HEY FELLAS IVE BEEN READING POSTS ABOUT AN UPCOMING TRIP TO AUSTIN (SOUNDS LIKE A CARPING HOTSPOT)I AM ACTUALLY A LOCAL SOUTH AUSTINITE AND WAS WONDERING IF YALL MIGHT LET ME TAG ALONG A NIGHT OR SO I HAVE ALL THE GEAR I THINK I MIGHT NEED FOR ANY FISHING SITUATION..JUST LOOKING TO GET STARTED IM A 26 YEAR OLD GUY AND I WOULD LIKE TO BRING MY 4 YEAR OLD SON TOO IF POSSIBLE...YALL SEEM LIKE A GREAT BUNCH OF GUYS WHO USUALLY DONT MIND COMPANY SO I THOUGHT ID GIVE IT A SHOT.I USUALY FISH ABOUT 3 TIMES A WEEK FOR CRAPPIE ETC.. BUT I HAVE TO DRIVE MORE THAN AN HOUR TO FISH.. I ALWAYS PRACTICE CATCH AND RELEASE .. WITH THE EXCEPTION OF A FEW CRAPPIE ( I JUST WANT SOMETHING BIG PULLING ON THE OTHER END NO MATTER WHAT IT IS)SOOOOOO IF YALL DONT MIND A NEWBIE ID SURE APPRECIATE IT...SHOOT ILL BRING THE BEER

dude totally we will all be in austin this weekend for the ATC but we are constantly fishing austin would love to get you on some big fish!

TXlegend - Next time I head to Austin to fish I will let you know. It won't be a for a while as there are 2 carp tournys there for the next week and then spring Turkey season starts. But your more than welcome to join me anytime.

simple answer is YES!!! come on by. The next 8 to 10 days will be fishing insanity in Austin.

so yall will be fishing this weekend ? where and what time ? do you guys camp out ? i have some excellent time off for the next 2 weeks

ATC is this weekend. Town lake from 7am to 7pm. Sat night many will head to Emma Long to camp and fish. Thats when you want to head out there. Any day next week there will be many CAG members on the bank at Emma Long. Hell come spend the week! I bet you can squat on a campsite. Call me if you have questions, glad to answer em 214.704.1899

TXLeg - This weekend and following week are the big ATC ( Austin Team Championship ) and TCC ( Texas Carp Challenge ) carp tournaments.

The ATC is on Town Lake, and the TCC is any water within a 75 mile radius of Austin, I believe. ( In carp tournaments you don't bring fish to weigh in, the officials have to come to you so fish can be released as soon as possible. )

During the TCC most carpers will be out on either Town Lake, or Austin.

The TCC is actually worth $250,000! To win that, you have to break the state record and get it officially certified during the tourney. Town Lake had yeilded record size fish in the past that were caught and released, and Austin has some monsters in it too, so it could happen!

Give SSF a call he's a great guy and will be there all weekend and the following week, will definitely get you onto some carp!

to everyone that has replied or may reply thank you very much i dont usually post on internet forums heck ive been a lurker on most of the Texas forums for a really long time ,i am definitely going to call you ssf i would like to meet up with yall early on saturday even friday night if possible but i dont want to be in the way. is there going to be a open camping spot at emma long during this weekends tournament or do you think it wil be too crowded? once again thank yall for all the info and thanks starless for explaining what the atc and tcc are i had no idea for a little while. also if there is anything special that i should bring other than the basic fishing gear your ideas would be great

No problem! Always glad to help anyone with an interest in carping.

For beginning carping, aside from your regular fishing gear, you will want some small hooks, Number 6 is good, and I'd recommend several cans of Whole Kernal Sweet corn.

I think it is one of the best beginning carp baits, and what I use most of the time. There are other baits that work really well also, all manner of doughbaits that can be made at the lake or at home...

...But nothing beats the ease and convience of opening a can of corn, tossing out a few handfuls for chum, threading a few kernals on a small hook, then catching a nice carp on.

Easy, conveinent, and quite effective.

At the ATC/TCC you will see all the really fancy Euro gear, big pods with three poles and electronic alarms that detect the smallest bites, huge 12-15 foot poles, slings to weigh fish, strange riggings and baits, and all manner of crazy gear.

That stuff is all extremely effective and very useful, and frankly, very cool....BUT...

I do want to emphasize it is in no way required to catch fish!

I do almost all my carping with 2-4 poles that go from 5.5' to 7', using light spinning gear and 6-10 pound test, with number 6 circle hooks and canned corn.

But of course, this is a tournament, so you'll see all the crazy cutting edge gear on display.

And Austin and Town can be very hard lakes to fish with "regular" gear, as the fish are often very far from shore.

But anyway, you should have a great time! Hope you get to catch some fish!

The fish can be far from shore, but....I've caught 'em on baitcasters, using dough bait. If you use corn with a good sized weight, you should be able to catch if they are further out. It's spring, so I'm sure you can get 'em in close as well. good luck...and just for the record, there aren't very many people who catch carp for the first time on purpose and don't get hooked.