Coming to Life

Carp fishing is waking up here in RI. In the last week, I have landed good numbers of fish from multiple venues in RI and MA.  That's a sure sign that the carp are moving into a spring feeding pattern.  I have also landed a few hefty fish including my second 20 lber. of the year (got the first on Jan.1).  When the bigger fish start feeding, you know the season has started.
In the last week, I have gotten most of my fish on a combo bait of sweet corn and an artificial pop-up corn.  I'm still fishing small stuff and a #10 hair rigged hook has been the ticket. The cage feeder that was so good all winter just has not cut it in the last week. I'm back to packing method around my sinker.
So, I think I can say with certainty that winter is behind us and the spring carp season has begun.

This good size mirror that's coming to the net was landed today on a
hair rigged combo bait of sweet corn and a white artificial corn.

Foam Maggots

Check out the foam maggot in the lip of this
good size carp.

Berkley Trout Maggots....yes, they
also work with carp.

I know that carp will take a variety of artificial baits, so when I saw foam maggots (actually Berkley Trout Maggots) at Bass Pro this winter, I decided to buy a package and try them out on carp. I fished them with good success last week for three days, landing 15 carp on these foam maggots. Just to experiment and gauge their effectiveness, I had one outfit out with maggots, the other outfit with sweet corn, the hot bait of winter.  I caught just about equal number of carp on both baits.

I fished the cage feeder packed with
method ahead of the foam maggot. This
rig was very effective last week.

I hooked these maggots directly with a #10 short shank hook.  I was also fishing them in tandem with a cage feeder, another real hot item this winter. My best success fishing these has come in a current. I had no success fishing them recently in still waters in ponds and lakes. In these still waters, plastic corn and sweet corn still rule.
I suspect these maggots are a winter bait, a time when pests are inactive.  I'm guessing that as the water warms, such pests as suckers, horned pout and bluegills will pounce right on this small offering. But, I do plan to continue to experiment with this artificial bait in the coming weeks.

Photo of the Day....Beautiful and Unusual!

I landed this gorgeous wild koi today. It is only the third one I have ever caught.
Quite the winter surprise!

100th Carp of the Year Landed

I'm off and running as I landed my 100th carp of the year today.  It's been an up and down winter for me, and I have been doing far more skiing that fishing.  But, I have been hitting the banks on some of the nice days and some of the stormy days this winter and scoring quite well. Last year I landed my 100th carp at just about the same time. This year's 100th was a good looking mirror that weighed about 6 lbs.  It was caught on sweet corn fished directly on the hook and fished ahead of a cage feeder filled with method.  That set up has taken a load of fish for me this winter.

Carp number 100 is about to be netted and brought ashore.

Photo of the Day....Guess What I was Doing on this Wintry Day?

If you are in the right spots and using the right techniques, you can catch carp on
snowy and wintry days like today!

Cage Feeders

NGT cage feeders.

Cage feeder packed with
method and hooklink
set up with hook and 2 kernels
of sweet corn.

I've been experimenting lately with cage feeders in moving water in the wintertime. I recently bought a bunch at Big Carp Tackle, (link is HERE). These were NGT cage feeders that weighed about 1 oz.  They sold for just $.95 apiece, a real buy.
I know some real sharpies that use these all the time in the winter, so I decided to give them a shot. Before using these, I would pack the method around my sinker, something that works well in summer and works well when using a hair rig. But, the disadvantage to packing around the sinker is that the method really disperses quickly in the moving water. The cage feeder, a device in which method is tightly packed into the cylindrical feeder, really holds the method in place and slowly releases it through the holes in the feeder.
These feeders are generally used without a hair rig. Here's how I do it. I just simply put a swivel at the end of my line.  I tie a short piece of mono onto the swivel and knot on the cage feeder. I then run about a foot to a foot and one half section of leader onto the end of that same swivel and tie a hook onto the end.  The hook I am using is a #10.  The line (leader) is 10 lb. test.  I then put the sweet corn directly on the hook (2 kernels).
Easy to set up, and very effective for carp in the wintertime.

A good size mirror rests in the water. This fish took the sweet corn.
Note how much method is still in the feeder and that was
after about 15 minutes of sitting on the bottom in the moving water
along with the fight of the fish coming in!

New Bait Discovery.....Wild Onion Bulbs

These wild onion bulbs were sticking
out of the soil.  Could they be an
effective bait?

Man, I made a major discovery yesterday while carp fishing.  I was fishing my usual one kernel of artificial corn but doing very little on it.  I landed just one carp.  Then, as I went to move my bag, I noticed a round object sticking out of the dirt.  It was a wild onion bulb. On closer inspection I saw several of these bulbs which were exposed because some of the topsoil along the bank had washed away with the recent flooding.These white with a little pink colored bulbs were just the right size to thread onto my hair rig and they had a strong odor that I hoped the carp would go for.  Heck, if they hit garlic flavored stuff, why not this.

This carp was landed on a hair rigged wild onion bulb. This
bait landed many more fish yesterday, proving its
effectiveness.

I knew from past experience that carp will hit just about any seeds, bulbs, nuts, etc. that naturally exist in their environment. So, why not these bulbs?
To make a long story short, I landed 8 carp on these bulbs as the fish keyed right in on this bait.  I was using these bulbs on one outfit.  The other outfit had the white artificial corn.  That produced just 2 carp. So, on this day, the onion bulbs clearly outfished my hot bait of recent weeks.