Big Fish Landed at Get Together

Just as I have been saying all along, this is the time to fish in the evening and nighttime. Big carp are on the feed right now.

The RI CAG group held an informal get together this week at one of our hotpsots. It was an evening/nighttime event for members only. Our group frequently holds these events for members along with publicized fish-ins throughout the year that are open to the public. Anyone who joins the CAG (http://www.carpanglersgroup.com/ ) automatically becomes a member of the RI Carpers. Membership does have its privileges!

On this evening our group landed two commons over twenty pounds along with several more big fish in the teens. The best action occurred after dark. One of our new members, Nick Newton, landed a PB (personal best) of 21 lbs. Nick is a beginner who joined our group earlier in the summer. He has fished very hard all summer, landed quite a few smaller fish, made contacts with some of our experienced members and finally got the fish he was looking for. A twenty pound carp is very large by RI standards. Congratulations Nick!

Adjustments in Fall

Fall is barely two days old and already I see several changing patterns emerging with my carp fishing. In the last week, I have noticed production decrease big time in the morning fishing (especially on sunny mornings) while more fish are hitting in the evening/ nighttime hours. I have also been catching larger fish with several twenties landed in recent outings. See the photo of 21 lber. caught two days ago just at sunset. I suspect the big fish are going into a fall feeding pattern as they sense the coming of cold weather brought on by very cool nights in the forties and low fifties.

Even the prime baits are changing. Pineapple vodka maize was hot once again this week after not working for 2 months. Scopex, a good late summer/early fall flavor, was also working. Expect the fruity flavors to get hot again in the fall. I've gone back to adding molasses to my method mix as a flavoring, a tactic that worked out real well last fall.

For the next month fishing should be real good in evening/nighttime. Once the real cold weather arrives (November), the warmest part of the day, late afternoon, should be the best. Those have been my productive patterns in the last few years here in RI.

Flavored Corn.....A Changing Game

We all know the power of flavored corn. Find the right flavor and you are golden. Problem is that the flavors change as the year progresses. I suspect it has something to do with the temperature of the water that magnifies and enhances certain flavors.

Here is my line-up on what works based on years of using flavored maize. In cold water in early spring and late fall, go with fruity flavors. Flavors such as strawberry, Bait's Stop's Big Time Banana (very hot this spring), tuitti fruiti, and pineapple are all good flavors to use. In the summer time go with sweet flavors and alcohol based flavors. Sweet flavors such as scopex and Bait Stop's vanilla/butter/nut and anise work well in the summertime. Such alcohol based flavors such as Bait Stop's Wild whiskey and my homemade pineapple vodka worked well in the summer also.

None of this is set in stone and is a general guideline as to what I use when selecting flavored maize as well as sweet corn. I often carry lots of jars of flavored corn with me and keep changing if there are few hits.

One more note here. While flavored corn can often be the ticket to screaming alarms, it can also lead to dead fishing if you are using a flavor that is out of favor with the carp.

Fall Fish-in a Success

We held our fall fish-in for CAG members and friends yesterday evening at Scott's Pond in Lincoln. This was a day/night affair. We had fishermen attend from RI, MA, CT and even a special guest from Paris, France.

My spot started off hot as I picked up three mirrors right away on a combination of vanilla/butter/nut sweetcorn and Scopex maize on the hair rig. Dick, Czarn, fishing next to me picked up a couple of mirrors on corn also. As the evening went on the MA clan of Greg, Ioann (guy from France) and Chris began hitting fish at their spot. They hit 4 or 5 in a row as their alarms kept sounding. We landed all mirrors. Surprisingly, most of the action occured in the daylight with no fish landed in the pitch dark.

Thanks to all who attended....John, Charlie, Nick, Dick, Greg, Chris, Ioann, Jeff, and Paul. It was a wonderful evening of sharing stories, talking tecnique and catching fish.

Big Carp Alert

In the last week, I did something I hadn't done in the last month......caught a 20 pound carp. In fact, I nailed two big lumps of 20 and 22 lbs. (see photo of 22 at right). It's not surprising because the cool nights are signaling a change to fall and the fish sense it too, setting off a need to start feeding up before winter. In the past, the time period from mid September to mid October has been prime time to catch a big carp here in RI. Many of the biggest fish will be caught at night (especially on sunny days). Cloudy and rainy days can be very productive in the middle of the daytime. Beef up your gear, check your line (or better yet, change it), rig up with heavy duty hooks, and get ready for the big fish game. It is prime time to land a PB.