Just OK

Here's a mirror landed yesterday.  September fishing has been
mediocre at best.

I wish I could report that this cool pre-fall weather has gotten the carp feeding.  In the places I have been fishing it is not the case. Mediocre is about the best way I would describe my fishing in the month of September thus far. My best day was 5 fish, my worst day none, average has been 2 fish an outing.
I've seen no uptick in the fishing. For me, the mediocre fishing goes back to mid summer.  It's stayed about the same, just ok. Hotspots of years past are just not producing.
In recent years, fall fishing has been an up and down affair with little consistency. In fact, in recent years, I have landed more fish in late fall (early December) than I have in early fall. 
Meanwhile, saltwater fishing has been lights out for me since August.  It's been loads of bluefish, good numbers of striped bass and some albies. The Bay is hot, the oceanfront is hot.  I always will take the best bet that fishing has to offer here in RI.  Right now, that best bet is happening in saltwater.

Photo of the Day....Good Size Mirror on the Fight

A good size mirror makes his way to the shore. It was one of five carp landed
this morning as the bite has picked up!

DISCOVERY MONTH

I landed this fish and several more from a new discovery spot
that I have found in the last week.

This month is Discovery Month for CAG.  The group runs a contest every September.  The idea is to go out and find a new carp fishing spot that no one knows about and that's never been fished and to write a short story with photos added. I've been searching new spots for the last week.
I do this every year and I have found some really good spots to fish that were previously unfished and unknown.  Besides, it gets me out of my comfort zone of going to the same places all the time.
This is the way carp fishing should be done. Trial and error, look for new places to fish, keep on the move. Unfortunately, today's fishermen in general tend to rely on social media to figure out where to fish. Most fishermen rely far too much on looking for places others are fishing and having success, and then moving right into those places and taking over. Don't you just love Facebook and Instagram!  I prefer to stay ahead of the social media crowd. Sometimes this approach really works out, sometimes it doesn't. Right now, I think I have found something hot that no one knows about.

Dealing with Fussy Fish

Just one small kernel of
maize on a small hair rig
with no sinker did the trick
with fussy fish.

This mirror went for the one
kernel of corn on the
freelined (no sinker)
rig.

This summer has been a struggle for me. The numbers and the sizes have just not been  there even though I have tried many different places.  Same story all over for me- slow fishing.
Today was an interesting day, though. I was in a place where I was getting hits.  I know they were carp because I saw some cruising around. They would pick up my combo bait of maize and artificial corn, go to run with it and drop it.  I knew I was dealing with fussy fish. So, I made some big changes.  I took off my rig and sinker rig and tied on just a hair rigged, small, #10 hook with a short hooklink. No sinker.  I decided to freeline just one one small kernel of maize on a weightless set up, something I have done in the past with fussy carp. That did the trick.  Within minutes, the alarm was screaming and I was onto a fish that turned out to be about a six pound mirror.
I wish I could tell you I killed the fish, but the truth is that I only landed one more fish today. Oh well, with the way things have been going, I'll take two fish in this morning's outing!

A Summer Surprise Leads to a Summer Hat Trick!

This was the surprise of the day!

I got quite the surprise today when I caught a beautiful white and orange koi. Over the years I have caught only a few of these so this was a special fish.  In addition to the koi, I also landed a good size common and a good size mirror, making this morning's catches a rare summer hat trick.  All these fish were caught on a combo bait of one kernel of maize and one, white, artificial corn fished on the hair rig.  I'm not using a method ball these days because it attracts too many turtles.

FINALLY....Number 500

This common, landed today, is number 500 on the year. Fishing
has been inconsistent lately.

It's been a grind for me this spring.  The carp fishing overall has been so inconsistent, maybe as a result of the weather. This extreme weather...very cold spring, very hot summer, real big rainstorms has played havoc with the fishing. Normally, I've got 500 carp by late June or early July, so I am way behind what I normally catch. I'm still hoping to hit a thousand fish this year, and I've got  five solid months to get it done. Things can get mighty hot mighty fast in this game.  We'll see what happens.
That 500th fish for the year turned out to be a common of about 6 or 7 lbs.  It hit a single kernel of maize threaded onto the hair rig.  I'm usually catching on plastic corn at this time of year, but they are not going for the plastics lately.  Today I had one outfit baited with plastics and one with real maize.  I landed three carp and they all went for the real stuff. I know full well that what happens today might not happen tomorrow and this fishing is a constant experiment for me.

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.