05-19-2011, 08:54 AM
HAWAIIANboy,
In the springtime carp often jump and leave the water. I think they are doing this as a pre/post spawn ritual. I agree w/ Syn, most fish that leave the water are carp. From what I've seen the last few times out is the striper hit topwater, but don't usually come out of the water with their whole body. This makes a quicker sorta splash w/out the belly flop at the end.
Iamthesmf, let me know how the boilies work out please. When I first started fly fishing for carp I did a bunch of research into just about any way it was possible to catch a carp. I did quite a bit of reading on the subject and even talked to some experts on the matter. The overwhelming response I got was that boilies and hair rigs were unnecessary for carp here in America. Basically in Europe the carp is heavily pursued. Being a smart fish, it rarely will take a bait it's been caught on again in it's life. Due to the heavy angler pursuit, many guys were searching for a way to give the carp something they hadn't seen before. Hence the boilie and all that goes with it. Hair rigs etc etc... they were fishing for well educated fish and adapted, the fisherman that is. I was assured time and again that regular old corn is one of the best baits you can use for carp in America. That is slowly changing however. More and more guys are fishing for carp here, and it's starting to become quite heavily pursued with the fly rod. For now, one can simply chum out some corn then fish it with corn and do well. Like I mentioned earlier I went to chum balls because I can throw one ball in a spot and know exactly where my chum is.. when you hand throw out corn it's hard to get it all exactly in one spot.
You can also make dough bait out of grains and various additives, but I've not bothered with them for years either. A nicely chummed spot here in the states should produce... I don't know if you can overchum Mead or not due to the large amount of carp in there, but you can definately overdue it in a small pond or lake. You want the fish interested, but you don't want to fill them up. That's why I like Iamthesmf's chum bombs so much... nice scent, but not alot to fill the fish up on. I will definately be trying those out soon.
If you want to make boilies and/or use hair rigs, by all means do... they work really great from what I've read and heard. I might even make some up myself, I've always been interested in the process. I just wanted to mention that regular ole corn works great so that some of the guys that are new to fishing won't be put off and think they can only catch nice carp with the European's methods. Heck you don't even need to chum to catch a few in most cases, but chumming will signifigantly improve your catch ratio.
Anyhow carp fishing is fun and easy. I take my boy fishing for carp when he wants to so that I know he'll catch fish. Syn is right, hold onto that pole, a big carp will take it in fast... a baitrunner reel is nice for carp fishing, but one can also set the drag reel loose then tighten it during the fight. Opening the bail works as well as long as you are observing the rod carefully.
A final thought. About mid June, my work schedule slows way down. Is anyone interested in a BFT carp outting. I'd be willing to go out in the boat and chum heavily any spot chosen the day before then meet up with a group of you guys and have a carp fishing festival. It'd be a cheap, easy way for us to get together and fish for a day.
Later,
[signature]
In the springtime carp often jump and leave the water. I think they are doing this as a pre/post spawn ritual. I agree w/ Syn, most fish that leave the water are carp. From what I've seen the last few times out is the striper hit topwater, but don't usually come out of the water with their whole body. This makes a quicker sorta splash w/out the belly flop at the end.
Iamthesmf, let me know how the boilies work out please. When I first started fly fishing for carp I did a bunch of research into just about any way it was possible to catch a carp. I did quite a bit of reading on the subject and even talked to some experts on the matter. The overwhelming response I got was that boilies and hair rigs were unnecessary for carp here in America. Basically in Europe the carp is heavily pursued. Being a smart fish, it rarely will take a bait it's been caught on again in it's life. Due to the heavy angler pursuit, many guys were searching for a way to give the carp something they hadn't seen before. Hence the boilie and all that goes with it. Hair rigs etc etc... they were fishing for well educated fish and adapted, the fisherman that is. I was assured time and again that regular old corn is one of the best baits you can use for carp in America. That is slowly changing however. More and more guys are fishing for carp here, and it's starting to become quite heavily pursued with the fly rod. For now, one can simply chum out some corn then fish it with corn and do well. Like I mentioned earlier I went to chum balls because I can throw one ball in a spot and know exactly where my chum is.. when you hand throw out corn it's hard to get it all exactly in one spot.
You can also make dough bait out of grains and various additives, but I've not bothered with them for years either. A nicely chummed spot here in the states should produce... I don't know if you can overchum Mead or not due to the large amount of carp in there, but you can definately overdue it in a small pond or lake. You want the fish interested, but you don't want to fill them up. That's why I like Iamthesmf's chum bombs so much... nice scent, but not alot to fill the fish up on. I will definately be trying those out soon.
If you want to make boilies and/or use hair rigs, by all means do... they work really great from what I've read and heard. I might even make some up myself, I've always been interested in the process. I just wanted to mention that regular ole corn works great so that some of the guys that are new to fishing won't be put off and think they can only catch nice carp with the European's methods. Heck you don't even need to chum to catch a few in most cases, but chumming will signifigantly improve your catch ratio.
Anyhow carp fishing is fun and easy. I take my boy fishing for carp when he wants to so that I know he'll catch fish. Syn is right, hold onto that pole, a big carp will take it in fast... a baitrunner reel is nice for carp fishing, but one can also set the drag reel loose then tighten it during the fight. Opening the bail works as well as long as you are observing the rod carefully.
A final thought. About mid June, my work schedule slows way down. Is anyone interested in a BFT carp outting. I'd be willing to go out in the boat and chum heavily any spot chosen the day before then meet up with a group of you guys and have a carp fishing festival. It'd be a cheap, easy way for us to get together and fish for a day.
Later,
[signature]