Inactive Turtles = Good Fishing

I landed 9 carp this morning
in about three hours. The turtles
were inactive and the carp were
hitting.

My hot bait combo
was one kernel of
sweet corn and one
kernel of maize at the
stop end on a short
hair off a #8 hook.

I had my best day numbers-wise of the summer thus far.  I landed 9 carp.  The action was very good breaking a slump I was in.
Why the sudden good fishing?  For some strange reason, the turtles were inactive.  I fished a spot with lots of turtles and lots of carp.  Earlier in the week I fished in this same location and as soon as my rig hit the water, a turtle was on my bait. The only way I could continue fishing was to reel in the bait every 15 minutes to check it and rebait if needed.  Today, the turtles, sun as well as snappers, were around, poking their sneaky little heads out of the water.  But, unlike other days, they were not feeding and generally left me alone.  That just opened the door for the carp to go after my bait.
I was using sweet corn and maize.  I had one kernel of sweet corn on the hair rig followed by a small kernel of maize at the stop end. Carp and turtles really go for the sweet corn; the maize is not so appealing, but a hungry carp will still hit it. Putting that kernel of tough maize on the hair almost ensures I have at least on kernel of bait. I was also fishing a small method ball.  Once again, that method ball  is very appealing and lures predators to hit.  Going with one as small as I can get helps to keep the pests away (at least for a while) while still attracting carp.  The bigger the method ball, the bigger the attraction for turtles, especially snappers.