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igquick
Bite alarm went off when this big un took off with my hair rigged white bread...and caught a lot of catfish that day
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22 lber
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MikePierce170
igquick I'm not trying to hate (cuz I don't) but did you actually weigh that thing or did you guess? Cuz it looks far from 22 pounds.
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igquick
Of course I weighed it
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MikePierce170
Haha then you gotta start taking better pictures man. Looks like it was taken with an early 2000's Nokia camera phone. Comparing it to John's 23lb'er it looks tiny.
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igquick
Yea I got a new phone and just now I just got a carp bite but didn't deliver and possibly scared one off
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frofishing
if you don't mind could you tell me the place you fished for this carp?
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john montana
nice fish man...it does look a lot smaller than 22 though. you should look at upgrading your camera.
what kind of scale are you using? I just have a simple berkely digital and i weight them in my net. works pretty well. You should check out US Carp Pro forum for some good tactics and advice re: bait fishing for carp. There is a fly section there as well, but those guys are THE north american experts. Lots of good info there.
frofishing...there are literally...literally, carp everywhere. any pond/slough/lake/ditch or flooded field connected to the columbia or willamette river will have carp. the river itself is full of carp. They are by far the biggest biomass in both rivers. Wait until abot 4pm on a really hot and sunny day, then walk around the nearest body of water to wherever you live. If the carp are in there (and they probably are) you will see them sunning near the surface of the water. these aren't fish you want to target, but you'll know they are there. Get a pair of polarized glasses and you'll see fish easier. good luck man!
what kind of scale are you using? I just have a simple berkely digital and i weight them in my net. works pretty well. You should check out US Carp Pro forum for some good tactics and advice re: bait fishing for carp. There is a fly section there as well, but those guys are THE north american experts. Lots of good info there.
frofishing...there are literally...literally, carp everywhere. any pond/slough/lake/ditch or flooded field connected to the columbia or willamette river will have carp. the river itself is full of carp. They are by far the biggest biomass in both rivers. Wait until abot 4pm on a really hot and sunny day, then walk around the nearest body of water to wherever you live. If the carp are in there (and they probably are) you will see them sunning near the surface of the water. these aren't fish you want to target, but you'll know they are there. Get a pair of polarized glasses and you'll see fish easier. good luck man!
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Modest_Man
john montana said:
I've got to disagree with you a little bit John. For the Willamette at least, largescale suckers make up the largest biomass by far. Our catch ratio is probably along the lines of 5,000 suckers to 25 carp, and most of the suckers are 450+mm long. Carp probably aren't even in the top five for Willamette fish biomass. We have also yet to get a carp out of the main river itself. I know that they have to traverse the main stem to populate the sloughs, but every carp we've sampled has come out of a slough.
We got one yesterday that could have eaten the one pictured above...well not literally but it was 670mm long and had a much larger girth.
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john montana
Modest_Man said:
You guys would certainly know! I stand corrected. I do see a TON of suckers on the columbia, but not nearly as many or as large as the carp. I have a lot less experience on the Willamette though. It would be interesting to see the data. Keep me in the loop on that stuff, i'm intrigued. Have you guys sampled the big C at all? what are your thoughts on the big C biomass? I'm going off of anecdotal evidence, which is absolutely the worst way to look at it.
My buddies and I are just starting to talk about taking some length/girth measurments on the big C carp. I measured a 25 lber the other day, and it was only 34 inches long...but like an idiot, i didn't get a girth measurement. to scale out at 25 lbs and only be 34 inches long...wow. gives you a sense of how thick these fish really are.
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Modest_Man
My experience on the Columbia is nil, so I can only speak for the Willamette.
How are you taping them? Total length (snout to tip of the tail)? We measure to fork length (from snout (non-extended mouth) to the point where the upper and lower lobes of the caudal fin join). So fork length would probably be a couple inches less than total length for a large carp, even still our largest of the season has been 28" fork length. 34" is huge.
If you (or anyone) want(s) any Willamette locations for carp let me know, I can get you some good slough GPS coordinates.
How are you taping them? Total length (snout to tip of the tail)? We measure to fork length (from snout (non-extended mouth) to the point where the upper and lower lobes of the caudal fin join). So fork length would probably be a couple inches less than total length for a large carp, even still our largest of the season has been 28" fork length. 34" is huge.
If you (or anyone) want(s) any Willamette locations for carp let me know, I can get you some good slough GPS coordinates.
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john montana
Now THAT surprises me. Honestly, I've seen some really big carp on the willamette. it is just harder to access from shore, therefore i fish it less often. I can't believe 28 was the biggest. are you guys all the way up around west linn and pdx yet?
34 is big...which cracks me up because I see posts on forums (not this one) all the time saying they caught a "38 inch carp" etc. a 38 inch carp would be an absolute monster...I really believe most people just haven't seen fish that size. like you said, 34 inches is really long, and with a carp the sheer mass of a fish that size is notable and memorable. I landed a 31 lber last year and that fish measured 36 inches long...that is biggest i've measured. I would say that MOST of the 20 Plus lb fish i catch are around 32 inches, but not all. Carp are interesting in that their body shapes differ wildly...i've caught 9 lb fish that were long and skinny, and 9 lb fish that were short and blocky.
We really are going to try to get some measurement data. The average size carp in the big c (anecdotal evidence mind you) is between 9-11 lbs. My avg. catch is bigger, but I specifically target and cast at the biggest fish i can see, so that is natural. There are tons and tons of 9 lbers in the river. I really do need to start taking a few minutes to measure the fish and get a girth. i usually just weigh them in the net and let them go.
good stuff modest man...keep it coming. i'm a fish geek, this stuff intrigues me.
