Not a Fan of High Water

The Blacktone River was a raging torrent of
water today and was unfishable in every place
I looked at. It was also dirty and loaded
with debris.

Sunday's storm with drenching rain has really caused the water to rise in the rivers, ponds and lakes.  It has made for difficult fishing in the last couple of days.
I'm not a fan of high water. High water will send the rivers up to unfishable levels.  The Blackstone River right now is a raging torrent of fast currents and high, high water.  In many places I scouted today, the water was in the woods and you couldn't even get near the water. The water was also dirty and carried with it loads of debris.
The ponds and lakes are not much better. They are also very high too.  In one place I fish, the water came up over a foot overnight. In places I scouted today, the water was in the woods and under bushes. Leaves and other floating debris were all over the place. While those places are still fishable, finding fish that want to feed can be a challenge.  Many fish will tend to feed along the shore in the woods and under bushes since there might be a foot or two of water where there was dry land a week ago.
So, hopefully the water will recede in the coming days and we can get back to catching carp again.

Crappy Weather Lights It Up

A chunky 17 lb. common sits in the net in
shallow water.  It is one of 17 carp landed in
the last two days of lousy weather.

This may sound like a broken record, but here we go again.  The lousy. rainy, windy weather of the last couple of days has just lit up the fishing for me once again.  Up until yesterday, it had been a struggle to put one or two fish on the bank.  All that changed in this crappy weather.  In the last two days I have landed 17 carp up to 23 lbs.  Most of the fish were over 10 lbs. It's like this weather kicked them into a fall feeding mode.
The bait that has been working for me has been a combo of maize and a white artificial corn fished on the hair rig.  I'm fishing that with a method ball packed around my one ounce sinker. I've used that combo bait in multiple venues, and it seems to be working all over the place.
Daytime as well as after dark fishing has produced in this lousy weather.  Of those 17 fish I landed in the last two days, 7 have been caught after dark and 10 were caught in the daytime.  Nighttime fishing can be very productive at this time of year.

Curse of the 18's

A beautiful 18 lb. common sits in the water in the weigh sling.
The fish had me fooled into thinking it was much bigger.

I am now fishing in the annual CAG Fall Big 4 Tournament.  My four biggest fish so far run from 18 to 21 lbs.  Not bad, but it could be better.  So, in the last week I was on a quest to catch some bigger fish to add to my total.  Fishing multiple big fish venues I managed to get three decent fish.  All weighed exactly 18 lbs.  Hmm, decent fish for RI but not exactly what I was hoping for.
Funny how a fish can fool you even though you have landed thousands of them.  I had a screaming run yesterday, and when I picked up the rod the fish bolted on a drag screaming run in which it ran off about thirty yards of line.  I thought I had a real big fish.  It also did all the normal big fish tricks. I would gain some line and then it would take more out as I slowly gained on it. It also stayed near the bottom on the entire fight, and I did not see it until it was right at the net.  What a surprise. While I was near certain I was fighting a mid twenty, it turned out to be one heck of a strong and smart 18 lb. common.
Back in the Spring Big 4 I had the same curse of the 18's.  I must have landed about a dozen 18 lbers. However, persistence paid off, and I did manage to get several good fish in the mid to upper 20's. Hopefully, the same thing will happen this fall.

Champion of the Queen Award

I am proud to announce that the Carp Anglers Group has selected me for the Champion of the Queen Award for 2017.
Carp, the number one gamefish worldwide, is considered the "Queen of the Rivers" around the world. So, this award is given to the CAG angler who champions carp fishing causes here in the US. It is the highest award given by the Carp Anglers Group, the largest and most influential carp fishing group in the US.
When presenting this award at the annual meeting, Jerome Moisand, CAG Treasurer and Iain Sorrell, CAG VP cited my witing and seminar work on carp fishing, this website, my work as the CAG State Chair (RI one of the most active carp fishing states in the country), my serving on the CAG Board of Directors (CAG Secretary) as well as my passion and devotion to the sport.
If you look at past winners, the list reads like a who's who of carp fishing in the US and features some of the best promoters and carp fishermen in the world.  Some names include Nigel Harrison, David Moore, Andy Sprinkle, Jerome Moisand and many more.  I am honored to be listed with this group.
I received a beautiful glass engraved trophy and this award carries with it a CAG membership for life!

1,000

This common that is splashing around in the
net is number 1,000 on the year.

I hit a major milestone today with my 1,000th carp of the year.  The fish was a common that weighed about 10 lbs. It hit a combo bait of maize and a white artificial corn fished on a hair rig.
Already this is my second best year numbers-wise.  Back a couple of years ago I had over 1,300 carp and that was the only year I was able to get above 1,000.  Beating my own record is still a possibility as I have a solid two and a half months left of fishing and if the weather stays warm, especially in December, anything can happen.
While numbers don't tell the whole story, this has also been a great year of bigger fish for me.  I have three thirties so far and a good number of 25-29 lb. fish.  It's also been a year of surprises as I have landed a big fan tailed common, a sturgeon, a pike and many good size catfish, all while carp fishing!
So, if my year ended today I would have to say it was a big success.

Photo of the Day- Cats on the Prowl Today

The channel cats were on the prowl today, with some big boys hitting. Wish I
could say the same about the carp.