Not the Best of Conditions BUT Fish Hitting

I got out carp fishing this afternoon with my friend Nick.  It was not the best of conditions compared to the beautiful weather of the last two days.  It had snowed last night, temperatures were in the thirties with drizzle and it was overcast.  In short, miserable!  However, the carp were in a cooperative mood. We landed a total of 7 carp with a mix of mirrors and commons. We were using sweet corn.  Nick was using unflavored sweet corn from the supermarket while I was using Pescaviva pineapple flavored sweet corn from Wacker Baits.  The corn was hair rigged. Both types of corn were working well as we had about 10 good hits in just a couple of hours.  In my previous post I said we were into a spring pattern of fishing.  Yes, the warm days are usually more productive, but they can still be caught on these crappy, lousy days as we proved today!

Spring Fishing Breaks Open

The calendar says it's February and winter; the carp think it's spring. Fishing has broken open in the last few days with the warm temperatures and warming waters.  The ice has departed, and the fish are now hitting more consistently, and they are more active.  The alarms are screaming on the hit and the drag is singing on the fight.  I got out this morning and nailed three nice mirrors in about an hour and a half.  Fellow RI CAGer Nick was at another end of the state and he was catching commons. Still others are catching in other parts of the state.  The phone calls and the e-mails of catches are starting.  It tells me that the fishing is breaking open.  At this point, carp fishing is more like it usually is in late March and early April. We're off to the earliest start I have ever seen, and I am really enjoying it!

Next Stop on Seminar Trail......Springfield Sportmens Show

My next seminars will be held on Sat., Feb. 25 at the Springfield Sportsmens Show. This will take place at the Big E Fairgrounds in Spingfield, MA. I will be doing my new carp fishing seminar, New England Carp Fishing 101, at 11:00 in seminar room B. My new striper fishing show, called Tackling the Striper Surf ,will take place at 2:00 in seminar room B. I did these shows a week ago in Worcester at the ASA Eastern Fishing and Outdoor Expo, and they were very well attended.


The Springfield Sportsmens Show is one of the biggest shows in the northeast, held in three huge buildings at the Big E. It is loaded with fishing reps and tackle dealers, hunting reps, and just about anything outdoor related you can think of. They run a full schedule of seminars about freshwater fishing, saltwater fishing and hunting. For more information about the show and directions, visit their website at http://www.osegsportsmens.com/

You've Got to Find 'Em

This time of year is tough.  The carp are around, but unlike other times of the year when the fish are spread out, the fish at this time are bunched up in tight packs just sitting on the bottom and not expending much energy.  In order to consistently catch, you need to find the fish and the tight spots where they are bunched up.  I especially like to look in small, shallow ponds because there is less water to search.  Shallow waters with dark bottoms also heat up more quickly on sunny days.  That warming water will make carp more active and more likely to hit. Right now just about all of the waters in RI are ice free and there should be a dramatic uptick in carp fishing activity if our warming trend continues.  In other years, carp fishing has busted open in early March.  It should happen even earlier this year. It's that time to get out and start looking!

Air Temp.-25; Water Temp.-32; FISH STILL HITTING!

It was extreme weather for carp fishing the last two days.  I still fished and surprisingly, the carp were hitting quite well. I landed a total of 6 carp in two afternoons and they were all mirrors!  Today featured the most extreme weather.  It was only 25 degrees outside and the wind was blowing like a son of a gun.  Wind chills were down in the single numbers.  Ice covered most of the area I was fishing except for a bit of open water right in front of me.  Of course, that's where the carp were hanging out.  Using pineapple flavored Pescaviva flavored sweet corn I landed two nice mirrors and had several other hits.  Once close to shore I had to push my net through skim ice to land these fish. As many of you know, I am on a quest to catch carp in open water all winter long.  From the numbers of fish I have caught thus far, this has been my most successful winter of fishing ever and I still have a couple of weeks left to fish. 

Heck of a Day for Feb. 7

I got out carp fishing today.  It was a disappointment at first as I tried my first spot with no success.  I then got in my car and drove to another location that had been good in past years.  I was disappointed to find this place covered in ice from the cold nights of the last few days.  However, along one shore there was an ice free oval of water that measured about 10 x 8 yards. I was going to leave but said to myself, "What the heck, I'm  here so I might as well fish the hole in the ice."  Well that thinking paid off as I hit the jackpot catching 8 mirror carp in about two hours. I also had several more fish on and lots of bangs and taps.  I can only surmise that the fish in the area  were drawn to this open spot because it was warmer than the rest of the iced in water.  And, these fish were in a feeding mood as they actively hit the sweet corn.  I even twice had a double as both alarms went off at the exact same time! Wild!  None of the fish were large but they were quite scrappy in the 32 degree water.  The good winter fishing just continues.

Found 'Em

From my last post, you can surmise that I have been looking at a lot of spots with little success.  Well, yesterday afternoon, the fishing lit up.  I fished a shallow area that warmed up quickly, a spot that I had success in the past at ice out. In other years this place produced well in March, but our weather this year in Feb. is very similar to March weather in the past. I landed a total of 7 fish in the last two afternoons, a mix of commons and mirrors (see photo).  All the fish were caught on pineapple flavored sweet corn fished without a method ball.  The fish were sluggish on the take and sluggish on the fight due to cold water.  There was actually ice in some shoreline spots close to shore and skim ice was floating here and there on the surface of the water, but the fish were still hitting.  At a time of year where even one fish is a bonus, I was thrilled to land 7 carp in the last two afternoons.

Beautiful Weather; Poor Fishing

I don't get it.  The weather of the last two days has been beautiful, and I spent all day fishing  on both days in many different spot.  The result...not a hit!  Most of the ponds in the central part of the state are now ice free and that should have lit up the fishing, but it didn't.  I even decided to mix things up a bit and fish at night.  Last night I tended two rods in 50 degree weather (unreal) and not a hit.  I've prebaited most of the spots I fished so that is not the problem. I've seen no activity like bubble trails or fish jumping. I know it is only a matter of time before spring fishing breaks open if this warm weather and ice free conditions continue in ponds across the state.