Jump to content
Carp Anglers Group Forums

Brookesy

Director
  • Posts

    285
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Posts posted by Brookesy

  1. As I've had a few inquires I though I would give you all an update on the last NACA of 2015.

    The BOD voted to have 1 printed NACA each year and this will be our Christmas Edition. I have already lined up our printers and mailing house and have my timelines in place so we can get the printed edition out to you all in December.

    As the printed edition is only 64 pages (previous issues have been 48 pages) the content will be limited. I already have some exciting 'guest' articles and other content lined up but would be happy to look at any articles our members send in. As well as the printed edition (which will only go to CAG Members) we will then release a 'supplemental' Edition which will include the printed material as well as other content to get us to our 120-140 page target. This will be released 2-3 weeks after our members have received their printed copy.

    I would love CAG members to send me in their catch shots as well so I have a number to choose from for the cover shot. To be considered for the cover, the picture needs to follow the criteria below:

    • A well framed shot of digital quality
    • If it is a trophy shot, carp care practices need to be followed (water shot, over a mat, not standing up with the fish etc)
    • The picture needs to be exclusive! I will not put a picture on the cover that has already been released and displayed elsewhere.
    • The picture needs to come from a CAG member or a featured 'guest' contributor.

    Timelines for the Printed Edition will be a deadline of November 1st. Please send any pictures or articles to naca@carpanglersgroup.com

    Thanks,

    Dean

  2. Over the last year fishing time has been severely limited but with a change of jobs in early June I suddenly found I could get out for the occasional session. Here are some of my results.

    Late Spring

    Having quit my current job I made arrangements to begin a new position after July 4th week. I decided to sneak in one or two overnight sessions to get me back into the swing of things. I chose a section of the Connecticut River that I know well and over two nights managed 6 fish. Here are a few of them:

    post-7695-0-97975000-1441645293_thumb.jp

    post-7695-0-80422500-1441645297_thumb.jp

    post-7695-0-70948100-1441645448_thumb.jp

    post-7695-0-01040300-1441645467_thumb.jp

    I then had a week or so where I could not stray far from home so I got myself down to my local Lake Quinsigamond to see if the fish were feeding. A few nice fish topped by this mirror was my reward:

    post-7695-0-05531000-1441645592_thumb.jp

    My new job required a meeting before starting and with no other time available I decided to fish the night before and then drive to the meeting directly from the river (obviously with a change of clothes and some aftershave!!). The reason I was desperate to get on the banks was due to a thunderstorm and rain system approaching which would result in a pressure change; perfect conditions in the summer.

    Over the course of the night the fish responded to the weather and the baiting approach and I landed 10 fish. Unfortunately I had to leave for my meeting as the fish were still very active as I was packing up.....but that's the reality of working for a living!!

    post-7695-0-71388500-1441646185_thumb.jp

    post-7695-0-59427000-1441646205_thumb.jp

    The session was topped by a common just a few ounces under 40lbs and a 42lb+ mirror. I left a very happy carper :)

    post-7695-0-53684800-1441646232_thumb.jp

    post-7695-0-72696400-1441646289_thumb.jp

    I managed one more night the following week with a couple of cracking twenties hitting the net:

    post-7695-0-42349900-1441646380_thumb.jp

    post-7695-0-09977800-1441646390_thumb.jp

    My job kicked in for the next month but in mid July I looked at the calendar to see that I had a couple of weekends free when the wife would be working. I decided to take the 5 hour drive to the Seneca River and catch myself a few feisty commons. Both trips were planned as 48 hour sessions but in reality once the carp got on the bait I didn't last more than 24 hours!! In total I had over 70 fish over the two 24 hour sessions with probably a dozen or so over 20lb's (I unhooked most fish in the net and returned them unweighted) topped by a character of a common just over 30lbs.

    post-7695-0-00564500-1441646758_thumb.jp

    post-7695-0-46036300-1441646764_thumb.jp

    post-7695-0-98045200-1441646770_thumb.jp

    post-7695-0-32240800-1441646778_thumb.jp

    post-7695-0-80453200-1441646786_thumb.jp

    post-7695-0-06346800-1441646793_thumb.jp

    With the summer winding to a close and my weekends now occupied I find myself again looking forward to late September and the arrival of the Fall weather. By choosing the correct venues and weather systems I had very good results from relatively few sessions and I'm hoping I continue to make good decisions this Fall. However, that's fishing and I look at every blank or missed opportunity as one step closer to the fish I am after.

    Good luck to everyone this Fall. Catch a monster or two :)

  3. If you look closely, the two links (in posts #1 and #3) are slightly different.

    For me, link #1 failed, but #3 worked fine.

    Thanks for fixing it.

