barnyard
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Posts posted by barnyard
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I use Garcia 5600ci's for carp. They are just like a 5500, but have a thumbbar and a bait clicker. I have 3 rigs set up with 5600 and LOVE them. I am alot more accurate than with a spinning reel and the guy I fish with can cast farther with his 4500 size reel, but not much.
I love hearing the clicker sing. To me, it's one of the coolest parts of carp fishing.
I use a 7000 on my spod rod and can easily cast as far as a similiarly rigged rod with a 4500 sized reel.
Tom B
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Try searching for posts that I have made in the past.
I have been using circle hooks exclusively for carp for at least 4 years. They work and they work freaking well. We use #6.
I've written pages about their successes. From my experience, if they are not working, you are over thinking them.
Tom B
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There is nothing better than to be outfished by your kids! What a great fish.
When I am working, the thing that brings the biggest smile to my face is thinking about the fishing trips that I have taken with my daughters.
Great job!
Tom B
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Keith, as a muskie fisherdude, I feel your pain.
One of the things that has been so very appealing to me is the fact that, fishing for carp, I can have a spot to myself, with little worries of competition.
I still muskie fish, but not as much as I used to. Muskie angling is growing at an exponential rate here in Mn. and the places to muskie fish are very finite. Just about everything that I have read that you endure in Europe, I have seen here, but with muskies.
IF carp fishing got that popular here, I would probably fish for sturgeon.... oh wait, I do that too....... I love those "other" species.
Tom B
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Tom - nice responses to the issues of boaters, jet skiers and carp trashers.
Thanks Keith.
I should point out that all those things are last resort kind of things. Reflecting back on many of our encounters, an outside observer would probably get the impression that we were trying to recruit fishing partners.
Most people seem to be interested in how to catch carp. They have seen big fish and many have tried, but were for the most part clueless. To us, these are "conversion opportunities." I really do try to be a "carp ambassader."
Another thing that I have noticed and it kind of bothers me, is the perception that boaters have of shore fishers. We've been called, "white trash, trailer trash" and a host of others by boating fishers. I really don't get that attitude.
Tom B
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Most of the time, if confronted by other shore anglers, we will either offer them some of our bait, so they can fish for carp too, or we have offered a couple of folks the chance to land a fish that bit while they were standing there. Noone has taken us up on that, but usually it opens up a dialog and they understand that unless they are fishing for carp, they might be better off moving along. It's always a polite conversation, but they see for themselves that fighting a carp takes up some shore space.
Boaters are a whole nother thing.
We had a boat anchor over our swim last summer. We asked them to move and they ignored us. So, Wald and I started spodding at them. The splash from my spod got them wet twice. They got the message and left.
We have also had boaters cruise over our lines. We have warned them about them and if they respond impolitely, we usually lift up the rod so that the line is picked up by their motor. I've done this twice, one time, a guy with a Ranger bass boat picked up 100 yards of Power Pro and another 100 yard of mono backing. Once his motor started picking up line, I set the rod in the rod holder and got out a knife to cut the line. I wanted to make sure that his hub was fairly full before I cut it.
The 2nd was a guy that was pitching jigs right through our swim. His trolling motor picked up the line and he noticed it right away. I cut the line from my reel so that it tangled more. He left and did not come back.
In the case of the Ranger guy, if he did not find the line right away, that could have ruined his motor's lower unit. Even if he found the line at the end of the day, the seals were still probably blown and water had gotten into his motor. I've been told that superline can tighten up enough around the propshaft to actually cut the shaft off..... I could only hope.
We TRY really hard to include other shore anglers and dispell common misperceptions about carp, while also pointing out, that in the area we fish, carp provide the easiest opportunity for a 20 lb fish. Most folks at least take some bait and try for themselves.
I do have the local DNR agents # and the local sheriff on my cell phone. In the case of jet skies, Minnesota has very specific laws on how close they can operate to other users. Every time I have called the sheriff, we have seen them on the river within a 1/2 hour. Once, we saw him writing a ticket to one of the folks that we had called about. I call the DNR for folks that insist on killing carp and throwing them back in the water. In Minnesota, that's 'wanton waste' and it will get you a ticket.
Tom B
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Or, pick up a few "floating" jigs, straighten the hook, file down the bard a bit and you're all set. Because it floats, you can easily have a few kernels of corn threaded on for quicker rebaiting after landing a fish.
Tom B
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We used to have the same kind of hooking troubles. Then we switched to circle hooks.
Tom B
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I get the bit about killing carp quite a bit also. My regular reply is: "If a body of water can support 100 pounds of fish, which do you think would harm the lake more: 2-50 pounders or 50-2 pounders." The argument that I always hear is that carp "muddy up the water." My statement usually shuts them up.
On the same vein, I have talked to a couple of fisheries biologists that are starting to see that netting rough fish in the Spring may do more harm than good. One told me that it was interesting that in lakes with really big carp and buffalo, that the numbers of smaller fish are greatly diminished. Usually after a lake has been netted, biologists will see a "bloom" of smaller specimens of the species that was removed.
I have relayed that info to a couple of "harpooners" and further reasoned, that if that is the case, they should be shooting at the smallest carp only. None of them see the sense in that, they just need to kill.
Tom B
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I think this is one aspect of fishing that enhances the whole experience and I always include a good pair of binoculars in my gear.
I agree wholeheartedly with bringing a pair of Iowa Fishfinders. There are so many cool things to look at....
