Carp Fishing Question

[HistoryNerd27]

While I was bass fishing at a local pond a few weeks ago I noticed a ton of carp swimming around the shallows sunbathing. I decided since bass fishing is hitting it's usual summer funk I would try and carp fish instead. I made two different kinds of dough bait, one with strawberry jello and another with vanilla flavoring. After 3 hours of watching carp swim around my bait and no bites I finally gave up and left. Next time out I plan on trying sweet corn to see if they like that better, but I was wondering if there is any other ideas you all might have. I have never fished for carp so I am going off what I've read online mostly. I'm using a slip sinker setup as well if that helps. Thanks for any tips guys!

[MARsSPEED]

I caught some channel cat with Gummi Bears while on vacation. I will try this at my local lake. It is possible the carp will eat these as well. Will let you know.

[OntarioFishingGuy]

Google 'hair rig' and bait the hook with corn. I will assume you are fishing for common carp, if you are fishing for grass carp I would assume you would use different techniques, as grass carp eat aquatic vegetation.

[Abuss55]

I love fishing for carp, they put up one heck of fight and if you are looking for a nice day to just sit, or to set up a few lines with bells so you can still do some bass fishing it is perfect. @OntarioFishingGuy is absolutely correct, you want to use whats called a hair rig. I have adjusted mine a bit, I use 30 pound braid with about a 2 ounce custom weight, and snapped onto that I have about a 1' leader of 12 Lb. mono. with a small hook for fly fishing, and about 2" under that I have a spring to hold the bait ball, you do not want the bait ball on the hook for a hair rig the point is that when they suck up the ball the hook gets in the perfect spot for a lip side hook up. I would reccomend using Cream Corn as a base for any baits, wheaties are a great thing to add, and anything fruity or sweet. I have caught 25 Lb Buffalo, 17 Lb Grass carp, hog suckers, and common carp on this rig/ bait. Also I would advise refridgerating the bait for at least a few days, i prefer to do it for a week or two for it allows the bait to harden a little bit and not come off of the hook so easy, having a corn mash with you to use as chum, that will dissipate is a good idea to bring them to you via a spoon attached to a stick. Good luck and happy fishing! Oh and another tip is that sometimes the carp will pick up that ball and spit it back out, they will mill around with it for awhile on some days, and on others they will rip your rod out of the holder!

 

Give somone a fish and they eat for a day, teach them to fish and they will sit in a boat all day and drink beer.

[NathanW]

rat-L-Trap or Squarebill. I catch about 20-30 carp a year while I am cranking. They slash at them with their tails. Its fun the first couple of times but that's about the extent of it. 

[CeeJay]

As OntarioFishingGuy and Abuss55 mentioned above, hair rigs are my standard as well.  Sweet whole kernel corn is my preferred bait. 

I tend to also use slim very sensitive floats (straight wagglers or stick and pole floats) as well so I can detect a strike easily and get an immediate hook set before the carp has a chance to spit it out (as they will at times, as Abuss55 mentioned).  These floats can also suspend the bait just above bottom.

 

Happy carping

[HistoryNerd27]

Thanks for the responses. I never heard of a hair rig before but I'm anxious to try it. I would like to make some dough bait with creamed corn but since I hope to go out tomorrow morning I think I'll just stop and pick up some sweet corn and give it a shot. I'll let everyone know if I catch anything! Thanks again!

[HistoryNerd27]

Well I gave corn a try and no luck again. I guess I might make up a creamed corn bait to try but these carp are starting to frustrate me just a little. They were really out today - I'd say there are at least 50 and this is a decently small park pond that you can easily walk all the way around. They were jumping out of the water, splashing, etc. all evening but not a single bite. I managed to talk to someone who works at the park and he says he has never seen one caught before but that they drained the lake a few years back and about 300 were in it cause no one was pulling them out.

 

I'd like to think they are grass carp which is why I can't catch them but when I see them on the edge or jumping out of the water they look gold and not gray, which is how I've usually been able to tell the difference. I do know they have stocked grass carp in the past though. That's just me trying to find a reason I can't catch a fish Thanks for the help though. I may try and carp fish another pond or the 'Doah now as well.

