Despite being exhausted, I'll try to give this my usual detailed post.

I got to the lake a bit later then I'd planned, arrived a bit after 7:30 AM to find that my spot was taken. Seemed to be a common occurence lately. All that room on the bank, and the one set of rocks I wanted was taken. Oh well lol, plenty more, and they certainly worked out fine last time.

So I chose the same place DH and I had cleaned up the carp last sunday. I got set up, through out some corn, and started the wait. I decided to throw out a nightcrawler as well, thought maybe I'd pick up some catfish while I waited. So I put the worm on an extra pole with only a little bit of line...

...And sure enough, a carp took it. A big carp too, might have been the biggest of the day. He was able to control him well enough to keep him running back and forth along the bank, rather then shoot out into open water and strip all my line off before breaking me off. I foght him for a while, saw a nice big tail a few times. Don't think he was an absolute monster but I think he may have been well over 10. Unfortuanately he managed to spit the hook back out at me. Ah well, can't get them all!

So I tossed the nightcrawler back out, as it was still intact, and just as soon as it hit the water, another fish grabbed it! Hit just like another carp, hard and fast, I missed the hookset as I was totally unprepared lol.

So I put on a new worm, considered replacing one of my corn lines with nightcrawler when one of them went shooting out. Today I was doing the smart thing and had heavy things weighing down my rods. I wanted to leave the bails open, but it was way to windy. So anyway, one of my poles doubled over, and I grabbed it, and set the hook. Nice fish, fun fight, but I could tell right away it was a lot smaller then the fish I'd just had on.

When I got him in, he went about 6 pounds, and looked like this:


Pretty little guy, and as anyone who's caught them know, even small carp put up a great fight, especially on lighter tackle.

So I got his photo taken, weighed him, and put back, and waited maybe 20 minutes at most, probably more like 10 before I had another one. This one felt much longer, and went for a nice long run, and I had to negotiate him through my other lines without tangling them. I fought him for a while before I was able to get him close enough to shore, and wear him down well enough to net him, and I had just gotten his weight at 9 pounds when my other pole doubled over!

So with nothing else to do, and no one else there to catch it, I grabbed that pole in my free hand and set the hook. This time the drag really started screaming! Just the way I like it, and one of the reasons I love carp.

So I did my best to hold that pole aloft as the carp on the end just ran and ran, and with my free hand, got the camera, got a picture of the 9 pound carp, and scooped him up under my arm to release him. All while the carp continued to scream out drag. He ran for a long time before he let me get any line back, then he went up and down the bank and back out, for quite a while, before I was finally able to net him.

He was just a little over 11 pounds.

Here's the 9 :



And the 11:



Nice hefty fish, very thick, all muscle just like most carp, that's why he ran so well and fought so hard. Also had a big full belly either eating all night, or a female ready to spawn.

Right as I was weighing and photoing him, Rudy arrived, and kindly offered to get a picture of me holding the fish, so here it is:



Pic's a little dark cause it was really cloudy at the time.

I went back to fishing, and chatting with Rudy as he fished some lures, and did some carping as well. Before long DH showed up, and he got set up, and not long after that, Rudy's drag started screaming! He picked up his rod, set the hook, pole bent over, drag screamed...and a few moments later, the fish was off. Pretty dissapointing cause I really wanted to see him get into some carp! Ah well. Like he says, that's why they call it fishing, not catching.

The odd thing was, a few minutes later the same thing happened to Donnie! His pole bent over, drag went out, he set the hook, drag screamed out...and his line broke. Figures, lol.

Then a short time later, I had a fish too! He ran to the right immediately and poor Rudy had to pull his line in cause the carp was trying to get tangled in it. I fought him for a while, then he ran back to the left under all the other lines, but we managed to avoid getting too tangled, and eventually netted him. Here he is.



After that it definitely slowed down, and the fish started coming about one per hour or so. Rudy eventually had to go to work, so DH and I stuck it out in the wind for a while.

The next fish was DHs, he finally got one on the big yellow "Surf" rod he's been trying lately, fought like a beast too. Fought even harder then a carp it's size normally would have. If I remember, it was about 9 pounds. DH guessed nine, and the scale said 9-0. Lol. OR maybe that was his other fish, I forget exactly now. But here it is.



