Carpin Southern Style

[mike rousseau]

come on april...

 

hoping its an early spring this year...

 

i got a rolling table to make some boilies and some dyes and flavors as well...

 

i wanna get a 40 pounder this year...

[hammercarp]

Thanks Mike and Mike good luck on your quest for a forty. You have the waters for it.

[bigugli]

We've got the waters for a 40 in our area too, Lorne.

[hammercarp]

I totally agree with you Bruce. Although I have not broken 40 yet myself , I do know some guys that have.

[mike rousseau]

You guys should come this way for a weekend carpin trip....

 

It's easy fishing and big fish (20lb average)... The most important thing in my area is choosing the best spot for the conditions on a given day...

[hammercarp]

I thought I would add some more to this thread further explaining this system of fishing carp.This will also give those that haven't had a chance to look it over.

Here is a reprise of the basic rig.

Paylake Rig for beginners

The basic paylake rig has as it's hallmarks, simplicity and effectiveness. There are only 5 components. A hook , some monfilament line , a large swivel and a sliding weight. You can use a plastic or rubber bead between the weight and the swivel to protect the knot . That is it.

Let's start with hooks, any wide gap straight eye hook in sizes 2/0, 1/0 and 1 will do. Eagle Claw, Mustad Gamakatsu and Owner make hooks that are suitable. The Owner hooks have a very small barb . You can pinch the barb on the other hooks to facilitate unhooking the fish quickly and with less damage. Sometimes when using one of these hooks it falls out when the fish is on the mat. They still provide a very secure hold on the fish while playing it because the light weight combined with a very taught line keep the hook in place. On some hooks like the Gamakatsu Finesse wide gap hooks you can straighten the turned up eye with a a pair of pliers or small vice. These are a very common hook in tackle shops because they are popular with the bass guys. The Owner bait holder SSW STRAIGHT EYE - CUTTING POINT™ is over all the best hook for the job. The hook design with the cutting point works with the design of the rig to give you a good hook up. They are not cheap at about a buck a piece and are not as readily available as other hooks.

For the hook link or snell I use Berkley XL17 lb test or Berkley XT 17 lb. Test. I use the XT sometimes in current.

Egg sinkers from ¼ oz. to 3 oz are suitable. I most often use the ½ oz size. I have rarely used 3 oz. when I fished deep water with current . The size of your weight is important and you should use the lightest weight you can get away with. You can also use river sinkers which are basically flattened egg sinkers.

This rig pictured is configured with a single hook.

I will go through each component of the rig in order to give you a clearer idea of how it works and why it works. I will start in the upper right corner and go counter clockwise to the upper left.

The hook. There are 3 important features of the hook used. It must have a wide gape or gap. This is because you are putting your bait directly on the hook. This will accommodate the bait and allow for hook penetration. The hook should have a straight eye. This will work with the snell to give the hook the right angle for wrapping around the carps lips. Turned up eye hooks will work against the mechanics of the rig and will make it less effective. Turned down eye hooks will over exaggerate the angle of the hook and lessen the probability of the hook point penetrating. The hook should be strong enough to hold without bending or straightening.

The snell knot. There are a number of ways to snell a hook. There are many on line videos available demonstrating the snell. I tie mine from the shaft close to the hook eye with the loop on the under side of the hook shaft. After snugging the knot against the eye and tightening it I take the tail end of the line and bring it back and over through the top of the hook eye. It is important to make sure you use the curve of the line to achieve the desired shape of the rig, which is an opened up “C” with the hook curve on the inside of the “C”.

The hook link or snell. 17 lb. Test Berkly XL was used . This provides the necessary stiffness to create the spring effect which makes this rig so effective. It is the same as the mainline so there is no need to buy extra hook link material. Braid, no matter how heavy, simply will not act in the same way.

Figure of 8 loop . The figure of 8 knot has a very good “knot strength” and will not pinch the line and weaken it. It also does not distort the “C” shape of the hook link or snell. There are also on line videos available demonstrating how to tie this knot.

A large barrel swivel. It is important to use a swivel with large round eyes. This facilitates quick hook changes . Buy brand name swivels of decent quality. Really cheap ones break.

The palomar knot is used to attach the barrel swivel to the mainline. This knot is simple and has good knot strength.

The plastic or rubber bead helps to prevent the weight from damaging the knot at the swivel.

The egg sinker. This is a run rig so there is no bolt effect. The angler sets the hook. Just enough weight should be used to pin the bait to the bottom and to maintain a tight line from the rod tip to the wieght.

17 lb. Berkly XL is used for the mainline. This is compatible with the large strong hooks used. This will allow the angler to play the fish effectively and land it in good time. This means that the carp will recover more easily upon release.

Rubber stop. I use a piece of eraser rubber to prevent the weight from damaging the rod tip when I put the rod away. This is not essential to the rig.

Each component of this rig adds to it's effectiveness. It is a system. It is simple, effective, well thought out and not expensive. If you change components you will likely decrease it's ability to hook carp.

I hope you have some fun with this. By that I mean banking lots and lots of our scaly quarry.

[hammercarp]

Here is a slide show I put together showing how to make and fish some basic baits. You can click on the YouTube logo and then click on the icon beside it to expand the video to full screen to make reading the text easier.

[cuzza]

This has to be one of the most informative threads on here - great job Lorne!

 

FWIW I use the same up to the swivel but use braid (power pro) and a hair off the shank of the hook. Works well in clear water when you want the bait to move naturally - anything that doesn't behave right when they suck at it gets rejected.

 

Need to find one of those forties when I've got my fly rod with me (the one in my avatar was taken on it) - that would be fun!!