Rare, Wild Goldfish Landed Today

I had another good day of carp fishing today with good numbers of fish, but the fish that made my day was a rare, wild goldfish.  I've probably landed only one of these that I can remember, and that was many years ago.  At first, I thought I had a small common, but on closer inspection, I knew I had a different fish.  This fish had a regular mouth that was in the middle of its head and not underneath like a carp.  It also had very small gold scales on its back and shimmering white scales on its belly with a touch of orange near the head.  It  had a head with no scales, a giveaway that I had a goldfish and not a common carp.  The fish was about a foot long but was as wide as a small frying pan.  It was gorgeous!

FABULOUS Winter Outing

The first fish of the
day turned out to be a
double of a mirror
and a common.

Today, on this rainy and warm day, I had one of the very best winter outings I have ever experienced.  Most of you know I love to fish in this nasty weather, and I have had some very big outings in the past in this weather. January is a tough time to fish for carp in the best of weather days.  I have fished two times earlier this month and blanked. So, when I left the house this morning, I would have been happy to land one or two fish.
I landed a whopping 14 carp. The haul included 11 mirrors and 3 commons.  While most of these fish went 4-8 lbs., I had three fish over ten pounds including a good size mirror that tipped the scales at 17 lbs. I even had a double as the first fish of the day turned out to be two fish, a mirror and a common, that hit at the same time on the two outfits I was using. The fish were all caught in open, ice free water, and all the fish fell for a combination of one kernel of maize and one kernel of sweet corn fished on the hair rig. In addition, I used an oatmeal based method ball up ahead of my hair rig.

Today's biggest fish turned out to be a
17 lb. mirror.  Three fish out of the 14 landed today
weighed more than ten pounds.

With this warm spell wiping out the ice in many places, look for carp fishing to perk up in many spots around the state and in nearby MA.  Most river spots with current are free of ice right now and many small ponds should be ice free by late in the week.  This is a window of opportunity to get out and catch a carp in the middle of winter.

Big Carp Tackle's Carp of the Month Photo Contest Winner

One of my carp that I landed in December on a snowy day here in RI has become Big Carp Tackle's Carp of the Month for December.  Big Carp Tackle, www.bigcarptackle.com , is a big online carp store and sponsors a monthly photo contest for CAG members.  The photos entered are usually self portrait shots taken with the self timer on the camera.  I got my photo by mounting the camera on a bankstick topped with a Gardner camera mount and set the timer for 20 seconds. With the snow lightly falling and in the background, it turned out to be a good shot (see photo at bottom).  Big Carp Tackle awards a very generous gift certificate to the monthly winners.
Besides running fishing contests, the Carp Anglers Group (CAG) is constantly running photo and writing contests for its members.  These contests are often sponsored by big online tackle companies. This month's contest, for instance, is about your funniest carp story.
For anyone interested in joining our group, membership information can be found at www.carpanglersgroup.com  If you join the national group, you have automatic membership in the state group.

Closing the Book on 2013

My biggest carp of the year was this 33 lb. mirror that was
caught back in May.

I've finally gotten around to counting my fish and closing out my logbook for 2013.  I would rate 2013 as a "good" year overall.  I caught less fish than the last two years, but I did have a lot of quality fish.  It was also a year that was greatly influenced by the weather which was hot in the summer and cold, snowy and icy in the winter, making for difficult fishing at times. Here are a few highlights of what happened:
Numbers:  I landed 620 carp in 2013.  There were 428 mirrors and 192 commons.  Back in 2011 and 2012, "excellent" years, I had over 700 carp each year. Realize, though, I set a goal of 500 carp every year so no complaints from my end.
Big Fish: My biggest carp of the year was a 33 lb. mirror.  I also had a 31 lb. mirror.  I believe I had a 30 lb. common, but did not weigh it.  I had another common that hit 28.5 lbs. and the other common (30 lber.?) was bigger.  I also had good numbers of 25-29 lb. fish, sizes I consider very big for RI.
Most Memorable Fish:  It was actually two fish.  I hooked into a double as both alarms went off at the same time. This was a monumental battle trying to get these fish ashore as I was fishing all alone.  The small fish weighed 31 lbs. and the big one weighed 33 lbs. I don't think this will every happen again in my lifetime.
Rewarding Year: This was a year that I introduced more RI fishermen to carp fishing than any other year. The interest in RI is very high, yet most non carp fishermen don't have a clue as to how to do it.  I showed more fishermen the nuts and bolts of carp fishing this year than any other year, and I met a lot of new friends along the way.  Most of these guys turned out to be good, conservation minded fishermen.  Most of them also landed multiple PB's (personal bests).  It's great to see carp fishing taking off in RI.

RI CAGer Scores in FFF on Jan.1!

Every year the national Carp Anglers Group (CAG) runs a nationwide contest on Jan. 1 called the FFF (First Fishing Folly).  Basically, CAG carp anglers from all over North America go out on Jan. 1 to try to catch a carp. There are prizes for various categories from first fish to largest to smallest.
It's no easy task in New England to catch a carp at that time since most of our carp waters are covered in ice.  Yet, one of our RI CAG anglers did go out and caught not one, but two carp on Jan. 1.  Todd Richer, one of our newest members, landed a common (4 lbs.) and a mirror (5 lbs.) on Jan.1 fishing open water in  20 degree temperatures.  His mirror is currently  in second place for the largest mirror caught in  the FFF. So, congrats Todd on your achievement.  Not easy to do!

RI CAG End of the Year HIghlight Video, 2013

Check out These Free Online Magazines

Looking for some great tips and ideas for carp fishing?  Check out these free online publications.
North American Carp Angler-  This is the latest online magazine from the Carp Anglers Group.  You can access this magazine by going to the homepage of the CAG at http://www.carpanglersgroup.com/cag/
Just scroll down about halfway and you will see the magazine cover and just click.  You do not have to be a member to see the magazine.
US Carp Pro- This is one of my favorite magazines.  If you go to the US Carp Pro site at http://carppro.net/  and register (free) you will be e-mailed the latest version of the magazine.  You can also access past magazines from the US Carp Pro site.  The latest issue of this magazines have some interesting reads, many of which are directed to fly fishermen.  Patterns of flies, fly fishing from a boat, and dropping and dragging techniques are just some of the fly fishing features. There are also a number of articles for traditional carp fishermen that feature baiting ideas and rigging ideas.  However, I was particularly impressed with the editorial titled "Culture Shock".  It talks about the evolving carp scene here in the US and how their popularity as a gamefish has been surging in recent years, even though they are not treated with respect in some places (RI DEM.....this would be a good read for you guys). Following this article was an advertisement for one of the latest books on carp fishing called "Orvis Guide to Fly Fishing for Carp".  Hmm, can't get more mainstream than that. Wouldn't it be great if some of these well respected and conservation minded fly fishing groups like Trout Unlimited here in RI would jump on the carp fishing bandwagon.