RI CAG Fall Combo Tournament Underway

Laura Mitchell is our current leader in the RI CAG
Fall Combo Tournament. Here she holds a
terrific 34 inch mirror carp.

Our RI CAG Fall Combo Tournament is well underway.  It started in September and will continue until the end of November. The idea here is for RI CAG members to enter their biggest mirror, their biggest common and their biggest "bonus" fish (catfish or sucker). Measurements are by length to the nearest half inch. The total of all those fish (by inches) are the points. All fish must be taken from RI waters.
Our members have already landed some pretty impressive fish. The biggest common so far comes from Tom Perron with a 30 1/2 inch fish.  The biggest mirror comes from Laura Mitchell with a 34 inch beauty.
Currently Laura Mitchell, one of our frequent tournament participants, leads the pack with 82 1/2 points (29 1/2 inch common, 34 inch mirror and 19 inch sucker).

Nasty Weather Improves Fishing

This is one of several carp taken in this morning's nasty
weather. The rain and wind improved the fishing.

The last time I posted was Sept. 19. I've fished for carp quite a bit since then and have only caught a few fish, way below what I normally catch at this time of year. The slow fishing from late summer has just continued into the fall for me. So, when I saw this nasty weather coming in, I could only think it might improve the fishing.  It has!
I got out this morning and landed several nice fish in the 12 to 13 lb. range. I had "perfect" conditions with light rain and a strong wind, just the type of daytime conditions that wary carp love at this time of year.
I got my fish today on a combo bait of maize and a white artificial corn pop-up fished on a hair rig. I also had a method ball packed around my one ounce sinker. I was able to prebait this spot last night with maize,
and I think that helped the fishing.  Whenever you can prebait, it ups your chances greatly of catching.
I'm hoping this is the start of a fall feed here in RI.  We'll see how it plays out in the coming days.

Just OK

Here's a mirror landed yesterday.  September fishing has been
mediocre at best.

I wish I could report that this cool pre-fall weather has gotten the carp feeding.  In the places I have been fishing it is not the case. Mediocre is about the best way I would describe my fishing in the month of September thus far. My best day was 5 fish, my worst day none, average has been 2 fish an outing.
I've seen no uptick in the fishing. For me, the mediocre fishing goes back to mid summer.  It's stayed about the same, just ok. Hotspots of years past are just not producing.
In recent years, fall fishing has been an up and down affair with little consistency. In fact, in recent years, I have landed more fish in late fall (early December) than I have in early fall. 
Meanwhile, saltwater fishing has been lights out for me since August.  It's been loads of bluefish, good numbers of striped bass and some albies. The Bay is hot, the oceanfront is hot.  I always will take the best bet that fishing has to offer here in RI.  Right now, that best bet is happening in saltwater.

Photo of the Day....Good Size Mirror on the Fight

A good size mirror makes his way to the shore. It was one of five carp landed
this morning as the bite has picked up!

DISCOVERY MONTH

I landed this fish and several more from a new discovery spot
that I have found in the last week.

This month is Discovery Month for CAG.  The group runs a contest every September.  The idea is to go out and find a new carp fishing spot that no one knows about and that's never been fished and to write a short story with photos added. I've been searching new spots for the last week.
I do this every year and I have found some really good spots to fish that were previously unfished and unknown.  Besides, it gets me out of my comfort zone of going to the same places all the time.
This is the way carp fishing should be done. Trial and error, look for new places to fish, keep on the move. Unfortunately, today's fishermen in general tend to rely on social media to figure out where to fish. Most fishermen rely far too much on looking for places others are fishing and having success, and then moving right into those places and taking over. Don't you just love Facebook and Instagram!  I prefer to stay ahead of the social media crowd. Sometimes this approach really works out, sometimes it doesn't. Right now, I think I have found something hot that no one knows about.

Dealing with Fussy Fish

Just one small kernel of
maize on a small hair rig
with no sinker did the trick
with fussy fish.

This mirror went for the one
kernel of corn on the
freelined (no sinker)
rig.

This summer has been a struggle for me. The numbers and the sizes have just not been  there even though I have tried many different places.  Same story all over for me- slow fishing.
Today was an interesting day, though. I was in a place where I was getting hits.  I know they were carp because I saw some cruising around. They would pick up my combo bait of maize and artificial corn, go to run with it and drop it.  I knew I was dealing with fussy fish. So, I made some big changes.  I took off my rig and sinker rig and tied on just a hair rigged, small, #10 hook with a short hooklink. No sinker.  I decided to freeline just one one small kernel of maize on a weightless set up, something I have done in the past with fussy carp. That did the trick.  Within minutes, the alarm was screaming and I was onto a fish that turned out to be about a six pound mirror.
I wish I could tell you I killed the fish, but the truth is that I only landed one more fish today. Oh well, with the way things have been going, I'll take two fish in this morning's outing!

A Summer Surprise Leads to a Summer Hat Trick!

This was the surprise of the day!

I got quite the surprise today when I caught a beautiful white and orange koi. Over the years I have caught only a few of these so this was a special fish.  In addition to the koi, I also landed a good size common and a good size mirror, making this morning's catches a rare summer hat trick.  All these fish were caught on a combo bait of one kernel of maize and one, white, artificial corn fished on the hair rig.  I'm not using a method ball these days because it attracts too many turtles.