The Scoop on Winter Fishing....Fisherman Magazine, Jan., 2020

Check it out in the January edition of the
Fisherman Magazine!

The most recent article I've written for the magazines is in this month's January edition of The Fisherman magazine. It's a carp article, and it is titled, "Cold Carp: Score Some Winter Gold". While I have written bits and pieces about winter carp fishing on this blog, this is the complete edition from rigs to equipment to baits to location. It's everything you need to know about carp fishing in the dead of winter. Check it out.
The article comes at a great time since this has been for me the best January of carp fishing I have ever had. I've often said how the weather goes, goes the carp fishing, and this has been a January to remember for the warm weather and the fishing. Open water is everywhere.  I drove by Indian Lake ( a carp hotspot) in Worcester the other day, and there was not a sliver of ice to be found. I've never seen that in January. It's the same here in RI, and it's got the carp in a spring feeding mode. We all know this won't last, but it has been a fun ride so far in January if you are a carp fisherman.

Like a day in May....

If you wouldn't know it was Jan. 12, today could have passed for May 12! The temperature hit a record 70 degrees, and it had the carp active and in a spring mood. I got out this afternoon in one of my favorite spring spots here in RI. Right away, I saw some carp whirling, another jumped right out of the water in front of me. Yes, they were active and enjoying this false sense of spring.

Here's one of six carp landed this afternoon
in this record breaking weather. The carp
just love these warm days in the middle of
winter!

They were also hitting. In a couple of hours, I banked 6 fish and had another on. They all fell for my hair rig that was baited with one kernel of sweet corn along with a white, artificial corn. The fish were also active on the fight and hit. I've landed quite a few carp thus far in January prior to today.  But, all those sluggish fish just picked up the bait and tapped the rod tip on the hit.  These fish today zipped off with the bait and had the alarms humming.

We've got a couple of days more of above normal temperatures before we hit the skids toward the weekend. Looks like a good few days coming up of carp fishing in January here in RI.

Congrats to Kevin Miller and Todd Richer, FFF Tournament Winners!

We were well represented here in RI  again this year at the National FFF (First Fishing Folly) Tournament. This event was held all over the country on New Year's Day.  At least 50 CAG members went out and fished for carp on Jan. 1.  These guys and gals landed a grand total of 86 carp weighing a combined 733 lbs.! Who says carp don't hit in the dead of winter? Certificates were awarded in a number of categories.  Two of our most accomplished RI carpers, Kevin Miller and Todd Richer, ended up winning or placing in a number of categories. Congrats guys!
I did try but came up empty.  I fished in the place I fished last year where I was so successful.  Not this year. Just not that easy to catch a carp in January, but it can be done.  Just take a look at Kevin's and Todd's certificates.

Photo of the Day- "First Carp of 2020"

This good size common, landed today, is my first carp of 2020. They were hitting in
today's mild weather.

2019 Report...Numbers Down, Sizes Up, Weather Plays a Big Factor

Biggest carp of the year was this 33 lb.
common, taken in April

It was a strange year if you were a carp fisherman.  I can't remember another year in which the weather played such a big factor. From July till the end of the year it was one big rainstorm after another.  Now, I like fishing in the rain and did well again this year in this nasty weather, but it was the after-effects of all this rain that caused all kinds of problems. The heavy rains swelled both the lakes and rivers and dirtied up the water in many cases. After these big storms, it took days, sometimes a week, for the river flows to return to fishable levels. In both the rivers and some ponds, the fish were feeding in the woods in flooded waters, making catching them impossible. This scenario played out over and over again the second half of the year.

Strangest fish of the year was this
white and orange koi.

I do believe this wet, high water pattern of 2019 led to the poorest year, numbers-wise that I've had in the last five years. I fished the same amount of time this year as in other years but came up way short. According to my logs, I landed and released 704 carp in 2019. The prior three years, 2018, 2017 and 2016, I had over 1,000 fish each year. The numbers were just not there this year.
On the other hand, it was a good year for big fish for me.  I landed 4 carp over 30 lbs. this year.  I usually get one or two.  I also had good numbers of fish from 20 to 29 lbs. Those big fish got me 8th place finishes in the CAG National Spring and Fall Big 4 Tournaments. It's really tough to break into the top ten in these national events so I'm pleased with those results.
Here are a few other facts from my log of 2019:
* Of those 704 fish I landed, 377 were mirrors, 327 were commons
*My best month was June in which I landed 129 carp
*My worst month was January in which I landed 23 carp
*My worst non-winter month was August in which I landed just 30 carp
*My biggest carp, a 33 lb. common, came from RI waters in April
*My biggest carp outside of RI weighed 32 lbs. and was taken in CT waters in June
*My biggest carp from MA was a 24 lb. mirror landed in May
*The strangest fish I caught was a beautiful white and orange koi that I landed in the Blackstone River in August
*My best day numbers-wise was (surprisingly) Feb. 4.  I landed 18 carp that day.

Photo of the Day- "Perking up in Spring-Like Weather!"

A good size mirror comes to the shore this afternoon. Winter fishing has perked
up in this spring-like weather.  Find some open water and you will
likely find carp willing to hit!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays

The action was slow but the scenery was beautiful.  As the song goes, " It's
beginnning to look a lot like Christmas......"
Merry Christmas to all my carping friends, CAG members and blog readers!