After that, we went back to waiting for a while, joking around and exchanging fishing stories. When my pole finally doubled over again I quickly set the hook, and the fish took off, pulling drag fast and hard, but not like a carp. It had a very...bouncy feel to it, almost like the fish was thrumming his tail so hard he was skipping along the bottom. After he stopped running and I was able to turn him back towards the bank, I could feel some weight, definitely a nicer fish then the last two at least, but wasn't really fighting like a carp, not pulling as much drag as I expected a carp that heavy should have. The 11 pounder I"d caught earlier pulled a lot more drag, but this guy felt just as heavy, only sort sticking to the bottom, short back and forth runs, quick hard spurts of drag with a different feeling of strength and weight from that of a carp...

...Yep! A buffalo. We landed him eventually, he was the biggest fish of the day. Not as big as some of those I've caught recently, but definitely a nice fish. Donnie guessed 12, and the scale told us he was just a hair under that. Not terribly long, but real broad, like a football as Rudy described them in a post. Here he is:



After that we had a while to wait before the next fish, it was getting close to noon and the fish were few and far between. So I ended up giving DH a demonstration in various wheaties related dough-baits, as he'd tried with big red soda and wheaties before but had no success. I had several different kinds of dough bait stuff in my bag, from wheaties to oatmeal/wheaties to wheaties/strawberry kwik to a mystery blend I honestly cannot remember the contents of. So I mixed some of each with lake water, showed him how I knead them, and what sort of consistency you want/get. I decided to throw a few out on extra poles, including the dough made from the mixture of wheaties and strawberry kwik powder. Good stuff.

The before long Donnie's girlfriend showed up, that was really cool, she's very nice, and it was good to meet her. Plus she was kind enough to bring us sandwiches ! yay! Yummy. Good for energy for carping hehe.

So I talked with them a while, and after a little bit some guy showed up who we all agreed was probably on speed or something similiar. No. Seriously. He came up asking us for our fishing licences, then told us he was screwing with us. (Actually something worse I'll withold for the forum's sake lol ). Then he asked us all for a cigarette, and when Donnie kindly gave him one...He crouched down right behind us to smoke it. As he smoked the cigarette he started asking us all for money, offering to sell us his "pure silver" coins. When we told him we didn't have any money with us, he launched into some long, rambling, mumbling story that none of us fully understood. Suffice to say he was an offshore oilworker at some point, but lost that job after the coast guard arrested him for possession of meth, and testing possitive for being on meth, probably while on the job. After he finished the cig, he started to leave, then came back to ask for another and distribute flyers. Once he was gone, we all had a laugh and came to the same conclusion that he was very high on something.

I missed a fish while he was there, which sucked, lol, so we had to wait a while for the next. Eventually it came, and somewhat to my surprise, it took my strawberry kwik wheatie ball. Made a huge run when I set the hook, and once again it was on the spool with little line. So, I was off running down the bank to try and keep up with the fish in order to keep him from breaking me off. I tightened the drag and he just kept running for a really long time. It was great. Finally he turned back my way, and I was able to get most of my line back as he ran back the opposite direction, and the battle continued along the bank. When we finally landed him, he turned out to be a lot smaller then we expected, only about 7 or 8 pounds. I should know by now to never underestimate the fighting abilities of a carp!

Rudy had early asked me what I used such light line when fishing for carp, and I could really only answer that it made it even more fun! Makes an already exceptional fighting fish an even bigger challenge to land, it's the sporting way to do it I guess lol.

Anyway, here's the fish.



Tubby little guy, lol.

And as that's 8 images, on to the next post!

After that as the fish were really getting few and far between, I decided to get really daring. I put a few peices of corn on my ultra light, and threw it out a little ways. This is a real ultra light, a very thin, flexible rod that's maybe 5.5 feet, if that, with a small shimano reel that's made for 2-6 pound test. I have 4 pound on it, and to give you an example of how good the line condition is...it was last changed for ice fishing in minnesota many years ago! LOL.

