Vacation Carping - July 7-10 - Pic intensive

[MJL]

I was able to get this week off from work. The project I was working on ended last Friday and the big boss told us to take a break after the terrific job we did. With that said, during the weekend I prepped some bait (mostly particles), sorted out my tackle, tied up rigs and gathered up various bits and bobs of terminal tackle I had laying around in my bedroom. I had absolutely no plan of where I wanted to hit Monday. Sunday night at 11pm I decide to hit the Toronto islands in the morning.

Monday

I left the house at 6:10am - a little later than usual - my house keys were playing hide and seek with me. I managed to reach the docks just in time for the 8:15am ferry. While waiting for the ferry to disembark across the harbour, I catch glimpse of this below

 

 

It was grazing on algae with reckless abandon. Perhaps this could be a sign for what the day will bring me.

 

View from the ferry. I never tire of the Toronto skyline.

 

I wandered aimlessly looking for cruising fish in some of the canals and bays. The canals and bays that were loaded with hundreds of fish 3 weeks ago were now almost completely devoid of all but a few stragglers. I stopped to fish the main channel that runs through the Islands. The dozen or so fish which I saw cruise by did so without regard for my bed of bait just below. The only thing that was feeding was this swan which continued to munch up my loose fed maize and seed mix. It hissed at me when I tried to scare it with the net.

 

 

I spent 5 hours watching fish go up and down the channel. Occasionally one would stop for a quick mouthful of food before continuing on. At 2pm I had enough. I packed up and headed to another canal.

 

Upon my arrival at the new spot, I accidentally spooked two carp which were indeed vacuuming up the bottom next to a weed-line. I baited up along the “carp highway” and kept a low profile on the bank.

 

Tips pointed at the bait. Slack lines all the way!

 

My first fish came at 3:15pm. It hit twin chick peas on a hair. 16lbs 8oz of sheer delight!

There were several dozen fish in this canal. Like the fish in the main channel, these fish were more interested in cruising up and down atop the thick weeds and sunning themselves. At 7:45pm while I was packing up for home, the alarm shrieks and I’m finally into another one. This one fought like a demon possessed and gave me a proper battle.

 

 

Left the islands for home at 8:15pm with a slightly lighter back pack and a carpy smelling net

 

Tuesday

I had access to the car and in the afternoon and I hit up a local swim which I haven’t fished for 6 years. The ministry totally drained the lake a while back and from what other anglers have told me, it’s slowly getting back to how it was before. I opted to leave the heavy carp gear at home and instead took with me my float rod, an assortment of small hooks and shot, waggler floats in various sizes and a can of Pescaviva sweet corn (Tutti Fruity). I haven’t float fished for carp the last 3-4 years and was hoping to try it again.

 

Watching for dips and lifts on the float.

 

First fish of the session

 

Biggest fish of the session

 

It was quite fun fishing for these tiddlers and will probably have another go at them in the future.

 

Wednesday

 

Didn’t have a car so I headed to another local swim to see what the action was like. Caught the 6:15am bus and took it to the subway, took the subway a few stops and hopped onto another bus. Got off the bus at 7:15am and walked a KM to the swim. Upon my arrival I see a mass orgy of carp splashing and chasing each other. Cr@p!

 

I decided to try it out even with the prospect that I probably would have to sit and watch fish porn for most of the day.

 

Some fish porn

 

 

Spent a couple hours watching fish chase one another. At one point I had to return 2 carp back to the water which stranded themselves on shore. I had tons of liners but couldn’t see any fish actively feeding. I packed up and walked to another swim which wasn’t too far away.

 

Watching for fish activity

 

Unfortunately fish at this swim were also spawning and paid no attention to my baits. Spent 2hrs waiting and finally packed up and headed to a third swim.

 

Fish were also spawning at this swim however there were 10-12 fish actively feeding in the margins very close to shore. Tails were up and they were clouding the water quite a bit. I tossed in a handful of maize 5ft out to see their reaction to the bait…There was none. They continued to feed tight to the shore ignoring the bed of bait behind them. I believe they were feeding on their own eggs which were laid on the rocks in the margins. I put my hookbait tight to the shore line in 1ft of water and waited to see if they’d notice it. I used a single grain of maize + 1 rubber corn for my own visibility. After watching a number of fish pass by and feed around it I got one fish to take at 12:30pm – About bloody time!

 

 

Managed to land 1 more fish around 14lbs as I was packing up for home at 3pm. Had to leave for home earlier than I wanted to due to another commitment. Another tough and grueling day but hooking into the 2 fish made me forget about all the time I spent waiting.

 

Friday

At 7am my dad and I decided to hit either the Bay of Qunite or Niagara whirlpool. We ended up hitting the whirlpool – Sorry Jerry, totally forgot to message you in the mad scramble to pack the car.