    No problem, if you have any problems with the links you can always go to:

    www.issuu.com

    Just do a simple search for North American Carp Angler and you should get all of the last 4 Editions.

  4. NACA Q3 is currently being put together and will hopefully be live for September 1st. We have plenty of CAG News, reports and Tournament information as well as several quality articles.

    At the moment I have very few CAG member pics. If you would like to send me a recent picture; scenic or carp capture, please get them to me by the end of the week (Friday August 28th).

    You can email them to:

    naca@carpanglersgroup.com

  5. The information I provided isn't to say that boilies are better than any other bait. It's all in the bait application, what you are trying to achieve and the way you prefer to fish.

    I do fish particles and many other baits but if possible I prefer to fish with boilies. I can target bigger fish, avoid nusiance species and bait up much easier with boilies. If you want more information on fishing with boilies check out my articles in NACA; The Art of Boilie fishing

    http://issuu.com/northamericancarpangler/docs/2014_q3_naca

    http://issuu.com/northamericancarpangler/docs/2015_q1_naca

    http://issuu.com/northamericancarpangler/docs/naca_2015_spring_edition

  6. Yikes I love carp fishing but not at that price that's a lot of money! Hopefully corn works ;)

    Corn does work but the type of feeding situation I created was much easier to achieve with boilies. I actually got a big quantity of boilies when they were reduced so it probably cost me $70 in bait, however it was well worth it. I don't usually use that much bait, maybe 1/2 kg to 1kg a session but if the fish respond then I'm happy to give them more bait.

    Everyone has specific ways they like to fish, and I primarily prefer to use boilies. It works for me, but there's plenty of ways to skin a cat.

  7. Really good post. Do you buy Dynamite bait from any US vendor?

    Unfortunately Dynamite baits may not be available in the US anymore. BC Tackle stocked them for 10 years (I bought a bunch of the last of the stock in the spring) but then they decided to move across to US Carp Pro. The last time I looked the website was not working, but maybe they still have stock and it might be worth calling them.

    I'll move across to another European bait company such as Nash, CC Moore, Nutrabaits, Solar or Hutchinson, ALL of which BC Tackle stock. They are all relatively similar and it's more a case of applying the bait successfully than the actual bait.

  8. Very nicely written and much needed inspiration to people like me stuggling to get good numbers in summer here. the bite has slowed down around me and so i am .. but reading your post and tips i would want to try out soon.
    you baited lots of boilies - did u used same boilie to bait that u used as hookbait ? Im thinking correctly you used about 1k boilies ?
    Those are some beauties .. nice pic's
    Thanks for sharing

    Thanks for the comments. I used a mixture of two boilies (Dynamite Spicy Peanut and white chocolate in 15mm and 20mm). Hook baits were snowman rigs with either a spicy peanut or White chocolate 20mm or 26mm bottom bait and a 15mm fluro pop-up (I was using Robin red fluro pop-ups for this session).

    During the session I used around 7-8kg of boilies. Seems like a lot, but I started with about 1kg spread over 2 spots and then fed 100 boilies after every fish. The key is to keep the fish feeding once you start to catch them. I generally bait on a little and often basis as I find this a much better approach than putting a lot of bait in at the start of the session.

    7-8kg of bait is not cheap (probably $100 worth of bait), but I usually do not use that amount of bait. I do like to have it on hand though, should the fish turn on. In the past I've used 5-10kg of bait during a 12 hour session when the fish are really feeding! A 25lb fish can eat a lot of bait!! I this case shelf life boilies really come into their own.

    Good luck with your fishing.

  9. I love my Fox rods.

    How do you deal with doubles?

    Sometimes when the action is fast I just go with one rod because of the hassle of trying to keep one fish away from the other line.

    I've had a couple of PITAS when the lines got tangled together.

    I've tried playing 2 fish at once, but this is sometimes results in tangles and two lost fish.

    Generally, double takes happen when you are playing one fish and the other rod goes off. In this situation I will keep playing the first fish and make my way back to the second rod. I will then bend into the fish, and put the rod back down (turning off the alarm) and loosening the drag. As I fish with big pit reels, there's usually no problem letting the fish take line.

    Once the first fish is in the net, (I use two nets nearly every time I fish) I then deal with the second rod. In most cases the fish will stop running or will head to safety (weed beds or snags). If I know there are snags then I will try to play both fish at the same time!! Most times I will land both fish as I use strong tackle and sharp hooks. Just take your time and do not rush as this usually results in mistakes.

    On this session I had several double takes, with only 1 fish lost due to it going into a weed bed and cutting the hook-link on a zebra muscle. Interestingly, I landed this fish a few hours later with the first rig sitting right next to the second one in it's mouth!!

