Welcome all of our CAG members to the 2014 Q4 Edition of NACA. Hopefully, my first effort as Editor in Chief was well received and everyone enjoyed the content. In this issue we continue to highlight CAG News and Events as well as adding some new features and welcoming new contributors. Please remember that this is a magazine run for our members and we welcome pictures, catch reports and articles. In this Edition we have articles from several of our current members and If you would like to contribute to future editions please forward all documents and pictures to naca@carpanglersgroup.com Since our last edition was published the Fall has come and gone. Some fantastic fish were caught around the country with many PB’s being broken, myself included as I managed to nab a big common on one of the few sessions I got in. As we move into the winter months in the Northern States we see many anglers packing away their equipment for several months. Many of you will spend your time on the forums or salivating at some of the big carp and buffalo’s that are landed in the Southern States. Some of you will plan trips to warmer climes and a few of the braver soles amongst you will continue to fish.
The focus of Q4 is Winter Carping. We have several articles detailing tactics and highlighting results, as well as information on the annual FFF (First Fishing Follie). If you have not experienced fishing in the winter then I would highly recommend you take the information available in these articles and apply it. In short, get out on the banks and enjoy a few sessions in the more extreme conditions. Personally, some of my favorite sessions are done in the winter and if you still believe carp do not feed in colder temperatures then I point you in the direction of some of the outstanding captures that occur, even through the ice! As well as the Winter focus we also have lots of CAG news to catch up on, with Discovery Month, Fall Big 4, FFF and Carp of the Month. We also have a feature from NASH’s Alan Blair, who kindly agreed to answer a few questions for us regarding his fishing and also the US Scene. As carp fishing continues to grow in this country we will gain more and more International recognition and it is great to see many of the major bait and tackle companies taking an interest, especially in CAG. Finally, I wish you all a happy holiday season. Dean Brookes NACA Editor in Chief
Conten ts
CAG CLUB NEWS:
Fall Big 4 ___________________________________________ 6
Questions & Answers with Alan Blair ___________________ 10 Breaking Down Boilies (part 2)_________________________ 21 Carp World Fishing Championships____________________ 37 Discovery Month____________________________________ 49 Exploring Erie______________________________________
52
AROUND T H E GLOBE Thinking differently__________________________________ 71 Carp in the Great Souther land_________________________ 88 Running Man_______________________________________ 95
CAG members section Members Gallery__________________________________ 107
Approaches to Winter Winter in New England______________________________ 115 Cold water carping ________________________________ 122
Defeating the Cold_________________________________ 126 Confessions of a Winter Carper_______________________132 First Fishing Follie 2014_____________________________145 FFF 2015 Report and Results________________________ 155
Upcoming CAG events
2015 Midwest Regional Trilogy_________________________ 162 ATC 2015___________________________________________ 167
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CLUB NEWS
rnaments st our many fish-ins and tou ho to urs ho n ma ny ma d an It takes a lot of volunteers day to day ys and girls, who handle the gu d ate dic de of up gro a es across the USA. It also tak like to publicly in the country. So, I would up gro rp ca g nin run st ge lon business of the largest and gettable fishs have made for some unfor ort eff ur Yo rk. wo rd ha ir the thank our Directors for all of sides across the country. ing memories on the bank
s to the CAG some outstanding addition d de ad ve ha we nt, ide es Pr In my short tenure here as nger our new w Carp Liason, Steve Co ne r ou ard ng Wi ian Br , VP BOD; Iain Sorrel our new Frank Bateman ership/Marketing Director, mb Me w ne r ou we Ro a Lis Director of State Chairs , d some great Editor. We have also adde CA NA w ne r ou s ke oo Br an our new Secratary and De rk State Chair, our new Southern New Yo er gn Wa Ed s. air Ch te Sta of guys to our current group ern New York Greg Conger our new North d an air Ch te Sta s xa Te al ntr Chad Woolard our new Ce outstanding draft. ach that just completed an co L NF an like t jus l fee I . State Chair ve ahead in us a very strong team to mo es giv it d an 14 20 t ou se clo This is an exciting way to lunteers. asure to work with these vo 2015. It is an honor and ple s a very Happy New Year.
