fishhead
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Posts posted by fishhead
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Nice pair of fish. The Mirror is a beaut!
I have a large reservoir - Willard Bay- north of me an hour's drive reputed and known for its big Mirrors of 20+ #'s .
I have yet to fish it......what? I do have one pond at work with mirrors, and another about 40 mins away that is full of mirrors. So I can get my mirror fix on demand rather easily.
willard is also more well known for its wiper , walleye and catfish populations which attracts the crowds and summer time it becomes a prop chop disaster with a super major bug problem.
Maybe next spring right after ice out.
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One more....maybe. Well, I cropped the heck out of it. Then I noticed it's a re-capture. The tell tale scale told me so.
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The meter long grassie! All pics were cell phone selfies in a big rush. Dropped the phone several times ...but not the fish!
Me holding the grassie has the phone on my minivan sliding door rail and yes, it fell and blew out of its case and turned off but didn't break the screen. Lucky me!
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As Anakin said when firing up his Pod Racer..."It's working!"
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Let's try another cropped down pic.
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If the pics are still too big...then i'll post them later when I can get to PShop to reduce them.
Okay! One worked. A fin shot!
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Still going strong on Halloween!
I had a short 90 minute session today and landed two commons - one on the chubby tubby side and the other a bit lean and long. Both were low teens. And then an unexpected capture.
Only 2-3 white amurs in the venue and one is reputed to be 33# by a fly angler who C&R'd it earlier this year.
I have landed one at 27# and today's was a whopping Meter long at 25#'s. My time was up at 5pm so only a couple pics per fish.
Pics to come... They were tooooo big to upload directly from the iPad.
Back soon.
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Imagine how it is when your back yard is literally this:
30 yds or so from my back door. Am I lucky to not have to travel to find fish? Or.......? I don't know the answer.
Well, I know the answer. A charter boat operator in Southport, NC ( Cap'n Jeff) gave it to my 17-18 years ago while fishing with him and some of my family.
He said he was told by another captain years earlier... "You don't LEAVE fish to go FIND fish." In other words stick with the catching program at hand. This advice applies more for ocean boaters than land based but still applies generally.
But for the OP... Exploring new venues is an exciting part of the passion of carp angling.
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Nice fish! Is it hard to cast a breadball on a baitcaster? I guess it may vary depending on how big you make your breadballs, but I can't seem to get much distance with anything weighing less than, say, half an ounce.
Yes, it can be tough to get any distance. However there are a couple of things you can do.
Have the swim prepped so the fish are already close in.
Dip the bread in the water for half a second or so, then cast.
Wrap the bread with miracle thread, then dip and cast.
What I do....regular size bread crust with some white on it. Near the size of a domino or two fingers from the tip to the middle knuckle.
Embed the hook well...I use #4,6 up to size one.
Dip or not, whatever I think it needs at the moment.
Press the thumb bar or spool release and let the bread down 5 to 6 feet depending on your rod rod length and height.
Pinch the line with the casting fingers and then peel off ten to 15 yards with the other hand and have that loose next to you in a snag free zone.
Then pendulum swing and pitch the bread out releasing the loose line to shoot through the guides.
Wait for the take!
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...but I'll take a single 13#er any time!
Caught on sourdough bread, freelined. A family showed up and after the capture invited themselves into my swim. I gave them some bread and how to use it. Had to move as they were a bit noisy and spooked the fish.
Then the phone rang....end of sesion. Going back this evening.
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The local gov't is also attempting to save the endangered Bonneville June Sucker which is only in this lake at the mouth of the river. Seems to me they could scoop up the 300 fish, shock and kill the entire lake and then return the suckers. but then guess what? the carp would also return. They are in almost all Utah waters and are here to stay.
The real gripe I have is the $millions$ of our tax dollars going into the effort and the attitude towards our biggest and best fish species for sport anglers. Maybe some cats get bigger but not better.
A few fly -guys "get it" and actually guide for C & R carpin' because they know what will strip a fly reel to backing many times on the same fish. Only the carp!
Everybody else just hates them...More for me and I do convert at every opportunity. I hand out bread or give them a rod with a hooked fish to anyone watching to allow them the sensation of a REAL fish on the line.
