Jump to content
Carp Anglers Group Forums

Brookesy

Director
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    287

  • Joined

  • Last visited

 Content Type 

Posts posted by Brookesy

    Big Carp Quest Videos - Winter Storm Session

    in Pictures, Stories & Video

    Posted

    Nice session there, Dean!

    About how deep is that spot you were fishing?

    Most of the area is 12/13 feet deep. There is a spot that drops down to 15 feet. The fish move around depending on the weather, but most of my bigger fish over the last couple of winters have come from only 8 feet of water. The key is to keep them active throughout the winter. I do this by spreading around about a 1lb of bait after each session.

    WCB AND K1 BAITS

    in Beginning Carping

    Posted

    There are many opinions on the effectiveness of boilies, especially in American waters. You have to understand why they were developed to appreciate why we 'Brits' love them. Anglers had used other baits for years and caught plenty of fish, but they also caught a lot of nuisence fish (roach, bream, chub, tench etc). Therefore, boilies were developed to make a bait more resistant to the other fish. From this starting point they have been developed to today's levels. Most european waters are relatively small and boilies help avoid other fish and also add to the carps' growth rate. American waters are usually much, much bigger and hence a baiting campaign may well be a waste of money!

    Sweetcorn and bread (worms as well) are far, far more instant than boilies. I use them myself. However, if you want to avoid catching other species or want to attempt to target the bigger fish then I believe boilies will help achieve this. You can also fish at much greater ranges (if required) without using a spod/spomb (catapult or throwing stick). When using boilies I personally use 20mm and bigger as I want to avoid the smaller fish and they are also more visual and likely to be inspected.

    I personally have caught hundreds of American carp (small and big) on boilies, but I also use corn/maize, bread, worms...... It depends on the water and the fishing situation. If you have spent $400+ on baiting with them and have only caught 2 fish, but lots of catfish, then I would suggest the catfish are eating them before the carp. In this case upping the sizes to 20mm/24mm and bigger may help. Don't be afraid of the bigger sizes, a 20lb+ carp will fit 2x24mm baits in it's mouth with ease.

    It all boils down to confidence. If you are not confident in a bait then chances are you will abandon it before it starts to become successful. Good luck with your quest to catch on boilies, hope it works out for you.

    Family Friendly

    in New England

    Posted

    Harry,

    I live near Worcester and to be honest you will be spoiled with the number of waters that have carp in them. Pretty much every body of water has them in, some bigger than others, depends what you are looking for; size or numbers?

    I think the Charles has produced high twenties and the odd thirty, but is mostly singles and doubles. Not fished it myself, but I believe the basin area where the muddy river comes in is an excellent spot. Check out Jerome Moisand's underwater video's that were filmed right at this location.

    A few other suggestions:

    Concord/Sudbury/Assabet Rivers - All connected and lots of fish to upper twenties

    Merrimac River - Excellent river in the upper stretches, above Lowell. Lots of twenties, the occasional thirty but if you get it right you'll catch lots of fish.

    Around Boston - Brookline Res (fish to low thirties), Jamaica Pond, Spy Pond in Lexington

    Worcester - Blackstone River (stuffed with smaller fish, but lots of mirrors)

    I don't fish that way, more around the Worcester areas and further afield. You can also check out Wild Carp Companies who hold some events throughout the year in Massachusetts.

    Good Luck,

    Dean

    WCB AND K1 BAITS

    in Beginning Carping

    Posted

    If I had to use 1 bait to catch a carp, sweetcorn would be it, closely followed by bread! Sweetcorn is visual and the carp love it. However, it is not selective for either species or picking out larger carp. Don't get me wrong it will catch the biggest fish, but you are just as likely to catch a bluefgill or a 1lb carp!

    Boilies may need some pre-baiting on certain waters, but in my own experience this is rarely the case and I am confident using them straight off the bat. The KEY word here is CONFIDENCE! Having caught a lot of carp on boilies I am 100% confident in their effectiveness. That does not mean I will use them as a stand alone bait, as many times I will use them with particles or method. For instance I may bait up with maize and corn and also add boilies into the mix. The idea is to get the carp to recognize them as an easy meal. One this is achieved they are far, far more effective and come into their own.

    Personally, I will use the bait I think will be most effective on the given water. Sometimes this will be freelined bread, sometimes method and corn and at other times a boilie only approach. Why limit yourself to one approach? One final factor with any bait is to try and find an area to fish that the carp feed naturally. If they regularly visit a spot to feed they are much, much more likely to pick up our offerings. If they are just traveling through the area then a visual bait like sweetcorn is probably going to work much better.

    Carp of the Month - February

    in 2013

    Posted

    Nice fish Andy and Nikki. There is no current limit on the amount of fish you can enter as there is only one prize for first place. This would be a problem if there were multiple winners, but as there is only one prize it will not have any effect on how the judges vote.The only rule is you can't enter a fish for multiple months. At the end of the day the 5 judges will pick their favorite fish and the winner will be decided accordingly.

    Carp of the Month - February

    in 2013

    Posted

    Guys,

    Only 3 days left to post your entry for February's carp of the month. We had lots of fantastic fish from the ATC and at the moment we only have one entry!

    Remember this is a free competition with some great prizes. $100 Tracker prize this month, plus 1 year CAG Membership (if a member wins) and an extra prize if the fish was caught in a CAG event (ATC counts).

    This is open to everyone so get posting those fish.

    The 2013 AUSTIN TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS are over

    in ATC 2013

    Posted

    Neil, Willem and all of the local guys and girls did an amazing job organizing and running this event. Everything ran like clockwork, due to the amount of time and effort you all put in and it was a pleasure to fish the event. The fishery is fantastic with PB's for many of the anglers and some amazing catches taking place. Even though it was difficult fishing for myself it was great to see the pictures and reports coming out throughout both days. Congratulations to the winner's, good peg(s) or not, they still had to catch the fish which they did a fantastic job of.

    I would definitely recommend this event. Not only well run, all of the competitor's were very friendly and it was a real relaxed atmosphere. You also have a chance to catch some stunning fish. I for one will be back next year.

×
×
  • Create New...