  10. Summer usually means a slow down in fish activity and not having wet a line in 3 weeks I decided to take the opportunity to slip away for 48 hours.

    In the end I only lasted 24 hours as I ran out of bait and needed to sleep after constant fish activity. A nice problem to have.

    Keys to my success??

    1) Most importantly I picked a venue that I know has a big population of carp, which means even in the summer they still compete for food. Not exactly close to me but a 600 mile round trip was worth the risk.

    2) Baiting approach. I have had good results in the past fishing particles, but I decided on two approached this time. Particles on one area and boilies on another. Whichever the fish responded to, I would then adapt my approach.

    3) Bait application. The fish had a liking for boilies on this session (a mixture of Dynamite Spicy peanut and white chocolate, soaked in hemp oil). I started by baiting a line between two spots with around 200 baits. After every fish I then rebaited with 100 boilies.

    post-7695-0-79967000-1439049065_thumb.jp

    4) Adapt and react early. Once I saw that the boilies were working and one particular spot was producing most of the bites, I concentrated 2 rods on this spot and made the area a little bigger when baiting. Every time I caught a fish or the action slowed I baited with another 50-100 boilies, even if this was in the middle of the night.

    5) Be prepared. Before the action really kicked off, I tied up several rigs and prepared my area. Unhooking mat, sling, scales and camera were all set up as was 2 nets!

    post-7695-0-20515800-1439049039_thumb.jp

    6) Have a system. After I landed a fish, I unhooked it in the net and secured it in the margins. I then rebaited the spot first, retied my rig (either sharpening the hook or replacing the rig), then recast the rod. Once this was done, I weighed the fish and took pictures (most fish were released without a picture, unless they were unusual or over 20lb). Don't spend 30 minutes with the rod out of the water and no bait going into the swim......

    post-7695-0-41891400-1439049082_thumb.jp

    7) Getting it right. If you get the bait application correct and the fish competing then big hits are possible. In this session I had several double takes and a few triples!! I also only lost 2 fish and once of these I caught 6 hours later with the broken hook link still in it's mouth!! Proof that they really wanted the boilies.

    post-7695-0-73957600-1439049053_thumb.jp

    8) Use reliable tackle. In very weedy conditions and with rig cutting zebra muscles it's important to use tackle you are confident in. Being sponsored by Fox International makes it an easy choice for me and I can't recommend their tackle highly enough. Arma Point hooks WILL NOT let you down and if you are looking for a budget rod that handles big leads and angry carp, then I would point you towards the Warrior line. I have 10ft 3.5lb rods and they dealt with everything I threw at them.

    post-7695-0-53012600-1439049062_thumb.jp

  11. I believe Jerome fishes it quite a bit. I know the fish like maize which they have seen plenty of. I fished TAKF event a few years ago and most of the fish were caught less than 20 yards away from the bank. Fish are mostly low to mid doubles.

  12. I think it changes from year to year to some extent. 4-5 years ago I found over several sessions that the last couple of hours of the outgoing tide and then the first fe hours of the incoming tide were awesome. A few years ago I had more success on the incoming tide all the way to high tide.

    Best bet is to fish both tides for a few sessions as the carp do move around a lot and if you are not catching much it's usually because they haven't come through the area in numbers. Regular bait going into the area also helps and I found when I was fishing regularly (2 times per week) that the fish would be present more often.

  13. Lee,

    I have articles lined up for those 3 topics (zigs, float fishing and stalking) however please submit an article and if I have space I'll use it in the Edition, and if not then I will just bump it to a future Edition. We'd also love a future article on the World Carp Championship's. August did one last time, but would love to get another one once the event has finished.

    Dean

  14. In England I was never a fan of full moons but I was mostly fishing smaller lakes and rivers. In the USA our waters are much, much bigger as are our rivers and I have definitely seen an effect, especially when it comes to common carp, which seem to be affected far more. Over the last few years I have fished a number of full moon phases and as I fish waters with a 90% mirror carp population I am able to see a definite connection. On these full moon phases I have personally caught a number of large commons which are fairly rare in my waters. If you are targeting large common carp, I would make a habit of being out during a full moon.

  15. As alway's I'm looking for CAG Members to send their catch pictures, reports and articles to:

    naca@carpanglersgroup.com

    The next issue will go live in early September and the deadline is August 15th.

    My focus for Q3 is to feature different ways to catch carp. Hopefully, I'll be featuring:

    Euro style

    Float fishing

    Stalking

    Fly fishing

    Zig fishing

    Surface fishing

    Paylake style

    If anyone would like to contribute on a certain style of fishing please feel free to reach out to me or send across an article.

    Thanks in advance.

×
×
  • Create New...