largefish

I tried both St. Croix Premier and Shimano Compre spinning rods, and in the end got a 1-piece 7' St. Croix Premier medium power rod. Both rods weigh pretty much the same and have nice tip action, except that St. Croix Premier's tip action was a little more controlled. I also tried Abu Garcia's rods, and they were all too stiff. The positive thing I found about them is they look cool, but I'm not looking to win the award for the prettiest rod, but to catch fish. Hold the Verdict in one hand and St. Croix Premier or Shimano Compre in the other and you'll see a major difference in sensitivity. If you're looking for a good spinning reel, Pflueger has some nice new models which are very lightweight.

In Europe, carp meat is still served in restaurants. Check out carp soup, it tastes great and I ate it on several occasions when I was younger. It is usually served as a traditional dish for Christmas in several countries in Europe. Most people here don't eat them since there are other better tasting fish that have less bones. Also, many people consider them 'dirty' since they feed off the bottom but you can consider trout to be a dirty fish since they eat flies, insects, and worms - none of which sound very appetizing. I would say my favourites from the fish I tried are Sea Bass and trout. I found this link with the best fish to eat according to people's votes: "http://www.faqs.org/shareranks/1716,Best-Eating-Fish"

My father caught twice as many carp as me and he is fishing with an 8' rod that is 20 years old, made of fiberglass that I got when I was a kid from my grandfather. He reeled in a 16 lb. carp with it without a hitch. I'm fishing with a 12' Wychwood carp rod which costs half of what that St. Croix rod costs and I caught a 25 lb. carp with it. The Wychwood rod has a great feel to it and is very light. According to you, you are a 'serious' carp guy only if you own a $300 rod. You have not even tried the St. Croix rod, so how do you know that it is better than some other rods that are cheaper? Just because something has a logo from a popular company on it does not make it better or worth spending more money.

It's funny how in the past Bass Pro had no carp rods at all and now they have one that costs a fortune. St. Croix has the right idea by offering such rods for the North American market as more people are getting into carp fishing in North America, but at that price, it looks like they think they can take advantage of having little competition over here. They do look like quality rods looking at the description, but I would never spend that much money on a rod unless it was made of gold or I had money to throw away.

Haha, sorry I cannot change my username and I was not going to create a new one. You can have LittleCarp as I'm pretty sure nobody wants that username. I know where I can catch the carp, that's not a problem, but I don't want to sit for 3 hours in the cold if you know what I mean. It takes sometimes an hour to get your first bite, especially when the carp are less active like now when the water is cold. Some people can endure the cold for extended periods of time without any problems but I know I would get sick the first time I would try it. I can't wait for the warmer weather to come.

Hi Stephen, I'm the one who bought the Wychwood rod, the rod pod, and and the Daiwa reels from you in October. I found out about your website through this forum. I also sent you the pictures of my father and I and the carp we caught that you posted on your website. We met Jeff Turner and it was great talking to him. We have not fished lately as we've been busy and it is cold outside, but as soon as the spring comes, we will be back for some more carp action. There is nothing better than reeling in a nice big carp. I used to be a big fan of bass and pike fishing, but after trying carp fishing, I was hooked.

Thank you so much MJL. Those 2 websites that you gave me have exactly what I needed. I already ordered the rod, reels, rod holder, and line from one of those websites. I knew that this forum was the only place where I can find such information. I think that you already replied to one of my carp posts last year (I never got to go carp fishing that year. ) so I thought I would come back and see if you are still on this forum. Thanks again, much appreciated.

Where can I buy a rod and reel for carp fishing in Canada? I checked Bass Pro Shops' website and they have an 11' catfish rod and a reel combo (Bass Pro Shops® CatMaxx™ Spinning Rod and Reel Combo - CM80 Reel/CMX110HS-2 Rod) that would work for around $100, but it would take 2 weeks to ship it from the U.S.A. I also checked Cabela's site and they have some catfish rod that is 10' long but needs to be placed on backorder. At their site, they don't even have a reel suitable for carp fishing. For those of you that fish carp and catfish, where do you get your rods and reels? I'm looking for a 10-12 ft. heavy action rod and a larger reel that can take a 25 lb. line without any problems.

Same thing happened to us 3 years ago. We went on a vacation to Bayfield in the summer for a week and brought all of our fishing gear thinking how we will catch lots of fish. We did not have a boat so we were fishing form the shore. We only caught a few little fish and that was it. In the end, we just gave up. The water level in the rivers was very low and the water was pretty clear. We heard from local fishermen that you can catch bigger fish (like a lake trout and larger perch) but only in the deeper waters of Lake Huron using a boat.

Not sure if this is true everywhere, but here, most smaller bait and tackle shops charge more for the same products. Since they sell less products, they raise the prices to make up for the lack of sales volume. They do however have some things that you cannot find at CT or Walmart like a 12 ft. Shakespeare rod. Most of them can also place orders for you if you want something more specific.

