Urban carping - May 13/14

[MJL]

For me, May is a confusing time of year. I love fishing for steelhead as much as I do for carp. The last 3 weeks were spent pursuing steel in various Lake Ontario tributaries with some serious mileage put on the “Rustang.” I figure I deserve some form of vacation after 7 months of not fishing.

 

A few pics I thought were cool taken during my travels

 

Spawning suckers

 

These small things kept me in a state of cat-like readiness.

 

Gorgeous brown

 

And the sheer beauty of the Niagara whirlpool

 

 

Kudos to CharlieD for hooking up with me out on the Niagara whirlpool – It was my first time down there for steel. Even with the slow fishing, with his guidance I was able to get into some fish. Also have to thank Solopaddler for his tips which proved very helpful.

 

May 13

 

I decided yesterday to put the steelhead gear on standby. Beyond a few new toys I acquired in the off season, I haven’t touched any of my carp gear since last September. I found a bucket full of moldy groundbait in the garage left from since then…I decided not to use it – The cottony white fungus put me off from touching it. I had a few hours to kill so I boiled up a pot of maize and headed down to one of my local swims on the Toronto waterfront to wet a line. Got there and met DSN. No clue how it would be. Thought it was going to be slow…In the end it was.

 

Patiently waiting for a run

 

Although the action was slow, I did get into my first carp of 2008. It was the only one to be landed yesterday. It was a handful on the bank and required 2 people to restrain it – It went ballistic when we tried to unhook it.

 

It was in the neighbourhood of mid-20s’ – A female bulked up with eggs. Here’s the release

 

May 14

 

Decided to go back again today. Had lots of maize left. Chummed the area with maize and a ball of groundbait stuff DSN brought with him. Fish seemed to be cruising close in and we were fishing within 3-10ft from shore. It was chilly out with the breeze blowing over Lake Ontario which made fishing slightly uncomfortable.

 

In about 5hrs of fishing I landed 2 fish and DSN landed 1. My first fish of the day was this one.

 

 

2nd fish was a neat surprise. It had oversized fins for its body which leads me to believe it’s a carp/goldfish hybrid. Certainly different from what I’m used to catching

 

 

All fish came on maize or canned corn. Nothing touched DSN’s boilies. Where we were, the water temps were still on the cold side – We actually saw 1 moldy rainbow cruising around on the first day. The fish didn’t fight particularly hard and most of them seemed more content sunning themselves than actually eating. DSN’s 10lber managed to put up a good tussle on his short and moderately light-action rod. Getting out fishing even in slow times is a lot better than work or doing stuff around the house. Can’t wait till the long weekend. Hopefully I’ll be on a road trip with a couple of friends probing various waters for carp.

 

Hope you enjoyed

[e-z-out]

Great report MJL nice looking fish

[ccmtcanada]

Excellent report and great pics MJL! Nice work on the multi species too! Great to see other OFNers helping out as well.

 

Maybe I'll see you Friday night....we'll have to see how our day goes....

 

Later!

[nautifish]

AWESOME REPORT WAY TO GO.

[Crazyhook]

great fish guys!

[Victor]

It seems that you always have good scenery and fish pics in your reports. love'em.

 

At least you got into some fish even though it was slow, heck... at least you got to get out lol.

The 2nd fish you caught today is so cool ... any confirmation on what it actually is? or just a normal carp that hung out too much around the powerplants lol

 

Yup. Can't wait till the long weekend to get my first of 08.

[Victor]

and btw... where is dsn? ... stop hogging the spot in front of the camera Mike. You did say that he caught fish too lol... lets see his face

[tbayboy]

Some really great pictures there. Thanks for the update.

[Tinman]

Great report!

[ehg]

Great report!

That last carp sure is different, probably a hybrid as you point out.

Nice read, thanks for post.

 

ehg

[Mike the Pike]

Great report MJL as always you take great photos.

