BASS fisherman

I do pretty much the same exact thing but I mix about 2-3 cups of old fashioned oats with a can of sweet corn, then mix it up and add more oats until it can be rolled into balls(I do about 8-10 and make then a bit smaller than a tennis ball). I cast out my baited lines and make note of where they lay. Then I throw out some of the oatmeal balls around my lines, and save a small one to throw out in front of my spot to see how long it takes to break down. I also use what is called a basic hair rig. You can youtube it. Very easy to tie but you need a baiting needle to thread the corn on. The hair rig helps the fish to hook itself when it bolts. Once you get into carp fishing it is really just as technical as bass fishing is. I know we are not supposed to promote on BR but I found it very very difficult to find carp specific gear like hooks and baits , but if you search for a site called big carp tackle, they have a bunch of stuff in a range of prices. I have ordered a few times and shipping is always quick. Although the site seems to be out of stock on several items, and the descriptions are not always great, it is still a place to get decent carp specific stuff is the US.

These were from my first trip out this year. Caught both on a hair rig rigged with corn. 29 inch 13lb common carp Possible rainbow trout. Did not measure, appx 15 inches.

When I was out fishing a few times I seen some pig carp and wanted to catch them. I tinkered around a few years and below is my advice if you want to catch carp, but you will need some things, and you need to learn one new rig. You will need a...... - Canister of Old Fashioned oats, not instant but instant can be used in a pinch. - Can of creamed corn. (Dollar General 2 for $1.00 or Aldi's 2 for .98 cents.) - 2 cans of whole kernel corn. (Dollar General 2 for $1.00 or Aldi's 2 for .98 cents.) - Baiting needle and bait stops. You are going to want to learn to tie what is known as a basic hair rig. Search it on youtube and watch the video by the "Catfish and carp" channel. He shows how to tie a basic hair rig that works very well in hooking the fish in the bottom corner of the mouth rather than gut hooking it. You can use thick mono fishing line like 20# test and higher to keep the corn on the hair if you don't want to buy some bait stops. Once you get to the lake, take and open all 3 cans of corn. Dump the creamed corn into a medium sized bowl or small bucket. Take the 2 cans of corn and drain the juice into the empty creamed corn can and use it to "clean" the creamed corn from the sides of that can. Set the corn juice and creamed corn mix aside. Add in 1/3 of the first can to the creamed corn. Slowly add the oats until it makes a thick, slightly moist mixture that you can mold into a ball to throw out into the water. This is called a ground bait and is going to be used as chum. Let the oats sit for 5 minutes or so to let the oats soak up the moisture. While the oats soak, bait up your hair rig. I can have 3 rods in the water at once. The more kernels you use per hair, the bigger fish you tend to catch. You will need to either purchase or fashion some bait stops, used to keep the corn on the hair. Look it up you will understand. I have a bunch of small plastic cups that I cut up into teeny tiny pieces and I use a pair of hemostats to position them in the hair. After the rods are rigged, cast them out as you see fit. I loosen my drag 95% and sit them in the rod holder. I made my rod holder out of pvc. Made 2 for about $30. A stick works too though. Now take your oat mix and mold it as best you can into a ball shape and toss them out around your baited lines. Take the cans of corn and periodically throw handfuls out around your lines. Remember the can of corn juice and creamed corn? Take and dump half of it into the water. I do a few spots rather than a bunch in one spot. I use this technique in lakes, ponds, and rivers with a 90% success rate. But this technique really depends on you finding a spot that will hold carp. You can't fish for carp in the tailwaters of a dam. They prefer a slower moving back area of flowing water. For a lake I like an area that has a shallow flat that has a dropoff close by. For my setups I just use a few of my old bass rods and baitcasting reels. Reel type doesn't matter much as long as you have a fairly high line capacity. Sometimes carp like to run for the other side of the waterway. I use 15lb trilene big game line and I use a 30# moss green sufix braid leader for the hairs. Be sure to check your local fishing regulations. Some places do not allow corn, and others do not allow chumming. But there are work arounds with such things like sprods, spods, and method weights. Look em up and make sure if you can use them or not as well. Lots of other things work great for carp most of which is super low priced. Feed corn or deer corn can be boiled and used as bait. 50lb sack for $11-15 dollars. Birdseed can be boiled and used as well. 25lb sack for $10. And a 50 lb sack of unrolled oats is around $13. Protip....save the juice once you drain the boiled grain and dump it in the water to help attract the fish. Never feed dry grains to fish as it can supposedly swell in their gut and kill them or so they say. I boil mine, but I guess it used to be the norm to not boil them. Carp fishing is as huge in the UK as bass fishing is in the US. Those guys are happy if they catch a 30lb carp. My largest was around 14lbs which was still huge.

