Help a fellow fisherman out: Carp!

[JumBie]

I've locked down every other type of fishing except carp. I've only caught a few in my lifetime, and its been on the basic corn on a hook. I have this local pond by my house that's loaded with carp, you see them jumping out of the water constantly, and you see them in the shallow areas all the time. I've tried the basic corn on a hook but it doesn't seem to work here, I tried bread as well but that seems to fall off the hook faster than anything else. Anyone got any tips or advice on how I can catch these elusive bottom feeders?

 

[mcurphy]

I've locked down every other type of fishing except carp. I've only caught a few in my lifetime, and its been on the basic corn on a hook. I have this local pond by my house that's loaded with carp, you see them jumping out of the water constantly, and you see them in the shallow areas all the time. I've tried the basic corn on a hook but it doesn't seem to work here, I tried bread as well but that seems to fall off the hook faster than anything else. Anyone got any tips or advice on how I can catch these elusive bottom feeders?

Corn has always worked for me, but I can't say I have ever caught a carp in a pond. I usually fish the local rivers and creeks if I am carp fishing, and I fish the bottom for them. Are you sure they are carp in the pond?

 

[BoomerD]

If you're lucky, it will turn the carp into fish meal...and you won't have to mess with them.

 

[TastesLikeChicken]

We used to use Corn Flakes or Wheaties. Mix it with some water into a thick, barely moist slurry and then form it into balls around the hook. Didn't last long as bait but it usually didn't need too.

 

[Slammy1]

Why try to catch carp? Used to catch carp and bluegill with corn. The canals that were behind me had these huge Chinese carp. Talking 5"+. I used to fish for peacock bass with a lure, never had any luck.

 

[mcurphy]

Why try to catch carp?

They put up a good fight. It is a fun fish to catch, purely for the sport, though I have heard of a few that actually eat them. I always catch and release.

 

[Nox51]

I think the trick is also to feed them over a period of time in the same spot so they get used to what you're gonna be using as bait. Corn should work well for that.

 

[cherrytwist]

Biggest fish I've caught was a 10lb carp while fishing for channel cat using livers.

 

[ControlD]

If you see them in the shallow waters right now jumping and rolling around they are probably spawning and will be nearly impossible to catch.

I fish for carp quite a bit these days and canned corn is still the best bait I have found, but you have to be mindful of how to use it. Don't use any weight on the line at all, just string about 20 pieces of corn up the line to give you enough weight to cast. Leave your bail open and watch the line. When it starts shooting off the spool you know a carp has picked the bait up and you can set the hook.

If you see carp eating bugs at the top of the water (usually early in the mornings) they can be taken with a fly rod and that is a total blast. Otherwise, feed them some bread and then mash a piece around your hook and flip it where you have been feeding them. The bread only lasts a short time but if you have been hand feeding them for a minute or so it will stay on long enough to get a hit.

 

[edro]

Carp are a very prestigious species

They are lazy bottom feeders and fill up on garbage all day, so they won't bite your bait.

I have heard about casting over them with a large treble and reeling in and snagging them in the back.
That sounds pretty cruel though.

 

[GWestphal]

IIRC you are not encouraged to catch and release carp, you're supposed to gut them and leave them out to dry...all species to my knowledge. I've heard carp can be ok smoked, but otherwise a terribly oily fish that tastes of pond bottom, invasive and destructive critters.

 

[lxskllr]

Use a bow, and harpoon them.

 

[Newbian]

IIRC you are not encouraged to catch and release carp, you're supposed to gut them and leave them out to dry...all species to my knowledge. I've heard carp can be ok smoked, but otherwise a terribly oily fish that tastes of pond bottom, invasive and destructive critters.

Must have some kind of taste to it if people want to set up fisheries for them here to ship to Asia:

http://news.yahoo.com/carpe-diet-chinese-firms-plan-export-asian-carp-203400149.html

 

[ControlD]

IIRC you are not encouraged to catch and release carp, you're supposed to gut them and leave them out to dry...all species to my knowledge. I've heard carp can be ok smoked, but otherwise a terribly oily fish that tastes of pond bottom, invasive and destructive critters.

I never really understood the point of that. Me releasing the few carp I catch back into a lake with thousands of them isn't going to do jack shit to control the population. It is only going to leave a stinky mess for someone else later on. If you have carp in your lake/pond you can learn to live with it or nuke the whole thing.

 

[ControlD]

Carp are a very prestigious species

Never said they are prestigious (in the USA), but they are a lot of fun to catch. I thought that was the point of fishing, must have missed a memo somewhere.

 

[ProchargeMe]

Bread works best for me in the local pond, but I catch the carp by accident

 

[SunnyD]

Bread/dough ball or bow fish.

 

[Josh123]

^

Bow fishing for sure

 

[isekii]

You can shock em

 

[SunnyD]

There's also dynamite.

 

[runzwithsizorz]

I just let a ball of cheese on the hook sit on the bottom.

 

[Carson Dyle]

Anyone got any tips or advice on how I can catch these elusive bottom feeders?

Elusive???

Bowfishing. I have a few buddies that hunt them from boats with bows and barbed arrows. It's a massacre - they can kill hundreds in an evening, and the owners of the lakes and ponds where they do so are glad to have them thin out this invasive species.

 

[lxskllr]

Anyone here eat carp? I never have. I heard there's a way to prepare them so they taste decent, but that might be a myth. I've never personally known anyone that has. There's disgusting looking jars of gefilte fish in the stores, but I don't believe anyone buys them. I think it was a one time production, and they periodically change the labels to make them new again :^D

 

[Carson Dyle]

Anyone here eat carp? I never have. I heard there's a way to prepare them so they taste decent, but that might be a myth. I've never personally known anyone that has.

Have you never known anyone from China, Korea or eastern Europe?

 

[vi edit]

I heard there's a way to prepare them so they taste decent, but that might be a myth. I've never personally known anyone that has.

The only way I've ever heard of them being edible was from smoking them.