[CeeJay]

Well I gave corn a try and no luck again. I guess I might make up a creamed corn bait to try but these carp are starting to frustrate me just a little. They were really out today - I'd say there are at least 50 and this is a decently small park pond that you can easily walk all the way around. They were jumping out of the water, splashing, etc. all evening but not a single bite. I managed to talk to someone who works at the park and he says he has never seen one caught before but that they drained the lake a few years back and about 300 were in it cause no one was pulling them out.

 

I'd like to think they are grass carp which is why I can't catch them but when I see them on the edge or jumping out of the water they look gold and not gray, which is how I've usually been able to tell the difference. I do know they have stocked grass carp in the past though. That's just me trying to find a reason I can't catch a fish Thanks for the help though. I may try and carp fish another pond or the 'Doah now as well.

 

I believe they are spawning, based on what you describe.  And also I watched this happen last week on the Shenandoah (Winchester isn't terribly far from the Harpers Ferry area where I live).

I was wading in some shallow muck on the river catching some bluegill, and noticed a lot of splashing just a few feet from where I was standing.  Shortly after, I saw the large female carp (common carp) being harassed by 2 smaller males.  It was kind of funny because the female appeared to be trying to escape from them haha.  I'm surprised she didn't just whack them with her huge tail

Anyway I don't think food was on their mind at the time.

 

Give it another week and they hopefully will have recovered and be hungry again. 

I'm all stocked up and ready for carping the 'Doah...but I'm waiting for them to finish their little mating rituals.  I'll keep you updated on the conditions of the carp over here, but it won't be long before they start feeding again.

The vast majority of carp I've caught (in Virginia) were mid-July to mid-September. 

 

Don't give up.  When they're hungry they will eat sweet corn, trust me on that

[MassBass]

Chum handfulls of corn in the area. If they are in the vicinity, the corn will catch their attention and they will start feeding.  

[BASS fisherman]

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.

[CeeJay]

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.

 

Great tips.   Using the corn juice is a good idea.

There's no wrong way to fish for them, of course, and I like the methods you use.  Sometimes I get a bit set in my ways and just use my "traditional" rigs.

Night fishing for carp has to be lots of fun...I must give that a try.

[BASS fisherman]

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.

[Freak78]

Bread and corn works best for me around here. However it may take several days of chumming/actually using corn to get them to bite. If you can do it at the same time every date they will be there waiting.

[icatchlittlebass]

If you don't see them actively feeding in that shallow water they will be near impossible to catch. If you see mud stirring up under them or their tail in on the surface of the water this is a good sign they are feeding, much more likely to take a bait, if they are just swimming around they are not feeding and become very difficult to catch. Thats why I fish for them deeper, don't get angry at fish that I see and wont take my bait. If you fly fish for them you could intice them with a leech pattern, but even then it's not easy if they aren't feeding.

[scaleface]

I fish for carp often. I chum the area with a can of whole kernel corn. I chum a large area and then concentrate a lot of it where I am fishing. I then put two or three pieces of corn on an octupuss hook carolina rigged with a 1 ounce sinker. I place my rods {7.5 foot flipping sticks with 15 lb test  big Game] in good rod holders that are poked deep into the ground. Then tighten the line up to where there is no slack. Pop open a beer and turn on the baseball game. When a carp sucks it in it feels the resistance and they will usually bolt , hooking themselves in the process. You will think that the rod is going to be pulled in the water but I havent lost one "yet" .  Its a lot of fun .

[Freak78]

I have witnessed 3 pulled in scaleface. Two happened minutes after I got done warning that in can and will happen at any minute. Both of those being the wife and kid lol

[BASS fisherman]

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. 

[Anantha Patel]

You can also chum with bread.

[BASS fisherman]

You can also chum with bread.

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

[BASS fisherman]

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.

[Anantha Patel]

White bread is illegal in some places to chum because it causes gut problems in carp or something. Not that it really is good for people, either. You have to use whole grain or something.

[BASS fisherman]

White bread is illegal in some places to chum because it causes gut problems in carp or something. Not that it really is good for people, either. You have to use whole grain or something.

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. 

[Anantha Patel]

How's carpin' coming along? I hadn't have bites from carp recently, because of the cold front coming in the east.