The Thanksgiving Day Carp

 

This is one of four Thanksgiving Day carp landed
on this rainy and warm morning.

This morning I had a couple of hours to spare before leaving to go to my son's house for Thanksgiving. I only had to look out the window to know this was going to be a good carp fishing day. It was unusually warm and rainy, a deadly duo for late November conditions. So, I packed up my rain gear and fishing stuff and drove off to a nearby spot.

I prebaited some maize when I got to my location.  I put out my two rods with combo baits of maize and artificial corn on the hair rig. It didn't take long before one rod tip was bouncing away, and I was soon onto my first Thanksgiving Day carp of the day. It was a mirror about 6 lbs. I would go on to catch three more mirrors about the same size.  I would also have quite a few other taps of the rod tip, a sure sign of weak takes due to colder water and the carp's slowing metabolism.  But, also a sign that good numbers of carp were in front of me.

As I left the bank, I thought to myself, "not bad for a couple of hours of fishing in late November." We are fortunate to have some great carp fishing here for such a small state. We also have some of the best mirror carp waters in the entire US. 

Photo of the Day.....November Nites

Yes, they are still hitting on these cool November nights.
I landed several this week after dark including this good
looking fully scaled mirror that I caught tonight.

 

Turning to Winter Tactics, Winter Locations

This is one of four mirrors that I landed today
in cool, forty degree weather.  They are still
hitting.

I'm still catching good numbers of carp, but I've changed many of my tactics in the last week to ten days.  I've also moved from big waters to smaller locations. I'm in a winter fishing mode right now.

Winter Tactics: Less is more.  I have just about abandoned the method ball and am now fishing a kernel of maize and one artificial pop-up on a hair rig.  Soon, I will replace that maize with sweet corn.  I am also using smaller hooks, generally a size #8. The fish I am catching these days are also smaller, generally running 5 to 10 lbs.  As far as prebaiting, I am using less bait.  Winter carp just don't feed as voraciously as summer carp. I am also targeting the warmest part of the day from mid to late afternoon.

Winter Locations: With this colder weather, I am guessing that many of the bigger fish have moved off into deeper water in big lakes to winter over. The fish are generally not in shallow water anymore. So, I've abandoned the bigger waters and bigger fish and have concentrated on small shallow ponds and "small" river locations.  In these small spots, the fish have nowhere to go in the winter.  Besides, these smaller bodies of water warm up quickly on warm days, and the fish quickly will turn to feeding.  I am seeing a lot less activity these days....no fish jumping, no bubble trails and no carp visible, but they are still around. Today I landed 4 mirrors in cool 40 degree weather.

Photo of the Day....Mirror Coming Ashore

 

The mirrors were really hitting on this rainy and cloudy
day.  This is one of 10 mirrors landed. All fell for a combo
bait of maize and artificial corn on the hair rig.

Opportunities in the Warmth

 

This mirror is one of ten carp landed in the last
two days.  They are hitting in this record 
breaking warm weather here in RI

The record breaking warm weather of the last few days has lit up the carp fishing here in RI.  I was having a dreadful time of it right after that freak snowstorm of a little over a week ago as water temperatures plunged and the carp fishing slowed to a crawl.  But, get a couple of record breaking warm days, and we are back in action. It's a pattern I have seen many times at this time of year.

In the past, I've had streaks of real good luck in mid to late November, and much of has been tied to the weather turning warm.  It was ten years ago that I landed that 36 lb. RI common (RI CAG record at the time) during a streak of rainy, warm weather. I've had other days with big numbers of fish in November.  You just have to get out and fish and find a hotspot that is producing.

In the last two days I have landed 10 decent size mirrors.  I've gotten them all on hair rigged combo baits of maize and a white, artificial corn.  I'm not using a method ball. I am also prebaiting with maize in the spots I am fishing.

Good luck if you get out and try in this beautiful November weather.

A Great Week for Big RI Carp

 

Biggest carp this October is this chunky
28 lb.+ common that was caught on a warm
night. Big RI carp have been on a fall feed.

I've had a great week of October fishing for larger carp.  In a recent post I mentioned how large carp were on the fall feed here in RI, and this past week proves just what I was talking about.

In a one week period, I managed to land 8 carp over twenty pounds with the largest one going 28 lbs.  I also had good numbers of carp in the mid to upper teens. I was getting the fish at night as well as in the daytime.  The hot bait continues to be a combo bait of one kernel of maize along with one white, artificial, pop-up corn.  At times I was using a method ball; at times I was not.

I credit a couple of things for my success.  First off, the weather was warm for the most part. Secondly, this mid to late October time period is prime time to catch a large carp here in RI.  Thirdly, my logs of year's past indicated this was the time (and I knew the place)! And, I have put in a good amount of effort.

I am currently fishing the CAG National Big 4 Tournament.  In year's past, I had done my Big 4 tournament fishing in RI, MA and CT.  However, with travel prohibited to MA, I decided to fish just RI waters this fall.  And, it has paid off.  Currently, my four fish cumulative total is 108 lbs. There are still a couple of weeks left to this event, and I'm still hoping to find a RI "30" somewhere.

Surprise of the Day

 I was watching my rods and suddenly, the alarm went off.  It was a slow run, so I expected a big carp when I lifted the rod off the alarm and engaged the reel.  But, judging from the fight it was no big carp.  In fact, it was not a carp at all.  It turned out to be a largemouth bass, and a decent one.  The fish weighed about four pounds. It took my usual bait of one kernel of hair rigged maize along with a white, artificial corn. This is not my first largemouth bass while fishing for carp. Years ago I landed a largemouth that was over 6 lbs. using a doughball. Yes, they will occasionally hit, but it is certainly a surprise when it happens!

The surprise of the day turned out to be a largemouth bass
that hit my hair rigged corn and artificial (in its lip).