Hey guys, i'm pretty new to carp fishing so do you guys have any tips on how to catch carp. I'm wondering how to fish for them, what to use, and where.
im new to carp fishing also only having cought my first two just recently but i can point you in the right direction of a few guys that really know their sh1t when it comes to giant goldfish lol. you wanna talk to blackstonecarp and muskiebigfish. im sure they wont be giving up any secret info but they can definately get you started with some basic info to get you out on the water finding carp.
corn... cased out a few spots and narrowed it down to a spot that had a decent spot to land a fish as well as being a spot where i always see carp at night and i chummed it heavily before work at 3 with cream corn then came back after work at midnight and put enough whole kernel corn on my hook to cover the whole hook right up to the line only leaving the point exposed and throw it onto the pile of cream corn i had left there earlier then sit and wait. carp come in and vaccum up the piles of corn and if there are enough of them one is bound to suck up the hook and you just gotta be ready to set it and hang on cause my first carp was barely 8 and a half lbs but almost pulled me in the water and broke 2 eyelets off my rod lol. they can be very spooky fish so you should be quiet and try to stand in such a way that you are not casting a shadow onto the area you are fishing, they come right up into shallow water to feed, both of my carp were close enough for me to see which one sucked up the hook (about 4 feet away from land and in water barely deep enough to cover the fishes backs)
Maybe it's coincidence, but on sweet corn I've always managed to land at least 2 an outing, and on regular corn I get skunked.
Chum a spot, get your hook in there and leave it. Be prepared to sit tight for an hour or so.
Also I always catch them 10 feet from shore or less....when I go deeper I don't seem to have much luck.
Chum a spot, get your hook in there and leave it. Be prepared to sit tight for an hour or so.
Also I always catch them 10 feet from shore or less....when I go deeper I don't seem to have much luck.
ive seen guys at my local lake catch them on chic pees, bread balls (gotta use bread made with hi gluten flour cause it is stickier then most breads and will ball up nicely and hold to the hook) and some guys just use store bought boilies. like i said i am a beginner when it comes to carp fishing but i fish next to guys that carp fish on my local lake everyday and ive read up on carp extensively so i can only say corn from experiance the rest of my carp info is mostly second hand either word of mouth or articles ive read online.
I'm just saying don't get restless and keep moving your bait around. Ideally you're setting up a feeding ground, and that usually takes some time. I always figured carp were blind as hell, but the slightest movement spooks them.
There's been a bunch of times where I start to reel in to recast, and suddenly see a cloud of dirt from the Carp that was seconds from sucking up my hook.
There's been a bunch of times where I start to reel in to recast, and suddenly see a cloud of dirt from the Carp that was seconds from sucking up my hook.
I'm just saying don't get restless and keep moving your bait around. Ideally you're setting up a feeding ground, and that usually takes some time. I always figured carp were blind as hell, but the slightest movement spooks them.
There's been a bunch of times where I start to reel in to recast, and suddenly see a cloud of dirt from the Carp that was seconds from sucking up my hook.
well said. once you toss your hook in the spot you want it in keep it there and like i said try to stand in a spot that wont cast a shadow over your chummed area cause they will see you moving around before you even know they are there. try to keep quiet and if you have to walk around step lightly cause you will be seeing the tell tale mud clouds on the bottom of if they are shallow enough you will hear a loud splash that sounds like a toddler doing a cannon ball lol .
I am relatively new to fishing for carp, at least on purpose. When I was a kid I used to fish for them in Jerry's Pit in Cambridge and we would use dough balls with some limited success but they were all relatively small fish then. Recently, I have been lucky enough to hook up with someone who knows what they are doing. He has caught numerous fish over 30 pounds, including three over 30 pounds in one night. He caught the Gold Pin Carp two years ago with a 39 pound 10 ounce fish. We transported that fish to the weigh station in a tub and then took it back to where it was caught and let it go. Illegal, but no harm done. He fishes with canned corn. He will get cans of cream corn and put some in a plastic cup with a small rock and then freeze it. It makes an effective chum ball and the rock helps it sink. He then throws out a handful of corn and puts his baited line, with a few kernels of regular corn, in the middle of it. We fish VERY close to shore, literally within feet of the bank. As stated previously in this post Carp are very aware of what is going on so we stand back from the shore a bit. Carp don't seem to be leader shy at all. We use 50 pound test Power Pro braided line with the hook tied directly to the line, no leader. Use a high quality hook or it will get straightened out! Depending on the current we may use just a small split shot or maybe a heavier sliding weight. I think Carp are very sensitive to any weight. I have seen a video showing Carp inhaling and spitting out a baited hook faster than you can blink an eye. Most of the carp I have caught have hooked themselves. Make sure that either your reel is in free spool, the bail is open, or your drag is set very light because they will take your rod if you are not prepared. I use a small bell on the end of my rod to alert myself to any strike. This can be very helpful, especially at night. Carp are an incredible game fish and I wish I had found out about them earlier. When you do finally hook one, hold on! Their first run is unbelievable so make sure you have a real with a good drag. There are a lot of very sophisticated Carp fisherman out there who use all kinds of concoctions for bait, special hair-rig hooks, chum boats that bring chum out, special rod holders, alarms, etc. but I'm sure you will do well with corn, as we do. Good luck.