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What am I doing wrong for carp? #10776604 04/18/15 03:15 AM
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bankman72 Offline OP
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Hey guys I'm having a bit of trouble catching these tricky carp. Normally I'm a huge catfsihing enthusiast and I like to consider myself pretty fair at catching cats but these carp have got me skunked. I combed these boards and various other sites and youtube videos on how to catch carp/buffalo and I've tried to follow their methods down to the T but I've had no luck. I've made homemade dough bait rigged on #6 treble hooks with a bobber, no bobber, split shot and light tackle, heavy take and long distance casts, etc. and nothing seems to work.

My normal baits so far: homemade dough bait (flour,cornmeal, coconut oil, sugar,cream corn). This bait seems to really attract something because I see alot of light hits when fishing under a cork but I'm thinking it may be small sunsfish. I usually come up to my selected spot and throw 15-20 kernels of sweet corn and a few bits of bread out into the water about 15-20ft out and wait a bit then cast my line into the baited area. Usually I get nothing but sometimes I believe I'm getting the sunfish. I use a dough ball about the size of a large marble which seems to be small enough for carp but maybe not.

My main areas I've fished so far are the clear fork trinity in south fort worth, scotts landing marina, and a few places on the carp google map in this thread around the las colinas / carrollton area.

When I fish in the back end of the cove in scotts landing I can hear tons of carp slapping the water but they seem to be about 150ft out in the water and no where near the shore where I can reach with a soft dough bait.

I guess my main question is this: Does anyone have a small water spot or area where I can try my hand at carp fishing in the Fort Worth / Keller / Mid Cities area? To keep my wife happy I normally go fishing early in the morning or after dark when the kids are in bed. I usually do great fishing at night for catfish and I've read that carp bite well at night too but I've not figured it out yet.

Could someone with some carping experience possibly PM me with some place to go try out? I would be happy to share a few catfish holes I've done great at in the the area. Also I only fish from the bank (which it seems like most carp fisherman)

Thanks guys!

Re: What am I doing wrong for carp? [Re: bankman72] #10776711 04/18/15 04:11 AM
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Find a duck pond; )


If the fish don't bite your not baiting right...
Re: What am I doing wrong for carp? [Re: bankman72] #10776718 04/18/15 04:20 AM
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bankman72 Offline OP
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Haha yeah thats what I've been looking for. Unfortunately in the area around where I live all the nice subdivision ponds I frequent for catfish bait (bluegills) dont seem to have anything in them other than bluegills, small bass and the occasional crappie. I think the problem with this keller/southlake area is that all the ponds are just too new to really have a nice diverse variety of fish. I've got to find me some neighborhood ponds that have been there for quite a while, something in an older neighborhood.

So you guys are saying that my terminal technique of 4-6 sweet corn kernels on a small #6 treble hook and a tiny split shot weight should do the trick if the fish are biting? What about the use of a float? I've been tinkering with using the same hook and set up but with a float set at about 3 ft. Do I just follow the depth of the water and keep the bait a few feet off the bottom when float fishing? or should I keep the bait closer to the top of the water?

Re: What am I doing wrong for carp? [Re: bankman72] #10776723 04/18/15 04:24 AM
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I use no weight or float , but yes if they are there they quill bite.


If the fish don't bite your not baiting right...
Re: What am I doing wrong for carp? [Re: bankman72] #10776727 04/18/15 04:29 AM
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Those small bites might very well be carp. My largest carp so far since I started fishing for them was 31 inches and it barely tapped. If you keep with the trinity in ft worth I would say the park off 30 and university where the small train is. At the steps with the handicapped ramp is good for carp.

If you want a smaller area to fish there's Chisholm park in Hurst/Euless area off 183 and Norwood. I lucked out and caught the spawn last year so 2 saturdays in a row I caught about 4-5 fish each saturday. And lost one rod......so I learned to turn the drag down so they can take off with the line instead of my rod. Actually I lost it then caught it, then lost it again but didn't catch it the second time. On a normal day out there I can catch one or two. I went out there the saturday before easter and missed one but didn't catch any other. The whole pond was just covered in bread from people trying to feed the ducks. I think there was so much bread the ducks were not even eating it.

For bait I would say sweet corn or regular bread. The majority of the ones I catch are on sweet corn. For chumming with corn I use a big cooking spoon and flick the corn out there side ways. It covers a big chunk of water where I like to cast to.

Re: What am I doing wrong for carp? [Re: bankman72] #10776733 04/18/15 04:35 AM
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For the terminal tackle I use a really small hook for perch. Almost a small salmon egg hook for trout I guess. I haven't tried trebbles yet. Then for the lite line I use one small split shot so I can get it out there. For the heavy line 12 or 14 lb mono I use a lazy carolina rig (split shot and a barrel weight) so I can get it out there far enough. I still get bites on 14 lb line so it doesn't scare the fish away.

