Do Carp Hit During Spawning? Yes and No????

Here are a bunch of them that were spawning 
today. While most of the spawning carp will
not hit a bait, occasionally a non-spawner will.

 In the last couple of days I fished an area where carp were spawning. Those warm days earlier in the week got the spawn in full motion in places.  They were all over the place splashing and whirling in groups and tearing through brush and weeds.  They were also lots of them moving along quickly looking for other spawners. In the past, I was never able to catch carp while they were spawning, but today I decided to try.  

I put a small pile of bait right in front of me and observed. Many of the spawners just quickly moved over the bait completely ignoring it.  But, every once in a while, one loner fish came by slowly, picking up stuff on the bottom, and would stop and eat my bait. So, I have to say that while most do not feed while spawning, there are a few that are choosing to feed rather than spawn.

Anyway, I did coax six of them to take my bait today.  These were all smaller fish and all males judging by their rough skin. They were carp in the 5 to 8 lb. range.