And as luck would have it, with 4 other lines out all with corn...The next carp takes...the ultra light. So I have it weighed down with rocks and my drag starts screaming, I set the hook, and off he goes! It takes him maybe a minute of constant running, to totally strip the surprisingly full spool, and I chase him down the bank to try and get some back. He soon turns and runs all the way up the back again, leaving my chasing him, and forcing me to follow him through the network of lines he's weaving through, over one of my mine, under one of donnies, and over the next! This goes on for a long time as the carp goes back and forth. Luckily for me I've a lot of experience fighting carp, and other big, powerful fish, so I know how to handle him, how to pump him to gradually wear him down and gain back line, and after a very long fight, we manage to land him.

He came in at just a little over 7 pounds. Not bad for being caught on an ultra light with old, damaged line! Talk about finessing a fish! My first carp on ultra light, quite an experience.

Here he is. if I remember I'll get pictures of my rigs for anyone interested.



Before that guy, I'd caught a nice channel cat on the strawberry kwik wheaties as well, he was about 14 inches. Not real big, but he swallowed it, and made good eating size, so he's sitting in my fridge right now lol.

That carp was my last fish of the day, but after a bit more waiting, DH locked into another one. He caught that one on Stubby, and it got tangled in Big Yellow. Yeah, we named his poles...You know, we probably should have had more sleep before going fishing, lol. Anyway, Stubby is a pole, a short, stout one he actually found at Grapevine, then bought a cheap reel to go on to it, and fine tuned the drag before carp hunting.

So we worked to get his two lines untangled, and he walked down the shore following the fish, and fighting it all the way. Eventually I was able to net it, and his last fish looked like this:



Another nice, hefty carp, around 8 or 9 or so I believe, can't remember any more lol. Oughta start writing these weights down!

So that was pretty much our day. We waited a while longer, and then checked out another spot. We went to "pre-fish" the cliffs before the carp in. Saw tons of big fish surface and jump, and each of us got a fish on really quick, but both of us lost them. After that, it was totally dead for a while, then DH got a fish hitting his light pole...It doubled over, and the line snapped....again. Pretty funny, but pretty sad lol. So really, he lost two at that spot, I lost one, then nothing. We fished that area about two hours with no more luck. By then it was nearly 6 PM and I'd been fishing somewhere around 10 hours on only a few hours sleep, so I called it a day.

DH stuck it out, was gonna try for some crappie and some more carp in a cove, don't know how he did.

I'll next be back on Saturday morning with my gf, we may fish the area by the tables were I have been getting all the carp lately before we head to the cliffs, don't know for sure. Anyway, that's it, see you all there!

Wow.....that post choked up my computer and I am at work with a T1 line !
AWESOME STUFF ! Thanks for getting everyone primed for carpin' !
Are you some kinda English major ? Well done man !

where is the place

Great account of the day Starless. I couldn't add any more if I wanted to.

After you left I decided to try the cove for some crappie and since I had a handful of corn left... I couldn't waste it so I threw some out and set up my yellow surf pole in the pole holder so it wouldn't take off. As I was fishing deep in the brush for crappie I was keeping an eye on "yellow" but nothing ever hit it.

I did end up with one crappie. Looked like a skinny male about 11" long. I stayed till about 7 and decided to call it a day.

All in all, it was a good day, long, but good. Not as many as I had hoped for but at least I didn't get skunked. I wish I coulda landed those two that broke me off but... oh well... there's always Saturday.

I'm going to try to get my brother-in-law to come with me out there Sat night then once the sun goes down we'll probably find somewhere to set up for the night... 3 lanterns and 12 poles between us both using minnows, worms, shrimp and now of course... corn. Can't wait. I'm addicted to fishing!!!!!

Thanks Treetop. Glad you enjoyed it! As for getting everyone primed for carping, I do my best. I just hope the fish will cooperate. As much as I've been getting into them early in the morning in the shallows, I hope there's still feeding well along the deeper drop offs of The Cliffs as well! Time will tell I guess, wish us all luck! See ya there.

Wolfwolf - It's Grapevine Lake, Murrel Park.

DH - Glad you had fun again. Sorry you didn't get any more carp, but at least you got a nice crappie, if skinny lol. I wish you could have landed those two that broke you off as well! And hopefully you'll be able to get into some more tomorrow. If you guys fish Saturday night where will you be? The Marina area, or somewhere else? My gf should be with me tomorrow, we may stop by at night depending on how tired we are, gotta get up early sunday as well.

