bait for carp?

[NewAngler]

At the lake I fish at there is ALWAYS this huge carp in the same spot for about an hour in the norning. I've tried to catch this sucker for about a month and have had no luck. Short of taking my Smith and Wesson, what can I use to land this sucker?

[JigMe]

Bread Dough...just few slices of bread with water, then kneading it. I like to add some vanilla to it as well, and let me know if it works.

[moby bass]

Anything stinky is supposed to work.  I have an old fishing tips book that even advocated using chunks of soap like Ivory.

[NewAngler]

What kind of hook? Octopus?

[JigMe]

I used size 6 barbed bait hook. Well, you can use a bigger hook if you wanted to use a bigger dough ball.

[moby bass]

I've used a treble hook in various sizes and packed the bait around the shank, held by the 3 hooks.  BTW, I've also used the Berkley power bait

in the blood scent.

[NewAngler]

sorry to ask another question, should have asked them all in original post.

Do i just throw it near him, and let it sit like catfishing?

[I.rar]

i cought one around 20" with a F7 gold/black rapala , lol. not sure if thats common or not , but it was a surprise.

hell of a fight with 6lb line on a UL rod.

[NewAngler]

Thanks, guys.

Tony- you ever get that UL reel?

[I.rar]

Thanks, guys.

Tony- you ever get that UL reel?

nope. and i was outbid on the one i was checking out on ebay.

[NewAngler]

d**n, I just gave my brother an old abu 130 mx.

I would have sent it to you.

Its a real crappy reel tho

[I.rar]

d**n, I just gave my brother an old abu 130 mx.

I would have sent it to you.

Its a real crappy reel tho

dont stress it. family first.  8-)

[DawsonH]

canned sweet corn and a small bait holder hook, number 4 or 6. Throw a couple handfuls of the corn out there, put about three kernels on your hook and put it in the same place as the bait you threw out. Make sure you have your drag set lite and plenty of line on your reel because you are going to be in for the fight of your life if you get a hold of that thing. Reason for light drag and small hook is the fact that they do not have any bones in there mouth and if you are not careful you can pull the hook out.

[VolFan]

Ditto with the guys about corn and or white bread. The white bread works better in ponds that have ducks that people feed, but still works pretty much anywhere.  Just moisten it and squeeze it around a small treble or octopus; small circle hooks are also great for carp.  Careful if you're going to throw handfuls of corn or bread in, make sure that chumming is legal where you are fishing.  Also, if you flyfish, brown wooly boogers or numerous nymphs worked slowly past tailing carp can be a TON of fun.

[mrlitetackle]

i haven't targeted carp since i was very young....

but here is what i always did (not even sure what type of carp i was catching... i was probably like 10 yrs old )...

we were always fishing for peacocks (i lived in broward county fl)....and on occasion we would catch LM.......

well we would always see very large fish around right after the lawn service people would cut the grass....... as large areas of grass floated on the lake, BIG fish would come up and roll in it...

we tried everything we could think of on the grass cutting days to catch these mystery fish with no luck....

one day we loosley hooked a whole slice of bread (so it still floated) and tossed it into the pile of floating grass clippings.....

BINGO!

...after that, every grass cutting day was reserved for carp fishing!

[looking4structure]

Ive caught them jokers on dough bait

[vulture1]

Corn, small hooks and fluorocarbon line and a slip sinker. If the fish feels any resistance you will never catch them.

Carp are some of the hardest fish to catch....very finicky!!

[Carmen J Bernardo]

  I've seen these buggers in a couple of places where I fish and often wondered what it'd take to hook one of 'em.  They're said to be pretty hard-fighting fish when you catch 'em.

Tidal marshwaters south of the Chesapeake-Delaware canal near Port Deposit, DE -- you could see plenty of 'em rolling on the surface in summer

Ponds and lakes like Lums Pond north of the canal -- I've seen prowling the flats when the water gets a little clearer

In the mouth of Deer Creek on the Susquehana River in MD, same as above.

[nashontheriver]

lots of big carp here on the White river. corn looks like the way to go. as far as casting, they get spooked pretty easy it may be best to get it out past and bring it in front of them slowly. in the mornings i sometimes see a couple of bright red carp swimming around. most of them look brownish gray.

[J Francho]

Michigan Crickets, LOL.

[hiker]

I hit the carp pretty hard this year with the fly rod. I might suggest that perhaps the right question is not so much "what to use" but rather "when to fish" or "which fish should I target". I think there are a lot of times when those carp just sun themselves and basically refuse to eat. Instead of beating yourself up trying to catch them when they're doing that, try to find some carp (either in another location or at another time) that are feeding.

I like to get after them when they get into really shallow water. I like this for a couple reasons: 1. I can target them with a fly (any dark colored wooly bugger) easier in the shallows. and 2. I can see when they eat a bit easier.

To me that's why carp are so fun - they're smart, they spook easy, they generally won't chase a fly (so you have to make a good accurate cast), and when they eat it's usually impossible to feel - you've got to see it. In short, they're challenging!

[Rebel Angler]

yeah jus get a slice of bread a lil wet so you can ball it up reall good...I caught a 8lbs carp at Lake Gaston in VA off a huge dough ball.

They also go crazy for corn. My uncle and I took a can of corn one morning and dumped it in about 3 feet of water so we could see the bottom. Within 30 minutes, we had 3-4 carp and 2-3 catfish eatin it up.

[bwell]

I caught a 14lb carp using a banjo minnow.  True story!...

[RoLo]

My father was an excellent carp fisherman, and drummed up his own concoction of doughballs

using cornmeal, vanilla extract and some other stuff. I was just a kid, and used to knead the dough

in a handkerchief on the way to Lake Paulinskill (NJ). Kneading makes the dough tougher,

which then stays on the hook longer. Long after dad's passing, I discovered that four corn niblets

threaded on a short-shank No.6 hook worked just as good or better than dad's secret doughballs

Roger

[jaystu11]

my buddies and i are graduate students, and we fished carp out of the NYS canal system. we have pulled carp >20 lbs on a regular basis.

medium action pole, 15-20 lb test, #6 baitholder hook. use an egg sinker with a barrel swivel. buy a can of corn at the market, throw 4-6 kernels on the hook, toss a few handfuls in the water, and throw the line in.

set the drag super light...when the carp grabs the corn, the line will go out...quickly set the drag comfortably (not too hard), and start reeling. they fight like a catfish, so HANG ON!!!