Invasive Weed a Growing Problem

 

The entire back end of this pond is
covered in milfoil weed.  Just a few
years ago there was none in this 
location.

Many of the carp waters of RI are plagued by invasive weed.  This is not a new problem, but it has gotten really bad this year.  Many of these waters are being choked by this weed, and it makes fishing in a lot of good places near impossible during the summer and early fall.

MILFOIL- This weed is particularly bad in the Blackstone River system in RI and MA.  Any waters that come off the Blackstone have big amounts of it, and it is spreading rapidly. Some places are unfishable because of it.  This is a slimy green weed that has these long root-like vines coming off it. The green slime clings to your line, and you'll be picking at it forever if you have a fish that has run through it. The roots will grab onto your line like clinging vines and can get so bad that you have to break off.

WATER CHESTNUT- This is some of the nastiest stuff I have even seen.  It is widespread in the Ten Mile River system that runs from MA through RI.  It originates from a seed that is black with sharp spikes on it.  The spikes cling to the bottom and a vine-like weed grows.  These vines and be 7,8 and even 9 feet long.  The end of the vines develop leaves which cover the surface.  It is a rapidly growing weed.  I have seen some ponds that have this so bad you can't even see the water.  It looks like you are looking out on a golf course. In one particularly lake, I saw the DEM with a fleet of kayaks and canoes out onto the lake pulling it up last year.  This year it came back as bad as ever. Many of the waters that it's affecting are  unfishable.

These are the invasive week I know about.  I'm sure there are more.  We will have this stuff around until late fall and early winter when the cold water tends to destroy some of it.

You have to really look, but there is a carp in this photo.
Getting a carp to the shore through the milfoil weed
can be a big problem as the weed clings to anything
it comes in contact with like this fish and my line.

4th Place Finish- National CAG Spring Big 4

 It was quite a tournament for me.  I just finished up fishing in the  the national CAG Big 4 tournament.  The tournament started back in March and has been running for three months.  It featured over 60 of the best carp fishermen from all over the US.  You could fish anywhere and catches had to be weighed on your own scales and photo proof had to accompany an entry.  You could enter as many carp as you wanted but only your top 4 fish (by weight ) would count.

I took an unusual approach this year.  In other years I would hit some of the big carp venues in the tri-state areas of MA, RI and CT.  But, with high gas prices and Covid still around, I decided to only fish here in RI. I knew a couple of big fish venues that just might work out and I pounded those spots. The results were astounding.  I entered 4 potential STATE RECORDS.  Since these fish were all released in good shape, none will qualify as official state records (here in RI you must bring the fish to an official weigh station which would result in killing the fish). My four biggest carp weighed 32 lbs., 8 oz., 34 lbs., 35 lbs., 4 oz and 36 lbs., 8 oz.  My grand total was 138 lbs., 4 oz., good enough for 4th place overall and the highest total of anyone in New England. It was also my best total in doing these tournaments for the last ten years. By the way, all those fish were weighed on my certified Reuben-Heaton scale so those weights are dead accurate.

For my fourth place finish I will receive a $75 gift certificate to Big Carp Tackle. I'm sure I can find plenty to spend it on!

Here is one of 4 potential state records that I entered in
the CAG National Big 4 Tournament.

May Results for RI CAG Big 3 Tournament

 It looks like it is a three man race for our RI CAG Spring Big 3 Tournament, and the standings have not changed since

Tom Perron entered a chunky
16 lb., 8 oz mirror for May.

April.  For May we had three entries.  Brian Savage checked in with a 26 lb., 8 oz. common.  Tom Perron entered a big mirror that went 16 lbs., 8 oz. and Tony Carvalho landed a common that weighed 19 lbs., 4 oz. The April and May entries are in the chart below.  We have one more month to go on this tournament.  We will add up the entries for April, May and June and that should give us the winners!

1. Brian Savage- 31/14 + 26/8= 60/6 points

2. Tom Perron- 21/6 + 16/8 = 37/14 points

3. Tony Carvalho- 13 + 19/4 = 32/4 points

Big Baits Effective Now!

