Hogs in the Deluge

The hogs were on the feed in today's deluge.  Once again,
the action lit up in nasty weather.

Today was my kind of weather.  I've fished in this type of weather many, many times in the past and have done real well. Carp go nuts in extreme weather.  In the past I've done real well in tropical storms, hurricanes, northeasters and big downpours. So, I was not surprised when I found the carp on a big time feed in today's nasty weather.
I've been out in a lot of rainstorms, but for about a half hour today it rained about as hard as I have ever seen it come down.  I had a bait bucket by my side and after that deluge, the bucket had at least 6 inches of water in it!
During that deluge I landed a double header that consisted of a 20 + lb. and 15 lb. common and then another 20+ followed. All in all I had 8 fish today with most of them going over 10 lbs. The hot bait today was plastics.  I was fishing a white and yellow plastic corn on the hair rig ahead of a small method ball.  I used the plastics to avoid turtles, but they were nowhere to be found in this nasty weather.
This fishing lit up in a place that has been so-so and fair at best for me in the last month. I've seen this pattern before in summer where a big rainstorm can light things up in this location,  and it came through once again today.
PS Many people ask what I wear to stay dry in this type of weather.  I wear Grunden Hercules rain pants and a Grunden/Brooks rain jacket along with knee high Muck boots.  This set up kept me dry as a bone today.  It is the same gear the guys wear on the TV show, Deadliest Catch.

Impressive Showing for RI CAGers in CAG Big 4 National Tournament

Tony Carvalho was competing in his first
CAG Big 4 Tournament and came in 10th place
with a total of 102 lbs. Nice job!

Once again, RI carp fishermen put some impressive numbers on the Leaderboard in the annual CAG Spring Big 4 Tournament. This was a six week event in which nearly 50 members from all over the country entered their biggest 4 carp by weight.  The combined weight total would be the point total.  Coming in the top ten is a real big deal since we are competing against some of the best carp fishermen in the USA.
This year we had 3 RI members in the top ten.  Here are the results:
Tony Carvalho entered his first Big 4 Tournament and came in 10th place overall.  Tony logged a total of 102 lbs. even. That is an average of over 25 lbs. a fish! Note that all Tony's fish were landed in RI waters, a tough feat.
Todd Richer, a frequent top ten finisher in the past and big carp hunter came in 6th place overall. Todd's total was 113 lbs., 1 oz. Todd averaged just over 28 lbs. a fish,  and he had one huge common that weighed 33 lbs.
Finally, I came in 4th place overall this year.  My total was 118 lbs., 10 oz.. That is an average of over 29 lbs. a fish and was one of my better totals in recent years. My biggest was a mirror that weighed 31 lbs., 8 oz. I had two fish from MA, one from RI and one from CT waters.
I've always said that we have some of the best carp fishermen in the country right here in RI, and this year's results prove that once again.

Photo of the Day.....Good Size Mirror Taken on a Mulberry

This good size mirror carp was taken on a freelined mulberry fished
right under a mulberry tree where the fish was feeding.

Mulberry Drop Peaking

This hefty mirror was landed on a freelined
mulberry this afternoon.

The mulberries are ripe and falling in southern New England.  If you know of a tree that's dropping them in the water and that water holds carp, you are golden.  Carp go crazy for mulberries and they will binge on these delicacies..

Technique is simple.  Just
tie a hook to the end of your
line and impale the berry
with the hook. Cast to
feeding fish that should be
under the mulberry tree.

I know of a couple of spots in RI where the berries are hitting the water and I have been hitting those spots in the last couple of days.  I've landed a number of carp up to 15 lbs.
The technique is very simple.  You want to freeline these.  Simply grab a berry and impale it into a #8 hook. That's it....no sinker, no hair rig, no hooklink. Cast it into feeding carp and you should be onto a fish almost immediately. Note that you will have limited range in your cast since these berries weigh very little.  Realize that carp get wise to this berry thing after awhile.  In some places where I fish these a lot, the carp soon learn to detect which berry has a hook in it and which do not, and they will completely ignore the hooked berry.  And, who said carp are not smart!