I looked it up in PA and it is legal to use whitebread. The PA fish and boat website also suggested nuts, and birdseed to chum with.

I forgot to add this part. After I cast out the bait, I loosen the drag on my reels so that when a fish takes it, there is very little resistance. Not enough to pull the rod into the water, but still enough that the fish feels it and runs. I reel down so the line is just a little slack, and then I put on a bite indicator which is just a clip with a small light on one end, and 2 bells on the other. Then I secure the rod into the holder. When a fish takes the bait and runs, I take the rod out of the holder, tighten down the drag, and then pull back slowely to set the hook, which is probably already set at that point, but just to be safe I still do. Then the fight is on.

I think I just very well may try that! Thanks for the idea!!

I would absolutely agree on the corn. It is sooooo much easier than just about anything else you could use as bait. Before I go I usually open up a couple cans and dump into a plastic container with a lid. Then I double bag the container and it stays closed up and doesn't leak. If there is any left when I come home, I just throw it in the fridge. I also take a bucket with me and fill it with lake water and keep it near the corn so after I bait the hook I can rinse the sticky from the corn off my hands. Makes it easier than going down to the water to rinse your hands off. I still want to try it though. I think of it like you have all this corn out for the carp to eat, and here is this delictable morsel of doughy goodness just chillin in the midst of all this corn. It would be hard to resist. I do not think I would try it alone by itself. I almost always try atleast 2 baits to see what works best and then go with that half way through the outing. With this dough though I think it'd be better to still chum with corn and have baited hooks with corn, but also have a couple hooks rigged with the dough. If I find the dough is working better, Id switch over all my rigs to throw dough, but still lightly chum with corn.

I have not lost a rod yet, but I have reeled in a few scum covered ones that others had lost. I always make sure to secure the rods in the holder so that the trigger is locked down inside the hole of the holder. The fish would have to pull the whole spike out of the ground which is not going to happen the way I bury them. I like to chum the area with corn too, but not too much. I feel like you can't give them too much or they won't bite the baited corn. I usually do about 2 handfuls every 2 hours. I also tend to use smaller weights as the carp seem to come fairly close to shore anyway, along with the fact that I cannot throw corn more than maybe 30 feet. I try to keep my baited hooks within that area. In some places it is illegal to chum with corn, and some places ban corn outright. Where I live it is legal to use, and to chum with.

With the liquid from the corn and the dryness of the oatmeal packet(s), Id say probably right around a cup would work to start. Once you get the oatmeal and corn mixed just add the flour until it is a thick enough dough to mold onto the hook. Use a spoon to mix it rather than a wisk. your hand would work even better. I think I may try this as well. Going out again this Friday so hopefully I can catch a big ole carp! I'll report back if I do.