Re: What am I doing wrong for carp? [Re: bankman72] #10776749 04/18/15 04:52 AM
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Correction, I was at the pre spawn I think cuz they were swimming around in pairs, from what I've read they don't bite during the spawn.

Re: What am I doing wrong for carp? [Re: bankman72] #10776754 04/18/15 04:54 AM
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bankman72 Offline OP
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Ok sweet! thanks for the help. I may have to try chisolm park one morning early before the duck feeders get there. There is also a decent sized lake off 377 just north of basswood blvd. Its north of harvest christian church. It seems carpy but I haven't tried it yet, has anyone tried there? I do have some small perch hooks I use when I'm catching perch for cats. They are the smallest bailholder hooks I could find, i think they are for trout. I bought some fairly small baitholders today, I think they are a size 2. I guess I just need to be more patient.

I've read around the internet about how long to let the bait soak before reeling in and trying a different spot. Normally when catfishing I cast out and give it 15-20 mins before I reel in and throw to a different area. Is that something I should keep doing? I read somewhere to throw my corn chum out, wait 10mins then cast out into it and if I didnt get a bite within a minute or two to try casting to a different spot. Do you guys do this or do you cast the bait out and let it soak for quite a while?

Re: What am I doing wrong for carp? [Re: bankman72] #10776770 04/18/15 05:11 AM
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At Chisholm I fish the same location. The bank closest to the street and parking lot, then I fish right of where the dock is where you can go out on sit on benches. I cast one rod right in the middle between the bank and the dock, then I cast the other one a bit further right from the dock. I prolly change my corn once every 45 min to an hour. At Chisholm they don't have too much area to swim in so they're bound to come across my corn. I've caught them on 40+ min corn and I've caught them as soon as I set the pole down after casting. I don't have much luck catching them when I see a small bite. The majority of the time they just hook themselves and try to take off with the rod. I'm pretty patient waiting on a bit because I'm usually there with my dad so we're just talking while waiting for a bite. He's usually fishing for the catfish they stock in there.

Re: What am I doing wrong for carp? [Re: bankman72] #10777238 04/18/15 04:04 PM
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Use a J hook not a treble hook with 4 or 5 pieces of sweet can corn on it. Even if you plan on eating the carp or using them for bait you can throw back the big ones that are the breeders without tearing them up with a treble hook plus you will catch more carp on a J hook. None of the best carp anglers even consider trebles.There are also tons of pack bait recipes out there that will stay in a J hook.Make sure that the spawn is over before fishing( they won't bite while spawning)Good Luck!

Re: What am I doing wrong for carp? [Re: bankman72] #10777306 04/18/15 05:03 PM
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This ^^^


If the fish don't bite your not baiting right...
Re: What am I doing wrong for carp? [Re: bankman72] #10778828 04/19/15 01:58 PM
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I don't know if this will help you any. But I've heard so much from people fishing with bran flake. I've read that back in their native land the Carp ate fruit that have fallen out of trees into the water. And they have a very sweet tooth. So I made my dough ball out of bran flake, flour, bread crumb, brown sugar and cherry juice. I've also heard some older guys say that the stickier your bait the better. I made a ball about the size of a half dollar coin on my hook. I did that because the bran flake dissolved quickly. I was just experimenting. They hit hard. I took my son and daughter out there and they had a blast on the Carp. Because they had not caught anything that big before. The other thing is that after watching the Carp come up to the surface thats where I dropped my line on a bobber and it dangled about 2 1/2 feet into the water only. I don't know if this had a factor either, but I had fished an area I know there was a brown water snake. So no one else fished that spot. Also it was a little bit of a steep bank and had a fallen limb. I can tell you that when I was pulling in the carp I almost fell in the water. Good luck and catching them. And by the way I used a treble hook that held my bait better, but was also completely enveloped by the dough. They are sensitive to the feel of it, so as fast as sucking it in they spit it out.

Re: What am I doing wrong for carp? [Re: bankman72] #10779680 04/19/15 11:14 PM
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bankman72 Offline OP
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Well I took all of yalls advice and went with the J hooks and the corn. Went out to Chisolm and landed a very nice fish on my ultra light with 6lb test. I weighed him at 18lbs!

Re: What am I doing wrong for carp? [Re: bankman72] #10779961 04/20/15 01:15 AM
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Awesome! Bet you had fun fighting that big one... j hooks rock carp out of the water!


If the fish don't bite your not baiting right...
Re: What am I doing wrong for carp? [Re: bankman72] #10783257 04/21/15 02:59 AM
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Nice work on the carp! I sent you a PM.

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