d your familie I would like to wish you an
Bob Giordano
North American Carp Angler
5
BIG 14
FOUR
20
FIRST PLACE BIG 4 Mark Lowrie, New Jersey 115lbs 12oz
Well the first ever CAG Fall Big 4 saw 15 participants, with 7 anglers logging a catch. In total, 595lbs 2oz. A good start for what will be a yearly event so the bar has been set. Huge thanks to all who participated and signed up, even if the fish were not in your favor. A huge thanks also goes out to the supporters of this event, World Classic Baits, Saxon Tackle and Rebel Carp with their generous prizes. As always support those who support us! Now for the winners: For winning the first ever edition of this event, Mark will receive the following: Cygnet Grand Sniper Extreme Pod courtesy of Adam Cieplik (Rebel Carp), a $359 value
SECOND PLACE BIG 4 Barry Howard, New Jersey 94lbs 10oz For claiming second place, Mark will receive the following: $50 World Classic Baits voucher
THIRD PLACE BIG 4 Austin Pass, Michigan 66lbs 10oz
Austin will received the following prizes for 3rd place: $20 World Classic Baits voucher Spomb courtesy of Saxon Tackle
North American Carp Angler
7
BIG FISH
Mark Lowrie
Making his second appearance in the Finale, Mark had a stunning 31lb 2oz common that takes the cake as the biggest fish of the contest. Well done Mark! Enjoy the following prizes to go with the pod: $30 World Classic Baits Voucher Delkim Fleece Hat courtesy of Saxon Tackle
BIG MIRROR
Frank Rink, Illinois 12lbs 6oz
It may not be the biggest mirror ever, but it was the only one, caught by the always dedicated Frank Rink. For his persistence and mirror, Frank is getting a new rod to continue his pursuit of carp, courtesy of Saxon Tackle. Well done Frank! Saxon 2.5 rod courtesy of Saxon Tackle
GUEST ARTICLE
QUESTIONS & ANSWERS WITH ALAN BLAIR
1. If you could only fish one 3. Urban Banks has a huge folcarp water for the rest of your lowing both in Europe and here life where would it be and why? in the United States. Did you expect it to be so popuEven though I have never caught one from there, I would say probably the river Thames – lar when you started the project? its MASSIVE, hugely unfished, you never know And why do you think it has bewhat you will catch next, it’s constantly changing and evolving and I would simply never get bored come such an iconic series? of it.
2. What fishing locations are on your bucket list? I’m desperate to get over to a lake in Slovenia called Lake Bled – that is certainly one for 2015. There are also countless other waters in Europe that I want to have a go on . . . . I would like to go back on the Kempiche canal in Belgium as well as some of the Big German and Austrian Gravel Pits In the UK I would really like to catch my first Thames carp as mentioned above. I will also be doing some Urban Fishing in Manchester, Birmingham and London in the next few months. Further afield I have a proposed trip to Miami and Florida in May 2016 to go bass fishing in the Miami drains and of course a few days on the ‘Keys’. Another that is certainly on my radar but one for the future and that is Mumbai – wow – there are some BIG carp over there ☺ Same old story – so many incredible places but just a distinct lack of time.
No, never saw it taking off like it has – it was never planned either – it’s just naturally progressed as the months and years have gone by. I think its success is down to the team- Oli and Winston who I work with on it are simply masters at what they do and it’s the three of us that bring it all together and make it happen. I think it has been so well received because its real, I don’t put any front on, I fish these types of waters anyway and I am just as happy catching a 2oz gudgeon as a 20lb carp. All too often, the angler can get caught up in having to catch the biggest, use Tones of bait, join an expensive syndicate lake and spend weeks on end on the bank . . . . . well the reality is that you can still have a great time fishing a local town pond with a handful of boilies and a tin of sweetcorn – you just need to put your angling into perspective so it is relative – that way each capture can still have merit and you can enjoy what you are doing. #LoveIt North American Carp Angler
11
GUEST ARTICLE
4. Can you give us an insight into what 2015 looks like for Nash and Alan Blair? 2015 will be another Big Year for Nash . . . . we have stacks of new product being launched and will focus our main attention on areas of unique development and innovation – things like the Scope and Dwarf Brands, the Siren Bite Alarm range . . . products that will truly make a difference to your angling.