I will keep in mind that one as well. It seems it's more expensive at Canadian Tire. They sell it for $60 on their website and Walmart seems to sell it for $50. I will visit Walmart first and check their price and if they have it in stock.

Someone posted in the review section that their cork handle cracked after a short while of using it. I'm concerned about its quality and durability. They now sell it at 50% off - it was $80.

That seems like a good rod for crankbait and spinnerbait - medium action, 6 ft. I will check how it feels in my hand if it is in stock. No, we don't have LeBaron's here. I live in Windsor, Ontario.

I already have the reel. I just need the rod. I know that combos are cheaper, but then the quality of the rod/reel is poorer.

I just wanted to see what spin casting rod is good for under $50. I need to replace my two Mitchell rods. Some of the guides broke, actually the inside linings broke on both of them so now the line does not pass smoothly through them. Also, I got some new braid line and don't want to damage it on the sharp edges of the damaged guides. I don't have a Bass Pro Shop nor Cabela's here in my area. I'm thinking of going to Canadian Tire or Walmart to look for the rod. I'm planning on catching large and smallmouth bass and maybe a pike or two using crankbaits and spinnerbaits. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

You're going for largemouth bass? I think the season for them is over. We went over the weekend to a spot where we caught some nice-sized bass a few months ago and not a single bite. We used different types of spinners and colors, and still nothing. I think that all the bigger bass moved to the deeper water and we were fishing close to shore. We did see some small bass swimming around but those are still babies. Maybe if we had a boat we would have had more success. In the summer, largemouth bass is much more aggressive and closer to shore. Nice colors choices though. I found that I caught the most bass on the white Booyah spinnerbait and not so much on the green one.

How do you have the heart to put it on the ground? LOL You need to wrap it in a blanket. What's up with these rods that don't have the whole handle corked, but just a part of it? Is the economy that bad that they're saving on cork? Or, it makes the rod lighter, but then again cork is a pretty light material?

No, not much fish on that river, especially when the water-level is low. I've been there a few years ago, and caught very little fish even though we tried different methods and lures. It was very shallow. The only method we did not try was fly fishing. We saw a couple of beavers though. They would stop and wait every time for us to take our line out so that they would pass by. They were building a dam next to the golf course.

I've been to Pinery Provincial Park 2 weeks ago and fished the Old Ausable Channel. We caught a variety of sunfish, hundreds probably on worms and small spinners. Some nice-sized sunfish may I add. We also caught lots of small perch (a few medium-sized ones), bass and catfish. Since we spent a lot of time at the channel, we could see large mouth bass pass by, and some very nice samples: over 3 pounds. However, they were I guess too experienced and would not bite any of our spinnerbaits. We also saw a pike in front of us in the shallow, but would not bite. The biggest thing for me was seeing a large bowfin right in front of me - never saw that fish before, especially not that close. We fished from the shore almost every day for 7 days. I think we 'overfished' since now I do not even want to go fishing anymore. You just have to be patient and you'll catch fish. The 1st day we did not catch much except small sunfish, but then we changed our hooks (to smaller ones) and bait/lures and tried different spots from the shore and caught some nice-sized sunfish as well as other species. If you have a boat, I guess you would do even better. We were with a dog and did not have our own boat. Placing the dog in a canoe just would not work very well.

Which cut are you referring to? Can you mark the spot on Google maps? Thank you.

Can someone suggest some good spots to go fishing from the shore around Pinery Provincial Park and Grand Bend? I'm leaving tomorrow to go camping.

Seal it! I'm sealing mine in a few days. I already bought the transparent sealing solution and it's just waiting to be applied. We got a new driveway 2 years ago, and it started looking like crap. The winter weather and rain have made it erode a little and become brittle. Our neighbor applied a sealer as soon as he got his driveway and his driveway still looks almost like new.

Shimano has good rods for a low price. I got 2 Shimano Stimula 7' fast action, medium power rods at Walmart for $20 each. They're pretty versatile, I've even used them for float fishing. So yes, you can get yourself a good rod for under $40. Of course it is not something spectacular, but it does its job well without costing you a fortune and that's all I care about. Why do people here hate Canadian Tire? lol I see many jokes about the name like Cambodian Tire, and others. Canadian Tire has good deals sometimes on different items, so I do go there from time to time after checking the flyer. The store does not look great inside, but hey, who cares, it is not supposed to look like a shopping mall boutique.

Look at him go...not! Actually, it was the camera guy's boat that caused the wave that almost flipped his boat. Or maybe he just wanted to see how it feels to ride the wave?

Yes, there is. Here are some Google Images of it: http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&...sa=N&tab=wi After I described the fish I almost caught to my friend, he told me it was a Gar Pike so I went online to check if that is the fish, and sure enough that was the fish. I'm not sure what other lakes have it and if anyone else caught it.