We might stop at the picnic area around dawn, carp fish there a little bit early in the morning if any of the rocks are open, since they've been so productive lately, then head to the Cliffs. Or we may go straight to the CLiffs area, we will wait and see.

To be honest, I don't know where we will be. It depends on the wind as well as availability... I would like to end out at the rocks where we have been going. I think that might be pretty productive all night long. If those are taken... who knows. If you decide to come out, just look for my car.

yeah, well if you guys are out there after dark there should be plenty of space available. If you start in the afternoon, you may have to take what you get till some people move on. We'll be there in the morning, and I'd say there is a good chance we'll come back some time in the afternoon, and perhaps again at night, will look for your car if we do.

Starless, I really enjoyed reading your post. That was awesome!

Glad you enjoyed it! If you haven't read my other recent posts about Grapevine you should check those out too...The ones where I had to superman leap into the water and stuff lol.

S.D....I would really like to learn how to fish for carp....I tried some at a small pond yesterday that I have been told is full of them. I had a hook full of corn on bottom that I got a good tug on, but no real takers. Could you give me some advice and possibly some pics of how you rig up for these fish....Thanks in advance.

David

Spid - I can definitely provide you with some pictures when I get a chance, but there is not much to see, just ask DH lol. I use a real simple set up, especially compared to some of the more dedicated carpers like LSC.

I use an egg sinker and split shot combination. Basically I just use a tiny, tiny split shot to keep the egg sinker about 12 inches up off the bait. I use a small hook, only a number 6, usually no bigger, and keep the point of the hook exposed when using corn. Lately I have been doing best with circle hooks, the deep bend helps to keep the fish from swallowing it, and helps them hook themselves as described below.

Also, carp and buffalo will often suck in a bait, and spit it back out several times. Ever seen a goldfish do that with it's food? Same idea. Carp are often very wary by nature, and test their food that way. If they feel anything out of place, resistance from the weight for example, often times they will spit it out and leave. Possibly why you got one good tug on that corn, then nothing else.

The idea behind the egg sinker/split shot is that when the carp pick up the bait and start moving, they pull the line through the sinker and don't feel the resistance. The small hooks area easier for them to suck up, and harder for them to notice.

The reason I like the circle hooks is because they seem to have the same effect an English Hair-rig does. Because of the deep bend in the hook, when the carp pick up the bait, then spit it back out, often times the exposed point of the hook will catch their lip. The fish get spooked and bolt off, thus setting the hook on themselves. Of course, I'm always sure to set the hook anyway when I get a good run.

When possible I like to leave my bail open. Carp are VERY strong and even small fish have no trouble pulling a pole into the water if it's not set on open or freespool, and if it's not properly secured. Using an open bail allows the fish to start running without feeling the resistance of the line, and spitting out the bait. Also, if they hook themselves, they just pull line out and dont take your pole.

Lately I have been using a closed bail because it's very windy. This works fine most of the time as long as you have your pole well secured. I will rest my pole against something like my tackle box, with a rock bracing the tackle box on one side, and a heavy rock resting on the handle of the pole to keep it secure. Keeping the rod tip up that way helps to see strikes. Most of the time carp will hit hard and fast, your line will shoot out one way or another, and the pole will double over....or go in the water if it's not secured.

When I use an open bail, I often wait for the fish to start taking line off the spool before picking it up, taking in the slack and setting the hook. But while using a closed bail and secured rod, as soon as the line starts going strong or the pole bends over, I set the hook.

As far as baits go, I would stick with simple canned sweet corn for now, it's very easy and cheap. Doughbaits work well but I sometimes have trouble getting a good hook set through them, so for someone just learning to fish for carp, corn is just fine.

Lately I have been using exactly 3 kernels per hook. Many people will use more, 4-8 is not too uncommon. They will often thread 2-4 pieces of corn up onto the line, then cover the hook after that. But for some reason, lately I have been having the most success with only three pieces. Maybe while the water is still cool they are looking for smaller baits, I don't know. But I've done best on 3 hand picked kernals threaded onto a circle hook, leaving the point slightly exposed. I thread the corn on the hook by going in through the bottom, and coming out the top. I also try to use large firm kernals that will stay on the hook well, and always use whole kernels.

