wolfville

Victor, I should've listened and got a new scale...I'll just get one that bottoms out at 40lb.....maybe that way I get my first 40s sooner ;-)

I have skunked I don't know how many times last week carping my local swim. While the catching has been bad in general but others did land a fish once in a while and I was the one skunked whole week. So, really needed some confidence boost. Was thinking to go fishing with CCMTCANADA because he and Bly seem to be on fire with carp no matter what the condition is. Turned out they will be away this morning so we won't be fishing together....he simply gave me permission to fish his swim while he is away. What a nice guy ! Got to the swim at around 6:30. It was much smaller than what I expected from satellite map. And is a very interesting swim. The spot I fished you get a opening about 20 yard wide. To the left is a big log in the middle of the channel, to the right is a big floating dock. If you hook into a big one and it goes either right or left over 10 yard or so you are in huge trouble. I don't know how CCMTCANADA and BLY landed their fish there, at night, with shorter rods (shorter than regular carp rods), and sometimes by him or herself Sorry, I didn't take many pictures and sure wouldn't post any that would reveal too much info about the swim. It's not mine and I don't want to reveal its identity. And please don't PM me or them if you ONLY want to ask for the spot. I would feel really bad if this caused them trouble. Anyhow, go there at 6:30, get things set up, chumed a bit. And got into the first fish at 7:10am, weighting 19lb. I was disappointed that it took like 20 minutes before I got into this fish. The condition looked perfect and signs of fish feeding all over the places. But in a new swim that wasn't too bad. Okay, I then started to think, hmm...I can fish until 11am (had other commitments), so in this four hours I can probably land over 10 fish easy.......WRONG ! That was it for the first 2.5 hours. It wasn't until 9:30 I got into this one, Then a lot of nothing. I should mentioned that the wind started to picked up after 7:30 and didn't slow down until 10ish. In between I landed this only fish at 16lb. And when it was windy, my bite alarm gave a lot of false alarms so I didn't get to have a nap either At around 10, I decided to do something I've wanted to do for a long time --- using boilies. I bought some last year and used it for bait for maybe 1 hour in total. Never have the confidence in them especially in my local swims where they are not often seen by the fish. But since I wasn't doing too weel at that point (2 fish in 3 hours). I decided to give it a try, can't be too much worse, right? In 10 minutes, my bite alarm started to sing the most beautiful song in the world. FISH ON. This fish proved to be very smart or very naughty. It first went right into the floating dock. With a 12' rod, it wasn't easy to force it out there but definitely doable (I have no idea how Cliff and Bly did it with shorter rods). After that, the fish ran across the opening and into that log. This is no ordinary log It's about 15 yards (the visible part) parallel with the channel and right in the middle of it. The fish ran right behind the log (the other side where I was standing). I knew I was gonna lose that fish. It stayed about 3 feet behind that log and I was waiting the wrape and snap.... no, didn't happen, it stayed there for 5 second without moving. Now, it's am important time where both of us have to think quick to have a chance to win this battle (of course, at least one of us will lose). I decided to make the move. I try to get to my right all the way to the fence separating the docking area from the area I fished. Stick my arms out as much as I can to the right and started to slowly but firmly to get the fish to move to the right hoping it will come back out in the open so I can reel it in again.....and that worked. Got it in between me and the log and from there it should be smooth sail but no. It pulled off the hook and left me half tired standing there with my mouth open. I had to lose it when I thought I have dealt with all the difficult parts. Looked like a nice fish (all lost fish look that way ;-). and I have just lost my first fish on a boilie. Anyway, at least my confidence was back, both with the swim and with the boilies. From 10 to 11, the action was non-stop. I was fishing by myself and didn't really have a lot of time to take pictures. Especially when I can use the time to rig up and cast. Between 10:30 and 11 I got 4 fish landed. They all looked a like ranging from 15 to 25+ lb.. And around 10:40........I got my PB in weight. The trouble is, my scale bottoms out at 25 lb, and this guy is heavier than that. So I will have a unknown PB for a while. I would've said it's 27lb (it may very likely be more than that), but that's more than Victor's PB so I will claim the same as Victor, somewhere around 26.8? Here is the picture of my PB, it wasn't long (around 33') but had a very thick shoulder and nice belly) All in all a great few hours this morning. I was so tempted to call off my previous committment but decided to keep my promise. There is always another day. Due to the crazy action in the last 30 minutes. A pike fishermen on the other side of the swim walked over for a chat asking what I was doing and how. And what I did that was so right that I was "cleaning the house". I tie a hair rig, put a boilie (the same kind that was catching). His two grandsons (?) came other too and were very interested at my equipment. I expained how everything works and tied them each a hair rig with a boilie. (I was in the middle of packing already because my time was up). And yet my bite alarm went off again. I always pack the rod/pod the last hoping I can get another one before I leave. And it worked today The two boys were there amzed to everything they were seeing, the bite alarm, the rod, the baitrunner, the fight..... so I passed the rod to their hands and they took turn to "feel" the fish throught a 12' rod. I told them this is a little guy and they looked at me like I was lying The smallest fish of the day, but at least one of the boys knew how to use a camera. So this became the only picutre with both me and a fish in it. Look in the background in the water and you can see the log in the water. A very good morning. I am sure if the bite lasted and I had stayed longer, I could easily get over 10 or 15 fish today. But I'll take what I got. Thanks again for the friendly OFNers who would share swims with responsible anglers. I packed a bag of garbage (most of them not mine) and brought them out there. Did it as a token of appreciation to the swim and the good friends on OFC. I will be back.