To compliment that we are working incredibly hard on new terminal Tackle items some of which WILL catch you more fish as well as a COMLETELY NEW Nash Bait range – there are some mega products in the pipeline. On a different note we have also acquired a couple of lakes that we have begun transforming into a premium day ticket complex – exciting times ahead . . . On a personal level . . . Myself and Chloe are expecting our first baby daughter literally ANY day now, we would like to get married next year, build an extension on our house and a nice big pond in the garden. No rest for the wicked hey
5.
Most memorable carp capture?
I really cannot pick one but I can remember clearly my first proper carp (3lb), my first double, my first 20 and my first 30 – all of which have a special place in my heart.
North American Carp Angler
13
GUEST ARTICLE
6. You have been involved in the development of many innovative products at Nash, but which is your favorite and why?
PLENTY . . . . everything from the Siren Rs1 alarms, Luggage range, Trax barrows, Scope and Dwarf All the clothing, Terminal tackle, New Baits – almost everything over the last few years â˜ş My favorite would probably be the Sleep System concept as it was an idea that I conceived, had the prototypes made, tested and eventually put in from of Kevin Nash . . . We are market leaders with Beds and we now sell more Sleep Systems that Bedchairs and Sleeping bags separately so its very rewarding to have brought that idea to the table.
7. Best piece of carp advice you have been given?
I have been given so much advice over the years but the best and most profound is simply . . . . “They are only carp�. Sometimes we give them far too much credit when worrying over rigs and bait. Its dead simple really – find them (most important) and even a half decent bait and a rig will catch you fish. I for one have been guilty over the years of overcomplicating things and it has been at times when I have gone back to basics that I have had the most success. Thanks for the opportunity to speak to you guys in the states, Kind regards,
Alan Blair
North American Carp Angler
15
P R A C
CARP OF THE MONTH CONTEST 2015
As we head into the New Years we are bringing over the
Carp of the Month contest from The Carp Anglers Group to our Facebook page. The full rules will be listed below but
CARP
OF THE
MONT
E H T F O H
all entries must be posted below here.
Sharing and Likes are appreciated!
H
Sponsored by Big Carp Tackle, Big Carp News & Carp Anglers Group
you submit your photo to the Big Carp Tackle Fa-
Hosted by Big Carp Tackle FB Page
be judged from the panel of judges and the award
- A short paragraph giving details/tactics when
T N O M
This contest is open to everyone in the USA
Rules to submit Carp (Cyprinus Carpio only) Common, mirror, leather, koi, etc
- Deadline is midnight last day of the month. Carp needs to be caught the same month as submitted. If it’s close to the end of the month it may be submitted the following month but only if it had not be submitted in the previous contest. (3 day exception from original photo date) Fish can only be submitted ONE TIME. - Quality photo of the Angler holding the fish (As this is a most important) with proper carp care used. - Anglers are encouraged to share the contest and their photos from the contest. Likes & Shares may increase your chances but final word is up to the judges.
cebook Page . At the end of the month photos will given.
- Judges decision is final. Any submission that
seems strange or the angler has a past history of questionable entries will most likely be overlooked by the panel of judges which are selected Big Carp News Contributors & CAG BOD Members. - Pictures posted on Big Carp Tackle FB original contest post are the only ones eligible for entries. Quality photo of the Angler holding the fish (As this is a most important) with a date/time stamp of capture date. If no date stamp is on the photo then the angler will have to provide the original photo so the original photo date can be verified.
P R A C
Monthly winners will win a previously announced prize worth
- - $100 Big Carp Tackle Voucher - -
E H T F O H
All monthly winters will be entered into a Grand Champion Winner for a prize January 2015 voted on by the Judges for a prize determined by BCT which will be announced at a later date. Winners are responsible for shipping expenses to receive any prizes.
Now, the winners:
T N O M
OCTOBER Joey with his son Jacob’s first carp
North American Carp Angler
17
NOVEMBER Cypry with a cracking winter snow carp
DECEMBER Todd- Winter Mirror
SAVE DECKER LAKE Welcome to my first request as The Carp Anglers Group Liaison. A few weeks ago on Facebook I was sent a link to help save Walter E. Long (Decker Lake) which is in Texas. Something as simple as signing this petition only takes a few minutes of your time and even though a majority of us will never visit this lake I feel as a group we can make a positive difference in not only this lake but other lakes as well. Just below you can see the appropriate area where you can click and sign. Please join the cause of saving this lake. The Austin Carp Anglers (ACA) started the petition and all credit goes to them for the content. Thank you for your time.
