The Urban Fisherman Posted July 20, 2008 Report Share Posted July 20, 2008 (edited) OFC - 2008 Tourney....EVERY INCH COUNTS!!! ok seriously...... The plan this weekend was to finally get out for some carpin'. First off I was going to hit the water for 4 a.m. and see if I could get an early morning bite. Woke up at 3:40 a.m. to thunder and lightning. Waited it out until about 5 when the storm subsided and off I went to try my hand at carp fishing in my little lake. Runnin' down the lake in my tooner! lol @ 3 MPH it takes a while to run from one end of the lake to the other! Finally got the camera mount finished though. First cast - my didn't even hit the bottom of the lake and my line starts going sideways - holy CRAP....I set the hook, zzzzziiiiiinnnnggggg line starts peeling off, not even two minutes in SNAP! Leader (12lb FrogHair Fluoro) breaks. I was worried this would happen, there's giant carp everywhere in this area, but there's also sunken tree's everywhere. So, I go 0 for 3 and decided to try strait braid! The wait: 1 hour goes by, not even a sniff....No way...... carp are dumb aren't they? The bite must have passed..... Let's try the fluoro leader again and see what happens. Re-tie, cast, not even 5 minutes goes by zzzzzzzziiiiiinnnnnnggggggg SNAP!!!!!! Back to the strait braid - NOTHING!!!! Fiance call's WHERE THE HECK ARE YOU WE HAVE A WEDDING AT OUR HOUSE IN TWO WEEKS AND WE'RE STILL RENOVATING!?!?!?!?!? "ok but the carp are whopin' my butt hunny...I'll be home shortly. Re-tie fluro one last time....Guess what? cast - wait not even five mintues, good bite....zzziiinnngg SNAP..... Grand total for the day was 0 for 5 on the rod and 1 baby that was netted and brought home for the pond. So, are carp as stupid as I thought? NOPE! Has anybody ever fished carp in area's with heavy tree cover, and if so could I catch them with 50 to 80lb Fluoro leaders, or is it pointless? I fished them in the thames on 10lb mono, never broke off....today I was using 30lb Braid, with 12lb Fluoro leaders and broke off every fish....Drag was a little on the tight side, but loose enough for them to pull the line without breaking off. I'm positive they broke off on tree's. At least my daughter has a new pet for our backyard pond! Cheers, UF Edited July 22, 2008 by Spiel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greencoachdog Posted July 20, 2008 Report Share Posted July 20, 2008 (edited) You may want to reconsider your drag setting if you're getting that many break offs... or step up to a 15 lb. leader or more. Keep experimenting with leader sizes, maybe go up to 25 lb. and if no bites back off to 20. Edited July 20, 2008 by Greencoachdog Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Urban Fisherman Posted July 20, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 20, 2008 You may want to reconsider your drag setting if you're getting that many break offs. Yeah I know but there's tree's everywhere, big fallen and sunken tree's....my drag was looser for the first two, but on the hookset they just bolted strait into the tree's and wrapped me up.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greencoachdog Posted July 20, 2008 Report Share Posted July 20, 2008 Yeah I know but there's tree's everywhere, big fallen and sunken tree's....my drag was looserfor the first two, but on the hookset they just bolted strait into the tree's and wrapped me up.... Dumb ol' fish!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJL Posted July 20, 2008 Report Share Posted July 20, 2008 Ditch the Froghair leaders. I've never had positive experiences with the stuff. I've used it in 4lb all the way up to 15lb and IMO it's just as bad as Berkley Vanish. I found Froghair fluorocarbon (and the mono) leader materials had poor abrasion resistance and poor knot strength (I always lubricate the knots with saliva). If I'm using fluorocarbon as a hair rig material, I use Seagar and P-Line in 15-25lb - Never had a problem with either. I have found that in some areas I fish - especially in clear water and highly pressured from other anglers - carp sometimes spook at the sign of braided mainlines and/or leaders...Ironically they don't seem to mind when it hangs vertically when I'm float fishing. For a lot of my fishing near fallen trees, submerged shopping carts, submerged picnic tables and bridge pilings, I use 50-65lb PowerPro mainlines combined with rigs tied with 20lb mono/Fluoro or 20-30lb braid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
splashhopper Posted July 20, 2008 Report Share Posted July 20, 2008 For a lot of my fishing near fallen trees, submerged shopping carts, submerged picnic tables and bridge pilings, I use 50-65lb PowerPro mainlines combined with rigs tied with 20lb mono/Fluoro or 20-30lb braid. MJL.. u GOTTA get out of the city brother! Come on down to London anytime and i will take you to a GREAT carp river with NO "accessories". lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Urban Fisherman Posted July 20, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 20, 2008 Ditch the Froghair leaders. I've never had positive experiences with the stuff. I've used it in 4lb all the way up to 15lb and IMO it's just as bad as Berkley Vanish. I found Froghair fluorocarbon (and the mono) leader materials had poor abrasion resistance and poor knot strength (I always lubricate the knots with saliva). If I'm using fluorocarbon as a hair rig material, I use Seagar and P-Line in 15-25lb - Never had a problem with either. I have found that in some areas I fish - especially in clear water