 

Here is a "big bait" that
I used today to catch
the mid twenty pound
carp at the right. The
boilie is a homeade
15mm strawberry boilie.

We are in the post spawn period right now.  This is a time when big carp are
really feeding after doing little feeding in the spawn.  Last year at this time I switched tactics and went to larger baits which seemed to catch far more carp and bigger carp than the smaller baits. I'm doing that again this year and it is working, especially with carp over 20 lbs. Here are a few "big bait" ideas:

1. Boilie/ maize combo- I used a homemade strawberry boilie today along with a kernel of maize to nail a mid-twenty pound carp.  Boilies were really hot last year at this time. I landed several thirties last year at this time on boilies.  I will use 12, 15 and even 20 mm size boilies. Fruity flavors and coconut flavors are good.

2.  Snowman set up-  Many big fish sharpies will opt for two 12 mm boilies on a hair rig which is called a snowman rig.  Good idea to have two different colors and two different flavors. I have a friend who landed several twenties this week on a snowman rig.

3. Two quads- I have been writing a lot  about using Mainline Quads.  I have used two of them (different colors) to catch some decent size carp in the last week. A lot of buoyancy with the two quads.

Note that boilies can be purchased at online stores such as Big Carp Tackle.

Photo of the Day..."On the Quad"

Here is a twenty pounder that I landed 
yesterday.  The hot bait was a combo bait
of a chartreuse quad with a kernel of maize
on the hair rig. For more about quads,
check out the previous post.

 

Hot Stuff

 

Check out this 29 lb. beast that was landed on
a quad several days ago. These are some of the 
hottest baits I have ever used.

I'll bet most of you reading this have no idea what a QUAD is. I was introduced to this bait by one of my friends from the UK. Quads are small square baits produced by Mainline baits in the UK.  They actually look like small colored oyster crackers. The ones I have are pink, light green and white and have a pleasant fruity smell. This variety is called Essential Cell Baits and they pop up. These are some of the most buoyant baits for their size that I have ever seem.  When hair rigged on a hook with a combination of maize and the quad, they will lift the bait off the bottom.

My friend from the UK started using these while I was fishing with him.  He far out fished me as I was using my old standby plastic artificial corn with a kernel of maize. I decided I just had to have this bait so I ordered a jar from a tackle store in the UK. Big Carp Tackle in the US had them but sold out (not surprised).

Almost immediately I started catching with this bait.  At times I used it in combination with maize.  Other times I used two quads of different colors. It seemed to me that the pink ones worked the best.  In a short time using them, I landed good number of 20's and even a 30 lber.  Many times I baited one rod with the quad and the other rod with the plastic pop-up and corn. It was always the quad that produced.

Sometimes fish are used to seeing a certain bait in a certain venue, and they will jump on something that might be different.  This is certainly different, but I can tell you that it is one of the hottest baits I have ever used.

This is THE bait that has been so effective for me.

Quads are small square baits that are
extremely buoyant. My best rigging
has been a combo bait of one quad
and a kernel of maize.

Pink Colors Hot

 

Check out what's in the lip of a carp
I caught today.  It's a combo bait of
a pink artificial corn along with 
a kernel of real maize.

Pink in the hot bait color.  Every bait I use I try to add some pink to it.  In the last two weeks that bright pink  has done the trick in luring good numbers of carp of all sizes to hit. 

Here's a few ideas that have worked well:

1. Pink plastic pop-up corn with a kernel of real corn on the hair rig- This has scored big numbers of fish for me with the pink pop-up far outproducing my old standby white pop-up. I like to use this set-up with a method ball packed around my sinker.

2. Pink quads with either a kernel of real corn or a white plastic pop-up- Quads are small square-like baits similar to a boilie.  They are quite buoyant so this set up lifts off the bottom. Quads are produced by Mainline baits and are hard to find (more coming on this in a later post).  I also fish this with a method ball.

3. Pink, strawberry flavored boilies-  These have also been working in either a sinking or floating version.  I like the 12mm or 15 mm size. Sometimes I cut these in half and use it with another bait, usually a kernel of maize.