Increasing Your Carp Fishing Success Rate

Today I had an experience I would like to share. My goal is to help someone else who might experience the same issue in the past, present or in the future.

I prebaited a spot to fish on Saturday morning. Immediately upon casting I started getting runs.

The first run was a nice fish that ended up getting off after a fight and jumping out of the water. I landed the second fish, but then 4 more runs and all those fish got off after a short (or no) fight.

At that point, I decided to change strategy. These river fish today love to run downstream when hooked. They take a lot of line out fast.

Sometimes you can't get too rough with them or you start getting hook pulls. That was happening today, but I decided to just use my palm placed on the reel spool to slow down the fish instead of throwing the brakes on using the reel drag. This worked beautifully and I landed the next 10 fish.

I've been carp fishing seriously for 6 years and 85% of the time a stiffer drag will work to slow down fish. However, when what you're doing isn't working, you have to change. The alternative is a 6 carp day compared to a 14 carp day. I like 14 much better than 6.

Hot Weather; Hot Carp Bite

With a forecast high temperature of 88 degrees and 20% chance of rain I got out early, got lines in and guided 14 carp to the landing mat by 1 p.m.

At one point I was trying to eat a sandwich and everytime I tried to take a bite I got a carp run. Four carp later, I finished my lunch. :-)

I love days like today.

The carp from this venue are not big, but they are fiesty river runners that love to fight you every step of the way to the net.

I was fishing right in the middle of snags to the left, right and near side. I lost a couple early on, but dialed in the correct strategy by carp number four and had no further issues.

Creative Carp Photo Sharing

I started using Instagram's Layout app last year to organize my carp photos for online sharing. If you haven't tried it yet, here's some information from Google describing what's possible.

Layout from Instagram: Collage - Apps on Google Play

Here's how I used it recently for some carp I caught in Ann Arbor earlier in the summer.

July Carping

The hot weather adds an element of difficulty to mid-summer carp fishing. Heat, hot water and scorching sun do not always make it easy to catch carp.

But don't give up.

You never know when it will cloud up just prior to an unexpected rain shower. These are perfect times to catch few nice carp. You can also target deeper water or spots that offer shade in your favorite fishing spots. The shade provides some relief to fish in the summertime.

I caught this carp 3 years ago today
 during a period of cloud cover.

Small River; Hard Fighting Carp

I landed 6 hard fighting river fish today. The moss was deceiving and fish were escaping my grasp as the moss covered the hook at times preventing a good hook hold.

The fish from this venue are some of my favorites for colors and scale patterns. There are a lot of muddlers in this spot. I've never caught a mirror here, but the lake above the dam has a good supply of mirror carp.

The biggest fish today

A nice fish to break a lull around lunch time

I threw in that "euro pose" as an inside joke. My wife laughs when she see's those photos on Instagram. I have always preferred to look directly at the camera.

Beautiful White Koi

I love koi. At some future date I am going to build a koi pond at my house. They are so majestic and watching them glide through the water is very relaxing.

Detroit River carp

I caught a nice carp this morning in the Detroit River near Trenton.

I love shore fishing, but sometimes finding fishable shoreline access is easier said than done if trying to target a specific area of the river.

18 pounds

I'm searching for a good spot to catch sturgeon  from shore once the season opens up later this month.

Toledo Zoo Sturgeon

I enjoyed the sturgeon in the aquarium exhibit.

Pre-Holiday Carp

We spent the holiday in Toledo going to the zoo and watching fireworks,  but on Wednesday prior to the Mud Hens game, I caught some river carp.

2nd carp in the mid-teens

1st carp for the day 

These carp are typical size for the Detroit River at venues we fish.

Bigmouth Buffalo

I got out for some carp fishing today at a venue which also offers chances to catch smallmouth and bigmouth buffalo.

Its been awhile since I landed a nice buffalo, big or small. That changed today.

The fishing was slow today, but picked up around 2 p.m. enabling me to land two fish in 30 minutes time.

Bigmouth Buffalo 

Common Carp

The clouds and periodic rain with a stiff 20 mph wind and 60 degree weather caught me off guard a little, but landing a couple of nice fish helped make up for it.

Buffalo pictures never really turn out to my satisfaction. Their scales are so sensitive resulting in redness which detracts from the fish a little bit.

Did you know?

Bigmouth buffalo can live up 110 years and are native to North America.

Kids Fishing Event in Ann Arbor

I assisted at a kids fishing event yesterday in Ann Arbor's Gallup Park from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thanks to Daniel Slaby and Andy Solomon for hosting the event and inviting me. The spot is an area next to a kid's playground and a kayak launch. I chose a spot on the left side of the prebaited area and being that close to activity I witnessed a lot of kids doing what kids do and parents standing by but letting them do it. With that mindset, I had a nice day of fishing.

The little kids could not reel in fish but they enjoyed posing with, holding and touching them. I guess I'd describe my spot as carping's version of a petting zoo.

I was able to help 5 kids reel in fish. One was even a mirror. Several parents came to me and requested that I get them a fish. I'm happy I was successful. Even those with hook pulls learned that fishing has both ups and downs, but there's always a next time.

I even proved that when you have a lot of fish in the swim, 4 kids can be throwing handfuls of rocks directly over your rods casted 20 feet from shore and you can still hook and land fish. I ended with 18 fish. Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture of the biggest fish, but it definitely made a 12 year old very happy.

Next year I'll bring an assistant for netting and pictures. Doing it alone makes for alot of aches and pains the next day. :-)

Missouri River

Missouri River - Boonville MO

One of my carp fishing goals is to catch a 30# or larger carp from the Missouri River or one of its tributaries.

The main river would be extremely tough most any time of the year, but finding a solid current break or a smaller connecting driver or creek seems like a potential strategy that might work.

I've fished a spot on the Lamine River in the past and caught some low teens sized carp. I can't wait to try again sometime in the pre-spawn part of spring time.

Biggest Carp of Spring 2019

26 pounds 6 ounces

After a couple of days with rainy weather and below normal temperatures I took advantage of better weather and headed out to catch some carp. Day 1 yielded no bites or fish. Day 2 produced one bite and this 26 pound 6 ounce fish. It saved my spring fishing efforts so far, which have gotten off to a slower than expected start in 2019.

When I hooked this fish in 9 feet of water about 40 feet off the bank I was convinced it was a catfish. It thumped several times and then gave ground and then thumped some more. When Bill lifted up the net to show the bigger than expected head on the fish things turned happier for me.

It was difficult getting the picture just right though because he kept flopping and squirming. It happens that way sometimes.

Carp Fishing Memory

My wife took these pictures early one morning shortly after I finished setting up to fish on the Detroit River. I didn't end up catching anything, but I recall a nearby neighbor catching a very large pike off the end of his retaining wall. I could hear the surprise and excitement in his voice from 200 feet away.

Carp Fishing in the Rain

I'll go ahead and admit that I like fair weather and sunshine for fishing. But sometimes the will to fish outweighs the desire for comfort.