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(CO) JohnFinney

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Posts posted by (CO) JohnFinney

    How Often Do U Re-Ty Rigs?

    in Beginning Carping

    Posted

    I use a 12lb flurocarbon hooklinks. After each cast/wind back in/catch I check the link for crimps or any sign of damage - the slightest nick then it gets replaced. Hooks are checked on the same schedule - but at the end of a session I typically toss the hooks and start anew. The lake I mostly fish does have some rocks so it is not uncommon for the hook to get blunted on occaison, requiring a re-rig mid session. Couple of times a session, when there isn't much action, I cast out away from my swim and then reel the mainline back in between my fingers trying to feel for any nicks, etc - you'd be surprised how abrassive those nasty rocks can be at times. If the mainline is nick'd then it gets cut-off below the nick - and respooled next time I am home. Only had to respool each reel once this season so far due to damage to mainline.

    My 5 british pennies worth.

    John

    Rainbow Lake Carping - Extreme Style!

    in International

    Posted

    Rainbow Part 1 - Very entertaining - thanks for posting the links.

    May want to recommend next time they wear shorts, rather than briefs, for their in water excursions - almost too much "tackle" showing or coming out. Did they need to use the boat to get every fish in ? (must be one hell of a snag fest down here!)

    I particularly enjoyed some the 80's music they used - for those who don't remember or perhaps were not even born before then, or are just an 80's music fan, here's the list of the tracks I recalled,

    "Talking Heads - Road to Nowhere"

    "Visage - Fade to Grey"

    "Billy Idol - Dancing with Myself"

    Rainbow - Part 2, still to see...

    John

    24 Lb Common (Pb) From Pikeview Reservoir

    in CO

    Posted

    Sunday 7/28/2012.

    What better way to get out from being under the weather with a cold - head out at 6:30am in the morning and catch yourself a few carp !

    So after devouring a box of tissues overnight to stem the the tide from my nose, and against the sensible warnings of my wife, I decided to "British-up" and head out to the local lake for a few hours fishing.

    The hot weather of the past few weeks has died down, was a nice 70F and little wind when I arrived at the lake. Sadly the car park was pretty full which is never a good sign. One would think, Sunday morning, 6:30am, most people would be sleeping ! Obviously the local trout fishing crowd were out in full force.

    My favorite spot, about half way down one bank between the piers was taken. I usually don't like to fish off the pier, no where to stabilise the rod and as the pier is "floating" can almost feel sea-sick if the weather picks up and the jetty is bouncing around. However, with no where else to setup, I made my way down to the far pier. Think i've only fished from that pier a couple of times and so far had little success.

    I setup my 8ft rod, with the Sealine Black Reel, spooled with 17lb Berkley XT. A 1oz pear attached to a safety clip. 8" of 12lb fluro leader. A size 6 curve hook loaded with my favorite "out the can sweetcorn". Hook bait was encased in 2" ball of simple packbait. Tossed this out about 30ft from the bank, trying to get as close to my favorite spot - and waited - rod propped precariously against the railings. At least the baitrunner was on so if I had a good take then hopefully this would save me from a swimming trip into the lake to retrieve my gear.

    About 7:15am the reel let loose that exciting scream of line being ripped off. A challenging 10 minute battle later, trying to prevent the fish from heading under the pier, finally got the fish to the surface and close in. Luckily my work colleague and his son had just arrived so I had someone to deploy the net. On the downside the pier deck is a good 20" off the water and there are small gaps in the railings to get a net through. However with much dexterity my work colleague got the net out there and grabbed the handle firm as I guided the fish inside.

    My joy was short lived as my friend attempted to lift the net from the water - the handle of which, snapped clean at the collar! Thankfully some remnants of metal held the net head still to the handle and we manged to carefully lift the remains up and over the railings to unhook the fish. Whew!

    For me, it was one 24lb beauty of a common, a new PB, for the price of a $24 ranger net. I know folks here were not fans of that clunky device - at least it died it's final death landing one last carp ! RIP Ranger Net - you served me well !

    100_1660.jpg

    Carp World Records & Euro Paylake Carp

    in Carp Locally & Fishing Reports

    Posted

    >>> European transplants

    Dang, I almost feel like a carp organ donor! I hope that in time I might persuade some of my UK colleagues to come drop a line in the waters here when they next come over for a visit/work trip etc. Will be interesting to see what they think of the state of carp fishing here , vs. back home. My knowledge of the UK scene is "decades" out of date now.