Utah has plenty of stocked ponds, lakes and reservoirs and I tell folks I catch fish in the teens and twenties and they come back with " a twenty inch Brown or Bow is a nice fish!"
I say "NO, pounds." and they give me the you're full of it look. Out comes the phone to display a Meter long pic of a Grassie going 27 pounds.
next response is usually a religious fecal expletive comment about it's size....Holy Stuff! that's huge!
yep.....where'd you catch it?....in the corner of the mouth....in the water...in a lake....in a nearby town.....
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So I moved from a corn and chumming friendly state - my home state, NC ,to Utah with work 8 years ago and have had to relearn Carp Angling.
And also to deal with the history of Carp in this state.
The locals and natives fished to extinction the big, beautiful, native, Utah Lake, Bonneville Cutthroats in the 30-40 pound range back in the late 1800's.
Then facing harsh winters and starvation asked for help. The powers that were back then responded with "we have just the solution!" and train car loads of carp were introduced.
Fast forward to now. Bill Loy, jr. and sons are raking in 2 million a year for the last 7 or 8 years and now get another 6 millions buckaroos to "kill 'em all".
Yet, when the local DWR or DNR or fish and game asked publicly all the resident anglers how to get rid of Carp, I responded with bring corn and chumming back...
Sorry Mr. Price, that won't happen. It would get out of hand like last time.....yeah...whole nuther story with trout killing chummers dumping 100# bags of feed corn into reservoirs killing all the trout they thought they could chum up.
What a mess!
On the good side of Utah Lake...the carp population may now support a growth of bigger fish. whatever...haven't fished there...probably won't
https://www.ksl.com/?sid=28443315
Only if you want to see how a millionaire catches carp and composts them should you watch the link.
Rant over, off my pack bait bucket. back to fishing for Carp - CPR- one at a time.
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I freeline bread and dough nearly exclusively in my carp angling sessions. ( no corn nor chumming in this state) Most of the time it is sight fishing either day or night. After "losing" a few pieces of bread from casting out to them or "feeding the ducks" extant or not...I will then pitch, lob or side arm cast a piece - usually with crust on it and the hook hidden well to the perimeter of any floating offerings. Stealth is the game day or night. All but a hand full of the dozens of grassies I've caught were sight fished.
For a really long cast, I will dip my bait in the water for one second and immediately cast it. Wind is the enemy to freelining...or your friend if everything is down wind. One big bonus for me is unlimited free bread. There is a bakery attached to my office that I get it from. The sourdough works best and the center section makes a great dough bait by squishing the air out and running the hook through it.
I fish 20# braid, any rod I own, GLoomis steelhead rods do the job nicely since I use them for my annual Alaska trips. with bait caster reels I simply peel off 10 yards of line and pendulum swing pitch the bread out then release the line pinched in my free hand. Dough casts like a small weight so no problems.
Works for me.
Caught this one Wednesday night on a 6'3" Japanese slow jigging rod with an Abu Garcia Inshore LP baitcaster and 20 # braid.
Oh - it was 27" and 13# even...
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I freeline bread and dough nearly exclusively in my carp angling sessions. Most of the time it is sight fishing either day or night. After "losing" a few pieces of bread from casting out to them or "feeding the ducks" extant or not...I will then pitch, lob or side arm cast a piece - usually with crust on it and the hook hidden well to the perimeter of any floating offerings. Stealth is the game day or night. All but a hand full of the dozens of grassies I've caught were sight fished.
For a really long cast, I will dip my bait in the water for one second and immediately cast it. Wind is the enemy to freelining...or your friend if everything is down wind. One big bonus for me is unlimited free bread. There is a bakery attached to my office that I get it from. The sourdough works best and the center section makes a great dough bait by squishing the air out and running the hook through it.
I fish 20# braid, any rod I own, GLoomis steelhead rods do the job nicely since I use them for my annual Alaska trips. with bait caster reels I simply peel off 10 yards of line and pendulum swing pitch the bread out then release the line pinched in my free hand. Dough casts like a small weight so no problems.
Works for me. Caught this one Wednesday night on a 6'3" Japanese slow jigging rod with an Abu Garcia Inshore LP baitcaster and 20 # braid.
27" - 13 # Common
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Thanks, guys! One new venue I found and fished this year a bunch is only 8 minutes from the house. All three ponds have carp and cats. The Midas Pond was aptly named - that one has the goldfish in it! The Jordan River is right next to it with carp galore!
