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#21 ·
Fished yesterday afternoon and evening. After throwing corn off the end of my dock for two days, I figured I would get quick bites like I did In the summer. After four hours I did not get a single carp. I did catch several catfish, two pike and four walleye (that's a first off the dock)

As soon as the sun went down, I caught 3 carp in half an hour. Fished another four hours after dark ending up with nine carp.

As with all my carp here so far, they were all in the 8-10 lb range.

I am going to try to make some larger boilie bait in hopes of attracting a larger carp. I have yet to use anything but field corn.


Was by myself, so no good pictures. Deck boards are 2 by 6 to give an idea of size.
 
#25 ·
Finally made and used a hair rig this morning,baited with pressure cooked field corn,caught one fish-but it was on the hair rig,only bite of the morning,man it was cold,heavy frost,don't know if the change in temps shut them down or not but they just weren't biting,maybe they heard there was a hair rig in the neighorhood and didn't want to take the chance-but it worked just as advertised,cut some small pieces of 80lb mono and used these for a bait stop to hold the corn on the hair,worked great!
 
Discussion starter · #26 ·
Troy, those are some BEAST size carp you are talking about man! I can't even fathom what kind of fight that would be. But by the looks of your picture, your accustomed to fish that big.

Have a good weekend Troy!
 
Discussion starter · #27 ·
Nick,

I may get one in the future, but there really isn't any Major reason to get one for me right now. I just keep my reel disengaged, and the main thing is just to watch when your lining starts running. When that happens, just set the hook. To be honest, I need to learn more to figure out what the main reasons are for using a baitrunner. But for right now, I'm catching them, so i'm not to focused on it right now. Really, I'm just using my Curado baitcaster, and it's working find.
 
Discussion starter · #28 ·
Rodpitt said:
Fished yesterday afternoon and evening. After throwing corn off the end of my dock for two days, I figured I would get quick bites like I did In the summer. After four hours I did not get a single carp. I did catch several catfish, two pike and four walleye (that's a first off the dock)

As soon as the sun went down, I caught 3 carp in half an hour. Fished another four hours after dark ending up with nine carp.

As with all my carp here so far, they were all in the 8-10 lb range.

I am going to try to make some larger boilie bait in hopes of attracting a larger carp. I have yet to use anything but field corn. View attachment 250140

Was by myself, so no good pictures. Deck boards are 2 by 6 to give an idea of size.
Click to expand...

Beautiful carp Rod! And thanks for sharing your night man. It's very encouraging knowing that people are still catching them at this time of year!
 
Discussion starter · #29 ·
Rodpitt said:
You can buy plastic stoppers (don't know what they are called) specifically designed for hair rigs, but I will never buy one. Little pieces of twigs work just as well. I have caught 5 fish 8-15 lbs on the same twig and corn.

If you have never tried a hair rig, you owe it to yourself to give it a try. Every carp I have caught, was while I am also cat fishing. Not paying much attention to my carp pole. With hair rig, I don't have to watch it at all. When drag starts peeling is when I know I have fish. Works twice as good as circle hook does with catfish.
Click to expand...

I totally agree Rod!
 
#31 ·
Nick the advantage of a bait runner or a clicker on a baitcaster is that they put pressure on the line and it's just enough to avoid a backlash or the line flipping over a guide. If you're into baitcasters the 6500 Abu class can be found at a reasonable price on E-Bay. There are a couple of advantages, IMO, one you can use mono without the fear of an untimely tangle and avoid the high cost of braid the second thing is it's easier to find heavier actions in bait casters.
I use both and and can't say I favor one over the other, but they are paid for. I use Shimano and Okuma spinning reels on 12' rods and 6500 Abu's on 10 1/2' rods. I like the long rods because they have a lot of give between the tip and the power and this is helpful when you get into fish that are 15+ pounds. They alos aloow you to pick the line up higher and avoid line snags.
 