Sign here!
Brian Wingard
Save Lake Walter E. Long (Decker Lake)
From Austin’s Drought Response Plan Austin Carp Angler Austin, TX
We must stop this. Decker Lake is a fishing hotspot for local anglers, as well as anglers from all over the country, and even the world. Anglers come from all over the globe to reach this fishing
A favorite local spot for fishing and boating could
“mecca”. It’s not only home to trophy bass and
become an important part of Austin’s new drought
catfish, but also monster carp and smallmouth
response plan. The Austin city council last week
buffalo fish that can reach up to 60+ pounds.
asked engineers at Austin water utility to determine if Lake Walter E. Long, which is also known
We understand that steps must be taken to ad-
as Decker Lake, can be converted into what’s
dress the current drought situation, in Austin, but
called “off-channel storage”.
let’s encourage the Austin City Council to consid-
Water from Lake Walter E. Long flows into the
er other options.
Decker Creek Power Plant. Besides helping to provide electricity for Austin, the lake also provides great fishing opportunities. A new purpose for the lake now being considered would be used to provide emergency drought relief. For the plan to work, the power plant may have
We need this lake for the next generation, and generations to come. We need your help! Sincerely,
Austin Carp Angler
to go offline, and the lake level could drop 25 feet. This can negatively impact the fish and the surrounding wildlife. North American Carp Angler
19
BREAKING DOWN BOILIES BAIT APPLICATION
By Dean Brookes
H
aving discussed how and why boilies were developed
and the various forms in which they are available we will now look at how to effectively use them. In the 1980’s and 90’s there were several good companies developing bait and for the most part you knew that whichever one you chose to use the baits would be of a good standard. Companies such as Richworth, Hutchinson, Nutrabaits, Nash, SBS and Mainline have all stood the test of time, but in today’s modern carping world the choices are truly staggering! Personally, I would choose a company that has a proven track record or a company with very high standards as there are plenty that come and go, based on the low quality of their baits. Generally, like most things in life, you get what you pay for. Beware of cheap offers as this usually means lower grade ingredients have been used. Unless you are making your own bait and can source your own ingredients I would be expecting to pay High Quality Food Baits are not Cheap!
$15-20
per kilo, unless you are purchasing in bulk. North American Carp Angler
21
Having chosen a quality bait, whether high attract or food based there are many different ways in which you can utilize boilies. Some of these methods will be dependent on the fishing situation and what you are trying to achieve. For instance, if using high attract baits I may use PVA tape or string to offer a few freebies next to my rig, whereas with a food bait I may be catapulting or spodding boilies all over an area. It all depends on what feeding situation I am trying to take advantage of. With this in mind, let’s first look at some of the bait delivery methods before delving into some specific application situations.
BAIT DELIVERY METHODS: 1) By Hand Often overlooked but when fishing spots up to 20-30 yards throwing boilies in by hand allows you to bait either loosely or tightly depending on your preference. I often find myself baiting my margin spots by hand when possible and will regularly trickle in bait over the course of a session, sometimes waiting for signs of fish before actually presenting a rig in the area.
Margin Swims – Ideal for baiting by hand
2) Throwing Spoon This method has become popular over the last few years, usually when using particles or method balls, but it is also very effective when used with boilies. You can either use a short handled version (for margin spots or from a boat) or you can attach a spoon to a landing net handle and use it for greater distances, up to 50 yards. This method also allows you to bait quickly in quantity and also get a decent spread of bait over your chosen area.
Baiting Spoon, which can also be used with a long handle
3) Catapult One of my favorite methods by far. Catapults come in a variety of strengths ranging from close range to distance versions. The beauty of a catapult is you can bait in small or large quantities to create different feeding situations. The catapult is also very accurate, in the right hands and I wouldn’t be without two or three of them in my set-up.
