Only in America

[ronaultmtd]

Cabin fever strikes...you can only clean your tackle so much...I was channel surfing when I came upon the River Monsters show...Jeremy Wade was fishing for giant Mekong Carp...seems like there are huge tournaments held all over the world by professional carp fishermen...especially in Great Britain...when I was a kid we used to take a small can of whole kernel corn and a short shank stout #6 hook on a Mitchell 300 Spinning outfit with 10# mono and go to big ponds and fish for carp...it was amazing what you could catch in these ponds...big 30-40 pound carp...early spring seemed like my memories of those days...now days we call these “trash fish” , but in Europe and Asia they are highly regarded sport fish...last February I hung one in Mattawoman Creek that was really big...had to come off anchor to fight and land it... I was fishing for catfish with stink Ball dough bait...fun fight, but not what I was expecting nor targeting...so does anyone here actual target giant carp or are they strictly a by-catch...seems like it could be a real rod-bender, sleigh-ride fishing trip...

[Mark]

Ron,

You're right that carp are an underappreciated fish in the U.S. They are an invasive species, after all and that may be one reason they are overlooked. But we've seen other invasive species work their way into anglers' hearts, the snakehead being the most recent example.

Some folks in the U.S. have discovered the enjoyment that catching carp can bring. For the past few Junes, a member of the Free State Fly Fishers has organized a trip to Beaver Island, MI to target carp. I have desperately wanted to go on that trip but family obligations have deterred me each time. Unfortunately, I don't believe it will be on the FSFF trip calendar this year.

But here's a link to the guide service in MI if anyone is interested: http://carptrip.com/

There are some encouraging photos on that link. Check out the video too.

Note that huge smallmouth bass are viewed as a side catch at that location.

Mitchell 300 -- Now that brings back some memories. I still have the one I purchased as a kid.

[ronaultmtd]

Yeah Mark...I bought my Mitchell 300 at Oklahoma Tire And Supply in Hot Springs, Arkansas, for $12.99 on sale, regularly $19.99...that was a lot of cutting grass money back in the day for a “French Spinner”...

[Mark]

Yep. I got mine for about the same price at "2 Guys" department store in Glen Burnie over 50 years ago.

Guess what? It still works! Darned things were almost indestructible.

[Slobber Bob]

One of my roommates from back in college was big into carp. He used to spend a lot of time on the Mohawk River in NY chasing them. He spent a lot of time chumming his spots, making specialty flavored baits, tying rigs to very specific specs, and using special rods. It seemed like a lot of prep work and investment to go fishing; almost like a hunting trip. But he did catch a lot of carp 30+ lbs., so it was working for him and he enjoyed it.

Another guy I know here on the Shore (friend of a friend) is Welsh and he's told me about carp fishing back when he used to live in Wales. He made it sound like there weren't too many other fishing options in the area where he grew up though other than carp. His stories sounded pretty similar to what my roommate used to do when it came to using specialty rods, rigs, and baits, but he made it sound like they were forced to use that sorta stuff to fool the carp because so many people fished for them over there.

Mark, interestingly enough my same friend has another buddy that I've never met but lives in MI and fly fishes for carp. I've heard the stories, and have seen the pictures, of the carp this guy catches on the fly rod using mulberry imitations. He does pretty well with the fly rod for them.

I myself have only picked them up as bycatch and haven't ever really fished for them. But I don't really freshwater fish all that much nowadays.

[Mark]

One of my roommates from back in college was big into carp. He used to spend a lot of time on the Mohawk River in NY chasing them. He spent a lot of time chumming his spots, making specialty flavored baits, tying rigs to very specific specs, and using special rods. It seemed like a lot of prep work and investment to go fishing; almost like a hunting trip. But he did catch a lot of carp 30+ lbs., so it was working for him and he enjoyed it.

Another guy I know here on the Shore (friend of a friend) is Welsh and he's told me about carp fishing back when he used to live in Wales. He made it sound like there weren't too many other fishing options in the area where he grew up though other than carp. His stories sounded pretty similar to what my roommate used to do when it came to using specialty rods, rigs, and baits, but he made it sound like they were forced to use that sorta stuff to fool the carp because so many people fished for them over there.

Mark, interestingly enough my same friend has another buddy that I've never met but lives in MI and fly fishes for carp. I've heard the stories, and have seen the pictures, of the carp this guy catches on the fly rod using mulberry imitations. He does pretty well with the fly rod for them.

I myself have only picked them up as bycatch and haven't ever really fished for them. But I don't really freshwater fish all that much nowadays.

Interesting...they are not easy to catch.

I have never caught a carp on a fly. One time at Brunswick on the Potomac I saw a school of them on the far side of the river. The were sitting in slow water barely fanning their fins to maintain position in the mild current. I threw multiple flies in their direction but could not entice them to bite. It was very frustrating.

