MJL

psh, that's nothing.

 

we shall move it up a level ... shore lunch: carp sashimi

You first Vic. I can make sake to go along with it from some of the bait I prepare

so until i can get all rigged up like a delta fighter from the US army, can i just use a tippet light for my rod at night?

You certainly can. Most of the time when a carp takes the bait and gets hooked, they run like a demon possessed. You'll probably hear your drag going before you turn around to see your rod tip doubled over

Congrats on your catch Splashhopper

Electronic alarms?

swingers and hangers?

 

sounds like a porn movie from the deep south?

 

what the heck are ya saying brother?

splashhopper

When we get a run, our alarms do this

The little dangly thing in the vid is a hanger. In the case a hooked fish swims towards you, the hanger/swinger will drop thus providing enough tension for the line to continue running over the bite alarm. Hangers/Swingers are visual indicators. MEANING: you can watch when they rise and dip to tell if something is playing with your bait before they actually hook themselves.

did you just french kissed that fish? I can still see the mud + carp slime on your face.

Victor...That's your dream

I'm guessing I must be the only one who's able to touch a carp and eat a sandwich right after. Carp don't smell that bad...I'm sure the bait I can cook up probably smells a lot worse

when night fishing for carp, do u use a light on the tip of your rod to let you know u have a hit?

Or some other set up ?

 

thanks

splashhopper

All 3 of us have electronic bite alarms. When a fish runs, they beep and there's an LED light that flashes. We also use swingers/hangers which allow us to know if something is playing with the bait.

The lazy man's way of fishing

Great catch Nautifish! Those are real nice fish.

I know there are a few of us in the GTA dying to get out that way for some road trip carping...Cough cough Victor/Wolfville

Top Angling

Great work Marko. Loving the pics. That river looks prime for some decent carp.

In the first few pics, how deep is the water? Do you have any polarizing lens on your camera?

WTG. Congrats on your first pike

Great report and pics

The last 5yrs I’ve been on a quest to fish as many waters as I could for carp. I’ve fished the St. Lawrence, Lake Ontario + tributaries + bays, Niagara River, Grand River, Kawartha region and several in-land lakes and ponds in the GTA for carp. On Friday I decided to try Lake Simcoe tributary for carp. My only experience fishing Lake Simcoe was at the Atherly narrows in a canoe so I was pumped this trip.

I got to the swim around 8:30am. The swim itself is a muddy hell-hole. Looking at it, I didn’t think much of it till I sunk waist deep into the muck - I imagine heavier people would have gone further down. Each time i had to cast out, put my rod on the bank sticks or fight and land fish, I would have to trek through the muddy hole. The overhanging trees also made casting difficult and another reason to wade out. Glad I brought waders.

I cast my rig into the water and within minutes I’m into a small fish of about 3lbs. I released it without taking a pic.

From 9:30 to 2:30pm the action was totally dead. As soon as 2:30 came around, I was into another fish. The warm temps we experienced throughout the day turbo charged these fish – They went nuts when they were hooked and charged towards any snags they could.

I got mud all over myself charging through the reeds and muck but it’s all good.

Another fish landed

I think at the end of it all I landed about 13-14 fish and lost 4 fish to snags and hook pulls. I didn’t land any fish over 18lbs but the way they fought made up for the lack of size. My skin now feels smooth and moisturized…Probably the result of playing around in so much mud. A few of the fish I saw cruising in the shallows really did whet my appetite – They had to go at least 35lbs. From what I gather, it doesn’t seem like anyone really fishes for them up there.

Can’t wait to fish up that way again.

Hope you enjoyed

I have yet to hook a carp on a hair rig, 2nd hotdog didn't help either so the spell was broken. Lol.

For the magical hot dogs, "results may vary from person to person. Results can usually be seen in 1 to 72hrs. Side effects include obesity, fatigue and/or diarrhea"

You weren't using one of my hair rigs. For 3 easy payments of $39.95 you get 12 hair rigs with uber sharp hooks guarantied to catch fish tied in a proprietary style designed by the one and only MJL

A while back Victor planned a carping g2g for anyone who was interested in carp fishing. Today a few of us OFC members met at Port Credit.

Anton and Victor arrived at the swim at 6-6:30am. I arrived with my dad (Lazybum) at 6:40 and Andrew arrived shortly after. CLofchik swung by an hour or so later. The day started out really slow. The 25km east winds were brutal in the morning. No one had gotten any hits or line bumps. The only action that did occur happened when the wind blew Anton’s rod right into the water – we did manage to net it.

