The ice is gone, and I don’t own a big boat, nor have the desire to fight hundreds of other fishermen for fish I don’t even like eating, so I am carp fishing.
Yeah, they smell, don’t taste the greatest and they destroy native fish habitat, but boy do they fight like crazy!! It’s true, carp are one of the most sought after sport-fish in the world, and the tributaries of the great lakes provide some of the best carp numbers anywhere. You will find larger fish in other parts of the world, but seriously, fishing for carp in many others countries is not as exciting. They consider a good day of fishing having had a couple bites, not fish, but bites! Carp here are nearly unpressured, they are normally fed the same steady diet of corn and night crawlers and are usually open to eating a multitude of other baits.
My carp fishing excursions only began last year when my ice fishing tournament partner introduced it to me. He disguised it as “catfish” fishing, and though we did catch a few catfish, most of our action was from carp. There were days last year we had double digit catches in a matter of hours. It’s just plain fun fighting a 20 pound carp that wants to duck under docks and swim around pilings.
Carp fishing rigs here don’t have to complicated to catch fish, but if you want to play a numbers game, then you can really specialize your gear. We use a standard “catfish” rig most of the time. 25-50# main line with a 2 oz. river sinker attached to a barrel swivel, 8”-18” leader with a multitude of hooks, this varies depending on bait, and if we think we are going to catch some catfish. We have had good success in the past with 1/0 true blood catfish hooks. They are a longer shank hook that seem to perform well for both cats and carp.
I could write a whole blog about carp baits alone, there is a large variety of baits used for carp, and I believe they all have a place and time. Last year we used night-crawlers almost exclusively, because we were catfish fishing remember? Here is the problem with night-crawlers in the tributaries of lake Michigan, gobys. Gobys are an invasive species that live on the bottom of the lake and rivers eating everything they can put in their mouths and they LOVE nightcrawlers, they will pick you clean in minutes. There are times you can get away with using the worms, and when you can keep a worm on your hook for longer than fifteen minutes you will most likely catch a carp. This year we are experimenting with baits, most notably doughballs. Simple bread and flour concoctions mixed with all sorts of flavors from the fridge and the kitchen cupboards. A simple Google search will reveal a great deal of ideas of what to include in a doughball for carp fishing.
I am no carp “expert”, my “expertise” stops when the ice melts, but I have noticed these fish have places where they congregate more often at different times of the year. A little research may be needed to find a spot where there is enough of a concentration to be worth your time.
Using the recourses online to find carp/roughfish related websites will help any carp angler get their fix of big uglys. Of course along with carp, you can catch catfish, bullhead, gobys, even a tire, bike, mattress or boot in the tributaries of Lake Michigan. Prepare yourself accordingly and enjoy a day on the water.
If you really have the carp fishing bug, check out Two Rivers, WI’s Carp Fest 2012 in June. The event centers around the Wisconsin Carp Fishing Championships being held all around the city. Last year over 10,000lbs. of carp were caught in one weekend during the event! Free admission and free parking.
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