A good catapult is a must in my armory North American Carp Angler
23
A Bait Dropper allows the bait to get to the bottom where you want it
4) Bait Dropper
5) Throwing Stick
An extremely under used technique and one that
If you are fishing at distances over 50 yards the
I employ on deeper waters or faster river sections. I use this method for close range spots and it’s not really designed for casting distances.
throwing stick really comes into its own. When they first came on the market they were made of heavier materials and would often result
This is especially good if you want to break your
in tennis elbow, but nowadays most versions are
baits into chops or crumb as it allows you to get
lighter plastic or even carbon. With practice and
the bait to the bottom strata without most of it drift-
hardened baits you can put your boilies over 100
ing away mid water.
yards with a fair amount of accuracy.
The Range Master, my own choice of Throwing Stick
6) PVA PVA comes in a lot of versions, with string and tape being excellent for stringers and solid bags and mesh being great for chopped and crushed boilies. PVA
really
improves
your presentation and allows the angler to present a neat pile of bait next to their hook-bait. PVA also ensures that you can cast out without the fear of tangles.
7) Bait Boat While
debate
rages
about
whether bait boats are ethical, they can be no doubt they allow great presentation. You can bait as lightly or heavily as you prefer, depending on your boats hopper capacity and you can also present whole, chopped or crumbed boilies at greater distances. While not cheap, bait boats can be a definite advantage when used in the right situation. Not for everyone, but an effective tool non the less North American Carp Angler
25
8) Canoe or Boat Another excellent method for accurate baiting. This also allows you to bait in bulk if you desire and also get a close or wide spread of baits, dependent on your own preference.
My Kayak allows me to get to swims and bait up accurately
9) Spod or Spomb For many years the spod was king and in the early days I made several of my own versions! There’s no doubt the spod is a useful tool, but since the Spomb came on the market I cannot see a reason to ever use a spod again. I have all three sizes and with the correct rod you can bait in excess of 120 yards with relative ease. The major advantage of the spomb is that there is no spill during the flight and it is very easy to use.
The Spomb – An excellent tool for baiting at range and in bulk
N
ow I know I have missed a couple of meth-
Sometimes you will have to take an educated
ods such as the whopper dropper but the ones I
guess as to how to bait, but remember that once
listed above are all ones I use myself regularly.
you put the bait out you cannot take it back! If the fish are not feeding or not present you have at the
Most of the delivery methods will depend on the range you are fishing, the baits you are using and
minimum wasted bait and at the worst ruined your session.
how you want to present the baits. This brings us
On other occasions I see anglers on decent
on nicely to bait application. This in itself is an art
numbers of fish and because they do not keep
and I have seen many a session ruined by poor
introducing bait the fish move off the area once
bait application. Let me give you a couple of ex-
the bait is gone. This is especially true of river
amples.
carp that tend to roam in larger groups. Once they have eaten all of your bait they move on to the
Firstly, how many times do you turn up to a swim
next food source.
and no matter the conditions, fish behavior or time
So, with that said let’s take a look at a few of my
of year you put the same amount of bait out to
own examples of how I apply bait(s) in specific
start the session.
situations. These examples may not be on similar
This could be 20 method balls, 100 boilies, 10
waters to yourself but hopefully you can see how
spombs of particles or whatever you are baiting
paying attention to small details and being obser-
with at the time.
vant and pro-active can reap the rewards.
LITTLE AND OFTEN While I love to fish in remote areas where no other anglers usually fish, this is not always realistic.
so it would be pointless to introduce too much bait as I have no idea what is already out there. Therefore I choose to fish for one bite. What does
In one such area that I have fished for over 4 years, each year has seen the area become more
this mean? It means that I only put in a handful of bait around each hook bait.
and more popular, especially as pictures are released showing the magnificent fish that reside in the area. Most of the time I show up to fish this swim I am
This usually consists of a chopped boilies and generally these are strictly food baits with little in the way of heavy flavoring.
unsure as to who has been fishing and how much bait has been introduced. Coupled with this I am generally only fishing for 12-16 hours at this swim North American Carp Angler 27
Little and often baiting led to this cracking mirror
I know to many this will be back to front as the thinking is that high attract baits work better in the short term; however the fish in this area have seen lots of bait and pressure and anything heavily flavored usually stays on the bottom for a few days until the flavors are washed out. I would rather catch one fish than ruin my chances for the session and once the first fish is landed I will re-bait exactly the same way, which on many occasions will result in other fish.
