Carp Fishing!

[UK KEN]

Hello All

Well this is certainly off topic :D

A good friend of mine has been trying to get me to go Carp fishing with him for some years. I prefer sea fishing but go infrequently as I live a good distance from the coast. I do fish in local rivers and lakes but have never gone after Carp.

Do any of you gentlemen have any experience of this form of angling?

I am going to a venue where fish up to almost 30 lb are lurking in the depths. Any advice would be appreciated so I don't look a total pillock.

Cheers, Ken

[davec]

Carp fishing isn't big here which is a shame because they're really good eating.

I don't have much experience either but I've hooked a few fishing for catfish. Never seen a thirty pounder though, wow! Good luck with the trip.

I thought this was a cool story, the Moby Dick of carp.


http://espn.go.com/outdoors/fishing/s/f ... nia02.html

[Odo]

lesson one: fish carp only during the night! (first lesson is always most important)

lesson two: pack a few six-packs...

lesson three: automated movement devices would be handy because if you're new you ain't gonna catch much...

lesson four: drink a few six-packs...

lesson five: a spydie is the most handy material you must take along aside a bottle opener and any carp catch over 20 kilo's is considered MANLIKE

lesson six: at the end of the night get home alive

ps: most carp fishers just tell their wives there going carp fishing but actually there all going to a bar nearby and no-one ever goes actually carp fishing...

[Dr. Snubnose]

OK UK Ken...for carp fishing you came to the right man...When I was 13-16 years old each and everyday I went carp fishing with a 90 year old man from Italy who taught me everything I know about carp...Twice a week I would bring home a carp weighen in between 17-55 pounds.. BTW My mother hated cleaning em but we sure liked eating em.

Ok first a word about Carp (the fish itself)...Carp is one of the most intelligent fish out there and they are very hard to catch...you just have to know what they like and how to catch em....

Carp is a bottom fish so you need a large hook and sinker...if you want to catch little goldfish (female carp) then all you need is a small hook and some corn nibblets and a float...but if you want the big ones you have to go to the bottom...

What to use for bait...The best bait I ever used was to cook up some corn-meal with water and a little vanilla extract mixed in...it drives the carp crazy
and they love the taste...

Carp just won't take the bait...first they will hit it with their tails to loosen it from the hook....if that doesn't work they will suck it into and then push it back out of their mouths...some times they might try to run with the sinker so there is a technique for catching em.....

The techniques...Take the hook and cover it completely with a bell shape piece of the baked corn-meal (corn meal should be a doughy (hard) consistency.... Place your fishing rod on the ground (never hold it) and let the line extend out over an embankment...(this is after casting out into whatever body of water you are at) then take a little piece of the corn meal about (bubble gum size) and place it about a foot in front of the rod tip onto the line itself...this will make for the same idea as a bobber float but will let you know what the fish is doing under the water....the weight of the corn meal on the line will make the (letter L as the line dissapears into the water)

Now watch the ball of corn meal...if it moves from side to side...the carp is batting it with his tail....if the ball of corn meal raises and lowers he has got it in and out of his mouth...the key is you wait until the ball of corn meal and line are extended straight out to the front (in other words the ball of corn meal raises up high) All the time you should have your hand on the rod ready to react...if you don't when the line goes straight he will have you bait for lunch...if you are lucky when the ball of corn meal raises you grab your rod and reel and whip it up into the air...walla you hooked him...they will follow the reeling in and won't give much of a battle till they reach about 10-15feet from shore then you have a little fight on your hands...to make it more fun use about 6 pound test fishing line....Happy Fishing..... :D Doc.

[J Smith]

We used to fish for them when nothing else was biteing.
I know they are a gamefish in the UK but here they are a ferrel fish so to speak.Watts Barr lake close to my house is full of them,not hard to catch carp in the 60 to 90 lb range.The bigest I ever caught (well can't say caught,I giged it) was about 85 lbs.
I have tried eating them and I didn't care for them at all.We also have lake shad that are fun to catch and the guts make the best catfish bait(look just like a small tarpon)out in west TN they eat them and used to be on the menu in fine restarants here but IMO the meat tastes like fried lard.

[UK KEN]

Good morning gentlemen........thank you all for the advice.