So here is my official review/report of the hooks. Just for the officials around BR, I paid for these hooks and am not sponsored by the website where I purchased them from, nor am I sponsored by the company that produced the hooks. The website is called P&S Fishing Tackle store. The owners live in PA but are from a foreign land. The site has some funny spelling and word choice errors. But the business I had with them was legit. I got what I paid for, and it only took like 3 days to arrive. First of all they are offset. That can be changed with a pair of needlenose pliers. I will be doing this from now on as out of the 4 fish me and a buddy caught, 3 of them swallowed the hook. After the 3rd one I un-offset(?) the rigged up hooks and lip hooked the last carp of the night. I rigged up the hooks on a sliding sinker/ carolina rig with a 3/8 oz bullet weight, swivel, and around a 24" leader with 2 hooks. One on the very end, and one about 12" up from the bottom. I would thread the corn through the sides onto the hook and all the way up and over the knot on the hook eye following down to the hook point. The spot I was in was fairly weedy so I covered the point 98% of the way. The first fish was a yellow bullhead catfish that was only around 12" and because it was so small and gave us such a struggle to get the hook out, we did not weigh it, or take a picture. The second fish was a carp that weighed around 9lbs. As the picture shows, it had fire shooting from its bottom and was very angry we had caught her. Sorry about the pic, it was not set up correctly, and frankly at the time I had more important things to worry about. We did get the camera issues sorted though. The 3rd fish was a carp my friend caught that weighed around 8lbs. She spooled my friends reel to where he was down to the knot on the spool holding the fish on. She did it quick too! Probably took her 5 seconds to peel off that much line. My friend is not an avid fisherman but enjoys going occasionally. He had no idea the fish had spooled him until I mentioned it and started frantically telling him to "reel!, reel!!". It was a good laugh later. He was so close to loosing her. The final fish of the night was also a carp. She weighed around 15 or 16 lbs. She fought for over 15 minutes and made probably a dozen good runs. She is the largest fish I have ever caught. The hooks performed really well except for the few deep hooked fish, and the ones I did get out did not straighten,bend, or warp at all. They seemed to work well for the money. You just have to make sure you are looking the hooks over to make sure the line tie is closed off. Other than that Id say the hooks work well. I have a feeling someone will ask so I may as well get it out now. Yes we are wearing gloves while holding the fish. It is for 2 reasons. 1st is because carp are fish and fish have slime coats to protect them. It is part of their immune system in that it helps them to fight germs and bacteria. The gloves help to stop the removeing of the slime coat when touching it with bare hands and also allowing the oils and acids from our skin to potentially harm the fish. The 2nd reason is because I do not want to get the stinky carp slime coat on me. They stank! But I still love em! Which reminds me, I need to scrub my net because it stinks like carp.

I received the hooks and just by looks alone you can tell they are cheaper hooks. I do not exactly know how to describe it, but they just do not look well made. Some of the eyes have a small gap where it meets the shank. The barbs are not very big. Maybe that is a good thing to some anglers. The hook finish almost looks painted on. The wire they are made of feels flimsy and like it'd bend or straighten on a larger fish. Definately $2.01 a pack hooks. I have not caught any fish with them yet. Tried the other day for a bit down on the Allegheny river. Gave up on the live bait and ended up catching a nice smallie on a DT6 shad crankbait. I am going out this Friday nightfishing with a buddy so we should have atleast 12 of these hooks out at once so once I catch something I will update on how they performed.

I recently searched "carp hooks" just to see what would pop up and I found a site called P&S tackle that sells a 25 pack of hooks for $2.01. I bought a couple packs of size 4 and size 6, so Ill let you know how they work.

Hmmmm, I thought I replied to this yesterday. I like to use a garden syringe to shoot the juice out into the water. I have been looking into ways to get the corn out farther. I found a DIY super slingshot made of PVC pipe that costs around $10. Here is the video - I originally started fishing like this because I wanted to do some river fishing(I live just outside Pittsburgh), and did not really want to get too involved with learning to tie complicated rigs and buying all sorts of extra equipment just for river fishing here and there occasionally. When we would go down to the river, we would set up a camp of sorts and get a fire going, make burgers or hotdogs, and drink a few beers and shoot the breeze while catching a fish here and there. I noticed a pattern with the carp eating the corn and chumming, and also how they did not seem to care about the hook and line too awful much, at night anyway. I never really have gone carp fishing in the daytime so for all I know this technique could fail. Just this year I have been specifically targetting carp and had great success so far. One thing that is a must for night fishing is a headlamp. I take a propane lantern with me that I rarely use, and 2 flashlights. One of the flashlights is a small tac light that is really powerful and fits in my pocket. Some fishermen believe that having a lantern and leaving it on near the water will attract fish. Other fishermen believe that it will scare fish away. I tend to think that if the fish can see your siloutte(you between the light and fish) or shadow(your projected shadow shows on the trees or hill behind you and looks like a big giant to the fish), it will spook them, sometimes but not always. Plus I like to keep up my night vision and the lantern blinds you so you can only see a few feet outside the circle of light. On a clear moonlit night you can see a long way in the dark. It is odd around where I live because depending on who owns the property the water access is on, determines the rules of said access point. Most of the small little ponds that would be really great night fishing spots all close at dark. Other places in the next county over but still very close, require you to purchase a night fishing permit for $3 and you cannot have open fires, a bucket fire is ok, and you must have a lantern on at all times between 9pm and 6am, and you are garanteed to be checked at least once by a park ranger. I'm 100% legal, but I am night fishing for a reason you know.? Other places governed by the state do not allow any fires with no mention of a lantern. One popular spot on the Allegheny river governed by the PA fish and boat commision does not allow fires, yet a couple miles up river that is privately owned but open to the public series of fishing spots just below the dam where fires line the river bank at night. My point is to be sure to check local laws before going out to night fish as if your spots are like mine, most of them have silly rules and differing rules and we don't want to be getting fines, or trespassing citations for doing that horrible no good dirty deed of night fishing. There is something about catching a fish in the dark.

