Photo of the Day....Catching in the Heat

The hot weather is here, but the carp fishing remains productive.  This is one
of many landed this morning.  Plastic corn or combo baits of plastic corn/ maize
on the hair rig has done the trick. Carp adapt quite well to any weather.

In a Summer Mode

I landed this 5 lb. mirror two days ago
on maize and a pop-up fished on
a hair rig.

I landed this 10 lb. mirror today using
freelined maize fished right on top of
a bait pile close to shore.

I'm now in my summer mode.  I try to fish the coolest parts of the day, mainly the mornings. On these hot days I'm content to sit under a shady tree by the shore and catch what I can.  After chasing down big fish from May into mid June with heavy gear, it is nice to get a break and go after the more abundant smaller ones with light tackle.  I have also been mixing up how I do it. Some days I am freelining mulberries under a berry tree.  On other days I am fishing in tight to shore and freelining maize (one kernel on a hook, no hair rig) into a pile of bait I've chummed.  Still, on other days I am doing it the traditional way- hair rig with maize and a plastic corn.  It just depends where I am fishing, and how I want to approach it.
I went out this morning locally for a few hours.  I landed 4 carp, all mirrors.  They ranged from 5 to 15 lbs.  A couple of days ago I went out and fished in the morning again.  Landed 5 mirrors up to 10 lbs.  So, while the action has not been hot and heavy like the weather, it has still been good.  It's the dead of summer and the fishing is productive. I'll take it!

On the Mulberries

A hooked mulberry is ready to go.

This high teen mirror was caught a few days
ago on a mulberry.

It took a while to happen this year, but the mulberries are now dropping in southern New England.  If you know a place where berry bushes and trees exist along a lake shore or river bank, more than likely carp are waiting below for the berries to hit the water. Carp just love mulberries.
I've been fishing mulberries for the last ten days. I've landed good numbers of carp up to 25 lbs. while freeling them in various spots here in RI. So easy to do.  Simply tie a #8 hook onto the end of your line, impale a berry and toss it in.  Most likely a carp will rise up from the bottom and grab the berry as it hits the water.  One note here.  The carp get wise to this game very quickly. The wise ones will figure out which berry has a hook in it and ignore it.  Others will scatter when a fish is hook knowing something is "fishy" with this scene.

2019 RI CAG Spring Big 3 Tournament Results

Sean Reed...1st place, 73 lbs., 13 oz.

Brandon Dee....2nd place, 72 lbs., 7 oz.

We've been running this tournament for three months, and it is finally over.  And, the results are fantastic again this year. Members entered their biggest fish by weight for the months of April, May and June.  The weights were added together and that became their score.  All fish entered had to be caught in RI waters.
Our top three finishers are listed below along with their entries:
1. Sean Reed- 26/3 +27/13 + 19/13 = 73/13
2. Brandon Dee- 25/12 + 28/9 + 18/2 = 72/7
3. Brian Savage- 27/3 + 23/0 + 20/9 = 70/2
Others entering some quality fish included Laura Mitchell (4th), Tony Carvalho (5th), Tom Perron, Jeff Henderson and Manny Dias.
The top three finishers will get engraved medals provided by the national Carp Anglers Group.

RI CAGers Take 8th and 9th Place in National Big 4

Todd Richer (right) holds up a 30 lber to match his partner,
Dave Dakin's 30 lber.  Todd finished the Big 4 in 9th place. 

Once again, RI Carpers made their presence known in the national CAG Big 4 Tournament that just concluded.  This year's event was the most competitive I have ever fished in as their were 80 experienced carp fishermen entered from all over the country who competed for three months competing to finish in the top ten (prize categories). The idea was to log in your biggest 4 carp.  The total weight would be your points.
I have competed for many years in this tournament and this was my biggest total I have ever had.  I ended up putting up four thirty pound fish (30/8, 31/4, 32/0 and 33/0).  My 126 lb., 12 oz. total for my four largest fish was good for 8th place.  It won me a thirty dollar gift certificate to Big Carp Tackle.

Here is my second biggest carp at 32 lbs. My total of 126 lbs.,
12 oz. was good for 8th place

Todd Richer, one of our most consistent big carp hunters from the RI CAG, also had some great success.  Todd put up four fish with a total weight of 122 lbs., 11 oz., good for ninth place.  He had fish of 34/14, 32/11, 28/11 and 26/7.  For his ninth place finish, Todd also won a thirty dollar gift certificate to Big Carp Tackle.
Just to give you some idea of the competition here, Kody Clayton of PA was the overall winner with 153 lbs. for four fish.  Kody's biggest was a 51 lber. (YIKES!).

Photo of the Day....Beautiful Common Comes Ashore

The light was just right and the fish was just right as I landed this chunky common yesterday.
For me, fishing has been good lately.

Best Color? Depends Where You're Fishing

This combo bait of maize
and a pink artificial corn
has been deadly at the CT River.

I landed this mirror today on
a single white artificial corn
fished on the hair rig. Overall,
white is your best color.

I'm now using a plastic, pop-up artificial corn whenever I fish.  Sometimes I'm going with just the plastic; sometimes I'm fishing a combination bait of  maize and plastic. Color becomes an important consideration whenever using plastics.
Personally, I feel there are only three colors that I need.  White, overall, is the best.  Pink comes in second and orange is a distant third. Keep in mind, though, it often depends on where you are fishing that determines your best color.  I fished a lot in the last month at the CT River.  By far, the best colored pop-up artificial corn was a pink color. When I matched that pink color with a couple of kernels of maize it really produced some big fish for me.  I don't know why....maybe the muddy color of the water caused the pink to stand out more? Sometimes orange worked also at the CT River. Here in  RI and nearby MA, white pop-ups rule overall.  I've been killing it recent days with a combo bait of a white pop-up matched with a single kernel of maize on the hair rig. At times, I have also done well in the last few weeks with a color called "pale pink".  This is a washed out pink/white color and tends to work well in places where white produces.
Just a reminder that one other advantage to using plastics is that the turtles tend to leave it alone, a big plus in places where you find a lot of these shelled pests.

I really like this artificial pop-up sweet corn from enterprise tackle. My best
colors have been white, pink, pale pink and orange.