Very, VERY, popular little cluster of urban ponds. The middle one is always crowded....but they're all trying to catch a 9 inch stocker trout with powerbait. There might even be one in there if the comorants haven't eaten them all.
So I show up and pick vacant, gnarly looking spot to fish in and cast - NOT straight out to the featureless middle of the pond like everyone else but sideways into the shore line structure.
BAM! ZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzt!!!! all heads turn and watch the rod bend and reel sing.
And after the net job, photo and release someone ALWAYS comes over and asks what bait I caught that on.
...and things then get really funny....happens like this more often than not....
"What kind of bait did you catch that fish on?"
I reply, "Bread."
"Bread?"
"Yes, bread."
"bread..."
"Yep!"
" bbbrreaddd?"
"yes, like a sandwich"...and I mimic eating a sandwich.....
Later while I've got a hot swim with catch after catch, they send one of their kids over and repeat the question. This is the honest truth.
"Excuse me sir, did you say BREAD?"
Yes, and then I show them a slice.
"oh! bread!....we thought we were saying it wrong or something."
Sometimes I share my secret bait with them if I'm about done with a session.
It helps to have a bakery in the corporate HQ of the franchised deli chain where I work. FREE unlimited carp bait!
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Super deluxe capture! Cooler nights...lotsa fish...bugs? Not so much.
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All good with the above. When you're ready to dive into your reels ....go here. Great site. http://alantani.com/index.php
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Carpin' is alive and well in my hood.
Most times, i hunt out new urban angling sites along my commute from the south end of the valley to the north end. Barely scratching the surface and have picked up a few new spots.
This one is at the office park at work with the river right behind me.
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Let's see... Here's a Bhudha belly common.
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Well, not that quiet around the waters I fish. All year, all summer, right now, all I hear is
"WOW! That guy caught another huge one!"
Followed by someone approaching and asking what type of bait am I using?
Having a blast fishing and catching Carp and too many kitties that invade my swims....but it's all good.
Several personal bests this summer.
Too much for one post so maybe just a teaser. And more future posts.
PB white amur...er...grassie. 27# beating my old PB by a solid 2#.
A tubby orange football of a goldfish that went nearly 3#.
More mirros and commons than I can count mostly teens.
A pic or two...If i can recall how.
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You're welcome. The one confirmed source - Reelfoot Lake - is way west, but I bet dollars to donuts you'd find them in your area. Golf courses, community ponds in fancy neighborhoods, anywhere there is a pond or small lake with aquatic weed control issues will be a good possibility.
Here in Utah they are strictly illegal......yet I've caught dozens and through a search like above have located 6 venues with them. Only one pond has them stocked by Fish and Game with signs all around the pond stating if caught, they must be released. If someone asks, I was fishing for catfish and this grass carp was incidental.
I fish them from shore, on my kayak, by sight-fishing, and by "feeding the ducks".
Good luck next year.
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Easy to find data.
http://fl.biology.usgs.gov/Carp_ID/html/ctenopharyngodon_idella.html
Lettuce, cherry tomatoes, grapes, corn, bread, boilies. Lots of other baits will work also.
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Same here in Utah. Only sooner. The lights go out "CLICK!" here and it's season over til ice out next year. In NC, where I spent many more years carp fishing, the Neuse River never failed to produce. Sometimes much slower in winter but I recall a New Year's day 9# carp on a new Christmas rod.
Went this weekend and blanked. Third time in a row. Did have a fish run into my line since it twitched but no takes.
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Nice Capture! thanks for sharing...especially since out here we're getting into the "hard water" -ice- season. Might have to try a time or two on the river over the coming weekend.
Still carping in Utah
in Southwest
Posted
Had a short 4 fish session last Friday evening after a nice dinner date with my wife. Set up at a small urban fishery near the office with freelined sourdough bread crusts on the surface.
Doesn't take long to get into the action.
First up was unexpected - a nice Grassie.
Next 3 were all commons in the 8-13 # range.
Had to use my headlamp and cell for photos so only a couple pics were taken. Due to the heat and wanting to get the fish back in the water quickly, I did not weigh the grassie which would have been a PB at ~30# and 40 or so inches.