Last weekend I tried fishing Sat and Sun morning and blanked out. It was extremely windy...does that play a factor?

I have a million fishing questions, but I'll narrow it down to a few more. Let me know if I go over my weekly carp question quota.

1) Is there ideal depth to catch carp?
2) Can you catch carp in deeper waters? (All the ones I have caught have been near shore or on sandbanks)
3) Do carp avoid areas with currents?
4) Can you catch carp in the middle of the lake on a drifting boat?
5) Do bigger carp hang out in deeper water than little carp?
6) Does anyone on here purposely catch carp with a bobber? Or do carp most bottomfeed only.
7) Do carp hang out in groups?
8) If you're unfamiliar with a lake, what would you look for to pick a carp catching spot?
9) Do bigger carp only bite on bigger baits?

I'll give it a go:

1) Is there ideal depth to catch carp?
Carp mostly feed on stuff that grows/swims/lies on the bottom, so that's where they eat. More stuff grows/feeds/swims in relatively shallow water (20 ft or less) because the light penetrates better to those depths. Of course, if there's food on the surface, they'll feed there, too.

2) Can you catch carp in deeper waters? (All the ones I have caught have been near shore or on sandbanks)
I haven't heard of carp being caught in deeper water (30 ft or more), but it's not impossible.

3) Do carp avoid areas with currents?
Not sure, but currents can concentrate food stuff, so carp might hang out in those area.

4) Can you catch carp in the middle of the lake on a drifting boat?
No reason why you can't but I suspect that it's easier to detect a bite before the carp spits out the hook when fishing from shore than from a boat.

5) Do bigger carp hang out in deeper water than little carp?
I think so. They're older and warier, and deeper water affords more protection from above-water predators. I've heard they tend to hang out on the edges of schools, which probably puts them in deeper water, too.

6) Does anyone on here purposely catch carp with a bobber? Or do carp most bottomfeed only.
Carp feed at all depths, but unless a lake is really pressured, I think bottom fishing is more productive. However, if carp have learned to eat bread on the surface, you can catch them with a floating bait.

7) Do carp hang out in groups?
Yes. I've fished for several hours without a bite, only to have bites on three rods within a minute of each other.

8) If you're unfamiliar with a lake, what would you look for to pick a carp catching spot?
Some sort of cover, like weeds or logs, or broad flats located near deep water. If you fish with several rods, you can cast to different locations until you catch a few, then concentrate your casts there.

9) Do bigger carp only bite on bigger baits?
Carp of any size will eat a small bait, but often the smaller carp will scoop up the small baits before a big carp can get to them. A bigger bait might be untouched longer, enabling a bigger carp to find it, but a big bait might be too "strange" to any-sized carp and be ignored.

Thank you VERY much S&N...your answers will definitely help.

They also spawn a few more questions...

(Again, let me know if I go over my quota)

1) Do different carp species tolerate each other/hang out together?
2) Do carp socialize around any other types of fish?
3) Would a sandbank in middle of lake be just as likely to contain carp as a sandbank near shore?
4) Do carp gather around pillars of bridges?
5) If you had a rocky shore line w/o cover, like the one in the picture, how far would you cast out? When I cast close, I get stuck a lot and end up tearing the line...when I cast further out...no bites, except for the occasional catfish.

i'm far far from an authority on carp but to answer your questions as best i can
1) only if their in the same gang, they generally dont hang with carp from another hood
2) on weekends some carp have been known to join bass & catfish at pub and watch sports together
hope this helps

I don't know about Carp but I have seen Buffalo acting like trout in the chutes below Denison Dam. They were activly feeding on the green moss kicked up by the waders upstream and would hammer an olive whooly bugger dead drifted through.

The only time I've heard of certain fishes not hanging around with other fishes is when smallmouth buffalo "bully" carp out of a feeding area. Supposedly, carp will retreat from a large school of big buffs. I've not caught a buff, so I can't confirm that, but I've heard that story several times from reliable sources.

I've read that a few large buffalo, have been seen running a large school of carp in to that banks on Lake Austin.

LOL...that will definitely help.

Thanks for the responses.

I think I shall avoid the rocky coast and try some of the more shallow areas soon, especially since I haven't had much luck there lately, and I lose a lot of tackle by getting stuck.

Went to GV lake, SL, late Sat morning for a few hours...blanked...not even a channel cat...not even a bite...maybe it was the sweet corn soaked in bacon grease overnight? Also tried some home made dough balls made of combining old bread, flour, sugar, peanut butter, vanilla extract, and expired baby formula...(Hey, I like to try and use what's available around the house)

I probably just need to hang and fish with some of you guys again soon...I'd really like to break my common carp PB of 7#6oz some day.

Any amateur carping events happing soon? With my fishing skills, that kid carp event was right up my ally.

hey whenever your not busy you can come to my slip and you might hook into a big freight train buffalo just pm me sometime and ill do my best to hook you up with a new pb of something.... hehehe

There is the CAGI coming up on june 28th @ Lake Whitney for a competitive event and Lake Austin for a social event. Both are open to everyone

Both of which will be very fun events!

Chris,

Is your slip near Mexia? I already consider Lake Benbrook and Joe Pool Lake to be pretty far...but upon second thought...a good session and an EZ new PB could make it all worth it.

Austin? I've heard of it....it sounds far.

Chris' slip is on Ray Hubbard which is east of Dallas

Anyone think those ingredients are a bit wacky and think something could have caused them to pass it up?

Carp enjoy a little bacon grease, right? What about baby formula...surely it's good for them?

Anyone have any crazy bait concoctions that actually resulted in some catches?


I just salvaged some old flour tortillas...I'm thinking of sweetening them up and giving them a try this weekend, without the bacon juice though.

bread,allspice,cottonseed meal vanilla, works good sometimes

Carp will eat almost anything that a dog or a chicken would eat. Some baits catch more carp, but almost any bait has caught at least one.

Bret knows a lot about packing weird stuff into his method...but I won't give away his secrets hehehe. We have caught some really nice fish off some really weird chums...

But when in doubt...stick to what works lmao.

true.....true....lol

sevral odd things i have seen an old man at w/r add to his dough , transmission fluid , cheap ladies perfume , nail polish , pinnaple soda . and the man always seems to catch carp .

oh i forgot ...baby oil

not sure why you are trying to come up with some crazy concoction when carp will readily take corn straight from the can, maized boiled without flavoring or bread on a hair rig. An $8 bag of deer corn can last you all year if you only boil what you need for the week.

...not exactly sure either...somewhere in the back of my mind I think there's some magic recipe that will attract carp like catnip, or carpnip. I really thought bacon grease would attract them from great distances...somewhat like a duck call...it sure didn't work that day.

The ingredients I used were all leftover organic stuff that I would normally throw away, or put in a compost heap...It's kind of fun trying different things...and as a last resort, I can always use them for chum.