[fatherof3]

good report,congrats

[Ben_Daniels]

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/PrinceOfWhales/DSC_5186.jpg

 

Very cool pic, save that one!

 

-Ben

Edited May 15, 2008 by Ben_Daniels

[Photoz]

Decent fish . . . . as the water warms up they'll get into fighting mode more & more . . . I've been catchin' pretty good out east this week, the ones around 20 & over are still a bit lethargic, but the 10 - 15 pounder are in good form! Every year more & more people are discovering carp . . . . quite a change since I posted my first one about 5 years ago . . . . I hear gobies put up a helluva fight on light gear, eh? Then it REALLY gets interesting when a cormorant swallows yer hooked gobie! (Tryin' to start a new type of sport-fishin', eh?) Did you get the weird carp / goldfish in the lake, or in a trib? We used to often see, and even catch the odd koi at the old Lakeview plant. There was a really beautiful white koi that hung around there for a long time, then disappeared . . . . I wonder how he tasted?

[mattyk]

that one carp was nice lookin.

[007]

Great Report and Pics as always Mike. I was wondering how long it would be before you got out carping with dsn.

 

Since being back in the UK it has been brought to my attention that many of the private fisheries over here are stocking a hybrid of a Crucian Carp with a Common Carp called the F1 carp. They say it is incredibly hard fighting but doesn't grow as big as normal common carp but looks nicer! Interestingly your carp looks fairly similar to the pictures I have seen of an F1 carp. However bearing in mind I don't think Crucians have found there way to Canada and given the high number of people who dump goldfish in lakes I guess it is very unlikely to be an F1 and therefore as you say it is more likely to be a goldfish/carp hybrid. Interesting looking fish though.

 

Reports like yours are really whetting my appetite for getting out an wetting a line and catching my first fish of 2008. Just found a tackle shop near my new house, so hoping to go there this weekend to find out if there are any waters locally I can fish for free or on a day ticket without being a member of a club! Oh I long for the easy access fishing of Ontario. Hopefully I can find some good Carp, Tench, Bream and Barbel waters (to name a few).

 

Keep up the good work Mike. Look forward to your next carping adventure.

 

007

[MJL]

and btw... where is dsn? ... stop hogging the spot in front of the camera Mike. You did say that he caught fish too lol... lets see his face

 

DSN has a bad back so he couldn't do much heavy lifting. It's not my fault when people skunk or drop their fish back into the water before I take a pic...Cough cough Victor cough.

 

Did you get the weird carp / goldfish in the lake, or in a trib?

 

I caught it in a small bay that empties out into Lake O. Judging by the number of people who walk by and told us that they released their pet goldfish there, I'm pretty sure it's a goldfish/carp hybrid. The last 3yrs we've seen orange goldfish to about 18" cruising by.

 

Totally cool 007. Always wanted to catch a crucian. I don't think they're in North America yet. Too bad a lot of the waters over there are privatized. I watched a couple shows of Total Fishing with Matt Hayes and saw him fishing small agricultural run-off canals for chub. I imagine those might be free provided you get permission from the farmer. He was hauling in 4lb chub from a canal no wider than 10ft. I love the fishing in Canada. So do my friends in the UK. They don't fish much over there and save their $ on a 4-6wk long vacation here almost every year.

[wolfville]

Great report as alwyas.... hope my son's photography skill grows as fast as his DS playing skill ;-)

[lazybum]

Great report as always.... hope my son's photography skill grows as fast as his DS playing skill ;-)

 

It's the camera. Now the untold story for some balanced reporting.

 

How about the agony of defeat? This is the look of disgust after losing a fish.

 

 

The first five non-carp pics were taken on the Nikon D40. The Auto mode is very good but the other modes like Aperture and Manual are even better once you figure it out.

[snag]

Those are some great shots.

 

Cheers

[Victor]

uh now the truth comes out... you're actually fighting a snag in the 5th pic. LOL

 

"the agony of defeat" is great

[highdrifter]

You da man homey. Gooddun!

 

yyeeeee

HD