You Won't Believe this Trick

Looking to get a supply of
plastics? Try cutting up
some plastic worms.

Here's white and orange
plastic pieces on a hair rig.
This has been a hot bait in
the last few days

I have discovered something real hot.
As most of you know, I have been fishing a lot with plastics these days.  I've been using small plastic pop-up corn to avoid turtles and other pests. I was running low on my plastics so I decided to "make" my own.
I found a bunch of plastic worms in the basement so I simply cut them up with a razor blade into small pieces. I did this with some white worms and some orange worms.  This gave me a big supply of plastics.  Guess what?  They worked every bit as well as the plastic corn.  I caught a lot of fish in the last two days with white and orange cut up worm pieces fished on the hair rig.
These cut up worm pieces are so soft that you could fish them on a bare hook if you don't use a hair rig.
Fishing for me has turned real good again as I hit some fast fishing in the last three mornings.  In those three mornings, I have banked 24 carp with many of them coming on the plastic worm pieces.

Here's the proof as this good size mirror hit these white
and orange plastic pieces mounted on a hair rig.

Just Too Hot

Try to fish the coolest part of the day in this
heat.  For me, mornings have been the best
time to fish.

I am not a fan of hot weather, so my fishing has been curtailed in this hot streak we are now experiencing. I have tried to get out in the morning and I fish until about noontime.
The fishing has been ok for me in the last few days.  I tend to get a couple of fish, but even they are not feeding heavily in this hot weather.
This morning I got out and fished from  10:00 until 12:30.  I had a good outing and landed three commons and two mirrors.  I got them all on one kernel of white, artificial corn fished on the hair rig.  Forget using a method ball.  The turtles are all over the place, super active and will pounce on any kind of real bait that hits the water.  I tried a method ball yesterday to get some distance to my cast and had two large snapping turtles take the whole ball of bait. Even the sun turtles have been brutal in this heat.
Watch for the fishing to really improve once this weather breaks.  I hit a big day on Saturday in the drenching rain, and I look forward to the next soaker.  That little drop in water temperature usually gets the bigger fish active.

Photo of the Day....Another Big Fish on a Nasty Day

I landed this good size common in today's nasty weather. The fish hit a combo
bait of a white, pop-up artificial corn and a kernel of maize fished on the hair
rig.  I was also using a small method ball.

Photo of the Day...Number 800 on the Year Landed

This good looking common is my 800th carp of the year.  The mid summer
fishing continues to be productive.

Crazy Action in this Crappy Weather

This mirror carp is one of thirty carp landed in the last two days.
The action has been great in this crappy weather.

Clouds, sun, rain, wind, thunder, clearing.  Pick your weather. It seems to change by the hour.That's the way it has been in the last few days.  Yet, with all this unpredictable weather, the carp are on the feed.  I've had the BEST back to back days numbers-wise of the whole summer banking a whopping  30 carp in the last two days. They haven't been big, but they sure have been plentiful.
The top bait continues to be plastics with white being the best color.  I am fishing one small, white aritificial corn on the hair rig with no method. I am baiting up along the margins and am fishing  just a flip cast from shore.  Turtles have been all around me every day, but for the most part, they have left the plastics alone. At one point, I counted nine sun turtle heads within a ten foot radius of my bait pile.
For the most part, it has been an uneventful July for me except for the hot action of the last few days. I'm guessing that so long as this weather pattern remains the same, the fishing will remain good.

Taking the Fight to the Camera

I have been experimenting with a Go Pro type underwater camera that I bought.  I can get some neat underwater video with this camera.  The fishing has been good from my end, and here is just the latest adventure!

Beating the Doldrums.....an Approach to Dead of Summer Fishing

This is one of 20 carp landed in the
last two days.  They are hitting in this heat.

So simple.  I am using one
kernel of artificial corn on
the hair rig to catch all my fish.

We are in the summer doldrums for sure.  The water is oh, so warm, maybe in the mid 80's in shallow places.  The water is also very low and weedy.  And, pests are everywhere.
Yet, summer carp fishing can be good.  In the last two days I have banked 20 carp in just 6 hours of fishing. So they are hitting.  It's just a matter of your approach.
Here are some tips for beating the doldrums:
1.  Fish the Coolest Part of the Day- I have been fishing the mornings, generally before noontime.  In the afternoon, the action really trails off.  The cooler times of the day are mornings, evening and nighttime.  Those are the most productive times to fish in the summer heat.
2. Fish the Shade- If you can, try tossing your offering into the shady spots.  It's cooler there and you'll find the fish more active.  I like to fish "shade lines", those shady lines formed by tree's shade along the shore.
3.  Use Plastics- All the fish I caught in the last two days were taken on white, plastic corn.  I am only using one kernel on a short hair rig.  I'm using no method to avoid luring pests. Turtles and horned pout tend to turn their noses up on plastics, and generally only carp will hit it.
4. Prebait a Small, Tight Area- When I get to my spot I will toss in a few handfuls of maize into a small, tight area. If a snapping turtle comes along I will leave and go to another location. I will keep the bait going into the spot if I am catching fish. I'll cast my offering right into the bait pile.
5. Take What you Can Get- I have never landed a thirty pounder in July so big fish are tough to come by here in RI at this time. This is a time to take what's available and not worry about the size of the fish.  Most of those 20 fish I landed in the last two days have been under 10 lbs.