#33 ·
zirjacks said:
Another suggestion for hair rig stops is adjustable loop fasteners. At my job I can pick up a few strands of these and I am good for awhile, and for less than $2 you can have more hair rig stops than you will ever need. HAHA! http://www.ebay.com/itm/100pcs-Snap...astic-Tag-Fastener-Ties-/400756835094?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_2&hash=item5d4ef80316
Click to expand...
Those work great and would be my first choice. I've used them when I could snag them from the wife's new cloths tags.
Can't beat that price.
 
#34 ·
I remember reading about a study they had done on carp. I think it was in the UK? They found that carp talk to each other and if you catch the biggest carp in the school they all know it and pretty much spooks the school. Tried to find it and all that comes up now days is carp talk. LOL

If you match your tackle to the pound fish I would say that the hardest fighting fresh water fish pound for pound is the bluegill. Just my opinion.

View attachment 250325
 
#35 ·
Keith I haven't seen any evidence of that here. I know it's impossible to know if you have caught the biggest fish, but I have caught carp that were twice the average of what I caught without shutting them down.
They do seem to shut off eventually, but I don't know if the chum has been exhausted or if they are just following their instincts and moving on to new pastures.
From what I've read our population here has evolved into a little different fish than in Europe. While they seem to have small schools of very big fish, we have larger schools of smaller fish, 6-10# is common around me. It seems that the pigs, 18+ pounds run in smaller schools and get spooked easier however.
 
Discussion starter · #36 ·
rnickel17 said:
Hey Nick,

With all that I have been reading and researching on the carp rigs. Yes you can surely use a 2oz., and you will certainly catch fish, no doubt. But, it's that a lot of the experts use and recommend a 3oz. and higher, because it is really important to keep that lead down on the ground, and to be able to create pivot point for running rigs, and a solid "Stopper" for Bolt Rigs like I have shown. The reason being, because, and I'm not an expert, they say when the carp is able to quickly lift any of the smaller weights, this somehow lessens the effect of them getting hooked up. That there is "SOMETHING" important about keeping that sinker "pinned" down on the ground. This is just from what I've just read and seen on videos. I'm still just learning this stuff though. I was using 15lb. BBG Green mainline. 15lbs. I hear is most standard amongst European carpers. Then I used a 20lb. Power Pro green braid leader. Tying the knotless knot for your hair rig set up is pretty easy and there are many videos for it. I will try to find one. After learning the hair rig, I won't be going back to putting corn on a hook.
Click to expand...
I am actually finding out that alot of carpers use 1 1/2- 2oz sinkers as well just fine.
 
#37 ·
One critical aspect of the hair rig is hook sharpness. A hook with a long needle sharp point is crucial. I test every hook by dragging it across my thumbnail. If it quickly tries to grab the nail it will have no problem getting a good stick in a carps mouth.
 
#38 ·
SWMO said:
Keith I haven't seen any evidence of that here. I know it's impossible to know if you have caught the biggest fish, but I have caught carp that were twice the average of what I caught without shutting them down.
They do seem to shut off eventually, but I don't know if the chum has been exhausted or if they are just following their instincts and moving on to new pastures.
From what I've read our population here has evolved into a little different fish than in Europe. While they seem to have small schools of very big fish, we have larger schools of smaller fish, 6-10# is common around me. It seems that the pigs, 18+ pounds run in smaller schools and get spooked easier however.
Click to expand...
I just started messing around with carp fishing towards the end of summer. I caught about 20 carp and they were all cookie cutter fish. All were 10-12 lbs. great fun on lighter tackle, but still waiting for that rare big one.

I also want to try a awsome looking carp recipe I saw on a fishing show, but can't catch one small enough to cook.
 
Discussion starter · #39 ·
Man Rod, I sure wish I could get into those cookie cutter fish of 10-12lbs. I'd have a feel day with those guys. But I get what your saying, if you're catching the same size fish all the time you'd be wanting for Biggun' to break it up.
 
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