Killed it in June

This is one of 150 carp I landed in the month of June. The
fishing has been as hot as it can be for this month.

By far, this was the best June I have ever experienced in carp fishing.  When I totaled up the numbers it came out to 150 carp in the month of June. Everything seemed to be working this month for me and all my spots, many new places I am fishing, were really producing.  Hot fishing with mulberries, hot fishing with corn and artificials, even hot fishing freelining doughballs. While I had the big numbers, I also had some big fish with a lot of fish over twenty pounds with the biggest going 28 lbs.
A lot of my fish were caught on mulberries.  However, I am now back to fishing traditional stuff and the big numbers are still there.  Today I got out and fished two spots with maize and pop-up artificial corn along with a method ball.  I put 10 carp on the bank with the biggest going 13 lbs.  The mulberries are dying out, and it looks like it will be back to the traditional stuff in the upcoming weeks.
I am guessing that if this weather continues to remain cool, then the fishing will continue to be good. It's onto July.

Pic of the Day

This hard fighting mirror carp  is one of ten carp taken today freelining
mulberries. Today's lousy weather had the berries falling  and the carp feeding.

Surging Ahead of Last Year's Numbers

This fully scaled mirror is my
300th carp of the year.
 June has been a personal
best as far as numbers. The fish
have been hitting big time.

Since the spring I have been playing catch up to last year's numbers. We lost the month of March, a big setback, due to icing and heavy snow.  However, I have been getting personal best record numbers of carp in April, May and now in June.  In fact, this is the very best June as far as numbers  that I have ever experienced. And, there are still four days left to June, and who knows what that will bring. As of today I am at 110 carp for June.  Suddenly, my numbers have not only caught up but are outpacing last year's numbers, and last year was the biggest year I ever experienced.
Yesterday I landed my 300th carp of the year. The last two weeks have seen sizzling action using freelined mulberries.  Some days I am getting 15-20 carp, astounding numbers for this time of the year. Many of those fish are running in the upper teens, good size for June. I credit the cool weather with keeping the fishing real good. Get a few days of high 80's or even 90's and you will see the fishing cool right off.  With a lot of people going on vacation in the next couple of weeks, it is a great time to get out and try carp fishing.

Best Back to Back Days This Year

It's a banquet fit for a carp. A glut
of mulberries were falling today.

Wow, the fishing is red hot for me right now. I'm freelining mulberries for the most part, and I'm catching like crazy.  In the last two days I have landed 34 carp, huge numbers for this time of year, and the best back to back days I've had this year (numbers-wise).  While I've gotten no heavyweights, I am getting good numbers of fish from 10 to 14 lbs.
Today was another hot day of fishing. I fished for a few hours this morning. With the wind howling, the trees were shaking and berries were dropping like raindrops on the water. And, the carp were charged up as they went on a feeding frenzy. At times, I could spot 10-15 fish feeding in a small area right under one tree. I'd toss a berry into the water and sometimes three or four carp would rush to it as they would compete to take the offering. It was wild.  This type of action was happening in multiple spots that I sampled.
Later in the evening I fished with my youngest son, Jon. We hit a number of berry spots and all of them had carp feeding aggressively right under the trees.  I didn't even fish. I just tossed in some berries for chum, netted his fish and snapped some photos.  He landed 6 carp in a short amount of time.

Jon Pickering hoists a mirror carp that fell for a mulberry this evening. He landed
6 of them in a short amount of time in multiple spots.

On a Mulberry High

Mulberries come in various
colors.  In  this case, white.

In the last few days I have abandoned all my fancy and expensive carp fishing gear and have turned to freelining mulberries.  The mulberries are falling from the trees right now, and if you are lucky enough to know where a tree exists close to the water, you can have some real hot fishing.  This morning I got out and landed 11 carp up to 14 lbs. in a short amount time.  Nearly all the fish fell for freelined mulberries.

A berry is impaled with a small, #8 hook

Freelining involves simply using a hook at the end of your line and impaling a berry.  I use a small, #8 hook. That's it....no sinker, no fancy hair rigs, no alarms.  Just cast it hold the rod and watch the line closely.  When it takes off, pull.  The carp are so keyed on these berries that they usually take it as soon as the berry hits the water.
The key to this fishing is to find the mulberry trees.  I know a number of trees close to the water that I have found in the last twenty years.  Their location remains a hidden secret as only my kids and I know their location. Mulberry trees can be found just about anywhere around here.  You just have to be observant to find them.  Mulberries come in various colors which include white, pink and purple.  All of them work with equal efficiency. The drop should continue for the next couple of weeks as the window of opportunity here is a short one.

This common carp that sits in the water in the net was one of many taken in the
last few days while freelining mulberries.

Craziest Fight in All of Fishing

The Double of the Day, mirror carp
of 10 and 18 lbs., sit in shallow
water in the net.  This is one of the
craziest phenonenoms in all
of fishing.

I was in a good spot this morning.  I was sitting on the bank just waiting in anticipation of a run.  I had seen a few fish breach and roll so I knew fish were in the vicinity of my bait.  After two hours went by, I was ready to pack up and leave.  As I was packing my gear, a screeching alarm shot my adrenilin up.  As I reached for the outfit with the fast spinning reel, the other alarm suddenly screeched wildly. While holding one rod in between my feet with a fish running off the drag, I grabbed the other rod, set the reel in gear and that one began melting the line off the spool. From then on, it was chaos.  Reel one outfit a few feet while the other is between my knees.  Switch rods and reel the other a few feet.  This crazy routine went on for quite a while before I got both fish right near shore.  Net one fish (10 lbs.), net the other (18 lbs.) and suddenly I had in the net one of the most excting and crazy events in all of fishing.....the Carp Double.
This was probably my fourth or fifth double of the year. I tend to get 7 or 8 of them in a year.  They happen with such frequency that it can't be by accident.  I believe that as one fish grabs the bait and runs off, it touches off a sudden impulse or panic in another fish that might be in the area of the other bait. The second fishing gets a sudden urge to grab that bait and run with it.
Whatever causes this double to occur, one thing is known for sure.  This is one of the craziest phenomenons in all of fishing.

Return to Merrimack River Yields MA PB Common

I used to fish the Merrimack River in MA a lot.  When I first became a serious carp fisherman I was drawn to this river because of its abundance of big fish over 20 lbs. I landed hundreds of carp there, and my biggest was a 26 lb. common. During most summers I would try to fish this place once a week. In recent years I got away from fishing this river and focused my attention on other places.  I hadn't fished this place in two years until today.
My friend and fellow RI CAGer Todd Richer called last night to see if I wanted to go there just to try something different.  So, why not?  It used to be a great spot that I enjoyed fishing so I decided to go.
And, I'm glad I did. Todd and I landed decent numbers of fish today with all the fish being good size.  The smallest was in the 13 lb. range. But, my prize for the day was a magnificent 28 lb. common, a personal best (PB) common for me in the state of MA.  The big common hit a combo bait of two pieces of maize with a white ESP artificial corn sandwiched in the middle. It was fished ahead of a method ball. The fish put up a great fight in the currents of the Merrimack. Todd did the netting and snapped the photo below.
It was a memorable return to the Merrimack for me. I will be back soon!

This large common went 28 lbs., a new MA PB Common for me.