UNEVENTFUL

 

While I wrote that July carp fishing turned out to be better than expected for me, I have to say that August fishing, so far, has been uneventful.  The small ones continue to hit but not in big numbers.  I still manage to get a decent one every once in a while. Earlier in the week I had a 20, but for every fish over twenty pounds, I probably land 15 small ones under ten pounds.  Still, the skunks have been rare as I have been able to catch 1,2, or 3 carp on just about every outing in August. 

This is August fishing in some real hot weather. It's not great but not poor either.  Just simply uneventf

August fishing has been uneventful with fair 
numbers of small ones.

ul! Things will change as we begin to see the cooler days and nights in September.

By the way, the turtles (both sun turtles and snappers) continue to be a big problem as they are super active in this warm weather.  Just can't seem to get away from them. I have to reel in often and check to see if the bait is still on the hair as they will steal it without as much as a twitch on the rod tip.

Small Ones in Abundance

Here's a "hand size" carp that I landed today.
Small ones tend to dominate the summer fishing.
They are feisty and tend to zip around on the fight.

 I'm fishing many of the same places that I landed big carp in the spring. Yet, lately it has been mostly small ones.  In the heat of summer smaller carp generally dominate the daytime fishing.  I was out today for a few hours in the morning.  I landed 4 commons.  They were all under ten pounds with the smallest going about four pounds.

I will say that those small five or six pounders are really feisty and put on a show on the fight.  They will generally run off the alarm on the hit and zip around as you battle them to shore. They are incredibly fast for their size unlike the big ones that can be heavy and slow while digging the bottom on the fight.

I continue to catch my fish on hair rigged maize and a white artificial corn.  If you are going to fish for carp at this time of year, avoid a lot of bait like using a method ball.  Turtles key on these big bait offerings and will not leave you alone.

Hot Weather /Hot Fishing- July Turning out to be a Decent Month

 

Here's a good size mirror resting in some 
shallow water before release. July fishing
has been as hot as the weather!

As past Julys go, they are usually slow carp fishing months. Not this year.  I am working on a good July numbers-wise and size-wise. The weather has been generally hot and the water has been super warm, but the carp continue to hit well. So far I've landed 64 carp in July with still a week to go. I've also had some decent ones.  I've had 8 fish over 20 lbs. with the biggest going 27 lbs. July is not regarded as a big fish month but this July has produced some good size fish.

I have to admit that the turtles has been a Royal pain in the you know what! Both snappers and sun turtles have been messing with my bait. I'm generally using a combo bait of real maize and a white pop-up plastic corn on a hair rig.  They will take off the real maize and will not touch the plastic artificial.  Yet, the carp will not hit my bait unless I have that kernel of the real stuff on the hair rig.  So, I'm reeling in more often than usual just to check that I have my bait.

Note that I have been fishing mostly the coolest parts of the day- mornings and evenings.  I also keep an eye on the weather and have fished a lot in the rain or the day after it rains.  It seems like the cooling rain drops the water temperature and the carp feed well afterwards. That's always been the pattern in the dead of summer. 

Photo of the Day- "Good Size Summer Carp"

 

I landed this 20 lb. carp this morning. Yes, large carp
can be caught in the dead of summer.  Cooler times of the
day like morning, evening and after dark are best on
hot summer days.

Dropping Water Temps Perk up Fishing

 

Here's a carp in the net that I landed today.
Fishing has perked up in the cooler water.

When I walked in the water today in my waders, I felt that the water was noticeably cooler. That northeast wind, cold temperatures and rain in the last few days was responsible for dropping the water temperature. It was just enough to perk up the carp fishing, which had been poor in the heat wave.

Today I found good numbers of actively feeding fish, something I haven't seen in the last two weeks. I landed 6 carp today in a few hours of trying. These fish ranged from small five pounders up to fish in the 20's.  All the fish were landed on a combo bait of a kernel of maize and a white artificial corn fished on a hair rig.

I also noticed the turtles were not active today maybe due to the cooler water. They have been real pests in the last couple of weeks in the hot weather.

Results- RI CAG SPRING BIG 3

Evan- silver medal

 

Dave- gold medal

We recently completed our Spring Big 3 Tournament. This event began back in April and finished at the end of June. The members who chose to take part entered their biggest carp by weight for the months of April, May and June.  The final point total was the weights added up.  The first, second and third place finishers will get medals donated by CAG.  Here are the results below for each month and the totals.

1. Dave- 25/14 + 33+ 31/4 = 90/2

2. Evan- 23 + 25/4 + 26/12 = 75/0

3. Tom- 23/5 + 19/9 + 22/9 = 65/7

4. Brian- 16/12 + 17/8 + 14/9 =48/13

5. Scott- 0 + 26/2 + 20/4 = 46/6

Tom- bronze medal

Highlight of the Day- A Ghost Carp

 

A ghost carp comes to the net. Notice the dark 
and light blotches all over this fish.

Yesterday I landed my first ghost carp of the year.  A ghost carp is usually a common carp that has very light, whitish, ghostlike pigments in its scales.  When coming to the net, they almost look like a small white sheet at the end of your line.

The one I landed yesterday was about 15 lbs. and had a lot of white blotchy spots on its head and along its sides. I caught it on a combo bait of maize and a white artificial corn fished on a hair rig.

While rare, I usually will  get one or two "ghosties" a year.