On the Feed

Conditions were all wrong today with cold winds, temps in the 30's and snow flurries in the air, but the fish were hitting once again. Landed a combination of mirrors and commons. Got all my fish today on pineapple flavored sweet corn on the hair rig (see photo). We're in full spring mode in some spots right now.

Fish the Warmest Time of the Day

Had an interesting day of carp fishing today. Started out this morning and fished from about 10:00 to noontime. I got nothing but saw a few fish moving around. I went home for lunch and then went back about 2:00. It was a different story in the same spot as the fish were now hitting. Landed 4 mirrors and a common on pineapple sweet corn (see previous video). It all proves that at this time of year when the weather and water are still very cold, the most productive time of the day, mid to late afternoon, is the best time to fish. This is the time period in which carp are most active. Of course, this will all change when the warm weather arrives, but for the next few weeks I plan to fish as much as possible during the warmest part of the day.

Making Your Own Flavored Sweet Corn

RI Ponds Now Producing

I got my first carp of the new year from a pond here in RI today. It was a good looking common of about 12-13 lbs. (see pic). I've actually had several hits in the last two days, and this was my first real taker. I have to chuckle when I read the Fisherman magazine reports today that said nothing was going on in freshwater in RI. Ah, what they don't know!

Most of the ponds south of Providence are all open and fishable. North of Providence the ponds remain locked in with ice but shorelines are deteriorating. Looking at some warm weather on the way, I think everything will be fishable by the weekend.

Note that trout ponds remain closed to any type of fishing until Opening Day. You need a 2011 license if you plan to fish at this time.

Ponds Opening Up

I went around this afternoon checking a few places and found that last night's storm and windy weather really opened up some ponds. Little is open north of Providence. Scott's Pond, Ryco and the Bike Path Canal are still locked in with ice and completely unfishable though open spots are showing along the shores. The Blackstone is very high and unfishable. South of Providence is opening up big time. Roger Williams Park is fishable with still a bit of ice in some spots. Mashapaug is fishable though about a third of the pond is still ice, mostly on the eastern shore. Spectacle is fishable at the back end. It still has ice at the south end of the pond. I suspect the ice will leave all the places south of Providence by the end of the week. The places north of the city should be fishable next week. Within the next few days I expect to catch my first carp in the ponds of RI. We are a week to ten days behind what happened at this time last year.

NOTHING going on

I have been scouting around the last few days looking for places to fish. Nothing is available. At this time, the Blackstone River, the only open water, is incredibly high and fast. It is not fishable. I checked out the Blackstone Canal and numerous ponds, and they were all iced in. In fact, I spent two days this week ice fishing at Stump Pond in Smithfield where there was at least 10-12 inches of ice!
Last year at this time I was fishing several ponds that had completely open water. Not this year. This is already a late start and I suspect we are a week to ten days away before some of the ponds open up to fishing. I keep telling myself spring is on the way.

A Good Hook

Most beginners often ask my opinion about hooks. Here goes.
If you are looking for the best buy in hooks and a quality hook, go with the Umpqua Tiemco, no. 2457 hooks. These are really heavy duty fly tying nymph hooks but work well for carp. They sell for $5.95 a package at Fishwest with free shipping. Here is the link:

http://www.fishwest.net/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?
I like this hook in a size #6 or #8. I generally use the #8 for small carp under 10 lbs. and the #6 works well for fish from 10 lbs. to 20 lbs. Their hooking power and reliability is far better than an Eagle Claw 84 or 184 hook. For your money this is the best buy in carp hooks and will handle just about anything RI has to offer.
On a negative note, I will tell you that these hooks will bend if you target giant fish over 25 lbs. When I am looking for 30 lbers. in big MA waters, I generally use a Kamassan Carp Max hook that is sold at Wacker Baits. It is very heavy duty and sharp and will handle anything the carp world has to offer. It is also three times the price of the Tiemco.