I like to carp fish too, but I guess I take the lazy way out. But it still works very well. I use corn but I dont use any special hair rig or anything fancy. I use my bass gear but modify the rig a bit. I use a sliding rig aka carolina rig with 1/4 to 1 oz egg weight depending on how far I need to cast and if there is current like a river. I then attatch a leader of 12lb mono with a size 6 octopus hook. Onto the hook I thread corn until the first one you thread is over the eye of the hook, and I line it all the way to the point. Apparently you are supposed to leave the tip uncovered, but If fishing in weedy spots, I still cover the point. After I throw out my lines, I can have 3 out, I take about 2 handfuls of corn and throw it into the water around my baited lines. I also, and I think this is important, make sure to get some of the corn juice from the can into the water as well. It seems to take about an hour for the fish to come in and find the corn, but when they start coming, it seems to be nonstop action for a good while. I do most of my carp fishing at night, so the fish are less spooky. Last Friday night I missed 7 or 8 and caught 3. All in a 5 hour period and pretty much one after the other. The next night I tried the same thing and had much less luck. I caught 1, and missed 2. I should have had some strawberry flavored corn or something just a bit different than regular corn and I bet I'd of done better that second night.

I use the octopus hooks as well. They work very well as mentioned above. Occasionally I will buy the packs of snelled baitholder hooks from the store and use them when nightfishing to save time and it is easier to rig than tieing up a whole rig in the dark. I do not like them as much as the octopus hooks though but have never had them break and I have caught some fairly large river carp on the snelled hooks.

He still is but doesn't contribute anymore. His Youtube name is likely a direct result of this forum. Check his profile out:http://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-forums/user/10286-edbassmaster/ He hasn't been on for over 3 years though.

Make sure you contact DCNR to see if that is legal in your area. Where I live, it is not. http://www.fish.state.pa.us/images/pages/qa/fish/tagging.htm

Nice video! Looks like memories

whoa!