and highly pressured from other anglers - carp sometimes spook at the sign of braided mainlines and/or leaders...Ironically they don't seem to mind when it hangs vertically when I'm float fishing. For a lot of my fishing near fallen trees, submerged shopping carts, submerged picnic tables and bridge pilings, I use 50-65lb PowerPro mainlines combined with rigs tied with 20lb mono/Fluoro or 20-30lb braid. Awesome MJL - Thanks for the tips dude. I figured as much but I was hoping one of you carp experts would be able to shed some light on the matter. I was concerned that I was going to go out and buy a $20.00 spool of heavy leader material and the fish would be spooked by it as well. There's absolutely NO fishing pressure on the carp in this lake but it's almost always crystal clear. I actually had 2 carp hit my bait (corn) on the drop. SLASHHOPPER - no lack of carp action in London dude...I went to fanshawe and lived downtown. It was like a 3 year party/fishing holiday.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ccmtcanada Posted July 20, 2008 Report Share Posted July 20, 2008 Where BLy and I carp fish, there used to be a huge sunken tree and assorted other items in the water. If we could get them past that tree it was fine. We ended up using 30lb power pro mainline with 20lb power pro leaders. We literally horsed them past the snags and it seems to work just fine for us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJL Posted July 21, 2008 Report Share Posted July 21, 2008 For a lot of my fishing near fallen trees, submerged shopping carts, submerged picnic tables and bridge pilings, I use 50-65lb PowerPro mainlines combined with rigs tied with 20lb mono/Fluoro or 20-30lb braid.MJL.. u GOTTA get out of the city brother! Come on down to London anytime and i will take you to a GREAT carp river with NO "accessories". lol At the moment southern Ontario is my playground. Already have the Thames and a couple lakes down that way on my to-fish list. Urban Fisherman, I think that tiddler you caught might actually be a species of quillback instead of a carp. There's something not carpy about that dorsal fin. A rare catch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ehg Posted July 21, 2008 Report Share Posted July 21, 2008 Urban Fisherman, I think that tiddler you caught might actually be a species of quillback instead of a carp. A rare catch. I think MJL is correct that is a quillback. A very rarely caught fish in Ontario related closer to suckers than carp. Considered a carnivore feeding on insects not vegetation. That is its average size, they aren't big. Cool fish, ehg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Urban Fisherman Posted July 21, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 21, 2008 (edited) CCMT - yeah trying to horse a 20lb carp on 12lb test froghair leaders wasn't exactly top notch thinking! lol But it's all part of living in the country - not like I can just skip on over to 1 of 5 crappy tires within 10 minutes of my house. buuummmeeerrrrrrr..Ginny likes it because it keeps my spending to a minimum.....I've since discovered internet shopping... Edited July 21, 2008 by The Urban Fisherman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Urban Fisherman Posted July 21, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 21, 2008 huh, could be a quillback guys. I've never even heard of them before. Although my little specimen has a more "carp-esque" mouth on him.... I had a half dozen tiny 2" carp in my fish tank a couple years back and they looked alot like this guy. Very silver when they're juvies. And they were like miniature aquarium vac's - kept the bottom spotless...until they became lunch for one of my other fish.... I'll let you's know in the spring he happens to double in size Thanks for the tips guys - I think i'm going to try 65lb Braid as a main-line and 40lb fluoro for a leader. Next day out is going to be my wedding day (aug. 2nd) with my old man and brother. I'll be a Carper in the morning and a husband in the afternoon...any tips for that one? Cheers, UF Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Posted July 21, 2008 Report Share Posted July 21, 2008 I can't believe you actually got them to bite in there! My friend's dad used to fish off the right side of the beach from shore and catch them. I've never got them to bite, especially from the boat. So you're definitely doing something right. As for the trees - try a baitcaster next time. Experienced carpers will advise against it, but it's the only way I've been able to land them around heavy cover like that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Urban Fisherman Posted July 21, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 21, 2008 I can't believe you actually got them to bite in there! My friend's dad used to fish off the right side of the beach from shore and catch them. I've never got them to bite, especially from the boat. So you're definitely doing something right. As for the trees - try a baitcaster next time. Experienced carpers will advise against it, but it's the only way I've been able to land them around heavy cover like that. dude it was crazy - they were smashing it with the fluoro leader. Like I said twice they hit it on the drop (like throwing a flippin' jig for largies). I couldn't believe they wouldn't touch my bait with strait braid. I found a wicket spot to...they're ALWAYS staked in there but the tree's are frustrating.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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