First Carp Fishing Seminar of the Year- New England Fishing Expo, Marlborough, MA

 

My winter seminar adventures start at the New England Fishing Expo on the weekend of Jan. 31 to Feb. 2.  This big show will be held at the Best Western Royal Plaza Trade Center in Marlborough, MA which is right off Rt. 495.

I've been doing this popular winter show for many years now.  It is one of the best "pure fishing shows" around. It's a mix of saltwater fishing and freshwater fishing.  The show is loaded with vendors and has an all star line-up of seminars.

This year I will be running two all new seminars, one on freshwater carp fishing and one on striper fishing.  The titles of my seminars are "Seasonal Strategies for Striper Fishing" and "Seasonal Strategies for Carp Fishing".  These digital slide shows feature lots of information and have loads of photos and videos all shot in the past year.

The final seminar schedule is not out yet, so keep your eye on the website as it should come out prior to the show. I expect to be there on both Saturday and Sunday.  Hope to see many of my followers there.

On the Board for 2025!

My first carp for 2025! I landed 3 of them
today from 10 to 15 lbs.!

 I got a real Happy New Years surprise today.  As I have done in other years, I went carp fishing hoping to get my first carp of the new year. Well, instead I landed my first three carp of the year. They were all good size commons, running 10 to 15 lbs.

I guessed as to where to go.  The first spot I went to had ice covering a quarter of the pond, too much for my liking, so I kept driving to my second spot. Fortunately, this venue was free of ice. The weather cleared, the sun came out and the fish started hitting on this 50 degree day. 

All my fish were caught on my favorite bait- a kernel of real maize and a white artificial pop-up (see photo) on the hair rig. I was using no method. The fish hit well but were very sluggish on the fight as you would expect in near freezing water. 

I'm guessing the ice will be returning soon, and the fishing will shut down. Winter around here is an off and on deal with short windows of fishing opportunity.  But, I got my first fish of the new year, and I'm happy with that!

This was the hot ticket today. It has
been my go to bait since the fall.

Merry Christmas to All My Loyal Readers!

"It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas....."
Merry Christmas to all my loyal readers and followers.

 

Recapping 2024

 

With this cold weather upon us and ice forming everywhere in RI, it looks like the carp fishing is over for me for 2024. But, this has been a real good year for me in terms of numbers and sizes.  I managed to get over 500 carp for the year, and I  had more fish over 20 lbs. than any year that I can remember. I had 8 carp over 30 lbs. and over 100 fish over 20 lbs. in 2024.  I credit a lot of this good fishing to low water as we were in drought conditions for much of 2024.  It is so much easier to fish low water than high water.

Here are some of the facts that I put together from my logs for 2024:

* Total number of carp landed- 511 (91 mirrors and 420 commons)

* Best month in terms of numbers- August (106 carp landed)

*Best big fish month- May ( three 30's and 17 fish over 20 lbs.)

* Number of carp over 30 lbs. landed- 8

*Biggest carp of the year- 33 lbs., 12 oz. landed on November 11 (potential state record released)

*Top bait this year- combo bait- kernel of maize and a plastic, white artificial corn on a hair rig

I will take all this info that I have in my logs and use that to plan next year's strategy and places to fish.  Carp tend to follow a predictable pattern year after year in many big lakes and rivers. 

This winter I will be running carp fishing seminars in some of the biggest outdoor shows in New England.  More info coming on that in January, 2025.

National CAG Fall Big 4 Tournament- 7th Place

 I competed again this year in the national CAG Fall Big 4 Tournament.  This tournament features over 60 of the very best carp fishermen from all over the country. The idea is to enter your 4 biggest carp (measured in pounds) from Oct. to the end of November. You could fish anywhere in the country!  I know a guy from RI who fishes RI  has no chance of winning, but my goal every year is to finish in the top ten, the "prize places".

Once again I was able to finish in the top ten, making it to 7th place with a total of 121 lbs.  That's an average of over 30 lbs. a fish.  It was my highest total in this fall event that I've ever gotten. My four fish that I entered were 33 lbs., 12 oz., 30 lbs., 8 oz., 30 lbs., 4 oz. and 26 lbs., 8 oz. That 33 lb., 12 oz. carp, my biggest in this event, was a potential state record that I released. All my fish were caught in RI waters.

For my 7th place finish, I will receive a $35 gift certificate from Big Carp Tackle.

My biggest carp of the tournament was this
33 lb., 12 oz. common.

This was another 30 that I landed in the tournament.
It tipped the scale at 30 lbs., 4 oz.

Winners in the RI CAG Fall Combo Tournament

New member Evan had the biggest mirror
at 32 inches. He won the gold medal!

Our 2024 Fall Combo Tournament has ended.  It was super close and the bonus fish (catfish, horned pout or white sucker) made the difference between first, second and third place. All the fish below (common, mirror, and bonus fish) are measured in inches.  New member Evan scored the highest point total with 87 points.  He also had the biggest mirror at 32 inches. Dave had the biggest common at 37 inches. A shout out to Scott, another new member who scored some very fish for his first combo tournament.

First, second and third place finishers will receive engraved medal donated by the national CAG.

Thanks to all who participated

Here are the final results:

1st place- Evan- 35 + 32 + 20 = 87 points

2nd place- Dave- 37 + 31 + 16 1/2= 84 1/2 points

3rd place- Tom- 34 1/2 + 31 + 15 =  80 1/2 points

Scott- 29 1/2 +30 + 0 = 59 1/2 points

Brian- 0 + 32 + 21 = 53 points

Biggest carp entered in the tournament was this
37 inch, 33 lb. common.

Tom Perron was our
third place finisher with
three good sized fish.

Happy Thanksgiving to all my Loyal Readers!

A rainbow forms right above me on this fall day.
I'm thankful for a great year of carp fishing here
in RI. For a small state we are fortunate to have
some of the best carp fishing in New England!