I have never fished for carp, but I see them at all my bass and catfish holes. I need a good dough bait recipe. And will they bite when they are bedding? Any tips on catchin them would be appreciated.

sweet corn on a size 6 hook. carolina rigged will do. As for dough bait, remove the crust from some bread wet it and add cotton seed meal to form dough.

when you they will bite while they are bedding do you mean when they are thrashing all around in the shallows?? sounds like you might see them while they are spawning and if that is the case they are really not all that intrested in eating infact its hard to get them to bite when they are doing this

My favorite carp doughbait has always just been simple Wheaties Cereal, crushed and mixed with lake water. Knead it together until it's a good dough.

Some people prefer it with Big Red Soda, but I've had better results with plain lake water. Also, water seems to give a better consistency then Soda does.

lonestar, they are sitting on round depressions they have made in the river bottom. The water is super clear on the Comal, and there are hundreds of these little mini craters with carp hanging above them.

I don't think Carp normally bed down and spawn that way, they tend to move up into the shallows and spawn in the weeds there.

Perhaps their behavior is different in streams and rivers?

Or maybe they're buffalo? Have you caught any or seen of them out of the water? I don't have a clue how buffalo spawn, they might make beds that way.

Or maybe these are just strangely behaving carp?

How big are they?

They are greyish in color, some look like they would go about 8lbs. I talked to a old man that called them grass carp.

Greyish? They probably aren't carp then, unless that's just the water making them appear grey.

Carp, especially Common Carp, are usually a very distinct bronze color.

Grass Carp ( White Amur ) are a seperate species, longer and more narrow then common carp, though they too get very large. But they're usually a bronze color as well.

When you mentioned they were making craters and sitting on them, in a river, I immediately thought of Suckers. We have a few species of them in Texas, but they're fairly rare in most parts of the state. They can be a grey color, but are usually not very big. They're longer and more narrow, fairly trout shaped, with a sucker mouth. They also rarely get anywhere near 8 pounds down here in the south. They're lucky to make a pound or two.

Buffalo, however, especially Smallmouth Buffalo, are usually a grey-blue color, are related to suckers, not carp, and easily reach 8 pounds and much, much larger. They have very large, broad bodies from top to bottom, and a noticibly bottom-oriented mouth. Also, Smallmouth Buffalo have an especially distinct eye, it looks very big and dark, sometimes black.

It's just a guess, but it sounds to me like you're seeing Smallmouth Buffalo, not Carp. Like I said, I believe ( But could be wrong. ) that carp spawn up in the shallows, and don't usually make beds like that.

Buffalo, however, might do just that, I've no idea. But they are grey colored, look a little like carp, and can easily best 8 pounds.

The bad news - If they're spawning, they may or may not be the least bit interested in anything you have to offer. Also, while buffalo are very strong, they don't fight as hard as carp. They fight more like catfish, sticking to the bottom, lots of back and forth runs, strip a lot of drag now and then, especially near the net. Carp, on the other hand, tend to run and run and run like tarpon and just strip the heck out of your drag. It's awesome.

The good news - Buffalo ARE very strong, and they do fight very hard. ( Just not quite as hard as carp. ) And even better, they can easily be caught on the same baits carp are caught on.

Canned Whole Kernal Sweet Corn is a great bait for buffalo, as are the doughbaits listed above by myself and others. Nightcrawlers are a great buffalo bait as well.

You'll want to chum the area first to draw them in, and get them used to eating whatever you're offering if it's not natural, like nightcrawlers.

Carp will often hit very hard and very sudden, yanking unsecured rods into the water in an instant. Buffalo will occassionally do that as well, but will more often hit very lightly, or very slowly, so watch your line, your rod tip, and any bite indicators closely.

If it really is Grass Carp, then they can be a lot harder to catch. Sounds like buffalo to me though, but that's just a guess.

Anyway, good luck! Bring a net, a scale, and a camera!

Here's a few of my old buffalo and carp pictures to help you tell the difference. Keep in mind of course, that fish coloration varies greatly by water, time of year, time of day, health of the fish, and so on.

Smallmouth Buffalo


Smallmouth Buffalo


Common Carp

Thanks Starless, I dont know what they are, I will try to get a picture of them in the water and send it to you.

Cool, sounds good! The tough part with identifying fish through the water is that it can really change their appearance. And what works well for common carp might not work so well for similiar species.

So if you get a chance to get us a picture we'll see if we can't help you out!

watch it mikey they're sucking you in

I wonder if they dig a small hole to rest their body in without having to constantly resist the current.
Clear water + shallow water = skiddish fish.
I would find a bend in the river and throw your line downstream a little ways. Being under shade should improve your chances as well.

They just started digging the holes a couple of weeks ago, but the fish are allways there. I just E-mailed Starless the pics, since I have trouble posting pics. Maybe he will know what they are, or post the pics?

Mikey - I checked out your email and gave you one of my patented long winded replies, lol.

I'm afraid I still don't know what they are. They don't really look like carp, except perhaps one picture.

Really, they look a lot like a type of sucker. Mostly long, slender, and grey, with what looks like a sucker mouth. But it's a little hard to tell.

They may be a mix of species, some sucker, maybe some smaller buffalo and carp, maybe some drum in there, maybe even some creek chubs or something.

They don't really all look as though they have the same body shape, so I think there may be several similiar species all mingling together. Only see one that really looks like a carp, though.

I really think it may be suckers or something getting ready to spawn, but I'm gonna have to see if I can find my Freshwater Fish book and my Fish of Texas book.

I also gave Mikey some tips to catch skittish creek fish, being very quiet, staying low, moving slow, the same sort of things TFNTW said above.

I would use some corn, as I mentioned in the email, and I would definitely consider using nightcrawlers. Pretty much every sucker I've ever caught has been on a nightcrawler.

Carp and Buffalo and Drum love them as well, as do creek chubs and other unusual fish I don't know if we have down here.

Anyway, I hope you're able to catch one, because I would love to see what they are.

They just look to grey to be carp, and for the most part, the wrong shape. Though that could just be water distortion too.

I would post the pictures for you, but since they're on Yahoo, that won't work here. Like I said in the email you might want to consider uploading them to www.MyFishingPictures.com, which is free, and it's very easy to post pictures from it, onto this site.