[2020 Wasn't all bad. Finally beat my Carp skunk!]

First, a little back-story just to add some flavour to what is really, honestly, just a brag post for finally ending my skunk... But honestly, I wanted to thank the members of this forum for helping new carp anglers like me because, without your help, I'd still be just dreaming of catching one of these awesome creatures. I may only have a few posts looking for a bit of advice, but the advice I received led to finally finding some success, and probably the best year of fishing I've ever had in my life, all thanks to you! So, thank you! Anyway, onto my beginner story:

So, back in 2019 I decided to join the ranks of carp fishermen (and ladies) and bought some 20# braid and some corn. Up to this point, they were basically a mythical creature I only ever saw swimming around when I was pulling in panfish as a 10-year-old. Hooked into a probably 8-9 pound carp when I was fishing for sunfish at the pond down the street from my house as a kid, but that snapped my line before I could get it on the dock, and it haunted me the rest of my life. So it's 2019, I'm fishing again after a long hiatus through my teens, and I say to myself "Screw it, I'm gonna learn to catch carp" (because honestly, all I want to do is catch big fish). Off to Dr. Google I go to learn how! All the "how to catch carp" articles and youtube videos I checked out made it sound like catching carp was as easy as catching catfish, but with corn instead of worms and hot dogs. No problem, I catch catfish all the time (bullhead are easy pickins). It's beginning of August, and I should have no problem finding some carp. So I tie up my first hair rig, buy a 2oz inline lead, and head off to a local reservoir FILLED with carp. I'm thinking "This is gonna be easy, all I need to do to catch carp is throw out some chum, be patient and wait."

2 hours later, skunked, find out my hair rig has no bait. Thankfully, this forum was here to help me out, switched from canned sweet corn to maize and some small boilies. 

Now the bait stays on, YAY! But, still getting skunked, BOO! So September 2019 hits and I called it for the year (in Ontario, so it gets a little chilly for shore fishin carp from what I understand).

So this year the lockdown hits, I can't do anything else but fish basically, and I start my attempts a little earlier this year. The first week of May, I get out to river about an hour away from my house, and all I see are carp lining the shore, it must be spawning season, and this is my chance! So I start my swim, and I wait... And wait... and, what in the heck is going on?! This should be easy! An hour goes by, I reel in, check my bait, it's good. Re-cast... another 20 minutes or so, and my line starts to move... FINALLY!!! The feeling and the rush that I felt when I finally felt that fish on the end of my line is hard to describe... up to that point, I'd never had a fish bigger than a 7 pound channel cat I'd caught a week earlier, and it was so cold I may as well have been dragging in weeds... This carp was fighting, taking me on runs and being a general nuisance to get in the net! But finally, with some persistence and a little bit of help from some of the very helpful members of this forum, I'd landed my first carp! 30 inches long, 12ish pounds (didn't have a scale yet, give or take a pound, I'm sure most of us know by now approx what a 30inch carp is gonna weigh). And finally, with the skunk beat, I caught 7 more that day! After 3 decades of dreaming of catching one of these fish, on the same day I finally caught one, I ended up catching so many I was getting bored! Well-worth the flat tire I discovered I had when I got back to my car a few hours later...

Anyway, after all that, I present to you my 2020 year-in-review. A brand new carp angler's (fresh off his newbie skunk) top-6 favourite carp catches of the year (I'm hoping these post in order, so the context isn't lost)

1: Everybody remembers their first time!

2: My current Personal Best, caught at the end of a 3-hour session on a pond where I was watching the carp swim everywhere BUT my bait.

3: Confirmation that I could catch some carp at the pond near my house after work!

4: This funky-lookin carp that I'm assuming was an egg-filled female. Reminds me of Alfalfa from The Little Rascals.

5: My first mirror!

6: This little 4 pound carp with awesome colour, looking healthy and fit!

 

 

[Losing corn from hair rig]

Thanks again all, maize appears to be much stronger and secure on the hair, and the boilie I tested as well was especially secure.

Still got skunked, but I can at least feel like I have a fighting chance now!

[Losing corn from hair rig]

Thank you for all the replies.

Based on the body of water I'm fishing and the general dead action my wife gets on the worms she's fishing with 30 yards away, I don't think pests are my issue. Given the feedback I think it's the canned corn itself is just weak and tearing off the hair on the cast.

Going to order some fake corn and try some maize (i've never had much luck with fake anything in my life, in any type of fishing) see if that survives this Saturday's session.

[Losing corn from hair rig]

Yes I'm using sweet corn. 4 pieces strung on the "hair" of the rig.

Fishing a reservoir that is full of carp, some catfish, and not much else other than some frogs and the occasional crayfish. Didn't think nuisance fish would be much of an issue, if anything I just expected to catch the occasional catfish as well.

 

My main concern is that the stopper might just be falling out and my corn is just falling off along with it. Is it maybe just about adding more corn so the stopper stays tight to the bait? Or re-tying a rig with a shorter hair? What kind of success can be had by just throwing the corn straight onto the hook?

[Losing corn from hair rig]

Hey all, brand new carp fisher here. Having a minor major problem on my first few sessions.

 

I've followed a few video guides on how to tie a hair rig, seems simple enough... But after a few hours in the water when I pull in my rig, I'm noticing that my bait stop is gone, along with the 4 pieces of corn I've strung on it. What are some common things us newbies do that would cause this to be happening? Am I just being robbed by nuisance fish?

If anyone has dealt with this problem in their own experience, I'd love to find out what you did to solve it.