I've been seeing 1 to 3 ft long carp in a local shallow lake runnof creek. I really would like to catch one of them. I made some boilies and hooked them on with nothing else, letting them sink to bottom. I've have had 2 strong bites where I thought I had'em, but both times, after a few seconds, an empty hook came back to me. Should I use a certain size hook, or perhaps a treble hook? Does corn work better? What strength line should I use? Any other advice on catching them? Can you belly flop a carp once caught? (OK, ignore that last question...the others ones are serious though)

I know those are not the best quality pics, but can anyone tell what type carp they are?

use a size 6 not 6/0 hook some 10lb line a 1/4oz sliding weight and some sweet corn thro a hand full in the water and thread 6 to 8 kernals on the hook and toss it in the area where you threw the corn losen your drag so the fish wont pull your pole on and wait


im sure someone will post a pic of the setup

probley common carp

For boilies you need to use a hair rig, not just hook them.

looks like common carp to me

if you dont want to get all crazy with it, use bread and sweet corn for chum and put some on a little single hook

First thing you really need to know is that once you hook one, you must let it take line. You try and horse one and the hook will just tear out. You have to apply very light drag and finess him back to you. Fun stuff!

Sweet corn on a size 6 hook and 6-12 lb line. Sweet corn or bread for bait.

Enjoy!

forgot about the light drag.

carp have pretty soft mouths, so you have to play them for awhile (which is awesome)

In addition to what's already been said, keep in mind that carp are naturally wary fish. If you can see them, they can see you!

You might want to try chumming an area with corn for a few days first, or maybe a week, and then fish it, so that they're used to that food being in the water.

You may also want to cast, then walk down the bank a bit from where your bait is, so that the fish don't notice you while they are feeding.

Well, I owe you guys one. I set the drag really low and fished with dough, potatoe, and sweet corn. I got bites on all of them, but the sweet corn hooked me a 13 pounder. At first I didn't think he fought very hard, but once I stepped close to him, he took off like a bat outta hell...he did that about 5 more times. It was great! I'll post some pics tomorrow.

Thanks for everyone's input!!!

Score another for the "Trash fish". He'll never be the same.

Awesome, glad to hear it!

that is awesome man. Congrats!

I love when people get "hooked" on carping, and yes the "fight" only really begins when you think you are about to land the fish!

Congrats!!
Can't wait to see the pics!

GG

That is a good size for a first carp.
The carp will spoil you for other fish.

As promised, here are a few pics. Since I was by myself, I never really took him out of the water, except to briefly weigh him. Without a net, I thought he would probably flop around too much to handle with hands only.

I wasn't really sure how to correctly weigh him either, so I connected the scale to the swivel and lifted him up for a few seconds. How does everyone else weigh fish?

Growing up in Germany, I caught approx 10-15 mirror carps and 2-3 common carps (mostly with floating bread), so this wasn't my first carp ever, but it was the first in US and first in 25 yrs.

Thats a white Amur (what most call grass carp)!!!
Nice job!!

GG

oh, and most people use a weigh sling to weigh carp. you can get them at most carp shops on-line. but you can weigh them in a fine mesh net too.

GG

Nice fish! That's actually not a ( Common ) carp, that's a White Amur, rather mistakenly nicknamed Grass Carp for their resemblence and the fact that unlike common carp, they mostly eat vegetation.

Fun to catch though!

Unless you have a weigh sling, I'd suggest getting a net, and weighing your fish in the net.

nice grasser. way to go man

Very cool! A grasser!

I am still hoping to catch my first one...

Ugh!!! These carp can elusive creatures.

Went fishing for them again tonight. Chummed up the area with some left over sheep food pellets (per someone's advice in the forums)...also threw in some bread....I started seeing lots of activity...I could see 2 at a time in the shallows, but my corn was getting passed up...they would swim right by it.

I hooked up pieces of baked potato and started getting some quick bites, but none would stick. After 2 hrs, I finally did get one hooked on a size 4 hook and had him on the line for a good 5 minutes...he seemed more powerful than the 13 pounder from last weekend...he never once surfaced...I was all happy thinking I had'em...then pop...empty hook snapped back at me.


Very frustrating!

That sounds like a common fight to me (common carp)
almost always the grassers come up and give up until they are right next to the bank. Even a common half the size of taht grasser will fight twice as hard. It is awesome!

Brewboy,

I went to Academy sports last weekend and looked at hooks. Size 6 hooks seem really small. The 13# grasser I reeled on on a 4/0 hook which is probably a bit too big.

What size hooks does everyone else uses when going after carp?

Carping Update and some more beginner questions:

Yesterday I hooked about a 6-7 lbs carp on a size 2/0 hook with sweet corn...I think it was a common carp since it seemed a bit darker/greener and the fins looked orange. It did put up a good fight and stayed in the deep for much longer than the grasser from last week. I took my time reeling him in and I thought I got him tired out pretty good. Since I don't have a net yet, I went to lift it up out of the water with my hands and it started flopping around like crazy...he fell back in the water and the line broke since I had my foot on it....so he swam off with a hook in his mouth...I guess I really need to buy one of those scooping nets asap.

