No Silver Bullet in the Hot Weather

I landed this common this morning.  The cool mornings have
worked out best for me in recent weeks.

This real hot weather has made for difficult carp fishing. The fish are around, but so are the pesty turtles.  I see carp moving around and rooting in the mud, but getting them to hit has been tricky. I want to really bait up the venues that I am fishing but I know full well it will attract every snapping turtle in the area.  I also would like to add method to my offerings, but that, too, attracts turtles.
So, lately, I have been going with just bait on the hair rig.  My best producer has been a small kernel of maize locked onto the hair with an artificial corn.  I've tried varying the colors and they are all working about the same.  I've caught using pink, orange and white artificials.  I've tried going with just artificial corn to avoid turtles, and that has not worked so well. It seems like the real thing with an artificial seems to be the most effective way to go for me.
Best time of the day for me has been before noontime. Once the sun and heat take over, the fishing really trails off.
So, no silver bullet at this time of year. Fish the cool mornings, get into a shady spot and hope a carp will make the alarm scream!

Photo of the Day.....A Chunky Mirror!

Check out this beautiful chunky mirror that I landed this morning. Morning
fishing in the cooler weather is prime time to fish right now.

Slow Going; Pests a Problem

Here's a recently landed mirror carp just sitting on the surface
after being released. Fishing has been slow in this hot weather.

The hot weather has settled in and the carp fishing has cooled right down.  Oh, the carp are still around, but they have been rather lethargic in the hot daytime.  I've seen many just sitting near the surface doing nothing. Those fish are not interested in feeding.
The pests have also been unbearable at times, especially turtles.  I must have hooked at least 6  snapping turtles in the last week.  Bait up an area and they are right there.  Put method on the sinker and they are right on it. Even when you try to outsmart them and move around, they will poke their heads out of the water like a submarine periscope looking for you.  While they tend to ignore plastic corn, some have taken it in the last week.  Sun turtles are equally as pesty as they will nibble at the bait and take it away without so much as a twitch of the rod tip.
Horned pout and catfish have also come to life as they, too, love the warm water.  They will really key on the method mix so in a lot of catfish spots, I will not even use method.
This is a time of year where your best bet will be to fish the coolest times.  Prime times now are mornings, right before dark and even at night.  Lousy, rainy days can also be productive.

Judging Size from a Photo......IMPOSSIBLE

This fish looks about 4 lbs., but it is
7 lbs. If you step back from the wide
angle lens and hold the fish close to
your body it appears smaller than it
really is.

This is the same fish that you see at
the right.  The photo was taken with
a wide angle lens and the fish is held
out to the camera. While it appears to
be about 15 lbs., it is really 7 lbs.
You simply can't guess the size of a
fish by the photo!

You see a lot of people posting photos of impressive carp these days all over social media.  Some of these fish look enormous, but we all know the biggest carp around here are maybe in the 40 lb. range. So, what makes a twenty pound carp look like a hundred pound tuna? Wide angle lenses.
Most high end smart phones have a standard lens and a wide angle lens. The wide angle lens allows you to get real close to the subject.  It spreads out the view, making any fish look much larger than it really is if you get up close.  If you hold the fish outward, it magnifies it even more.
Strange thing about the wide angle lens is that it can also make a fish look much smaller.  If you step back a bit from the camera and hold the fish close to your body, the fish can actually look smaller than what it is because the whole view is so spread out.
I don't object to fish looking bigger than what they are.  I sell a lot of photos and work for many magazines.  The wide angle shots are popular with editors and readers.  In addition, think about a photo in which the angler is holding a large fish.  The fish should be the central theme of the photo. In addition, these photos can generate a "wow" factor with people looking at them.
However, don't try to guess the weight of the fish by photos shot with wide angle lenses.  It's impossible.
Take a look at the two photos I've posted with this article. They are vastly different, but the same fish taken from different angles with a wide angle lens.

Results of RI CAG Spring Big 3 Tournament

Brian Savage hoists a beautiful 28 lb. 11 oz. mirror, the biggest
fish landed in the tournament.  Brian was also this year's gold
medal winner for the most points.

This year we held an abbreviated and modified Spring Big 3 Tournament for RI CAG members.  The event ran for 2 months in May and June.  Here's how this year's event worked.  You could enter your 3 biggest carp by weight.  It didn't matter which months they were caught.  The weights were added up and that was the point total.  All fish entered had to be caught in RI waters. The national group bought engraved medals for the top three finishers.

Here is a summary of the top three winners and the weights of their biggest three (lbs./oz.):

Gold medal- Brian Savage- 15/10, 18, 28/11 = 62 lbs., 5 oz.

Silver medal- Manny Dias- 14, 14, 18 = 46 lbs.

Bronze medal- Tony Carvalho- 12/2, 14, 12 = 38 lbs., 2 oz.

Honorable mention to Tom Perron and Jeff Henderson for submitting some quality fish.

Monster Mirror Landed on a Mulberry!

I was unprepared for what I was about to experience.
I went out this morning to check out a new mulberry tree off the beaten path that I had discovered. I had no serious fishing equipment with me. When I found the tree last week no berries were dropping and no carp were around. So, I was going today just to look and see if any carp were there now.
When I arrived, I saw several carp feeding on a few berries that were dropping. The only rod I had in the back of my truck was a six foot telescopic rod in a backpack with a quality reel that held just 10 lb. test line. Oh well, I figured I would give it a go since I didn't want to waste time going back home.
I impaled a berry with the #8 hook that was on the line. Before casting I looked in the water to see if I could spot one of the feeders. Suddenly, a big head and mouth arose from the bottom to suck in a mulberry on the surface that had just dropped. I flipped my hooked berry right in that direction. It took maybe two seconds and the line was screaming off and I was on.
I knew this was a big fish from the sheer weight of it tearing off and the drag spinning to its breaking point..  Luckily, there were no obstructions and a drawn out see-saw battle ensued. 
Slowly, I got the fish in real close and knew that I had to really tire it out because I was hoping to grab it and hold it in the shallow water on shore. I had no net with me- yup, unprepared.  I made several grabs of the fish, a monster mirror, before I was able to secure her in the shallow water. With the hook just barely in her lip, I popped it off and watched the beast swim off.
I had no phone, no camera, no sling, no mat and no scale so no pictures of this beauty.
I've landed many big carp in the last ten years and have become very good at guessing their weights. I can tell you with certainty, that this monster mirror was 25 to 30 lbs. It is the biggest mirror that I've landed this year here in RI.