Bass Or Carp??

[(='_'=)]

hey. i went fishing yesterday morning. at 5:30 am i was leaving my house, and at 6 am we were already on the boat... the sun was just rising, and we were the first boat in the lake... after a short ride, we stopped at a shallow shore.... as the sun rose, a lot of fish were jumping... sometimes we would see the entire fish, sometimes they just got their heads out of the water, sometimes we just listened to them... i think we saw about 50 fish... at about 8 am, the jumping stopped... we would see an occasional fish jumping here and there, but it was not so frequent, until it stopped completely at mid morning... however, we couldnt land (or boat) a single fish.... we began using topwaters, then mid depth white crankbaits, then yellow spinnerbaits, plastic worms in different colors.... but we didnt catch a single fish... this is a hard lake, being so close to the city, it has a lot of pressure, and there are not so many bass in the place.... so, i began wondering, maybe the fish we saw were carp?? i know some of them were, because we saw them, but a lot of fish we couldnt identify... so, is there a way of telling based on how they jump?? i mean, maybe carp jump all the way out, while bass only raise their head to catch something with their mouths.... im going there again next weekend, or maybe during the week in the afternoon, what should i bring to try to catch a carp?? i used to fish when i was about 12, but i am trying to pick it up again... this is my third time out to the same lake, and i have only fished one 5" bass last weekend... so, any advice will be greatly appreciated!!

thanx!!

[dulouz]

I have been out fishing in some lakes fed by a local river that are full of many species and have seen similar things. The carp just swim around slowly eating whatever it is they eat. Sometimes something will bust the surface, or shoot vertically out of the water like a misile. Those, I think, are northen pikes. They will hit on most anything. I don't know what you would use to catch carp. I have only caught a couple of carp on worms and that was probably an accident on the fish's part.

[(='_'=)]

thanx. so, how do you fish northern pike?? i dont even know what they are.... BTW, im located in Mexico, 3 hours south of El Paso, Texas...

[OHIO]

thanx. so, how do you fish northern pike?? i dont even know what they are.... BTW, im located in Mexico, 3 hours south of El Paso, Texas...

Don't think there are northern pike in Mexico.

[Bluebasser86]

They are probably carp,buffalo, or maybe even large shad. There are tons of carp and buffalo in the lakes around here and we see the same activity where they jump alot in the mornings and evenings but not as much in the heat of the day. Gar will also rise to the surface to gulp air. My favorite way to catch carp is with an arrow but if you really want to fish for them try a simple slip sinker rig with a couple pieces of corn on a small hook. Nightcrawlers can work also but you'll have to deal with bluegills and catfish a lot more.

[clayton86]

I had a post like this not to long ago you will get a lot of mixed answers but they were probably carp. I will see fish jumping all the time its usually carp every now and then ill see it and it will be a pike or a bass if its a pike they hit what ever I throw in the wake of the splash. As for carp canned whole kernal sweet corn I usually throw a handfull out in the water to chum then I throw a few on the hook and just wait. Fly fishing works great to

[(='_'=)]

thanx for the responses... i really dont want to fish for carp, but i thought if i throw something for them, i will be able to tell if they are carp, or bass and i just dont know how to catch them....

[flippin Dan]

Best bait for carp I know of is to make dough balls out of wheaties and strawberry soda.

[(='_'=)]

thanx. i heard of making a dough with white bread and coca cola, and then add smashed fruit loops... i just confirmed with a local fisher that there are a lot of carp in the lake... so, how do they fight? i guess fishing for them is not as fun, since you just throw the dough and wait, but i think ill try it next time im there...

[Raul]

At that time of the day carp are very active on the surface.

[WRB]

Carp jumping have fooled a lot of bass anglers.

Carp can jump completely out of the water and make a loud slapping noise. The easiest way to tell if they are carp is try to see color; a flash of brown or gold indicates carp or fresh water mullet, unless smallmouth bass are in that area. If bass are active feeding and jumping, they will hit lures.

Tom

[fishingkidPA]

best bait for carp is sweet corn. if they dont hit on that i dont think they were carp. But i see carp jumping ALL the time. Usually they will bust the surface a couple times in a row in a couple seconds.

[CWB]

I've seen Carp clear the water by a foot while jumping. I've also seen Catfish jump out of the water but there is usually a bunch of them doing it at the same time. I thought they were Carp until I got close enough to see them. It was wild.

P.S. Carp are very elusive so don't assume if you are not catching them they are not there. They are everywhere! If I could figure out how to catch them more consistently, I would definitely spend more time fishing for them. Great fighters. I've seen some cruising the shallows that look like small submarines.

[bass-z-no]

Yes I would say carp. In Fresno, that happens a lot at certain lakes. Most carp here will fully jump out of the water. Usually if you see carp, there are no bass to be found. A popular bait to use here is Nabisco shredded wheat, either plain or strawberry. Wet the cereal and it clumps like peanut butter. Then roll into little balls and put in a very small hook. I like to catch carp but not keep them. They feel like a rock when you hook one!

[(='_'=)]

thanx!! i think ill try to catch some of them next time... i just got home from the lake, i caught my first "decent" bass today... around 1 1/2 lb.... last week i decided to bring corn or dough next time i went out, and that time was today, but i am just so determined to learn how to catch bass, that i dont want to loose time with carp.... so today, i didnt bring any dough, but i saw a lot of carp jumping again... some of them jumped close to the boat, and i could see they were carp... a lot of other fish jumped too far to recognize them, but i am assuming most of them are also carp.... maybe next time i will try to catch one... how is the fight compared to that of a bass?? and how do you fish them, just throw the hook and wait for them to bite?

thanx!!

[hatrix]

When I was a kid I use to use dough balls or just snag them. Snagging them is easy when they are on the surface and you can see them. They make special weighted hooks for it, or you can tie on a big treble with a heavy weight below it and just rip into the side of them, that's usually how I did it as a kid since getting them to bite any thing was always really hard.