If I were to remove a Chub for the table I would be hung, drawn and quartered :eek: All fish caught must be returned to the water uninjured. Barbless hooks have to be used so that the fish is not damaged.

Tonight is the night; fishing starts at 00.00 for a 24-hour session. :D I'm driving so no beer

Cheers, Ken

[Odo]

eat only young carp fish and "marinate" them for 24 hours in a creamy milk base first... but remember eating carp will NOT be tolerated by many carp fishers...

[Sonicboy]

[quote="UK KEN"]Good morning gentlemen........thank you all for the advice.

If I were to remove a Chub for the table I would be hung, drawn and quartered :eek: All fish caught must be returned to the water uninjured. Barbless hooks have to be used so that the fish is not damaged.

Tonight is the night]


i'm curious about the result...

[Simple Man]

We just wait til it's warm and the backwater falls out, they "roll" on top of the water and you can use either a .22 or a bow and fishing arrow. (or 9mm/.45/12ga. whatever is handy) :D

[UK KEN]

Hello All

Having been talked into trying Carp fishing by my mate I bought some "inexpensive" gear from Eric's angling shop in Leeds. So with a new pair of rods and reels, a pod, landing net and some other bits and pieces we set off from Leeds to Welham Fisheries which is near Malton.

We were booked in to start fishing at 00.00 to finish 24 hours later. We were able to park very near the lake so carrying the gear was not a problem. I was a little disappointed when I saw the state of the lake. The water, judging by the platforms and normal level mark was down by two or three feet leaving only about three feet at the deepest point to fish.!<SMILE>33</SMILE> We found out later that this was due to a leak in the dam wall.

Having found a peg on the dam wall where we could actually use a landing net without having to beach the fish we got under way. We had set up the rods in the holdalls so when we got there we could get on with the fishing as soon as possible so it only took a few minutes to get the pods up and get started. I used a PVA bag filled with shrimp and prawn boilies and a size 8 hook bolt rig.

Within 15 minutes my mate was into a 10lb Common Carp. I couldn’t wait to get into one myself. Though I had loads of line bites I didn’t actually hook into one until about three hours into the session, but when I did it was worth the wait! The alarm sounded…the spool started spinning and I lifted my rod into it. I had been told about how well these fish fought but actually doing it was another thing entirely. So here I was, playing my first ever Carp, incredible! I took a full ten minutes before I was able to land it. “Wow! What a beauty!” My mate said as he helped me net it. It was! After I removed the hook (barbless) we weighed it. 18lb 2oz Brilliant!

I can understand why some people are hooked on Carping.

We continued on through the day and I only caught one more fish, another Common Carp which was 10lb 5oz. Anth, my mate hauled in another 9 between 8lb and 12lb and a Tench of 3lb. Another bloke on the peg nearest the island caught 30 Carp all between 8lb and 14lb.

The bacon, sausage, tomatoes and eggs were great cooked outdoors, the weather was great, and company was good. The best introduction to Carp fishing I could have asked for.

Cheers, Ken

[skcusloa]

wow, it's interesting to hear how people fish in other parts of the world...


I always heard carp wasn't very good eating. But I don't have any personal experience.

[Michael Cook]

Yuk! people actualy want to eat carp!?!? those y shaped bones are impossable to get out, the fish can't be filleted, yuk! I like koi in a koi pond but carp on the plate? Why?

[Sonicboy]

and you must lay them in the fridge in a milk derivate for 24 hours, yummie :D
only i forgot which derivate it was

[davec]

Carp is delicious, I've had it in Asian restaraunts steamed whole and believe me it's good. Important not to overcook the fish though. Yum.

[jaislandboy]

It's always fascinated me as to what species of fish are considered food and what's considered trash...for example in south Florida, the freshwater mullet is considered baitfish or trash but the same fish in the panhandle of Florida is considered the #1 fish for a fishfry! I've never fished for them but I've always likened them to a sort of "freshwater tarpon"....sounds like Loads of Fun, Ken!

[Michael Cook]

:spyder: so how do y'all carp eaters get out the little "y" shaped bones? :spyder:

[Dr. Snubnose]

:spyder: so how do y'all carp eaters get out the little "y" shaped bones? :spyder:

Dunno!!! I don't clean em...I just catch em and eat em!!!! :D dOC