34 is big...which cracks me up because I see posts on forums (not this one) all the time saying they caught a "38 inch carp" etc. a 38 inch carp would be an absolute monster...I really believe most people just haven't seen fish that size. like you said, 34 inches is really long, and with a carp the sheer mass of a fish that size is notable and memorable. I landed a 31 lber last year and that fish measured 36 inches long...that is biggest i've measured. I would say that MOST of the 20 Plus lb fish i catch are around 32 inches, but not all. Carp are interesting in that their body shapes differ wildly...i've caught 9 lb fish that were long and skinny, and 9 lb fish that were short and blocky.
We really are going to try to get some measurement data. The average size carp in the big c (anecdotal evidence mind you) is between 9-11 lbs. My avg. catch is bigger, but I specifically target and cast at the biggest fish i can see, so that is natural. There are tons and tons of 9 lbers in the river. I really do need to start taking a few minutes to measure the fish and get a girth. i usually just weigh them in the net and let them go.
good stuff modest man...keep it coming. i'm a fish geek, this stuff intrigues me.
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Modest_Man
We've only sampled above the falls - from Oregon City upstream. Next year the permit allows for us to work below the falls. We hit the Oregon City area in June, and right now are nearing Eugene. All but one of the carp we've sampled have been between 550mm and 710mm (~22" to 28" fork length) One was smaller at about 17". And we don't target any one size or species, that's just what we've shocked up. No idea where the little carp are at.
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john montana
little carp are hard to find. part of what i like about 'em!
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igquick
I knew I wasn't going crazy...my 26 lber was 35 inches long...I wonder how long a 30 lber is?...so far, and suprisingly, I haven't seen or caught anything big off the C...but I was going at a pretty bad time when there were only small carp in that slough...people catching them off the big C but being honest, they weren't that big, the biggest Im guessing was prob 14 lbs, BUT one of them said a carp broke there 20 lb braid which doesn't suprise me...
When I was told about a certain part of the columbia slough (pm me if anybody wants to know, I rather trade fishing spots than just give them away), there were always TONS of carp fishermen, and I always caught more and bigger fish than them, one being 15lbs and I was using 20 lb mainline, 8 lb leader, and swivel was 15 lb test....the 15lb test swivel actually broke during the fight because I didn't let that girl run, but luckily my fishing knot was still barely on and managed to land her with no net like always...those fishing nets are expensive!!!
So far I've seen the same amount of carp and sucker fish comming out of the columbia slough...on another small slough where Mike goes bowfishing, it was literally all just carp...and people that fished on the columbia river, just carp being caught....
I still can't believe your biggest is 28 inches @modest_man, but anyways I was hoping you can pm me about those fishing coordinates please? If your into carp fishing I can give you some great places as well...@ West Salish pond I saw prob a 26 incher there stairing at me but I thought it was a bass, and when I threw out a wooly bug, it booked it and I saw its carp face, I had a feeling it was a carp because it was too big to be a bass but I've heard of rumored big bass there....
but if anybody is in to bass fishing, just prior to seeing that carp, I saw about ten 8 inch largemouth bass pass me by...
The carp are spawing at my favorite area, I literally seen two carp go skeet skeet on top of my bait, so if @modest_man can you help me out on a new spot?
When I was told about a certain part of the columbia slough (pm me if anybody wants to know, I rather trade fishing spots than just give them away), there were always TONS of carp fishermen, and I always caught more and bigger fish than them, one being 15lbs and I was using 20 lb mainline, 8 lb leader, and swivel was 15 lb test....the 15lb test swivel actually broke during the fight because I didn't let that girl run, but luckily my fishing knot was still barely on and managed to land her with no net like always...those fishing nets are expensive!!!
So far I've seen the same amount of carp and sucker fish comming out of the columbia slough...on another small slough where Mike goes bowfishing, it was literally all just carp...and people that fished on the columbia river, just carp being caught....
I still can't believe your biggest is 28 inches @modest_man, but anyways I was hoping you can pm me about those fishing coordinates please? If your into carp fishing I can give you some great places as well...@ West Salish pond I saw prob a 26 incher there stairing at me but I thought it was a bass, and when I threw out a wooly bug, it booked it and I saw its carp face, I had a feeling it was a carp because it was too big to be a bass but I've heard of rumored big bass there....
but if anybody is in to bass fishing, just prior to seeing that carp, I saw about ten 8 inch largemouth bass pass me by...
The carp are spawing at my favorite area, I literally seen two carp go skeet skeet on top of my bait, so if @modest_man can you help me out on a new spot?
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MikePierce170
john montana said:
John, it's a LOT easier to take these measurements when the fish aren't breathing anymore
Let me know if you need my help. I have both metric and imperial tapes haha.
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Modest_Man
Help me narrow it down a bit. Are you bank fishing only? No boat? What stretch of the Willy? Like Oregon City, Newberg, or Corvallis areas?
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john montana
igquick said:
This fish was 35 inches long?
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john montana
For reference...this fish was 36 inches long.
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MikePierce170
This speaks volumes haha. I'm not trying to talk sh*t but it's pretty clear with the naked eye this isn't a 35" fish bro. These fish are WAY more than 1" apart in length, not to mention weight.
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nativefish
maybe the kid has got big hands... and montana has really small hands lol
