Photo of the Day....Fall is in the Air

The leaves are falling, and there has been an uptick in
the fishing this week.  Expect the cooler weather to bring
improved fishing.

Slow Going

This common, landed this moring, sits in the net. Carp
fishing has been on the slow side so far in September.

September is turning out to be the slowest month of the year for me in terms of numbers of carp  landed. The water is warm, the pests are abundant and the carp are not in any fall feeding mood. And, for the past couple of days the wind has been horrendous, sometimes pulling the line right off the spool. However, I'm steadily getting one or two fish an outing. Slow but I guess you could say steady.
With September carp fishing on the slow side, I have been fishing far more in saltwater than freshwater these days.  Prior to this big blow the saltwater fishing for false albacore and stripers has been some of the best I have ever seen in September along the oceanfront.
My strategy in fishing has always been to go for the best bets.  So far this September that has been saltwater fishing and not carp fishing. I'm hoping things improve as the weather cools.

RI CAG Fall Combo Tournament Underway

Todd Richer with an entry
of a good size mirror carp.

We'll be going by length in
this tournament. 

Our RI CAG Fall Combo tournament is underway with many entries on the board already.  The idea in this catch and release tournament is to catch your biggest mirror carp, your biggest common carp and your biggest catfish (bonus fish).  You measure your catches by inches and then enter them.  Your total points is the number of inches added together of your three biggest fish of all three species. The tournament runs from Sept. to the end of November.  All fish must be taken in RI waters.We have already had some impressive entries of carp over 30 inches landed, real good size for RI fish.
At the end of the tournament, medals purchased by the national CAG group will be awarded to the top three finishers.

Carp 'n' Cats Active Right Now

Catfish have been active
in the daytime this week
taking the same baits as
the carp.

Carp have been active too.
Maybe it's the cooler nights
that have gotten the action
in high gear.

It's a fact of carp fishing.  If you fish for carp, you are going to catch catfish, and here in RI that includes brown bullhead, yellow bullhead and white catfish.  Catfish, like carp, are bottom feeders and will hit the exact same baits as carp.  However, catfish tend to feed at night, but this week I have been catching good numbers of them in the daytime.
This past week I have caught equal numbers of catfish and carp.  The cats are on the feed, and they have been aggressive. They have even been taking those plastics.  I don't mind as I do like catching them, especially the larger ones.  Biggest cat of the week for me was 18 inches, a good size one here in RI.
The carp have  been equally active this week in the daytime.  I suspect the cooler nights have gotten a fall feed going here in RI.  I've gotten them all sizes with the biggest going a respectable 24 lbs. The hot baits continue to be white plastic corn in combo with real maize fished on the hair rig.
Fishing is good right now.