 

After having such a slow week I wasn’t expecting much. I love the whirlpool for its sheer beauty and of course its carp which usually put up a stellar fight. We arrived at the parking lot at 10:15am and walked down the path with 40lbs worth of water, food, bait and tackle.

 

View of the path. Not looking forward to making the trip back up.

 

I’ve fished the whirlpool four times before for carp and steelhead and I’m still at awe with the scenery.

 

We set up our gear and patiently waited for a run

 

6000 Thunnus and her big sister

 

10 minutes of waiting my dad’s rod doubles over and he’s into a fish.

 

Unfortunately he loses it but my rod goes off after a minute or two and I land it

 

Another long and very slender torpedo which put up an amazing fight.

 

We only fished for 4hrs. In total my dad and I landed around 25 fish – a couple of those being large channel cats like this one which fell to pineapple flavoured baits. This one is my dad's fish. I unhooked it and set it free.

 

 

My dad and I had several double headers. The last 2 carp we caught was a double header and both fish proceeded to swim around one another till they tangled up. We ended up winching both in. Though most of the fish we landed were small (6-12lbs), we both got into a couple larger fish just over 15lbs. Fish came to maize, rubber corn, chick peas and jumbo corn. I even had several fish take the hook bait as soon as it hit bottom. It’s challenging fishing in the heavy current – especially in snaggy water – but it sure feels like bliss when you do hook into a fish. I’m dying to get back there again.

 

My legs and back are aching – they were aching before I went down to the whirlpool. According to the scale, I lost 5lbs this week with all the exercise from hiking around. Despite the trials of having put a lot of time on the bank for so few fish, I can’t think of a better way to spend my vacation time. Resting up today...Who knows what this weekend will bring?

 

Hope you enjoyed

Edited July 11, 2008 by MJL

[wolfville]

Guess Whirlpool is the place to go in this tough time for carping. Very nice write up and thanks for sharing.

[mepps]

Awesome stuff!

[ccmtcanada]

More great carp adventures! Spawning is abound in our area too, so not much to show for the last few outings.

 

Great report and pcis as usual MJL...it's real dedication on your part to lug all that gear around on public transportation to get to your fishing holes. Well done!

[The Urban Fisherman]

sweeeeeeet - you're making me want to hang up the bass gear and hook into some carp tomororw morning!

 

cheers,

UF

[fishnsled]

MJL - That was a great report. Those cats must have be a great surprise! Being completely new to this carp thing, I'm finding it quite enjoyable. (Sorry Wayne.) Back to some simple and relaxing fishing, a great way to spend a few hours. Thanks for the report.

[Greencoachdog]

Great report and pics!!!

 

Those Whirlpool fish are skinnier because they get lotsa exercise swimming in the current!

 

What size and type of hook do you prefer for fishing corn and chick peas?

[tibbs]

Fantastic Report!

 

Looks like you had a blast!

[jdmls]

Awesome Job.....Those 4 hour waiting periods with no fish are so discuraging !!

[sharper]

Great Report MJL!!! Never knew there were channel cats that big at the whirlpool I guess I should make another trip there soon.

[jediangler]

That sounds like a great week to me. Thanks for sharing your report and pics.

[Uncle Buck]

careful with aiming your rod down towards the rod in the pod...

if you get a good hit/run, you could loose it...

 

great job!!

[ehg]

Those Whirlpool fish are skinnier because they get lotsa exercise swimming in the current!

I was thinking the samething. Great report!

Edited July 11, 2008 by ehg

[MJL]

Great report and pics!!!

 

What size and type of hook do you prefer for fishing corn and chick peas?

 

For most of my carping, I use hair rigs tied with hooks size 6-10 (6 for snaggy/weedy/heavy current waters and 8-10 for most of my general fishing). I use carp hooks made by Kamasan....Mostly a confidence thing for me. They're beefier than the Octopus style of hooks made by Gamakatsu or VMC and they're sticky sharp.

 

Example of one of my rigs.

[tbayboy]

Nice report. Sure sounds like a fun week to me even with the pauses. Beats being in the office that's for sure.

[lazybum]

It was a fantastic both fishing and weather-wise. For the longest while we had the whirlpool just to ourselves. Nobody else around other than the tourists in the cable car above.

[Marko]

Great fish man!!

how heavy was your sinker when fished whirlpool, its absolutely beautiful.

[MJL]

Great fish man!!

how heavy was your sinker when fished whirlpool, its absolutely beautiful.

 

Thanks

 

We were using leads that were 4-6oz in weight to hold bottom. In the past I found anything lighter tended to drift into snags or get kicked up when the jet-boat came through.

[Victor]

Amazing report Mike!

 

The whirlpool is beautiful indeed, we gotta head down there sometime this year!