Carp Southern Style

[hammercarp]

Hello

This is my first post on this forum. I like to fish for carp and I like to explore different techniques for catching them. In the hopes of one day catching a real biggie.

In my quest for a 40lb+ carp I have made some great discoveries. One being a carp fishing club which gave me access to a world of information on pursueing my favourite quarry. Part of that, was discovering that there is a long tradition of fishing carp in the southern states.( they don't just fish bass there) It has become known as paylaking and it's practioners paylakers. They are a skilled bunch of anglers. They have to be, because they fish for money. There are many private lakes, ponds really, in the southern states where you can pay to fish for a variety of fish including carp. They are run as kind of an on going tournament where there are cash prizes periodically paid out. Of course you have to pay in to win. Some offer prizes of $250 every 15 minutes for the biggest fish. A grand an hour aint bad money.

The part of this that has intrigued me was that they had developed their own style of angling. It has dedicated equipment and there own terminology that is quite different from the eurostyle tackle that is starting to show up in tackle shops here.

This year I decided to give it a try. I purchased a 6 ft. one piece Ugly Stick, an Ambassadeur 6000 baitcaster, some 12lb test Red Cajun line and some 1/0 Owner hooks. A 3/4 oz. egg sinker, a B sized split shot and a float stop round out the tackle. You also need some bank sticks or a stand/pod to hold the rod.

 

The rod set up

 

Next is the bait, which is the unique feature of this technique. You need a pick up and some pack. The pick-up facilitates putting the hook into the carps mouth as it noses through the pack. A wide variety of things can and have been used for pick-ups. Puffed cereals, wooden and plastic beads, pieces of foam or disposable ear plugs, bits of soft plastic worms and a whole lot of other stuff has been used on the hook. The pack ( it's called a pack because you pack it around your hook) is made of various stuff like oats, ground corn ( grits in the south) rice and other grains they are held together by binders such as molasses, corn syrup and others.

 

The rig with pick up

 

The rig with pack over the hook

 

You set up your rig as shown in the photos. Cast in, pull the line tight to set it up right and then put a little slack in the line. Put it in free spool with the clicker on( this is very important if you want to have a rod left at the end of the day) The whole key to this technique is that the pack will begin to crumble apart once it settles on the bottom. When it breaks down enough the pick-up will emerge from the pile and sit just on top of it or just above it.

Now when the carp comes along and begins to poke around your bait, it will suck up the pick-up and then the fun starts.

I set up mine with a sliding egg sinker ( like a running rig) with a stop about two inches up the line. This will drive the hook point in after the carp discovers something is wrong and begins to shake its head to try and dislodge the hook. The carp will then bolt and the clicker on your reel will scream. Fish-on!

In about a three hour session I managed 5 fish .

 

Here is one of them

 

Since I am just learning this style of fishing and make adjustments as i go I am very pleased with the results so far. If you want to check out this style of carp fishing PM me and I'll be happy to help you out.

[Greencoachdog]

That was a very good report and pics HC!!!

 

We call that a Wheaties rig down here in the deep South, because they use Wheaties cereal for the pack... it's also the breakfast of Carp champions to yanno!

[Beans]

Very informative first report Lorne...

 

Reminds me of a British friend of ours that likes to bury his hair rig into his ground bait ball on his method feeder or puts it in his PVA bag so that it is right in the mix when it breaks down...

 

Again, welcome to OFC...

[bigugli]

Good report. You presented sone neat information and was easy to read.

[MJL]

Great write-up Lorne. The business end of the rig doesn't look all that different from what I used years ago as a kid...I've moved onto other rigs but thinking back, it was simple and very effective.

 

See you at the Can/Am in 19 days. Earlier if we run into each other at Hammy Harbour

[hammercarp]

Great write-up Lorne. The business end of the rig doesn't look all that different from what I used years ago as a kid...I've moved onto other rigs but thinking back, it was simple and very effective.

 

See you at the Can/Am in 19 days. Earlier if we run into each other at Hammy Harbour

 

Hey MJL , It is interesting that before I got into the euro stuff I used to fish dough directly on the hook and I would also use a lighter dough over it that was meant to break down. Kinda like parallel evolution. These guys down south have refined it to an art. They can tell you to within a few seconds how long it will take for the pack to break down to expose the pick up. They also vary the composition of the pack depending on time of year and water temp. I suppose the competive nature of paylakes has driven them to refine the technique.

 

Looking forward to the Can/Am too. We lost Jackel due to work, that is a shame because he has a lot of experience on the St. Lawrence.

 

See you out there.

[Bly]

Nice write up. Welcome to OFC and good luck at the Can/Am!

[Leecher]

Great report and pics hammercarp

Welcome to OFC and thanks for sharing

Leechman

[Victor]

Great informative post Lorne!

 

It really sucks how school has begun and I'm all the way in Waterloo ... I really wanted to go to the Can/AM.

[MJL]

Looking forward to the Can/Am too. We lost Jackel due to work, that is a shame because he has a lot of experience on the St. Lawrence.

 

See you out there.

 

Most of Team Canada has fished the St. Lawrence before. We already catch more fish than the Americans and we only need one rod to do it.

 

It really sucks how school has begun and I'm all the way in Waterloo ... I really wanted to go to the Can/AM.

 

I thought by now your profs would've told you they don't expect you to show up on Fridays. GET WITH THE PROGRAM VIC!

[bassjnkie]

Great report Lorne, I can see Southern style carp is working for you. WTG!!

[hammercarp]

It is a very effective technique. I have out fished other guys fishing floats and ledgering a couple of times now. It does have limitations like any other type of angling. I would not fish paylaker style where there is a lot of gobies as they will rip the pick-up off in a few minutes. Long distance casting is a big problem and so is heavy current. I won't be fishing the Can Am Carp Cup on the St. Lawrence river paylaker style that's for sure.

I thought it would be cool to introduce it here on this forum because it probably is not known and everyone thinks that it's either canned corn on the hook or the 12 ft. rods on a pod.

Fly fishing for carp is also starting to gain some recogniton as well. Maybe next year I'll post about that.

I am hoping more people will come to see that you don't have to wait 11 months of the year or sink many thousands of dollars into a BM&T in oder catch big hard fighting fish.