First 20 of the New Year

First 20 lber of the new year.

I have been catching decent numbers of carp this winter (nearly a hundred fish) despite the weather. But, the biggest fish I was able to land was a fish in the low teens.  That isn't surprising since the smaller ones seem to be more active in the cold water, and I have limited options of places to fish in the wintertime.  That is all changing as more and more water opens up for carp fishing with the departing ice. I know things are getting serious when I can catch my first 20 lber. of the year, and I got that one today.
I fished today in that brutal wind and wind chill.  I was determined to hit a number of spots and take it from there.  If I found fish after an hour or so I would stay; if not, I would move to a new location.  I found what I wanted at my second location.  There, I landed two decent fish.  One was a low teen and the other was a twenty pounder.  For the first time this year I fished plastic artificial corn and that seemed to do it.  I was using one kernel of sweet corn along with a kernel of white, ESP, artificial corn on the hair (see photo at left).  That artificial gives the bait some color and lift, two factors that lure fussy carp into hitting. That combo bait has been my ticket to catching some very large fish in the last two years.
Tonight's cold and tomorrow's cold will likely set things back a bit.  However, next week's forecast looks to be warmer and rainier, a deadly combination at this time of year. The fishing will only get better in the coming weeks. The serious spring fishing has begun.