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macfish

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Posts posted by macfish

    Caught an Interesting Carp Today - Sorry No Pics

    in Pictures, Stories & Video

    Posted

    macfish here. I went out fishing with my two stepsons who are 12 and 14 and my son who is 3 today. I had rods for all of us but the kids were more interested in tossing around a football. So we were tossing it around (with my lines out) and all of a sudden my alarm went off and they thought I was whistling. They've seen my gear before, but never in action, so when the alarm went off they thought I was just fooling around. I ran over to the rod, took it off the pod and start reeling in a fish. My younger stepson came over when I said I needed to have him net it for me. I could see right away that something was different about the fish. I thought it have been partially eaten by a large fish, probably a large catfish because we have some thirties and forties (flatheads) in our lake. My oldest stepson said he thought it had been caused by my line wrapping around the body of the fish. It did kind of look like that, but I couldn't figure out how it could have actually cut into the fish which is what had happened. When I took a close look at it I saw that somehow a line had gotten wrapped all the way around the fish just behind the gills and it had cut into it. I got my knife out and cut it off and it was stained so it had been there for awhile. I think it will be fine now. It's probably lucky I caught it. I just wish I had gotten a picture of it. Jonathan

    Death by Carp:

    in Pictures, Stories & Video

    Posted

    macfish here. I was about to suggest that he may not have been a swimmer, but the last link said that he swam after the fish. It also said, however, that he drowned in an area where the depth was six feet. Perhaps he was only capable of swimming in anything less than six feet. I would be mighty angry if I lost a rod/reel, but I doubt I would actually swim after it. First off I think I'd try for it using another rod with lures to hook it. I would probably try to retrieve it using a boat later. Jonathan

    New member here shareing my experiance and some pics...

    in Pictures, Stories & Video

    Posted · Edited by macfish

    macfish here. FivePoundBluegill, welcome to the forum and to carping. You've got some good skills if you're catching fish that large, especially the koi which I have heard can be really tough. If you don't mind a question, where are you located? Also, did you happen to catch a 5 pound bluegill? That would be one very nice fish. Jonathan

    P.S. I forgot to say those are some mighty fine looking fish you got.

    Field and Stream

    in Pictures, Stories & Video

    Posted

    macfish here. Dave, thanks for posting it. It was certainly interesting reading the comments of folks who have caught carp and won't let someone spout nonsense about carp. They didn't strike me as carp huggers, just folks who wanted an honest discussion of their experience. Jonathan

    Baiting a Swim

    in Beginning Carping

    Posted

    I'm kind of overwhelmed with the responses. Thank you!

    I'm using a hair rig, 7/8" off the bend of the hook, with a 18mm boilie or 2-3 Tiger nuts from Scorpion Tackle. I've had lots of luck with Tiger nuts. I've played with bolt rigs using a 2-3oz stone (I make them) and the running rig. I just tried a Method feeder last weekend. I catch a lot of catfish. I absolutely hate turtles..........

    I've experimented with hooklengths of 6" - 10" on the bolt rigs and 12" on my running rigs. Using moss green 30# Spiderwire as my hooklength material. Hair is a loop of the same tied into the knotless knot.

    I bait about the size of a tennis court. I'm still weighing whether or not closer to shore or deeper is better. I would think that it would depend on water temp. I think that as the water cools in the fall, deeper is better, but I'm a newbie. I live in Ohio, USA.

    This past summer, at dawn, I could lay my rigs 3 ft from shore and watch cruising carp dive at them. It was an education, believe me. If the hair rig, taken by the first carp, didn't hook, the other carp just came up and studied it. Nobody else would take it. Quite humbling. Dam, they are the smartest fish. I'm into camoflaging everything I can now.

    On boilie flavor: I loved watching these fish next to shore. I threw out everything I had just to watch their reaction: strawberry, anise, tiger nut flavored, hot sauce, corn, .... they never hestitated to take any of it. Add a hook, and you get one chance. They see the hook, they study it. This is in small lakes where nobody fishes for carp, and the carp are HUGE.