A couple of trips ago, my youngest daughter found a nest of hatching snapping turtles. The nest was on one side of the road and the river the other. She spent the first part of the outing carring the hatchlings across the road to the river. I found out that those little buggers bite right out of the freaking shell!
Anyways...locations... I wonder if a person could set up near the Oak Creek discharge or in the vacinity. It seems that someone is always catching something there, why not carp?? If I remember, there is a public park in Racine County just south of the plant (I am originally from Racine.) I would think that setting up on the beach there could be a great shot at a beast of near mythic proportions.
If you try it and it works, let me know. I am going to Racine Labor Day weekend and would like to bring my stuff and show my brother and sister how much fun they could be having.
Tom B
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You can make an even better bait needle out of a floating jig. That way you can load it with corn and toss it into your bait pot and easily retrieve it after you catch your first fish. That way, your corn doesn't dry out and you cut down on your downtime between fish.
My recipe for field corn: In a 2-gallon stock pot, start with about 1/2 gallon of dry corn, add a 1/2 cup or so of sugar, add water to 2 inches or so from the top. Simmer for an hour or so, the kernals should just about double in size. When a few start "popping," it's done. Take off the heat and add your favorite flavor KoolAid. Stir and go fishing.
The same recipe also works using flavorings that are commonly used for boilies, KoolAid works and happens to be significantly cheaper (my philosophy= cheaper is good.)
We have caught and landed fish up to 25 pounds on this recipe. I would guess that we have already landed over 200 fish this year on this recipe. Fish will eat it with anywhere from 1-5 kernels on the hair.
Fish it with a circle hook and I guarantee success.
Tom B
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Our biggest fish have almost always come from the very edge of a baited area.
If I remember correctly, you can fish 2 rods, do it. have one bait in right in the middle of your chummed spot. Alternate the other, sometimes have it downstream from your baited area, sometimes upstream.
You also need to determine if there are big fish in the area. We fish 2 spots that are fantastic for numbers. A person can easily catch 5-6 fish per hour. Most of them will be 6-8 lbs. Great spots for teaching people how to fight and land fish, horrible if you want to catch something big.
Maybe you need to find another spot????
Tom B
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Great story and pictures. Instead of getting in a flamewar over what works best, you all got together and had a great time fishing. It sounds like everyone involved learned something from the other "side". Maybe circle hooks can work on carp.
We've been using circle hooks successfully for several years now. On that outing, we had 2 runs that did not hook up. That's better than a 90% hook rate. When we were using traditional hooks, we landed about 60% of the fish that we set hooks on, which was about what Josef and Jim experienced.
I am so very glad that we were able to fish our stuff side by side. I certainly look forward to doing it again!
Tom B
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Were did you fish?
The Mississippi north of St Cloud.
Tom B
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Josef commented that most all of the fish were in fabulous condition. The spot that we fish on the river is well above the dam and with the gates closed, it is almost like fishing a lake.
Both also said that with the extreme orange color of the fish, that they must have been feeding heavily on Crayfish. We checked the poop from quite a few and did find crayfish remains.
Might have to try crayfish tails on a hair rig.....
Tom B
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Great article, I would add for those that have them, an 8.5 foot salmon rod is also an excellent carp rod. I had them for using with slip bobbers, but they work sooo much better for carp!
Also, try circle hooks. With most types of rigging, the fish is hooked before you pick up the rod.
Tom B
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We catch boats every know and then also. It looks like we use similiar style rod holders. We use plumbers pipe attached to the really thin fence posts. We bend the post at about a 45 degree angle. That way, the line lays closer to the water.
My best boat catch was a Ranger Bass boat. We warned him about our lines and he yelled, "Get a boat, trailer trash." I didn't have the heart to tell him that his prop picked up my line. I think about 100ish yards of 30lb superline made it to his propshaft. Darn the luck.
Tom B
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I tell ya, we had a ton o fun.
I think originally, I was hoping more to compare and contrast Euro styles with "American" style. We did get some great tips and benefitted from Josef and Jim's advice.
Wald and I had only fished for carp when it is sunny. Our experience had been that if it was clear and some clouds rolled through, fishing was over. Going from that experience, Wald and I wanted to cancel the fishing for Saturday.
Glad that we didn't! The sun never did come out and we caught fish, including 3 while it was raining. Annnnnnd one of those fish hit a boilie. A double first for me. Guess they do catch more than just cats, eh. Plus, that is one of the first times that boilies have been out on that spot that cats have NOT hit em. Triple first for me. WOW!
In all truth, Wald and I use "americanized" Euro techniques. We use hair rigs tied to circle hooks on a slip rig. Our baitcasters are set to 'click' when a fish hits and free spool, but our spinning reels are set up with Dubro line release clips. The clips allow a fish to take line, but they have to put enough tension on the line to 'break free,' at which time they are hooked. So, in the spinning reel, I guess they are more like a bolt rig....
We've been fishing the world's greatest sportfish for 4 years together, so our techniques are kind of refined.
"You have to have a license to drive. Cripes, you even need a license to fish, but any dude can be a father."
Tom B
circle hooks
in Beginning Carping
Posted
Using rods in rod holders, our experience is that 90-95% of the takes that we get will result in landed fish with circle hooks. I don't think we ever got above 50% with non circle hooks.
Besides carp, we also use them for sturgeon and cats. Actually, we use them for any species anytime we are using bait. We have not found a situation where we have tried them and then went back to a traditional hook.
Tom B