Pests Awaken; Good-bye to Sweet Corn

This good looking mirror was
landed on a combo bait of maize
and artificial corn on the hair rig.

That warm couple of days we had earlier in the week woke up the pests.  I am talking about turtles, horned pout, bluegills, suckers and dace to name a few.  That warming water had them feeding and they had my sweetcorn in their sights.
I landed my first turtle, a large sun turtle.  I also got several horned pout within the last week. A guy I fished with tonight landed a sucker. And, all these catches were on sweet corn.  To make matters worse, many times when I  reeled in within the last few week there was no bait on the hook. Those sneaky little sun turtles can take the corn off without so much as a twitch on the rod tip.
So, it's good-bye sweetcorn, hello maize. I actually switched to maize a couple of days ago and have made some good catches on a combo bait of maize and artificial corn.  I landed a few small ones, a couple of teen fish and even a nice 20 lber.  So, the maize is working.
For those new to the game, maize is a bigger, harder corn that is much more durable than sweetcorn. it is not 100% pest resistant, but it does hold up.  In addition, suckers, horned pout and turtles are not real fond of it.
I prepare my own maize.  I buy 50 lb. bags of "whole corn" from Tractor Supply.  I put a good amount in a large pot and add water.  Let that sit overnight and boil it the next morning. It should boil for 35 minutes.  Once done, I put it into containers and freezer bags and refrigerate it.  I then have a good supply or corn to be used as bait and chum.

Change in Strategy Breaks Slump

This good looking mirror is one of 7 carp landed today.

The April slump has been broken.  Finally, I had a good day landing 7 carp.
I have changed strategies in the last few days.  I went back to my cold water strategies of fishing small, shallow bodies of water.  These smaller spots tend to warm up faster on sunny days, and the fish seem to get more active in these locations compared to bigger and deeper bodies of water.  I also used a cold water approach fishing sweet corn on the hair with no method ball.  This is something I also do in cold weather when the carp are finicky about hitting.
It all worked out today delivering the best day numbers-wise for me this month.  Hopefully, the slump is broken for good!

Signs of Improvement

Very slowly, things seem to be improving.  For the first time in weeks, I landed three fish today.  And, I've gotten six fish in the last three days.  That is way better than the previous three days. I also saw more activity in the last few days.  I saw sun turtles on logs, bluegills in the shallows, and I even saw a carp jump this evening, the first I've seen jump in weeks.
I believe the really cold nights and lower than normal temperatures of the last two weeks have really put a crimp in the fishing. Carp are really sensitive to the weather and a drop in temperature at this time of year really cools off the fishing. However, with the big warm-up coming this weekend into next week, expect things to really perk up.

Here's a good looking mirror that was landed yesterday. Fishing
has slowly improved in the last three days.

So Far, A Dismal April

Here is a fully scaled mirror that I
landed tonight.  Fishing has been
way off so far in April. 

For me, April has been a big disappointment size wise and numbers wise. Since that freak snowstorm last week and the cold weather that followed, the fishing has been a bust. I was on a negative roll for a while, getting blanked three days in a row. I can't tell you that last time that has happened.
Thus far I have caught a measly 13 carp in the month of April and none are what I would consider "big". I must say, however, some of our RI CAG members have been hitting some good fish in the twenties while fishing "Carp Central". So, some people are putting in a lot of time mostly after dark and they are catching some big ones, but I am guessing there are no numbers.
I am hoping that things will improve with the big warm-up that is coming this weekend and early next week. We'll see...things just have to get better.

sNOw Good

My only carp of the last four days
was this 7 lb. mirror that was landed
on a snowy bank. It was also my
only hit.

Not good.  The extreme cold and snow of the last days has just about killed the fishing.  This is the very worst scenario of early spring.  Last week when things were warming up, the fishing was really perking up. But, when the temperatures took a big dip four days ago, it sent water temperatures downward and shut off most of the activity.  Add to that  the chilling effect of the 6 of more inches of snow and it really cooled things down.
In the last four days I got out three times.  I landed a grand total of one carp, a mirror of about 7 lbs. And, I was fishing in some pretty good early season spots. That was also my only hit.  I saw no activity.  There were no fish surfacing, no bubble trails and no fish "mudding". Even the bugs and mosquitoes that were out last week were gone.
So, we are in a spring lull right now.  Don't expect fishing to perk up until we get an extended warm spell of several days, and who knows when that will happen.

Big 3 Tournament Underway!

This hefty common, just shy of 25 lbs., was entered
 on April 3 for our tournament. It is the early leader.

It is only April 2 and already we have a couple of entries in our RI CAG Spring Big 3 Tournament. The tournament began on April 1st and runs till the end of June.  This is our annual RI tournament for our Carp Angler Group members.
Here is how it works.  A member enters his or her biggest carp for the month of April, the biggest for the month of May and the biggest for the month of June. We are going by weight.  We add all the weights together and that is your point total. All fish entered must be caught in RI waters.
Some big fish have been entered in this tournament in the past.  Last year, for instance, we had two THIRTY pound carp entered.  Last year's first and second place winners averaged more than 25 lbs. a fish! And, many of our club members landed a PB (personal best) last year in this tournament, a big achievement.
We have a good number of real good carp fishermen in our club, and it looks like this year's tournament will be very close and very competitive. Good luck to all!

First, second and third place winners in the RI Spring Big 3 will receive
engraved medals provided by the national CAG.