    I was an avid bass fisherman when I lived in the southern states where bass fishing was worthwhile. Won tournaments. The lakes in central Ohio are old and the fishing pressure is huge on bass. This last spring, my wife and I were walking a city park trail around a 10 acre lake. HUGE carp were sunning themselves. Thinking back to my youth and looking for a diversion from a high pressure job (beer wasn't doing it anymore), I started on the carp quest. Spent many evenings on the Internet learning. My god, this sport and the technology has really exploded.

    I've got two fantasic carp lakes within 10-20 minutes from my home, if quantity and quality matters. But, dam are these fish smart. Not that anybody deliberatrely goes after them. Nobody does except me, but there are lots of worm fisherman going after bass, panfish, and catfish. I'm a freak here, fishing for carp.

    Anyway, thanks for the replies! I think I'm just going to soak my field corn the night before in some flavoring and "Splenda".

    macfish here. Zaqxsw, welcome to the strange and sometimes lonely world of carp fishing. I have only fished for carp with other folks a couple of times and only one time with another local guy. Being in Ohio is a tremendous advantage in one way because there are a lot of CAG members in that state and also a lot of information on our forum regarding fishing in the different Ohio lakes and rivers. None of the guys who responded to this are from Ohio, but since I've responded and sent the thread back up to the top, maybe a Buckeye will see it and chime in. Reading what you wrote reminds me a lot of when I first started targeting carp a few years ago. I had caught a few when I was younger, but it was only when no one else was around. To tell you the truth I was a bit ashamed at first when I started hunting carp alone. I have caught many different species of fish, but none have a more serious "trash fish" label in Missouri than common carp, Asian carp, gar (we know them as billy gar) and drum (sheepshead to you Ohio folks - we call them "perch" here). It sounds like you are on the right track. I have never observed the carp locally when I fish for them since I'm usually casting 20 or more yards off shore and our waters are often too muddy to be able to see them. They are definitely smarter than bass or sunfish and more fun to catch. You might want to consider trying float fishing for carp. That is a tremendously exciting method and it seems to me to be more stealthy than using a bolt rig or run rig. There's nothing like watching that float go under and waiting for the explosion when you hook up. If you need any assistance bring your questions here and more than likely somebody will give you two or more cents toward a solution. Tight lines! Jonathan

    Great Short Takes On Carp On a Fly

    in Carp on the Fly

    Posted

    macfish here. Eric, funny thing about me intentionally targeting carp. I had been fishing a local local lake for a couple of years and catching some nice fish there, mostly bass. During the summer I kept seeing fish jumping out of the water. I didn't know at the time that they were carp, but they were driving me crazy because nothing was biting. I finally figured out that they were carp and started looking around for information on catching carp and ran into the CAG website. At the end of summer I finally broke down and started fishing for carp. It took me maybe two or three attempts, but once I got my first one of maybe 5-7lbs. I never looked back. Now telling others about it, that took some doing because I'd always thought of carp as trash fish as do most local folks. At first they looked rather strangely at me, especially when I said I just wanted to catch them, not eat them. If they've ever caught a carp themselves I usually get them to admit that they're great fighters and then they really can't say it's a waste of time. Either way it makes no difference to me. I just enjoy them for what they offer. Jonathan

    Carp Macros

    in Pictures, Stories & Video

    Posted

    macfish here:

    We are going to fish someday....

    Carpdaddy

    Rick, I could definitely get into that. It would be a real treat to get to photograph you in action, to see you at work achieving your art, etc. That would be wonderful! Jonathan

    Carp Macros

    in Pictures, Stories & Video

    Posted

    macfish here. Rick, your stuff is in a whole separate category. The truth is that you help me see things that I'm sure I would have otherwise missed. That's saying something, because by nature I am very observant. Are you using a regular SLR or a digital camera, especially for the circle of life photo? Thanks, Jonathan

    Great Short Takes On Carp On a Fly

    in Carp on the Fly

    Posted

    Macfish,

    I didn't read your links yet, but will when time permits.

    It is funny how that works. From what I understand Dave Whitlock has been fishing carp for years, as well as developing carp flies. In fact, he was the first person I read an article by when I began 6-7 years ago to target them on the fly. I think he took it from a fun distraction to a bonefish like safari on lake Michagan.

