getting ready for carp and channel cat...

[ch312]

for the last few years i have been using 15lb mono for these critters and have lost the odd fish here and there from the mono getting chewed up on rocks/trees. i picked up some 50lb power pro on sale at fishing world just because it was cheap i was thinking this would be a very tough line, but what about dealing with snags?

 

i was thinking of using the following in order from the rod to hook:

 

1oz egg sinker

plastic bead

heavy swivel

2ft of mono

circle hook

 

what im worried about is getting the egg sinker hung up between 2 rocks and not being able to break the power pro. what test braid would be good for a main line? what would be best for a leader?

[mbosh1980]

If push comes to shove you should be able to break 50lb line. Just wrap it a bunch of times around your plier handles (not your hand!) and give it a pull. It will likely break where the egg singer has been rubbing the line or failing that the knot. I repeat, do not wrap the line around your hand.

Edited March 22, 2010 by mbosh1980

[bassjnkie]

For snaggy areas with rocks of tree clutter, I use 30Lb PP. 50Lb will do just fine, It's not that hard to break it, a couple wraps around the handle and make sure to pull straight back with the tip pointing at the sinker. Most of the time with the pulling the egg sinker will pop out of the rocks.

[brifishrgy]

Instead of an egg sinker on the main line .. I use a swivel attached to a 4" piece of 6 lb mono and a bank sinker .. the swivel slides on the mainline like the egg sinker but if it gets hung up you only loose the sinker and not the hook .. plus if your sinker is stuck and get a fish on you could get hung up and it would only break off the sinker

[uglyfish]

u have the rite set up. its what i use. except the power pro... i hate that crap. lol. but 50lb braid, 1-3oz slip sinker depending how current

is flowing. then a good swivel, about 18inches of 20-25lb mono or flouro, then a 5/0 circle hook.

 

fishing on bottom with a heavy weight ur BOUND to get snagged. its gonna happen. i go days without snagging once or losing any gear... then i go one day and find myself retying every 20 minutes.

 

u have the rite set up. what are u using for a rod and reel?

 

and where do u plan on fishing for them big kitties?

[ch312]

i broke my normal rod, so im going to try something different this year. its a 2 piece 10' abu garcia conolon xc 100m hellbender. not sure what its actual purpose is, but it should work nice for making long casts with heavy rigs. id love to hear what this rod is meant for. my buddy gave me it with no information about it.

 

ill be using an old shimano tx 130 spinning reel that has a rear "fighting" drag. its old and its ugly, but its a bigger reel with a nice smooth drag. as you can tell, im not the type that must have new and nice looking gear to catch fish

 

im sure ill hear it for using a spinning reel on a bait casting rod

[The Urban Fisherman]

Well I don't use your run of the mill set up for carp, but it works perfect for me.

 

7'6" heavy action Shimano Crucial paired up with a Shimano Chronarch and 50lb Braid. As for line, I like that idea about the swivel with the lighter line, but I've always just used an egg sinker. I've never gotten the sinker snagged, just the hook, which will straiten out before you break 50lb braid. I fish carp in stumpy, muddy, tree filled water and haven't had a break off on the braid. That being said, if you're fishing them around zebra mussels you might want to use some good Fluorocarbon as those things will shear right though braided line!

 

Never fished the kitties myself, but would like to at some point. For carp, I just fill the hook right up with canned corn.

 

Good Luck,

Ryan

[uglyfish]

should get ya by just fine bud! i use an abu garcia C3 6501 reel and a 7'6" med/hvy st croix premier muskie rod, and a abu C3 5601 reel and a 7' heavy action diawa rod. but ive used bass rods, and even landed 3 cats of 6lbs, 8lbs and 10lbs on a 3' kids princess rod with 4lb mono on it. its all how ya fight the fish

[mbosh1980]

after reading about some of the setups out there for carp I decided I was seriously under-gunned. I landed some half decent fish last year in an area with virtually no timber and it still took me forever, so I pretty much just replicated urban fisherman's setup, except using daiwa gear. Thanks for the idea.

Looking forward to trying it out (soon). Now if only the creek mouth I fish hadn't been so washed out by that one storm last year... haven't seen or caught a carp there since.