    John

    Carp World Records & Euro Paylake Carp

    in Carp Locally & Fishing Reports

    Posted

    Off topic perhaps, but I saw the Paylakes mentioned...

    30 years ago, in the South East of England where I was born & raised, there were VERY few places you could fish for free - I am not certain but I would have a hard time remembering a free lake anywhere! The cost to fish a day back then was perhaps 1 pound / day (after you purchased your yearly rod license from the Post Office).

    You would arrive at the lake at dawn, get your ticket for the day from the baliff, and off you went fishing. The funds from the "pay lake" would generally go towards the upkeep of the facilities. Until I moved here to the USA, and started fishing again a few months ago, I had just presumed the same was the case here - how happily wrong I was.

    I purchased my Colorado state license for 2 rods. Now I fish everywhere and anywhere in the State that is _not_ private land. Most venues can be fished 24x7. I am in Carp fishing heaven somewhat at the freedom of choice and cost-free fishing provided here.

    Yes, I appreciate the cost and "hype" of Paylakes over in Euro land has gone through the roof these past few decades as the sport of Carp fishing has become highly commercialised. With the huge $$$ involved it would be no surprise to find certain venues fattening up their carp to promote and attract more fishermen. Is this wrong, perhaps not from a financial point of view, is it "ethical" now that would be the question.

    Having now caught carp in both the UK and USA I can testify that the common carp here are putting up one hell of a fight, way moreso than I recall from the fish caught long ago back home - of course, that could just be my fading memory !

    Either way, congrats to the person on catching that 100lb monster fish - though it does remind me of Mr. Creosote from the Monty Python Film (Rated-18), "The Meaning of Life". A quick youtube search of this will show you a nice video of the scene in question! Perhaps that poor carp just needs one more "waffer thin mint" ...?

    ...tight lines...

    John

    Carping On A Dime

    in Beginning Carping

    Posted

    My wife ordered me a pair of Daiwa Sealine reels, so I may have to update my status from "carping on a dime" to "carping on a dollar!". Was a coin flip between a rod & reel or the two reels. Given the Sealine's were on such a good sale from Cabelas, decided to go with those. There is some real great prices out there on entry level gear, just have to look for it and not expect it to perform as well, or last as well, as high end products ! Still $35 for a rod/reel combo is darn fine, makes me wish I had started out with those! Does seem as though most if not all the NGT products are out of stock though.

    Warm Regards

    John

    Carping On A Dime

    in Beginning Carping

    Posted

    Alex, the point of the thread was moreso to assist people in understanding that you do not need to spend $1000's to fish for carp, or any fish! When new people to the sport watch various instructional videos, or read articles on the web, there is a horrific array of gear, bivies, tackle, carts, rods for spod, rods for marker, rods for actually fishing, pods, mats, nets, scales, the list is endless and pretty darn daunting.

    I highly doubt many here on these forums decided one day, hey, im going to fish for carp today, and them went out and dumped many thousands into the "required" gear. (ok, maybe someone did!).

    The $135 was merely a point on what I spent on the tackle was used that day to fish. I have obviously spent way more than that on multiple rods, tackle boxes and other assorted gear.

    As with everything this is an education process and as people become more invested in this sport, financially and emotionally, they will hopefully invest not just in technology and tackle to catch the fish but in the equipment needed to take proper care of the fish so that it can be returned to the water safely for someone else to catch another day. I know I will.

    John

    Carping On A Dime

    in Beginning Carping

    Posted

    Zirjacks, the bank sticks came from Sportsman's Warehouse, think they were $3.99 each.

    Note, i have already snapped the top off a couple trying to force them into hard ground. They do the job but are pretty thin aluminum are not robust. As with everything, they are good for short term, light usage.

    I will certainly be getting some steel banksticks that are threaded at the top for various attachments, alarm, hangers, swingers, or even just a butt/front rest. If not steel, then a much stronger/thicker aluminium. I have also already encountered areas where you are fishing off rock and using a bank stick just isn't possible. For now I have jerry-rigged the rods using my tackle box and even backpack to hold them off the ground - a pod obviously would be a solution to this scenario.