Bank fishing is tough on the rivers. Ill rate the ease of access from 1 to 10. Ten being a ramp or handicapped accessable area. One being a steep cliff you have to repel down. A few spots I have hit and sometimes still do.: On the Mon river there is a warm water discharge from one of the plants. I cant remember which one tho, its either the PPG plant or US steel plant. It is on 836? south of the Duquesne bridge on the western side of the river. Go across that bridge and go right. It loops around and head south. You will drive about 2 miles. Go across some RR tracks and then to a light. At the light make a left into a dirt lot. Park there and you can walk down to the river. Good winter spot. EOA- 9 From the Oakmont area you can hit several spots all in a few hours. From Oakmont, going down Hulton rd towards the bridge, you make the very last left you can onto a street before you get onto the hulton bridge. Then make the first right intot the school. Drive all the way back and park. You can walk down and fish there. There is also a park there where you can park also. EOA-8 Leave there and go across the hulton bridge and turn right. Around or less than a mile down the road you will see an entrance to a treatment plant on the right. If you pull in that drive and immediately make a left there is a small lot there to park in. You have to scale a scetchy hill tho to get to the water. There is a creek mouth there too. EOA-3 Pull out and go right towards Lock 3 bait and tackle, and there is a PFBC boat launch on the right just a bit up the road. Pull in but stay to the left of the lot. Back in the corner you can walk down to another creek that enters the river. I have caught fish around the ramp, but dont interfere with the people trying to launch and load boats. EOA- 8 Across the street from Lock 3 bait and tackle you can park and walk down over the hill and fish. That is right below the dam so fishing is good. EOA- 5 After that pull out making a right on freeport rd. You will go into springdale and I cant remember the street name, but it is before sheetz, and there is a carpet store at the top of the road. If you find that store near the sheetz, drive all the way down and that is the springdale launch. I rarely see anyone there just stay off the private docks. EOA- 10 Get back on freeport heading right again. Your going to go through tarentum and drive like your going onto the tarentum bridge. Basically take freeport to the light and make a right at the bridge. Once you start going across it there is a ramp on the right. Take that ramp and when you come to the stop sign, make a right. That is the tarentum launch and has lots of shoreline to fish. There is also a creek mouth there and a handicapped dock too. Someone caught a 55" musky off that hadicapped pier a few years ago! EOA- 10 If you go back out the same entrance but go straight instead of left, you will see Allegheny bait and tackle on the right on the next block up. Now go across the bridge and go through I think 4 lights. There will be a BP gas station on your left, and a taco bell to your right. Make a left and drive for about 2 miles. As you drive you will notice the road is straight. It goes up and down but is straight. At around 2 miles the road has a slight bend to the right. When you see that bend, get into the left turning lane and turn down over the hill. The road is called "Edgecliff". Follow that to the stop sign and make a left. Follow that untill you see the river. Closer to the dam there are some spots to park on the right hand side of the road. There is also a small pond on the other side of the road from the river that is kind of hidden. I have caught some nice fish there, however it is loaded with poison ivy. So loaded that you can not avoid it. Just dont park in the plants parking lot unless you ask. Otherwise they will chase you out of there lot. And some gaurds are grumpy and wont let you park there if you ask anyway. EOA- 3 In PA, the fish commision thinks bass are a self sustaining population. In other words the PFBC does not pay as much attention to bass as they do say.......trout. There are some nice bass in the rivers, but in my experience and what I have seen recorded, the numbers of big bass are not there. For other fish those numbers are nice! If I am going river fishing, I go for cats But for bass, you can catch them anywhere on the rivers. I have caught smallmouth across from the point right behind the Carnegie science center. You know right near the sub? If you can find somewhere with some rocks on the bank there will be fish there. Do you know what current breaks are? Thats where you will find the bass.

http://www.bassresource.com/fishing/buzzbait_bass.html http://www.bassresource.com/fishing/bass_fishing_buzzbait.html http://www.bassresource.com/fishing/topwater_bass_fishing.html http://www.bassresource.com/fishing/fishing_spinnerbaits_bass.html

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yup, I do. mono floats, flouro sinks. thx

That is a good bass setup. The rod has a Heavy action. Thats what the H stands for. It is just a sturdier rod with less bend or give to it. This setup would best be suited for fishing plastics or jigs in those weeds. If you want to spinnerbait or crank, a heavy rod is liable to rip the lure right out of the fishes mouth. You want a rod that has some give to it. For the reel, check this link out. It is another post I made about a Diawa megaforce BC reel. I am not familiar with the reel you have, but you can check this post out anyway. It will still give you a good idea of what you want to know. I do believe heavier line is less likely to birdsnest, however you may be sacrificing bites with a heavier line than needed.

I agree. At first I seen the $19.99 and thought it wasnt bad. If you figure in the price of all the stuff they are giving you. It about works out. Then looking closer I see there is a $9.95 shipping and processing fee. They are selling overpriced stuff. Look at how all the fish who have the bait in its mouth have the lure hanging on the outside. Bass dont eat swimbaits like that. They hammer them! You would only get a picture of the bait if your aiming into its mouth. I have not used them but you can get cheaper stuff at Dick's, Bass Pro or Cabelas. Stay clear of ALL informercials, especially the fishing ones! If I watch a banjo minnow commercial I am halfway through giving the operator my cc number before I snap out of it and relise Im getting bamboozled. Dont entertain the thought or it will grow on you. Next thing you know your comeing on here and asking if it works or not. lol