The Epixors would have been $220 and change with shipping included.

Now I just need to spool them up with some Power Pro braid.

Huroc Park Flat Rock Michigan

I was tempted to fish today. The sunshine was almost too good to pass up, but with 34 degrees and wind I couldn't pull the trigger on it. So I did the next best thing...I went scouting for carp fishing spots to try next spring.

A lot of people I know fish the Huron River in Flat Rock for carp. I haven't tried it, but it's on my list for next year.

Here are a few pictures I took today:

A view from near the dam

A likely fishing spot with acceptable space for landing fish

A view toward to dam from the bridge over the Huron River

Huroc Park is the Huron River Community Park in Flat Rock. There are always several people fishing. The 34 degree temperatures didn't deter the 8 - 10 people fishing this area today throwing spinner baits into the fast moving water just past the bridge as it falls over another smaller dam.

I have no idea how deep it is up toward the dam, but I've seen plenty of videos on YouTube that demonstrate this area has a plentiful supply of average sized carp available.