Carp fishing and tips.

[Gunga]

Okay so latly one the species i want to fish for is carp. Ive heard all these stories from my uncle how carp are awesome fish to fish for. I only know one way to fish for them and thats with a large size corkie with a toothpick with a size 1/0 hook 2 to 5 feet form the corkie with no weight setup that my uncle showed me last summer. But i also wanted to know what else i could use to catch them. Like any lures that would work or other bait setups. Maybe even if there is a way to catch them on a fly even though i dont have a fly rod. but i am saving up for one soon. So any info is greatly appreciated.

Thank Tyler

 

[troutdude]

A size 6 baithook and a worm OFF of the bottom. Bang!

 

[Drew9870]

If your going to be fishing regular, everyday methods, bait with no weight is your best bet.

If you want to catch more consistantly from different locations, you're better off doing a lot of studying on Euro fishing methods and Carp feeding habits (Underwater videos, digestion, nutrition, etc).

I am actually in the process of making a large 'Carp Info' thread, which will give info on a vast range of the methods I use, and once you do your homework , you will be way more confident next time you show up on a new water with some extremely tricky fish, there are ponds within only minutes of my house that I won't visit until I am about five times more educated on the subject of Carp rigs, Hair Rigs are very touchy, and you absolutely cannot just expect mono and/or braid to work with a lot of hook patterns, this is another subject that would have explained seperately, you also need a minimum of 2oz for the hair rig to serve its purpose (I use 3oz).

Maybe someone will sticky the info thread, pretty sure I can have it up by the end of the month.

 

[Drew9870]

You never/rarely set the hook when using a hair rig (you also see why it is called the Bolt Rig, they bolt!), notice how the Carp actually avoid the hookbait sometimes, this is because it does not move around as freely as the loosefeed (chum). Stiff Rig is a mono tied hair rig, I rarely use them, but want to.

[video=youtube;-CchVIX-RSw]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-CchVIX-RSw[/video]

 

[jimmy]

growin' up I caught hundreds of carp out of the willamette, my standard setup was a single debarbed worm hook and bread dough ( the frozen kind you get at the store ), and NO weight.

I'd keep the dough in a cooler with my soda so it wouldnt rise and peel off small bits as it started to thaw, I would cover the hook with a teardrop shape doughball ( just enough to completely conceal the hook ). cast it out, let it sink and give it about three feet of slack line. I'd use the slack line as a strike indicator, when it started to straighten out I'd set the hook. If they ever felt me or the pole they'd spit it. They always seemed to 'chew' on it a bit so the takes were pretty easy to see if I was paying attention. The 'no weight' kept the snags to a minimum and I never needed a barbed hook,( and it was easier to release em, a twelve year old vs. a barb hooked 6 lb carp meant I was gonna get wet. so I'd just reel all the way to the hook, give a push , fish was free and I was dry.)

Hope that helped, I used to have a ball 'em, hope you do too. . .

BTW --- Awesome video above me here

 

[Gunga]

Thanks for the info Jimmy Drew and troutdude. I will look more into the hair rig as you have mentioned. and the stiff rig.

 

[taofishdude]

i'd be glad to give you a crash course in fly fishing for them, i've got an extra set up you could borrow. im new to SE portland and need some fishing buddies. PM me if you want to try fly fishing for the golden bonefish.

 

[john montana]

The big key with a flyrod is finding feeding (tailing) fish. Catching them blind is mostly about luck with an artificial bit if you can find tailing fish and put a fly on their dinner plate you are in business. Go get em!

 

[mrlindeman]

Good Luck Bro. Carp are a blast!!! And I think they look really cool. They fight like hell to Corn off the bottom and worms are good. The biggest I have caught have been using the UK Boilie hair rigs though.

 

[bass]

When I used to live in North Carolina we used to fish for bass in a pond in which folks would throw bread out for the ducks. We were fishing one day around dark and I tossed out a floating rapala parallel to the shoreline. It was swallowed up with a big swirl and for the next 10 minutes my friend and I were convinced I had a fish on that might break the state record. When I finally got it on shore it turned out to be a 17lb carp. Apparently the rapala looked like a piece of bread from underneath. That spring we caught a handful more carp on rapalas, but never again after that. Really strange. I am not sure why they suddenly figured it out. It sure was fun while it lasted.

 

[troutdude]

I had a very similar experience once, on the Long Tom River (in the Willy Valley, here in Oregon).

There's a stretch of river south of Corvallis. It was VERY productive for smallies and some bucketmouths, back in the 60's & 70's. We used to catch 'em on surface plugs and poppers.

So, went to check it out again in the mid 90's. I had high hopes to bag some bass for dinner. To my astonishment...all I got all day long were carp! And they we're smackin' my surface plugs/poppers like they were candy! I was quite dumbfounded; as I had only caught carp before by fishing OFF of the bottom. Very strange. And I got NO bass at all that day.

 

[Troutier Bassier]

Thats pretty cool.
Carp on topwater lures.

 

[fisherbob]

Hi Jimmy, I grew up and now live near Corvallis. The Willamette River runs right through Corvallis. Where did you catch your Carp? Was it up near Portland? Do you know if there are Carp this far South? Thanks for any Carp Info.

 

[bigfootfish]

growin' up I caught hundreds of carp out of the willamette, my standard setup was a single debarbed worm hook and bread dough ( the frozen kind you get at the store ), and NO weight.

I'd keep the dough in a cooler with my soda so it wouldnt rise and peel off small bits as it started to thaw, I would cover the hook with a teardrop shape doughball ( just enough to completely conceal the hook ). cast it out, let it sink and give it about three feet of slack line. I'd use the slack line as a strike indicator, when it started to straighten out I'd set the hook. If they ever felt me or the pole they'd spit it. They always seemed to 'chew' on it a bit so the takes were pretty easy to see if I was paying attention. The 'no weight' kept the snags to a minimum and I never needed a barbed hook,( and it was easier to release em, a twelve year old vs. a barb hooked 6 lb carp meant I was gonna get wet. so I'd just reel all the way to the hook, give a push , fish was free and I was dry.)

Hope that helped, I used to have a ball 'em, hope you do too. . .

BTW --- Awesome video above me here

Good info on watching your line on the surface as a strike indicator. The same method works for me bait fishing for brown trout, though I use a sliding sinker with an extra large hole that I've drilled into the sinker. I just bought some frozen bread dough to try out this evening at Freeway Lakes. Also have a loaf thawin' out to bake later...lol!:lol::dance: