STARTING

This 8 lb. common was landed today in a pond.
This ice is leaving most of the ponds and lakes
in RI.

Here's a good early season
combo bait of sweet corn
and a white, pop-up, artificial
corn on the hair rig.  It
caught the carp on the left.

I spent the last couple of days scouting around looking for open water as well as doing a little fishing. While I have landed some carp in moving water so far in 2018, I had not gotten one in still water (ponds and lakes) until today.  I landed a carp of about 8 lbs. today in a pond that still had ice in some of the coves but was 90% ice free. Yes, they will hit as soon as the ice leaves.  This one hit a combo bait of sweet corn and a white artificial corn on the hair rig.
I can tell you that most of the ponds and lake south of Providence are 50 % to mostly ice free. North of Providence is a different story with most ponds and lakes being half to three quarters covered in ice.  However, if you look at the warm forecast for the coming week, it looks like just about everywhere should be ice free by next weekend.
Here are a few things you should know about fishing for carp in RI at this time of year. Your old (2017) license is good until the end of February.  On March 1, you will need a new, 2018 license. All waters that are stocked with trout are still open to fish for carp until the end of February.  After that, they will be closed to all fishing until Opening Day (second Saturday in April). Those lakes and ponds that are not stocked with trout are all open for any type of fishing in March.