Group shot

My dad managed to snap a picture of some cool ducks that were near by.

A few hours later (probably around 10am) we decided to pack up and head upstream to a spot a few of us had caught fish in the past. Sharper met up with us there – I have no idea how he knew where we were. For a while nothing was happening. I grabbed a hotdog from the street vendor during the slow period. After finishing it my buzzer goes off

First fish of the day at 18lbs 12oz

Group pic (Top Left to Right: Anton, CLofchik, Andrew & Sharper. Bottom Left to right:Victor and MJL. Absent: Lazybum)

My dad got one shortly after around 7lbs…We didn’t get a pic…He hates touching carp

Andrew hooks into one which took him around a bridge piling

He managed to winch it free. 21lbs+

At around 2pm, we were thinking of packing up. Sharper’s rod doubles over and he’s fighting a decent sized carp

My dad, Victor, Sharper and I ended the day at around 2:30. CLofchik and Andrew stuck around for some more action. It was great to meet everyone today and despite the slow action and brutal winds, my dad and I had fun. I'm sure all the others who attended also did as well.

We have to do it again sometime!

Anglers International is bringing in a few bits and bobs of carp tackle

You can see here

http://www.topmixbaits.com/Carp%20Web%20Catalogue%202008.pdf

Here for dealers

http://www.topmixbaits.com/dealer_list.htm

I get most of my gear from friends who smuggle in over from the UK

You can get almost anything online or through mail order

I highly recommend ordering from Jeff Vaughan at the Long Sault Motel. He managed to ship my new baitrunner + other tackle from his place to mine in about 3 days. You also don't have to pay customs or additional provincial taxes which you'd otherwise pay ordering from the US.

I should be good for Saturday.

I've never fished down there. You might get some useful info from the Trout Bum Diaries II DVD if you can get a hold of a copy. They're in New Zealand fishing for browns, rainbows and some brookies (I think). From what I gather, it's not the easiest trout fishing there is but the quality of fish certainly makes up for the quantity. For fly fishing, most movies I watched recommended casting 13-15ft (minimum) leaders which is no easy task in wind...The fish are super spooky in the gin clear waters.

Good luck...Australia/New Zealand are places I would like to visit at least once in my life.

Those things are huge!

Great report TUF

Congrats

Great report and pics. Gotta agree with 1leg...Those things are gems.

I have an ultra-lite outfit I've always wanted to use for those little brookies but never got around to pursuing them...Maybe this year will be the year....You've inspired me

About 4-5 yrs ago my friends from high-school wanted to do a camping trip in Algonquin park right after the May long weekend. They have been camping only once before in summer. None of them were (still aren't) really outdoors type of people. Their plan was to do the Canoe Lake -> Big Trout Lake -> Burnt Lake route (Or something along those lines). I was up for it. None of them are really strong paddlers either and none of them really had proper rain gear (Still don't). They also never planned on the weather to be -10 degrees at night.

The weather was horrible the first day with heavy rain and ultra high winds. 2 of them in one canoe also didn't know how to paddle straight. I was comfortable in my Gore-tex gear, waterproof socks/shoes, waterproof gloves, etc...They obviously weren't. At night it dropped to -10 or so and I was relatively warm with a few layers of fleece and wool...They definitely weren't. We spent one more night at the same lake (they didn't even want to portage/paddle any further) and they had just about enough of it. We ended up going to Orillia and they went to Casino Rama while I fished Couchaching near the narrows for panfish in my canoe. We stayed at the Days Inn across the casino for a couple nights - The 2 most desperate ones of the group took the bill for the hotel.

Great report Victor...I'm guessing we'll be doing something similar on Saturday at the carping g2g

Moment of the night was when CCMT and Bly came by for a quick visit. Bly described a log which couldn't be seen in the dark close to the far bank.

Bly "There's a log over there that is excellent for holding fish"

MJL "That's not good, I casted over there"

Bly "That's great, that log holds fish underneath it"

MJL "No, I mean I think I casted over it [the log]"

I finally got to Christen my new carp rod/baitrunner combo...A graduation present I got for myself. We gotta do it again sometime this year. Road trip anyone?

Excellent report Mike

Those walleye look super tasty. Great pics and write up.

