So, I've recently become curious about weird types of fish like carp and gar...not sure why, but yeah. I went to a known carp spot in the bayou yesterday evening and tried everything suggested in the Starless' Beginning Carping post on here, but I got nothing. It was an hour and a half before dark, and I stayed a while after dark too. I don't understand why I didn't catch any carp. I even threw out a whole can of corn...not all at once but eventually. Maybe I didn't have enough weight? Does the corn absolutely need to be on the bottom?
Also, there were bubbles on the surface here and there...which appeared to be moving around from area to area. I thought they might be carp feeding, so I threw some corn to them, then they would move over. I casted to those spots with no luck. The video of the bubbles is posted below. Any input would be appreciated.

http://youtu.be/f_hFvBqPZYM?list=UUAOJlkjUUuYmnyEBzgsi3mw

Oh yeah, I caught a couple of 3-4 ft. gar with cut shad, but I lost them due to setting the hook too early.

May be carp, buffalo, or turtle. And yes, the bait should be on bottom or close as a rule. They can be caught using a float rig too. Keep an eye out for carp that are breaching the surface. They don't do this all the time, but it is a good indicator if they are there.

Soooo many factors to contend with. In my personal opinion, if I fish 8 hours and get 4 runs I'm happy. That's a typical Carp outing for me. Now...granted under the right conditions, in those same 8 hours I've had several runs per hour too. This time of year can be hit and miss due to the heat. I would chum the location for a few days and then fish it. Throw 1-2 cans of sweet corn in the same spot for 3 days and then the 4th day, just a little chum, and then start fishing it. Good luck!

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Very much appreciated! Thanks for the replies!

Has it gotten any better? Buffalo bayou definitely has a healthy population of carp....

I always use Bread or make my own dough balls for carp...corn works but to each their own.

IMO the bubbles you saw could have been a gator. Very common.

For carp...they feed on the bottom...so if your bait isn't on the bottom...your chances are slim.

We went out the past 3 days and put corn in the same spot...in an area kind of protected from the current. This weekend we WILL catch some carp. I've heard using bread works well, so I believe we will try both and see what happens. Can't wait!

Good luck. Don't forget to loosen the drag before the initial take, and I recommend white bread if you plan to try bread....it sticks better.

So true...IMO it's got a higher sugar content that works as bait better too!!

Good point!

If you have an albertson near you get thier brand of wheat bread ,Yes wheat bread . before i started using euro style fishing i must have caught hundreds of carp and buffalo on it . it has more oil in it than other brands ( believe me i treid them all ) and stays better on the hook . a bonus is catfish love it too !

If only that company that stopped making carp dough bait in the 90's still made it, sure you can catch carp with sweet corn and bread, but that stuff was like crack for carp, didn't need to worry about small hooks, slip weights or any of that stuff. We used to get bored fishing for cats, take off the cat bait from our big trebles and just put some dough bait on and the carp would go crazy.