My question is, at what point can you hold a carp like you see in other people's pictures and signatures? ...and how long can carp stay out of the water?

Size 6 is sort of a standard for carp. Sometimes you might go up to 4 or (rarely) 2, but a good quality 6 will be about right most of the time.

You can buy a long-handled net with a soft mesh bag at Academy for about $16 bucks. I think the brand is Ranger.

How are the carp in the photos you're referring to being held--vertically or horizontally? Almost every fish that weighs more than a few pounds will be healthier if you hold if horizontally. You can lay the carp down on soft grass or a padded unhooking mat while you take the hook out, after which you can hold it with both hands under the fish for a photograph or to release it.

Carp can stay out of the water longer than most fishes, but I'd try to get them back in the water within two or three minutes, especially in the summer when the oxygen level in the water is lower.

nice fish if you think the grasser fought wait till you land a common! nice fat fish...welcome to the not so dark side anymore....

6. Lol.

Remember, common carp have very small, soft mouths. I rarely use any other size then 6, and never bigger then a 4.

Holding a carp ( Or any fish you plan to release ) is safest for the fish when you hold the horizontally, one hand under the pec fin area, the other towards the tail.

Number 6 hooks here as well. Almost never anything bigger than a 6.

caught a 45 pound buff with a number 6 hook. they work just fine

also caught like a one pound carp with the same hook, so no worries

OK, I had some size 4 hooks and they do seem to work better. I will pick up some size 6 hooks next time. Thanks again everyone, for the help advice.

This weekend, I caught 2 small common carp in the 5-7# range and had another grasser on the line, this one considerably bigger the 13# grasser of the weekend before. Unfortunately I did not get the chance to weigh him since I didn't have a scooping net and he snapped my line like sewing thread when I grabbed the line to pick him up. This one fought much harder and I really thought I tired him out after a 25 minute fight, but I guess I was wrong.

I have since gone out and bought a net...another beginner lesson learned.

Miscellaneous:
---------------
*Now that I have cought a few common carp, it's interesting to see distinct differences between the grasser and common carp.
** these were all caught on sweet corn
*** I caught a crappie on sweet corn while reeling in.

Nice fish Al! Congrats.

Yeah, once you have seen a few it's very easy to tell the difference between the traditional common carp and the white amur.

Sorry you didn't get to land the big one, but I think you'll pull a huge fish out of there soon!

Very nice work!

sounds like you are HOOKED!

where are you from? you should link up with one of us sometime

Good job!

Way to go.

Nice work.

Yea, I definitely caught a case of the fishing fever...I seem to grip for it every day now. With a 7 month old my time is pretty limited, so most of my sessions are usually only 1 or 2 hours, but with some planning it can be longer.

I'm in Coppell, a suburb of Dallas.

I'd definitely love to soak some up knowledge of some of the more experienced anglers on here some day.

Caught me another 11# grasser yesterday on a size 6 hook. Yay for small hooks, they really work!!! Also properly weighed him in my new net. Woohoo, no more snapped lines.

Will post a pic tomorrow.

Dang! I am still waiting for my first grasser...

In Coppel huh? That's pretty nearby some of us, we'd be happy to help you find out how big the grassers in that pond get sometime...Hehehe.

Bring her to the Kids' Carp event on Saturday. She needs to learn how to catch carp as soon as possible.

The photos, as promised. (Had to use phone camera that day)

Hey, besides common and grasser carp, I'm still waiting for everything else. I wouldn't mind catching one of those Buffs sometime soon.

On Tue I saw a very dark, nearly black carp with brown spots in the shallows swimming by...it almost looked like he had camo gear on. Anyone know what that might be?

nice!!

what net is that?

That Pond? I don't know what you're talking about. Hah!

Nearly black carp with brown spots... Interesting.

Could be a koi... Coloration tends to be thrown off while submerged. That sounds like a really nice pond!

Suuuuuure. Lol. I've only had one Amur so far...28lbs. Would love to add some more to my catch log lol. Trade you a pond trip for a buff trip...lol. ( As if I could actually guarantee buffalo lol. )

As for the camo fish, if you're sure that it's a carp, and it's got spots, it's probably a koi.

you must keep trying and catch that camo fish

you see, it already has a nickname!!! lol

I catch a lot of carp when cast netting for shad... I left one on the shore one time for a good 5 minutes and he swam on when I put him back in the water. They have a seraded bone in their fin and it got caught in my net.. that's the reason for the very long time between catch and release...

It's a "Frabill Wading/Steelhead/Salmon" net model 3674, which states it has "19x25 hoop with tangle free micro mesh netting".

"Great for the Avid Wader, Canoeist, or Float Tube Angler"

This is the first time I'm reading the tag, and it occurs to me now that I probably didn't buy the right net for around here.

I bought it at Academy for $17.99.