    I do think it has come out over time that some of the trout die hards were a little secretive about their forays into trout.

    macfish here. Eric, did you mean that the trout diehards were secretive about their forays into carp? I was a little surprised about Dave Whitlock, although he was a serious multispecies flyfisher before it was popular. George Harvey really surprised me. He taught fly casting, tying and fishing to thousands of people over the years at Penn State as a class. He also fished with several presidents including Carter. It may have been tough for them going after that first carp, but obviously they're hooked. :D Jonathan

    reel size

    in Beginning Carping

    Posted

    macfish here. Tom, you forgot to tell us oldsters (I'm 55 but don't look or act the part, usually) that "sick" means really cool or neat, doesn't it? Otherwise we'd all be scratching our heads and wondering what the heck you meant. Jonathan

    Post pics of Buffs you've caught on the fly

    in Carp on the Fly

    Posted

    This is the first year I've used the worms. I always thought they didn't "look right" especially when wet. I've only used them in fast current and they were deadly, I caught loads of carp, drum, cats and buffs on them. They take about a second to tie and are by far the most cost effective fly in my box.

    macfish here. Ray, I think I remember Ray (Eich) saying something about the San Juan worms being very effective but that in his experience they tended to only last one trip to the water (or maybe it was one fish?). Has durability been an issue for you? Thanks, Jonathan

    Post pics of Buffs you've caught on the fly

    in Carp on the Fly

    Posted

    macfish here. I think maybe you mean bigmouth buffalo rather than largemouth, and those are great pictures of them! I haven't had any buffalo on the fly rod though I have caught a few on corn/boilie. I have only caught one bigmouth. For some odd reason my bigmouth, though the largest buffalo I have caught, fought as if it was a sack of potatoes. I caught a smaller buffalo right after the bigmouth which might have been a black buffalo (judging only by its dark color), and it fought two or three times harder than the bigmouth though it was less than 1/2 the bigmouth's size. Jonathan

    Great Short Takes On Carp On a Fly

    in Carp on the Fly

    Posted

    macfish here. I used to fly fish a lot in the early 1980s and though I have yet to catch a golden ghost on the fly rod, I've not forgotten the skills I learned and honed. Due to limited financial resources I had to limit my fly fishing to bass, sunfish and sometimes a channel cat or bullhead. I did read a lot of the great fly fishing writers from that time so it was amazing to me when I recently discovered articles by a couple of them about fly fishing for carp. Here are George Harvey and Dave Whitlock from Fly Fisherman magazine and a great short synopsis on carp on the fly by Steve Bechard:

    http://www.flyfisherman.com/northeast/ghcicadas/

    http://www.flyfisherman.com/midwest/dwcarp/

    http://www.flyfishingconnection.com/articl...arp+on+the+fly/

    Jonathan

    NEED URGENT KNOT HELP!!! ASAP!

    in Carp on the Fly

    Posted

    macfish here. Buffmaster D/Dustin - there are two alternatives that I don't see here. They are both things that you buy that can join the leader to the fly line. One is made by Eagle Claw and it's called a Leader Link. They are really cheap. I'm posting a link at the end of this post which has an illustration of it and explains it really well. Basically it is kind of like a piece of tubing made of hard plastic with holes at each end and slots on the side. You push the leader through one end and knot it (overhand knot) and the fly lne through the other end and that joins the two of them together. If you want to change to something else you pull the fly line or leader out, cut the knot off and put on whatever you want. I don't believe it can go through a line guide, but you don't really need that. It is tapered on both ends to reduce air resistence. The other thing which I can't remember the name of is sort of like a very small threaded eyed screw (for like a hook and eye - latch on a door). It is made of very fine wire and has barbs on it and you simply push it into the end of the fly line and then tie your leader to it. It is so small it goes through guides very easily. I don't remember who makes them but they're pretty cheap and easy to use. This link goes through the pros and cons of different methods of joining fly line and leader. It is from a New Zealand fly fishing guide website:

    http://www.fly-fishing-guides-new-zealand....connections.htm

    Jonathan

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