Video of the Day....."View from the Net"

Biggie of the Day

The big ones continue to fall for me. This is one of several in the mid to high
twenties that I landed today!

500

I landed a significant fish today.  It was my 500th carp for 2018.
This has been a strange year so far.  The beginning of the season featured real cold weather, and it took a while for the action to pick up. At one point, I was 150 fish behind last year's numbers. Now, I am just about all caught up! From the beginning of May until now has been lights out for me. In that six week period I have landed big numbers of carp as well as good numbers of large fish. So, it has been a memorable stretch for me.  I have been moving around and fishing RI, CT and MA waters a lot since the beginning of May.
There was a time in which I set a goal of 500 carp for the year. But, as I have gotten better and better at this game, and really learned how to fish a number of productive spots, that goal has been upped. Now, I am hoping to hit 1,000 carp for the year. I've reached that goal in the last three out of four years. I'm headed there again this year if the action continues like it has been.

It's not a monster, but this fish is significant.  This good looking mirror
is my 500th carp of the year.  The action in recent weeks has been super.

Photo of the Day....Crazy Looking Mirror

Check out this crazy looking mirror that sits in the water. It was like someone dropped
a handful of gold coins all over its bronze body! The scale patterns on mirrors are like
fingerprints on a human. Each one is a one of a kind and unique to the fish!
The fish was part of a 15 fish haul today. Yup, they were REALLY hitting!

Going Small with Artificials

This nice common, landed this morning, was
part of a 7 fish haul. This fish fell for
one aritificial, white corn on the hair rig.

This has also been working.
It is a combo bait of one small
kernel of maize with a
small, orange artificial
corn on the hair rig.

I've been experiencing very good carp fishing in the last week as the fish have been very active in this warming weather. Plastics, specifically artificial corn, has been the hot producers. Much of my tactics have been focusing on turtle avoidance since they, too, have become very active. 
I have been going small with my rigs using either a #8 or #10 hook along with short hairs that will hold either one artificial corn or an artificial corn along with one very small kernel of maize that I hand-pick. In many instances I am not using a method ball since the method really attracts the turtles.
I have also kept my baiting to a minimum and I try to keep the bait in a tight, small area close to shore.  I generally will bait up three or four spots near where I am fishing.  If a snapping turtle is spotted, I move to another location.
We are now in a summer carp fishing mode. The best fishing seems to be occurring in the morning, evening or nighttime with mid day being less productive. The exception to all this is a rainy day.  In that case the fish remain active all day.

Photo of the Day....Gotta Love those Blackstone River Mirrors!

This good looking fully scaled mirror is the largest of 7 landed today. The hot bait was
a combo bait of maize and an artificial corn fished on the hair rig.

May Results for RI CAG Big 3 Tournament

Sean Reed with a 22 lb. mirror.

Laura Mitchell with a 17 lb.
mirror.

Our guys and gals in the RI CAG had another banner month in May and put up some big numbers in our RI CAG Big 3 Tournament.  This is the second leg of the tournament and we have one more month, June, to score some more points.  The pound total for April, May and June will determine the winners.
The biggest carp entered this month was from Angel Medrano who moved into first place with an impressive 26 lb., 5 oz carp.  Sean Reed entered the second biggest fish with a 22 lb. , 4 oz mirror.
Here are the results so far:

Standings for RI CAG Spring Big 3

As of June 1, 2018

Angel Medrano- 25 lbs., 15 oz.+ 26 lbs., 5 oz= 52/4

Tom Perron – 26 lbs., 10 oz.+21 lbs., 6 oz.=48

Sean Reed- 21 lbs.+ 22 lbs., 4 oz= 43/4

Brian Savage- 18 lbs., 8 oz.+ 21 lbs., 6 oz=39/14

Tony Carvalho- 14 lbs., 6 oz.+ 19 lbs., 4 oz.=33/10

Laura Mitchell- 16 lbs., 4 oz.+ 17 lbs.=33/4

Manny Dias- 18 lbs., 3 oz.