I have been fishing in Elmendorf lake many times and have yet to catch a carp. It is to the point of becoming a bucket list challenge more than anything else. I can catch them on any other water but not there. I have seen one YouTube video of them being caught. Just wondering if anyone has any insight as to how I can improve my luck. Thanks

Sometimes it is difficult to find where the carp like to hang out. My first method to find carp is to start by throwing out floating dog food. I try and find areas where people are feeding ducks or chumming for fish. I throw out the food and wait 15 minutes to see if there is any action on top. If I don’t see any fish action on top then I will pick 3 areas where I think there should be fish. This can change depending on the time of year. Once I pick my spots, I will chum with range cubes for 3 days. Then. I fish the spots with range cubes as bait for 2 days. If I don’t catch any then I will chum 3 more spots and fish again. If I don’t catch any after that I go somewhere else.

I have caught carp on just about all of the water bodies in Bexar Co. I have never fished Elmendorf Lake. As mentioned above, I have used range cubes with very good results. Also regular can corn and dough bait get good results as well. Look for carp topping the water is a good start, to locating them.


Side Note: Carp are very active during this time of year! Been catching a lot of them.

Thanks, I may try chumming before I go but it is a ways from the house. The lake looks like a carp paradise and I guess it's big enough that they could be scattered.

Range cubes work well and have a slow dissolve rate that helps keep the fish in your area. Another trick that the TFF taught me was to mix a ziplock freezer bag full of oatmeal and creamed corn. Mix this all in till you have a dough texture. When you get to your spot, roll up a few dough balls and throw them out in the area.

The fishbrain app also has reports for that lake.

If you live far away then when you get to the lake throw out a couple of handfuls of range cubes in 2 good looking spots. Then go fish in a third without cubes. If you don’t get a bite in an hour then go fish a cube spot. If no bite in an hour then go to the third spot. If there are carp in the lake you can move them short distances and concentrate them with chum, but sometimes you can’t move them to a part of the lake they aren’t using. On one lake I fish there is a cove that is full of carp except December, January, and February. In those months they do not use the cove at all. At this time of year 10 to 25 feet of water seems to be the hot area. Carp are usually concentrated in particular areas of the lake. A quick web search indicates they are there, but sometimes the reports are not correct. Keep after them and let us know how you do. They are biting now.