100th Carp of the Year Landed on Other Guy's Rod

I landed my 100th carp for 2012, but it came on another guy's equipment.  I was out fishing today with my friend Nick.  He was getting fish; I was not.  Things slowed down so Nick decided it was time to leave in early afternoon.  He was up at his car bringing some stuff, but left his rods in the water.  Suddenly, his alarm went off.  So, I grabbed the rod and when Nick returned, I had a nice 14 lber. on the shore. Thanks, Nick, you saved my day.....I owe you one!

Pop-ups From Plastic Worms!

I stumbled onto something very hot today.  I noticed a bunch of white plastic worms (intended for largemouths) in my basement.  I got the idea to cut some up into small pieces to use as pop-ups. I put them into a small container and added some pineapple flavor (from K-2 baits).  Yes, they do float.  I then tried them fishing and the results were terrific.  I used one of these small pop-ups with a kernel of sweet corn on the hair rig.  Rather than causing the bait to float, the piece of plastic seemed to add a neutral buoyancy to the offering, something that carp find very attractive in bait.  Using this set up I landed 4 good size carp today up to 21 lbs.  On my other outfit, I had just the usual 2 pieces of sweet corn.  That outfit yielded only 1 fish.  Many fishermen like to add these pop-ups to their bait.  Pop-ups usually come in the form of small boilies or plastic imitation corn.  Both are quite expensive.  The cut up worms are a far cheaper and equally effective way to go.

First HOGS of the Year Landed

The large fish are now biting.  I'm catching them, and others are also reporting catching them in various parts of the state.  Credit the big warm up that we are having this past week for getting the big fish moving into the shallows and feeding.  Prior to this week I had been catching good numbers of carp in moving water.  These were mostly small fish under twelve pounds.  However, in the last week, I've gotten about a half dozen fish that went between 15 and 26 lbs.  At the right is my biggest for the week at 26 lbs.  It had a huge gut on it but was a fairly short fish.  All my fish this week have been caught on pineapple flavored Pescaviva (sweet corn) fished ahead of a method ball.  The best fishing time of the day for me has been the warmest part, around mid day. I've also been trying at night and have taken a couple of fish, another sign that fishing is heating up.
With warm weather forecast right into next week, expect the good carp fishing to continue.  Hey, there's a ton of guys out there twiddling their thumbs waiting for Opening Day of trout season to arrive.  Why not give carp fishing a try?  You can legally fish right now in any state waters that are not stocked with trout.

March: A Very Inconsistent Month

In all my years of carp fishing, I have never had a real good March.  Year after year, March has fished very inconsistently.  Good one day, lousy the next.  I was on a bit of a good run this week getting 2-4 fish an outing.  Then, I fished today, a beautiful day weather wise.  I tried spot after spot, and finally I got a 3 lb. common right before dark.  That was my only hit. Not good. This is the way it goes in March. Carp tend to be moody in March and their feeding is on and off.  I think the weather has a lot to do with all this since March's weather is also inconsistent.  Real warm one day, cold and snowing the next. Remember, too, the nights are still quite cold with most nights getting down to freezing, another factor that slows the carp's activity level. So, I don't hold out much hope that this March will fish any differently than all the rest.  Inconsistent is the word for March carp fishing here in RI.

Fish the Shallows

This is the first week since early winter that I have been able to catch a carp in a pond or lake here in RI.  Prior to this week, I have been catching in running water.....in rivers, streams and canals.  This past week I targeted a lot of my early spring spots in small ponds that have shallow water that heats up fast on a sunny day.  If you can find some structure in these places like fallen trees, brooks flowing in, sandbars and islands, even better.  The carp in these shallow ponds got active very fast with the warming temperatures which we had this past week.  With temperatures expected to be in the 60's most of next week, look for the pond fishing to really light up.
Best baits for early season action would be sweet corn and doughballs.  Use them directly on the hook or hair rigged.

From Ice to Open Water to Hot Fishing

I went to one of my favorite early season spots this morning and was surprised to find the entire area covered in ice from last nights cold temperatures.  I broke some of it close to shore and it was about half an inch thick.  I left, went home and did a few errands and later went back in mid afternoon and found the ice completely gone so I started fishing.  I was soon joined by fellow RI CAGer Nick and we baited up with sweet corn and put out the lines and waited.  Nick got the first and I believe the second fish.  But, soon they moved into my spot and I started getting them.  And, the hits kept coming and coming as the fishing got hotter as the water warmed in the afternoon sun.  At the end of a afternoon, Nick and I landed a total of 10 carp, mostly mirrors.  Those are fantastic numbers for this time of year. It was a perfect example of how the fish tend to hit at the warmest part of the day in the early season.

Daiwa Euro Products Now in US

Daiwa is the biggest name in carp fishing over in Europe, but many of their products have never appeared in the US until recently. Now, online carp tackle shops like Wacker Baits and Big Carp Tackle are carrying some of carp fishing's top products made by Daiwa. Many of these products are also being sold online at Bass Pro Shops.  For instance, if you are looking for a low cost, quality rod, consider Daiwa's Mad Dragon Series (top).  These 12 foot rods sell for about 60 bucks and the tackle shops can't keep them on their shelves as fishermen race to buy them whenever these stores have them.  Many of Daiwa's high end rods are also being now sold in the US. Another hot item from Daiwa is their Windcast Z (left) reels.  These freespool reels (freespool crank on spool) are some of the most popular big pit reels in the world and are serious tools for big carp hunters and long cast fishermen.  For those on a budget, consider Daiwa's Regal Plus Bite 'n' Run reels (right) that retail for about $65.  Some of our RI CAG members have these and report very good luck with them. This is just a short list of Daiwa products available in the US.  For more products check out the online stores mentioned above.