A mind blowingly orgasmic report Moosebunk

Beautiful pics. Thanks for sharing

The hard unsoaked corn will NOT harm the carp . . . . . it is ground up BEFORE it ever gets close to the carp's stomach by the big molars in the carp's throat. This also happens to zebra mussels, snails . . . . anything hard . . . . the ground up shells are expelled out through the carp's gills, and the digestible stuff goes into the gullet. However, I do boil / soak my maize, as I generally add strawberry KoolAid mix, anise or garlic to flavour it . . . . it SEEMS to bring 'em in better?

Even in its crushed state, maize along with other particles still expand. Run a batch of maize or chick peas through a food processor, soak and/or boil and it will still be much larger than it was in its dry state. Not all indigestible matter is passed through their gills as you mentioned. On the St. Lawrence and Otonabee rivers, I’ve noticed some fish passing zebra mussel shells while in the landing net. When fish are on the feed, their gill rakers can only filter so much of the stuff. In many commercial fisheries in the UK and France, particle baits have been banned because of particle bait related deaths – You are forced to use boilies and pellets. Many of the fisheries who still allow particle baits only allow you to use commercially available/already prepared baits (like the ones produced by Dynamite baits) or the ones that the bailiffs and fishery owners prepare themselves and sell to their guests.

Neither do trout..........and they're closed for the most part as well during spawning...........and I'm talkin brookies and lakers.......

 

Its all about havin a little respect.....no?

Fair point. I’m guessing brookies and lakers are very much like steelhead and salmon who strike out of aggression when they’re actually in the act of digging redds, shooting eggs and fertilizing the eggs. Essentially, males are jockeying for position to fertilize the eggs solely with their milt. TBH I don’t know very much about the behaviour of brookies and lakers. In my experience, beyond the odd specimen, carp behave differently. I don’t fish for carp who are in the act of spawning. It’s pointless. They do not have an urge to feed nor do they display the same territorial aggression that spawning salmonoids show. If you observe them, it’s generally a group orgy of eggs and milt where all the males fertilize at once. The fish that do end up taking the bait are either pre-spawn or post-spawn who have made the choice to take the bait out of hunger. The fishing at this time is no where near as easy as other times of the year because the fish in the act of the spawn are not interested or aggravated by the presence of bait.

What does the law tell us?

- Carp have no closed seasons beyond geographical limitations (like the kawarthas which open last Sat of April and close sometime in November)

- Carp have bow hunting seasons during their spawn

- You can’t snag fish (even course fishing abides by rules)

My views – My Opinions

- I’m angling for a fish in season in a place open for angling

- I’m fishing a fair distance outside of the mass orgy for carp willing to take a bait through hunger...I do not cast or bait on or close to actively spawning fish.

- To me it’s not any different from fishing for pre-spawn steelhead in any of the year round sections of rivers – Which I along with many also do as well as fishing for dropbacks.

- Carp at the end of my line stand a better chance of survival than at the business end of a bow and arrow…Which again, is legal in areas across this province during part of the spawn

- If fishing anywhere near the spawning time is immoral (which looking at how hard the fishing is I can’t really see), where do we draw the line to when it is ethically right to fish? Carp have been observed spawning in different parts of Ontario from April to August.

You may have different morals and views than I

My $0.02 CAN

Go right ahead...but like MJL said, when they are spawning they generally are not feeding. The nature of carp fishing (ie. bottom fishing) means you wont accidentally snag one either.

 

When I see all that spawning activity, I pack up and leave.....LOL

Cliff, don't be so hasty to leave. You can sometimes pick up the odd male who enjoys eating while getting it on...

This male took a few mouthfuls between spawning sessions...He got excited and left me a present on my landing net and shoes.

Also have a quick question on carp spawning. I was out on the pier last sunday and it was a gloomy rainy day. But thier were huge carp jumping around everywhere like crazy and when night rolled around you can hear the big canon balls they were making. Were they maybe jsut jumping around because their was a storm aproaching? They were doing full leaps out of the water. I first I thought maybe they were feeding on flies but it was raining so their wasn't any.

Various theories of why they jump - Some I've heard in the past:

- Females jump prior to the spawn to loosen up the roe inside

- To aid in digestion - I often see them jumping right over where I groundbaited.

- To adjust pressure of their swim bladders

- To communicate to other carp over distances

- To remove parasites from their bodies

- For fun

I personally don't know why they jump.