As soon as I arrive to fish for carp I will chum the area with a handful or two of corn, sometimes more depending on how many fish there are, how many other fisherman there are, size of the body of water and so on. Carp often travel in schools, and are very attracted by scent, so the smell of corn will bring them in.

On average it takes anywhere from 15-60 minutes for the fish to first arrive, so you have to be patient sometimes. Once there, if they are hungry but eat up all the corn, they will eventually move on, especially in larger bodies of water. So I will chum again now and then once I've gotten a fish or two, usually with smaller amounts to keep them hungry and feeding, but not fill them up. You then want to fish in the general area you've been baiting. I have heard that the smaller carp will feed on the majority of corn while the larger carp, who are generally much more wary, will first patrol around the outer edges of the school and pick up what they can out there.

I take it the pond is in waxahachie? That's a bit far for me to travel or I'd be happy to come and help you out myself. That's a little over an hour from me, I think, but perhaps I could work something out sometime. Any idea how big the pond is, as in acres? Or how deep, other species, anything like that?

Anyway I hope this helps. I will post some pictures of my set up/hooks if you want but it's pretty simple. If you have a camera, see if you can get some pics of any fish you get or even the pond, I'd be curious to see it.

Good luck! Let me know if you've any futher questions or anything.

Thanks for the tips. The pond is the Red Oak pond mentioned in the Bank Fishing portion of this forum. I would think it is about 8 or so acres and about 20 or so feet deep. I have been told that it is full of carp. I don't know that for myself, but I did get a big hit yesterday on corn on the bottom. I had a much larger hook however, maybe that is why he did not take it. I did not chum the water at all before fishing. I will try that next time. How far do you throw your line out since you can only throw the chum 10 or so feet? Again, thanks for the info..maybe we can fish together sometime. I don't mind driving up.

Lately most of my carp fishing has been done at Grapevine, I'd be happy to meet you there sometime if you get the chance and don't mind the drive. I can't promise any fish but at the least I could show you what I was doing.

My friend Donnie has just gotten started on carp fishing as well, and after one trip with me he downsized to smaller circle hooks for carp fishing. I'd recommend getting yourself some number 6 circle hooks. A nice large carp will have no trouble sucking in a big hook, but at least at grapevine, the average carp only seems to be about 6-8 pounds, and they don't have a particularly large mouth.

DH was having the same problem, he hooked two fish and lost one of them on the large hook, and missed a few, where as I had gotten many in the same time frame, and had a good hook set on all of them, so we assumed it might be related to hook size.

I'd definitely try downsizing your hook when you fish for carp. What sort of equipment are you using? Baitcast, spinning? What pound line?

Most of the time I prefer to fish for carp on spinning gear, with 6-10 pound line. Lately I've been using 10 pound because my older reel that I fished lighter line on isn't working. Althought I have caught a few carp on 4 pound test on ultra light, that was pretty fun. I generally prefer lighter gear because it makes an already excellent fight even more exciting for me.

Definitely chum the water with corn next time, in the general area you'll be fishing. It can make a big difference with carp.

I generally try not to fish too far from the area I've chummed. If I can only get the corn 10 feet, I'll fish 10-15 feet out. Lately at Grapevine I've been able to stand on rocks and throw out to deeper water close to shore.

Do you have any idea how deep the water is say, 10-15 feet out from shore at Red Oak pond? If the carp are hungry and feeding they won't have any problem coming close to shore in search of food, especially if they are following the scent. I caught one at the fish in, on ultra light, that was probably no more then 5 or 6 feet from shore. He had probably come in picking up the corn we'd dropped when chumming the area, and I had only tossed the ultra light with some corn out that close on a whim.

A pond that size will probably have a lot of small carp. ( Keep in mind a "small carp" is usually between 4-10 pounds lol. ) There will probably be a few big ones in there too, but I imagine the average size of the carp is 3-6 pounds. Of course that's just a guess. If it's 20 feet deep, it may support a good number of larger fish too, the only way to find out is to catch them!

I don't think you need to worry too much about fishing within 10 feet of shore unless the water is extremely shallow. If I can get them to within 5-10 feet from shore at a lake like Grapevine, I'm sure you can at a smaller pond.

Hope that helps, let me know if there's anything else you want to ask, or need to know.

Good luck!