Anyone target carp?

[lovett88]

I've looked online and found a abundance of info on carp fishing. But has anyone in this area ever targeted carp? I've tried sweet corn with no luck. Usually I run into a few carp out on each outing and have always herd they are a great fight especially on light line. Is it worth it to leave a rod out with some bait? Any info would be great. Usually when I see them they are swimming in schools and as soon as a line hits the water they scatter. I would love to hook up with one of these large carp around here.

[Bluegill]

I've targeted them with no luck. I tried corn,jello balls, dough balls carp bait no luck. I often see a older Asian guy catching them at the reservoir but he is unwilling to share his secret.

[Cowpokey]

I have targeted them, with a fly rod during the 17 year cicada hatch, it was awesome! I would quit fishing because of exhaustion from landing them. They are strong.

Other than that, I've only caught them while trying to catch other species.

[phoenixkeith]

go to the baltimore highlands boat ramp thats on the patapsco . go upriver to the 895 bridge . anchor up . throw out 3 or 4 cans of corn and peas all around your boat . thread a medium size hook with corn and peas . use as little weight as possible . i usaually will just crimp a split shot on . cast out and watch your rod , their first run will take your rod . i have had 10 fish days doing this at this spot with carp over 20 lbs . . hot and humid evenings during mid summer are best .

[Yak Fish]

I target them as well, and coincidentally just made a video to show how to do it. I haven't posted it yet but probably over the next week I'll post it here: https://www.facebook.com/chesapeake....rolling?ref=hl
I just have a little editing to do. They're a lot easier to catch from shoreline because you can keep your rods more still. Because of this I use 2 anchors to make sure the yak doesn't move. Carp are pretty wary fish and spook quickly. Toss out your bait to chum the area. Then throw your rods into it. I like to leave just a little slack in the line, and I keep the bait weightless. The runs are crazy. I love catching them. It's a different type of fishing than I normally do. This is more of a sit and wait, and you will wait for awhile. Where stripers I normally go out and hunt.

For the bait: Mix 1 cup of flour into 2 cups of cornmeal.
Boil 16 oz of water and add a 1/2 package of jello...any berry like fruit should be fine. I typically just grab strawberry
Add a T of vanilla extract
Dump in flour/cornmeal mixture and mix it together until well incorporated.....I find it easier at some point to take it out of the pot an knead it on the countertop/cuttingboard. Refridgerate overnight and you're set.
Try it, it's tasty like a sweet dough.

Carp are all over and some really big ones out there.

[lovett88]

Guys I really appreciate all this info. Hopefully I can get hooked on one this year. Its just when you see a school of those things swimming by and some are over 2ft long you just cant help want to know how those big ones fight. Now to but the new knowledge to the test. Hope to see yall on the water! Be safe this weekend!

[Mark]

I have never caught a carp.

I have seen them in small schools in the upper Potomac and cast lures and flies to them with no success. They were skittish or nosed my offerings and ignored them.

However my fly rod mentor told me the same story that Cowpokey just relayed. He spray painted Gaines Bass King poppers brown during a cicada hatch and said he hooked one carp after another on the surface.

Carp must have to be in the mood for certain foods -- corn, peas and cicadas -- quite a combination.

[Cowpokey]

"Mulberry" flies are popular among things I've read, but I don't know where there are any mulberry trees that over hang the water? All of my targeting of carp has been at Tridelphia, I have seen them eating cotton wood seeds there, but didn't have a fly rod or white fluffy fly tied up while it was going on...not sure if it would work since there are so many cotton wood "puffs" on the water when that happens. Unlike when the cicada are hatching, those things are terrible flyers and crash down on the water with a good splash, so targeting carp with a cicada fly is really easy, since you plop it down hard in front of a carp and it's almost a guarantee that it will get picked up.

Take a look at this site, they have lots of good info for targeting carp on the fly:

http://www.flycarpin.com

[fishnfan]

Put some corn in a ziplock. Then add some cherry Koolaid and let it marinate overnight. I also like to throw the corn out the day before and bait the area. Put a couple pieces on a #2 hook and hold on!!

[Mike]

I've looked online and found a abundance of info on carp fishing. But has anyone in this area ever targeted carp?.

There's some carp info in this post also: http://www.snaggedline.com/showthrea...645-Color-test
Since that particular day I've been targeting them. My only successful method so far has been using mulberries under overhanging trees. When they are in open water, they scatter from any lure I throw at them. In fact, they're so finicky, using mulberries from a tree in my yard doesn't work. I have to get the mulberries from the tree that's hanging over the water! But once you have the right bait, they're aggressive and they pull like a tractor.

[Mike]

I got a 19" carp this morning on a mulberry. They would trail slap any top water lure thrown under the mulberry tree, but not eat it. The first cast with a mulberry and they rushed it head first. After I caught this one they all disappeared.

[sega]

I've been targeting carp on the Potomac and Shenandoah for the last couple of weeks now (using my fly rod). I've only had one hookup and I'm pretty sure it was a snag. I'm going to try what cowpokey suggested and get some mulberry flies. I've thrown all sorts of flys at them. Crayfish, small nymphs, even the Montana Hybrid everyone claims is the magic carp fly. Nothing. It's been tough, but I like the challenge and it's the hardest pulling fish out my way.

[YakCapn]

If you want carp, go to Pohick Bay. Launch from Pohick bay regional park boat ramp and head just a half mile or so up. I've never seen so many in one spot. I believe they were spawning. I didn't have any bait with me, I was just throwing a frog trying to get a snakehead...and not very successfully I might add. I had some plastic worms too, but no takers. The carp were literally swimming right by my kayak, I could have reached out and touched one.

[M1A4ME]

I've seen small ones caught (in the river) on spinner baits. A guy at work said he caught a good sized one on a bubblegum pink work in a nearby lake. He tossed the worm up in the shallow water and let it fall to the bottom. The fish hit it before he took up the slack.

[BalmerBrian]

Caught them with catfish bait and patience. I've landed 20lb carp in the severn from the shore.