Carp Madness

[burleytog]

Started seeing carp in the river earlier this week, decided to give the bronze beasts a rest and try to land a trash fish.

First one I saw (around 4 lbs.) looked at the dough ball twice, then swam away.  Went down the river a few yards and spotted two good ones in an eddy.

Pitched the dough ball about 5' upstream and waited.  Current pushed it to a foot from the carp, he saw it and was on it like a dog on a three-legged cat.

Let him hold it for a minute, set the hook and the fight was on.

Five minutes later I had my hands on the beast.

8 lbs. on the nose, 27.5" long.  Not as fat as the one I caught last month on the jig, but still a good fish nonetheless.

No photo as it is hard enough to weigh one, much less take photos.

I love the carp spot & stalk.  Almost like chasing bonefish.  

Now I'm ready for an 8 lb. bass...

[5bass]

Burley, come down to Smith if you want some great carp action.....they are EVERYWHERE.....big ones!  Every tree is full of them. They sure are fun to catch and a great way to test a reel's drag system.

[burleytog]

Yep, if today showed me anything it is that I'll never buy another rear drag reel.  Using a Spirex 2500RE, the drag kept sticking.  I spent almost as much time adjusting the drag as I did fighting the fish.

We've got some big ones in the lakes around here.  The little 65 acre lake I fish most is full of 20-40 lb. carp.  Friend of mine caught a 46 pounder there a couple of years ago.

[KU_Bassmaster.]

When I was out earlier this week I saw some GIANT carp as well.  I would hate to put an estimate on them, but I know if I hooked into one getting it in the boat would be a challenge.  They looked to be about 100 lbs whales to me ;D

[5bass]

Yeah I see some that look like torpedo's. Talk about smokin' your reel.....

[Redlinerobert]

I love catching big carp - talk about a fight!

[Jimzee]

Have you guys ever seen carp when the locusts (cicadas) hit real heavy.  They will come up and feed topwater on the lake just like bass do.  Anything you throw in front of them that twitches on the surface gets smashed.  Craziest thing I've ever seen in my life. :-?  Talk about sore arms at the end of the day......5 to 10 pound carp and lots of them,  not to mention how many topwater lures that were lost from the big mommas.  ;D I can't wait for this to happen again.

[burleytog]

Nothing will freak you out more than being out on a lake in a canoe and having a huge carp jump about a foot out of the water no more than 5' from you.

[Cajun1977]

Started seeing carp in the river earlier this week, decided to give the bronze beasts a rest and try to land a trash fish

you passed up bass to fish for a stinking carp  dude that aint right no way no how

[burleytog]

They gotta rest sometime.  I think I've caught every one in the river over the last week.   ;D

Any time I have a chance to catch an 8 lb. fish, I jump on it.

[.ghoti.]

Quote "Any time I have a chance to catch an 8 lb. fish, I jump on it. "

Amen, brother.

In a lot of places, carp are a prized sport fish. But not here in the USA. Never understood that. For my money, they're the best fighters in fresh water.

Try stalking them with a fly rod sometime. Awesome!

Cheers,

GK

[Dan:]

I think carp aren't popular because they don't eat as large of a variety of lures. The bass industry has a lot more opportunity for profit so that's what the companies endorse and make popular.

Also, they aren't as fun because they are easier to hook. You can pretty much throw out some bait, let it sit there and catch a carp. There's no analyzing conditions or presentations, locations, etc...It's less of a challenge to hook them.

They sure are fun though.

[burleytog]

Carp aren't quite that easy.  When you're dealing with the small ones (much like with any fish), sure.  But when you get into the big fish, they're just as wise and wary as a pig bucketmouth.

[Dan:]

I dunno, they are pretty dumb in my lake. I've only had one occasion when they wouldn't eat my bait. And they aren't small, I've caught 10lbers from there before and most of the carp I catch are at least 6lbs.

[Guest avid]

Carp fishing is fun, just like any other type of fishing.

If your in the mood for that kind of fishing then that's the way to go.

I wouldn't call them great fighters though.

Usually they are pretty big, and certainly are strong, but to me there is no real fight, it's more like tying your line to the bumper of a slow moving truck.

[georgiabassfisherman]

Nothing will freak you out more than being out on a lake in a canoe and having a huge carp jump about a foot out of the water no more than 5' from you.

yes there is and that is going wide arse open down the altamaha river when a sturgeon jumps out of the water and lands in your boat. i was about 2 inches from letting him have the boat at first.

GBF

[Guest avid]

Nothing will freak you out more than being out on a lake in a canoe and having a huge carp jump about a foot out of the water no more than 5' from you.

yes there is and that is going wide arse open down the altamaha river when a sturgeon jumps out of the water and lands in your boat. i was about 2 inches from letting him have the boat at first.

GBF

How about gliding your canoe into a shallow weed mat and only noticing the 8' gator when he spooks and dives under your canoe, bumping it on the way out.

Lucky for me I wasn't wearing underwear that day

:-/