    Always going to be another piece of equipment to acquire! Arggghh !

    Carping On A Dime

    in Beginning Carping

    Posted

    A fair point on carp care. Yes. An unhooking matt, and larger more fish friendly net, is certainly in my future !

    At present, to limit the harm to the fish, I am unhooking them in the water - not great, but certainly better than them flopping around on the bank & rocks!

    You could also add to the upgrade list, a weigh sling - which could be used to return the fish afterwards safely and gently to the water.

    To round out the care care topic, you could also add the fish care kit, which includes iodine and/or some antibiotic ointments to treat the hook marks and any scale damage caused during bringing the fish in. Korda I *think* has some of those products available.

    John

    Carping On A Dime

    in Beginning Carping

    Posted

    Having had my best days Carp fishing since returning to the sport, I thought I’d write a short post to demonstrate that you can enjoy this passion without having to spend a fortune or have the latest, greatest, high end tackle and gear. All you need is some basic tackle, knowledge and most important, patience and luck.

    My starting tackle was just a few bits purchased for a last minute camping trip it was not acquired with carp fishing in mind. Here is a list of what tackle I used today:-

    (Sportsman’s Warehouse and Walmart!)

    - Rod - Shakespear Ugly Stik (8ft medium action) $45

    - Reel - Abu Garcia C106 spinning reel $35

    - Line – Berkley Trilene Big Game 12lb $9

    - Hook – Eagle Claw – Classic Bait Holder size 4 $1.50

    - Bank Sticks – 2 x 12-36” extendable aluminum bank sticks with rest ($4 each) - $8

    - Landing Net (Ranger) 22” - $14

    - Hook Bait (Delmonte Sweet Corn) - $1.50

    - Packbait (Panko 8oz, Creamed Corn ½ tin, Cinnamon, Salt) - $4

    - 1oz pear sinker $1

    - Pliers for hook removal $3.50

    - Hanger – homemade with a clothes peg, heavy nuts & bolts & superglue $1.50

    - Line Cutter – Nail clippers from the dollar store $1

    - Folding Chair – Walmart special for $10 (you just got to have a chair – at least I do)

    Basically, all the starting gear for ~$135. If you purchase a rod/reel combo I am sure you could get this number way down to well under $100 - even less if you tried hard or buy 2nd hand/ebay.

    Here's the pictures of the setup, rod, bank sticks.

    100_1572.jpg

    The homemade "Borg" hanger.

    100_1571.jpg

    Though I have 8 yrs prior experience fishing for Carp in the UK from my youth I found that my knowledge was outdated, especially with regard to the baits used here in the US. My boilies proved ineffective and having blanked out repeatedly on the “old school” style baits I switched to the use of a simple packbait and basic sweet corn packed onto a hook.

    Many thanks to those on these forums that pointed me in the right direction for bait and rig use. I cannot begin to express the helpfulness and encouragement that people have given me here.

    CAG – you folks ROCK !

    The rig I used this morning was a basic running rig, 1oz pear sinker with a 6” leader to the hook. The packbait was simply clumped around the sinker.

    Here were today’s results. Now the precursor to this was I have fished this reservoir many times before. I either blanked out, caught nuisance trout (well, a nuisance to me), a catfish and then finally, this past week the Carp started to be pulled out in bigger and better numbers!

    A 15.5 common

    100_1569.jpg

    A 17.0 common (a new PB)

    100_1568.jpg

    a couple of 11.5/12.0 commons

    100_1574.jpg

    100_1570.jpg

    I did snag another 12.0 ish common but alas the camera batteries died. Also hauled a small channel catfish and a fairly nice rainbow trout.

    All told a great few hours fishing and a demonstration that even on a "dime" you can get out there and enjoy carp fishing !

    Don't get me wrong - I am sure that within a few months/year I will end up with all the same high tech goodies and gadgets that everyone else uses. IMHO they don't make you a better fisherman but they certainly do make life easier ! As I write this post I am waiting on my reel upgrades to arrive, 2 new Daiwa Sealine Black reels ordered last week.

    Im the meantime, don't let those high sticker prices and high tech gadgets prevent you from getting out there with the basics and hauling a few carp into your net !

    Warm Regards,

    John

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