Went to the same swim this morning....will have my report up later tonight after kids are in bed. Let me just say, you'll see my PB in my report. Thanks Cliff and Bly for your inspiration.

What is a "Free Carp Weekend"?

LOL, Cliff, I think you are qualified to write the regs for MNR, you have the gift they've been looking for.

Always test pull your rig before cast out, especially for carp fishing. You could be waiting for a long time for a run, when it happens, you don't want to have to worry about line break. Also, before you cast out, feel the line from the hair to about 3 feet up to the main line to see if there's any nick. This is especially important when fishing zebra mussle infested water. Drag set is another thing, don't set it too hard. You are testing the line and carp lip strength if you set the drag too tight. Either one wins you lose the fish. But, yes, no matter how careful you are, it will still happen, just not as often. Think on the bright side. I'd rather lose a fish then never even hook on one. I use varnish for hair rig (not main line), I actually like it. I use 6lb, 8lb, and 14lb for hair rig and use them according to where I fish and how big/finicky the fish are. Never had a problem even landing 20+lb fish. I also use 20lb fireline for hair rig and love it too. Have started to use coated braid for hair rig. Don't have much success yet but since it's highly praised by a lot of carpers, I think it's just me not knowing how yet. BTW, my main line is either Berkley Big Game 15lb or 10lb, again, depending on where I fish. Will give braid a try, but honestly I don't know what advantage that has except that the no stretch factor makes bite indication better. But it's not like mono will lose fish because of that. And the stretching facor actually is to the advantage of mono when fighting the big fish. I am not an expert, just sharing my opinion. Hope I am not misleading anyone with wrong info.

I thought you are fishing for mermaid now ;-) Nice to see you back. Love the first fish, so cute.

Just got home and this post was the first thing I was looking for. Thanks, reading your post makes me feel that I was there catching as well.

To tell the truth, I stopped after a few slides because I don't want to have tears in my eyes at work. Thanks for the link, it stopped my world for a moment to think about the important things in life that I often overlooked.

Nice read as always, can't wait for your report tonight.

No kidding that's a good fish...especially when I skunked again tonight.....

and I am speechless.....

Please do let us know how it goes/went.

Great report, that's positive thinking -- when car breaks, go fishing !

Looks like a few good meal and you can actually fish without Rich ;-)

Thanks for sharing, but was I the only one skunked all weekend?

You see, I have not caught one in so long I don't even remember how to spell the word....sigh. I need a good outing to write a report soon.....

What? Victor, you didn't feed those ducklings for me? I thought we had a deal ....;-) Another nice report. Tell us what you dad thinks about carp fishing now. Felt bad that one time we fished "the spot" close to home and he didn't catch anything (or we didn't catch anything). You need a 2nd setup, let your dad know where they can be bought from and you may not need to spend a cent ;-)

Hmm...never noticed your smile....and it looks good. Thanks for smiling and trying to get something on you. And yes, nice fish !

Here is my take. A lot of people read the carping reports lately think : Argh, those anoying carp, I see tons of them when I fish for xxx but I just don't care for them. Because there are so many of them and they are so easy to catch. Now, I have to say, seeing them is one thing, catching them rightfully is another. You may have caught one with a lure, a worm, or even a minnow by accident, tell me if you can consistently catch them when you want to and you think it's easy. You must have read the frustration some carpers here express from time to time (if you care to read the carp reports). I think, when you see carp roaming around near the surface or jumping in numbers, it's likely you won't do well fishing for them, at least not those you see. It's like they have a switch to turn themselves into "eating", "mating", and "playing". They don't mix any two of the three (okay, maybe the last two) Now, stalking is different (let me cover this before MJL jumps in). When stalking, you are seeing those capr that are not supposed to be seen. Not like those rolling on the surface 10 yards away and don't even seem to care about your presense. Right, they don't, because they know they won't fall for your tactics, whatever that might be. Okay, I talk too mcuh ...

Another nice report and a nice fish! Thanks for sharing.

Great job Mike and Vic. Congrats on the success !

If I die of carping OD, I die a happy man. And the GTE-B goes down with me, you can have the Okuma ;-) You two better write a detailed report after your trip tomorrow, and say hi for me to that tree mallard, tell her I will go see her next week. Ask her to keep watch the carp and keep them there.

Another hooked ;-) Nice report and thanks for sharing.

Nice report. I fish as much time as you have this week or even more, but nothing to report. So.... I'm looking up to you for the skills...and location ;-) Those nice shiny equipments only make you more embarassed when you skunk and the guy next to you with a 6' rod hauling fish all the time. But when you do hook into the 30 pounder, you'll wish to have proper equipment to get the fish in. I tend to talk too much when carp is the topic. I need a therapy....a 30 pounder will do ;-) Keep the reports coming and thanks for sharing. Randy