GO BIG OR GO HOME Having fished a few sessions after the fish had
Introducing around 2kg of boilies definitely
spawned I turned up for my next day trip, armed
worked as within 10 minutes of casting into the
with extra bait. I was fishing a tidal river and while
swim I was into the first fish.
setting up I watched several fish roll. Knowing that there was most likely a decent shoal of fish I decided to bait heavily to start the
Around 8 hours later and 25 fish to the better it was time for home as I had used all of the 5kg of boilies I had bought for the session.
session.
A cracking tidal river carp
North American Carp Angler
29
FISH BY FISH
Simply put, if you present good bait in the right areas to feeding fish you are more likely to catch
On my local lake there are lots of challenges;
them than not!
drunken boaters, a very active row club, lack of
Onto the specifics about baiting at this lake. My
bank access and hungry bullhead catfish are
most consistent method has been to bait solely
amongst a few of these.
for one bite at a time.
In terms of the carp, the lake is a decent size, well over 500 acres and the carp population is rel-
The carp generally hang out in small groups and
atively low. In the past I have heavily pre-baited,
you are more likely to get a pick up if you bait ac-
sometimes for several days and weeks but all this
cordingly.
does is draw in the nuisance species.
As such I generally start with 50-100 boilies
I have also been told by many of the people who
which is absolutely no problem for a 20lb carp
have fished this lake that boilies do not work,
to eat in one visit. This technique has caught me
however after my first fish on my first session us-
lots of fish from this lake and is one that definitely
ing them I disregarded this information.
helps avoid the bullheads
With a massive mouth this fish had no problem taking in a couple of 20mm boilies
This St Lawrence common fell to heavy baiting
HUNGRY AND COMPETING I love big river systems and the St Lawrence has to be the queen of all American river systems. There are millions are carp and they have big appetites. Generally, location is the key and at times it is difficult to hold the fish in your swim as they devour everything and then move off. On one session I was catching a few fish but after short bursts of action it would go dead. Drastic
5kg of boilies was dispatched and after every fish I put in another 200 baits, which although tiring, kept the fish in my swim. Over the next 36 hours my session completely turned around and I caught lots of fish which I have no doubt was down to the bait application.
action was needed and so I decided to bait very heavily with boilies over a large area in the hopes of attracting fish and then keeping them in my swim searching for bait. North American Carp Angler
31
GREEDY PIG When attempting to target larger specimens there are a few methods that seem to work with some level of consistency. The idea of the Greedy Pig approach is to bait heavily in a very tight area. Once a big carp swims over the bait they have a hard time ignoring it as the greed factor kicks in. This approach involves leaving the bait in position for longer periods and is best done by hand at close range or with a boat (bait boat included). You’ll be surprised how often this approach picks out the much bigger fish but remember that to be large you have to eat large. Simply put, big fish like to eat!
This 40lb+ fish has fallen to the Greedy Pig approach on more than one occasion!
Close to 40lb’s this fish was expelling bait on the mat
FILL IT IN Sometimes you end up in a swim when all of the conditions converge to create a perfect storm. On this occasion there was a 30mph wind driving into an area which had attracted lots of hungry carp. Being relatively warm I was using fishmeal boilies which were highly digestible and after a couple of nice fish in the first hour I decided to increase my baiting. I introduced 100-150 boilies after every run or fish landed and throughout the day the fish continued to feed with several of the fish also crapping
out bait on the mat, a sure sign that they were feeding heavily on it. The action only slowed once I ran out of bait (although I had 7-8kg with me to start the session) and with around 20 fish caught I retreated for some well earned sleep. I know this was not a fluke as I have repeated this success on other occasions in this same area, where usually 2-3 fish a session is a good result. North American Carp Angler
33
A birthday carp, caught over an area of natural food
NATURAL FOOD Sometimes it is hard to compete with the carp’s natural food source. This is most amplified during the summer months when weed growth and insect and aquatic life is at its highest. You could take the approach of trying to compete with the natural food but generally our American lakes and rivers are far too large to achieve results this way. This year I have fished a couple of new areas where the natural food sources seemed to pre-occupy the carp. One way I increased my catch rate was to make my baits more attractive, liberally glugging them in hemp oil and also salmon oil. I also increased my bait sizes to make them more obvious. While this worked well, I still am looking at a few different approaches next year to try and improve my results as I am still not totally satisfied that I maximized my chances.
