WINNER.....Big Carp Tackle.....April Carp of the Month

Big Carp Tackle, the largest online carp fishing tackle site in the US (www.bigcarptackle.com ) sponsors a monthly photo contest for CAG members.  It's a popular contest with upwards of 20-30 carp entered a month.  The winner is not necessarily the biggest fish but it's the best looking or most unusual fish that wins. The payoff is very generous with a $100 gift certificate to the winner.
As everyone knows, I am a big photo guy.  I take a lot of pictures.  I also take a lot of self portrait timed shots by myself with the camera on some kind of mount. I take most of my pictures with inexpensive (about $50-$100) Canon compact cameras.
My winner was a beautiful fully scaled mirror (20 lbs.) that had very unusual scales.  Some of them were as large as baseballs while others were much smaller.  The fish was also especially a golden color, and its scales seemed to shine like gold coins.  I thought it was the most beautiful fully scaled mirror I have ever caught, and that's why I entered it.  I guess the judges thought the same as I did.

Rare Leather Carp Highlight of the Day

Leather carp are basically smooth skinned carp that have little or no scales.  In most, the dorsal row of scales are few or missing. Like a common and a mirror carp, a leather carp is biologically the same as the other two.  However, it is distinctly genetically different than a common or a mirror.  A lot of carp fishermen are confused thinking a leather is a mirror carp with little or no scales.  Not true.  Leathers are different from mirrors.  In addition, leather carp have lower red blood cell counts and have much slower growth rates than mirrors.
The highlight of my good fishing day today was catching a dark skinned leather carp.  I landed a good number of carp up to 20 lbs.,  but the 19 lb. leather carp shown here was the first I have gotten this year and the first in a long time.  Once again, the fish were active today.  Chick peas in combination with pop-up artificial corn was the hot bait.

Impressive Catches in May for Big 3

This is the biggest mirror entered
so far in May for the
RI CAG Big 3 at just under 21 lbs.
The biggest common is a whopping
30 lbs., 8 oz.

Our RI CAG members continue to rack up some impressive fish in the second leg of our Big 3 Tournament.  So far in May quite a few fish in the twenties have been landed along with our first 30 pound carp.  This week noted big carp hunter, Kev Wasliewski (known as RI's Dark Carper) set the bar real high with a 30 lb., 8 oz. common carp that he landed from Roger Williams Park.  This was his second thirty pounder this spring, a monumental achievement.  Most RI carp fishermen will never catch one thirty in their lifetime here in RI,and this guy has two of them in just over a month. WOW!  You can read about his catch and see a video at http://www.carpteamri.blogspot.com/
Big carp are on the prowl now because they are in a prespawn mode.  Prior to spawning, they tend to pack up and feed heavily.  In addition, the females are loaded with eggs, making them even heavier.  This is the time to get out and catch a real big one.
Some other impressive catches in the last couple of weeks that have been entered in the Big 3 include Daphne's 22 lb. common (a new PB for RI's Carper Gal), Nick's 24 lb. common, and Todd's nearly 21 lb. mirror.  Nice going, RI CAG carpers!

Holy Hog!

On a May Roll

It's been very hot action in the
last three days with 33 carp up to
18 lbs.

The hot bait has been a combo
bait of one chick pea and a kernel
of artificial floating corn on the
hair rig.

It's been a real hot last three days of carp fishing for me.  I've landed exactly 33 carp in a number of different spots.  It just seems like every place I try is producing. The fish I have gotten have ranged from 8-18 lbs.  There have been no real big ones, but I'm not complaining since the action has been non-stop.
The hot bait in this May bonanza has been a combo bait of chick peas with a kernel of floating artificial corn.  This is all placed on the hair rig with a method ball around the sinker.  Chick peas or garbanzo beans are a hot bait here in RI.  I buy mine dry.  To prepare them, boil water then add a handful of them.   Boil for exactly 20 minutes.  I then let them sit and swell for a while and then transfer them to a container that I refrigerate.
In past years May has been one of my hottest months of carp fishing.  This is a month in which the carp hit real well even in the middle of the daytime.  For instance, in the last three days the hot action has occurred from noon to 3:00 PM.  May is one of those months that produce a lot of fish as well as big fish.  In the last five years I have landed 9 carp OVER 30 lbs. in the month of May and generally average about 100 carp this month.
If you can put in a lot of time fishing for carp, this is the month to do it!

PHENOMENAL Day

Today's haul was a mix of commons
and mirrors.

2 fishermen, 1 afternoon/evening, 40 carp......

The fish went 10-18 lbs.

Yes, that's right, a phenomenal 40 carp in one session.  Fellow RI CAG member Daphne and I hit a pond today and came away with the biggest hit of the year.  We fished in a big wind that also came with heavy showers on and off.  In my mind it was ideal conditions to fish for carp, and the fish were really turned on..  These fish were a mix of commons and mirrors and went 10-18 lbs.  Most of the fish fell for combo baits of chick peas and artificial floating corn with a method ball pressed into the sinker.  Yes, I'm back to  using the plastic stuff. With the Blackstone River running very high I decided to go back to pond fishing today, and it really paid off.  In a sport where two or three fish is a good day, this was just PHENOMENAL!

Impressive Catches for RI BIG 3 in April

3 rd place....21 lbs., 5 oz.

The first leg of the RI Big 3 tournament for RI CAG carpers is in the books, and there were some impressive catches.  Our Big 3 tournament runs for 3 months.  Our guys and gals enter their biggest carp for each month.  The total poundage determines the winner.  We'll award medals for first, second and third. And, boy, did our carpers land some big fish this month.

2 nd place....24 lbs., 9 oz.

Here are the standings for April:
1st- Kevin- 27 lbs.
2nd- Jack- 24 lbs., 9 oz.
3rd- Todd- 21 lbs., 5 oz.
Other fish entered:
Tom- 20 lbs., 8 oz., Nick- 18 lbs., 8 oz., Daphne- 18 lbs., 8 oz. and Ryan- 16 lbs., 8 oz.


Since I am running the tournament, I have opted not to enter any of my fish.
Great job to all who entered.  Now, it's onto our second month.  Let's enter some big ones for May!