Another carp story -- A friend of mine, (I did not witness this) told me he caught carp on fly rod poppers during a 17 year locust hatch. He said they were surfacing and gulping down locusts that had dropped to the water. He fished a Gaines Bass King size 4 popper exclusively -- their green frog pattern. He bought so many Bass King poppers from Gaines they thought he was a retailer! After viewing the carp surfacing he went home and spray painted some of his green poppers brown. He returned to the water and they worked great to fool the carp.

[J.A. Veil]

On my second ever kayak fishing trip on the Susquehanna Flats, I was trolling a 5" Storm Shad. At one point that rod went down hard and shook vigorously. I hoped I had a huge striper. But after a few minutes I saw the gold and brown colors and realized it was a large carp that attacked my Storm Shad. I did not realize at the time that carp would attack small fish.

012A.jpg

[bunnielab]

I have run into a few guys fly fishing for carp along the C&O canal. It is fairly full of them, esp the lower sections. Apparently the local fly pattern is a mulberry imitator, the carp school under the trees when the berries are falling.

[summersoff]

Bonefish are carp with better PR

Out west, I would fly fish for carp and whitefish when the trout bite would die on the McCloud, and Hat Creek. To tell you the truth, it was a great fight. Those things would rip line into the backing. If my buddies wouldn't give me crap about it, i would have fished them all day.

[Big Mike]

I've caught two carp as a byproduct of smallmouth fishing - one on the ever popular 4" curly tail grub and the other on a pig and jig. While I enjoyed the fight it took about 10 minutes to get them canoe side and a couple more minutes to retie afterwards. Valuable fishing time lost - kind of like the CNR of freshwater.

[BarefootPetr]

My mother is English and her brothers were big carp and pike fisherman in the UK. We used to fish Pymatuning lake in PA at a place called the Linesville Spillway. They had a big bridge where visitors would throw bread to feed thousands of carp. Every few years I head back there for some carp action.

My parents also put grass carp in their pond when I was a kid to clean up the algae problem. They got to be about 3ft long and 10lbs. It was some serious fun catching those guys on dry flies and my 5wt fly rod. That'll get you ready for bonefish in the salt.

[bignose]

I caught(snagged) a huge carp, 36" plus, and reported about this back in April-Fresh Water Thread, personal best. I was fishing from a 12 foot canoe in a Columbia area pond. Great pullage.

Due to my shoulder surgery, which may limit my ability to load a canoe for a while, I may be forced to become a temporary shore fisherman for the first part of the season (I was told that I may be able to lift the bigger canoe by June).

Shad from shore, and as the water warms up, pond Carp are a viable alternative. Gotta go back to my roots, a can of corn, a couple of rods in holders and a small folding seat.

50 years ago one of my stoner friends took me out to upper Lake Roland (minor trespassing to park) to fish for "rainbow trout." It turns out they were schooling Carp, and we caught them in large numbers. Like Mark, I used a Mitchell 300 reel that I got from E.J. Korvettes on Route 40 and a Sears "Ted Williams" fiberglass rod. And my reel still works, too.

Somewhere on YouTube there is a video of Lefty fly fishing on the upper Susquehana for Carp with nymphs and extremely long leaders. The trick was to find actively feeding Carp, not those sleeping stationary fish, and gently dropping the nymphs in front of the fish with a curved cast. My arm hurts just thinking of fly casting right now!

[kevinfry]

Living on the Columbia River,OR, carp were plentiful and not helpful.....silting areas that had been productive fishing areas for other species.
My main fishing buddy was the son of Italian immigrants (Daltoso). One day i was being derogatory about carp....i had seen some salted in a European fish shop in Seattle....and anyone who would eat them.
He put me in my place tellingme of all the great carp dishes he ate as a child and when visiting "the old country". His favorite was a pasta sauce with a tomato and carp base.....something fixedfor me at a later date. Pretty good stuff

[Yak Fish]

I used to target them. I know a location they get as big as trucks. They seem to spawn there in the spring and for several years I'd make a dough bait, chum the area with it and put out a few lines. There's definitely a technique to it on a kayak because the lines need to be dead still, which requires at least 2 anchors. But I'll tell ya, oh boy do they fight. They are like bulls. I've not spent as much time fishing for them because prime striper season coincides with prime carp season. Carp are a bit easier to catch and you can really bend a pole on one so I don't understand the lack of enthusiasm for them.

[Redfish12]

Carp are awesome! I grew up catching carp at Smith Mountain Lake and would regularly catch them on canned corn, popcorn, dough balls, bread crust, jellow/cornmeal balls, cheez-its, tortilla chips, bare hooks, etc. The guy next to my parents house used to feed them every day and they were abundant around our dock as a result. Over the years they grew smarter and more skeptical of anything that wasn't a pellet so using long rods we'd just hold the hook out and dap them when they came up to slurp a ball. Tons of fun on light tackle as they'd make a big first run and then head for the dock pilings and wrap you up. I caught a couple this summer with my nieces and I realized how much I missed catching them too!

I have never really seen people targeting them here but I have seen large carp spawning in the Mattowoman and Little Hunting Creeks off the Potomac so I know some are around.