Tips for Beginners

From the e-mail questions I am getting, there seems to be lots of beginners out trying but few are catching. Realize that this is a very difficult fish to catch on rod and reel. Even experienced carpers sometimes spend hours trying to catch just one fish and we do black occasionally. Here are some tips that might help you to get that first one.
1. Pick a known spot that has a lot of them rather than a few big ones. Prebait several spots within that one pond or lake. Try to find spots with structure like trees in the water, dropoffs, or sandbars. More fish will hang around this structure than in open, desert like bottoms. Stick to these spots and keep going back, baiting every time you go. Don't make the mistake of jumping from pond to pond.
2. Try one spot for an hour to an hour and a half. Move on to a different location if nothing.
3. Use corn and prebait with corn (non trout stocked areas). Sweet corn is very effective on the hair rig or even just on the hook.
4. Fish the right times. Mornings and evenings are always best.
5. Try to tag along with an experienced carper or attend a fish-in. You will learn more in one hour with an experienced fishermen than you will learn in 6 hours on the Internet.

Here is a list of some real good beginner locations to fish in RI and MA: Blackstone Canal in Lincoln, Scotts Pond in Lincoln, River Bend Farm Pond in Uxbridge, MA, Warwick Pond, Brickyard Pond in Barrington (trout stocked), Spectackle Lake in Cranston and Lake Mashapaug in Cranston. None of these places have real large fish, but they all have a lot of fish.