used to go in shallow water with a gig went with grandmas bf it was pretty cool i am more toward catfishing went along anyway.
I used to do that all the time in creeks around me, there were so many carp, they were overpopulating and the smallmouth population was decreasing. We'd go out and spear 50 carp a day weighing 2-15 pounds apiece. It was pretty fun.
When I was in High School we had high water and it backed up in a road ditch. The carp came through the pipe and rolled and stayed in the ditch. Several of us used pitch forks to gig them. You had to use a scooping motion or they would fall off or pin them to the ground and get a good had on them before pulling the fork. Team work was the best with the forks. One guy would pin one then the other guy would get a hold of the fish. We probably had 100# of fillets when we were done. I've since used a gig with 5 barbs on it with great luck. A good long handle and a rope one the end in the event it slips or is pulled from your hands is helpful.
Same with me ... but you can always use maggots, worm, and termite. To make your dough balls more effective, try to put an ounce or two of fire ant eggs (or any ants) in your dough formula (you need to boil your dough ball) ... see the huge different. Carp loves two things the most: termite that fly and fire ant eggs. If you can get your hands on big fire ant eggs (we call them "capsules"), put on your hook several capsules and see what happens ... Alternatively, you can use the larve/nymph of bee (i don't know the correct word in English, but you get the idea) along with the hives.
