On the Mulberries

I landed this good size mirror this morning
on a freelined mulberry.

The mulberry hatch is on.  In the last couple of days I have landed several carp while freelining mulberries under trees that were dropping this fruit.

The mulberry is impaled with
a #8 hook and simply free-
lined under the tree that
is dropping them.

In the carp world, mulberries are delicacies, and the carp will eat as many as they can. The key here is to find a tree right along the water that is dropping them, and fish right under that tree. This does not work if you have a tree in your backyard and you grab a cup of them and head to the water to fish.  The fish have to get conditioned to eating them in a spot in which the berries are dropping into the water.
Fishing them is simple. These are freelined....no sinker, no hair rig.  I use just a number 8 hook at the end of my monofilament line and impale the berry.  If you want the berry to sink, you might have to squeeze it gently to make it more compact. Just flip it into the water under the tree and watch the line.  If a fish picks it up, the line will shoot out.  Set the hook and you should be on.
There is a small window of opportunity in the game of berry fishing. The mulberries might last two to three weeks and that's about it. So this mulberry fishing season is usually a short, but memorable one.