BIG BAITS BIG FISH Do bigger baits result in bigger fish? Some will
fish unless I took a different approach. I decided
argue not, but with the correct baiting approach
to fish only with 20-24mm baits for both freebies
you will definitely increase your chances of pick-
and for hook baits with large snowman rigs being
ing out larger carp than average. On one winter
my top choice.
session I fished a few days on the Seneca River, which is renowned for its large population of carp.
Over the session I did catch plenty of 15-22lb carp, but I also took several 25lb+ fish with a 33lb
From past experiences and local information I knew it would be tough to pick out the bigger
common topping the list. I’m sure the larger baits played a role in this.
Big fish have no problem getting a big baits in their mouth!
So, having highlighted baiting introduction methods and also application I will wrap up this series with the next installment, focusing on how to make your own baits, some simple recipes and a few extra tricks to add to your armory. North American Carp Angler
35
CARP WORLD FISHING
CHAMPIONSHIPS
- 2014 -
By August Wells
This past September I had the opportunity to be a part of the very first American team to compete in the Carp Fishing World championships. It was a dream come true for me, an experience I will never forget. That dream would have never been realized without the moral support of my friends and family coupled with the financial support of our very generous sponsors. I understand business and I know that most sponsors contribute in the hopes of some future financial gain via publicity and such, but there is an amazing side effect to those contributions! Peoples’ lives are changed, in the most wondrous ways. I certainly know that mine was and the following is my testimonial. North American Carp Angler
37
While I have fished tournaments here in the U.S. nothing could have prepared me for the experience of what is, “The World Championships”. The opening ceremony was something to behold, team after team winding through the streets of the city. Each led by a local child who carried their nations flag, waving it enthusiastically to the cheers of the crowds of onlookers. The sound of voices raised together, singing anthems and songs of national pride filled the air. One couldn’t help but be swept away in the moment. Though it took an hour, it seemed like I blinked and the procession ended in the town square. Speeches from the officials were followed by the introduction of each competing country. As we, Team USA, stood in front of the stage and the Star Spangled Banner played across the loudspeakers it finally REALLY hit me, we were here, in Italy, representing the greatest nation on Earth to fish against the greatest carp anglers in the world! 24 countries from all over the globe come to battle it out with rods as our weapons and big fish as our quarry! The World Championships had officially begun.
That evening was a blur of team meetings, game planning, camaraderie and last minute preparations. In the wee hours of the morning I found myself unable to sleep, laying in bed thinking about what it had taken for us to get to where we were. Almost two years of preparation, a trials process, hours and hours of team conference calls, countless hours spent on the bank working on and fine tuning the specific skills that this challenging event would require, the thousands of dollars spent and the strain that the whole thing had put on my family, all weighed heavily on my mind. With great sacrifice comes great reward as they say so when I did finally drift off for a few hours of much needed sleep, I did so with a smile planted firmly on my face.
North American Carp Angler
39
Morning came and we all hit the ground running. Checking and rechecking our bags and gear, making sure everything that still needed to get done was done. Anticipation grew as each minute ticked by and as we pulled away from the villa to head towards the venue each angler was deep in their own little world mentally preparing for the trials to come. Upon arriving at the venue we met up with Lee Young and he broke down the peg draw for us. With the bait and gear situation (although our bait and gear that was shipped from the U.S. was supposed to be there weeks before the event, it got stalled in customs because of discrepancies with someone else’s stuff that was in the same container, we had to jump through hoops to get it there in time for us to use it at all), we knew that we were going to be at a pretty big disadvantage, a good peg draw would go a long way towards making up for that. Kevin and I ended up in section A, Mihai and Bogdan in section B and Sean and Ivelin in section C. Not only were Kevin and I in the section that we wanted, we were also towards the end, a great draw for us!
Loading the gear into the peg and setting up the
each team member knowing their job and see-
swim prior to the commencement of actual fishing
ing it done. Thankfully after fishing together for
was the first opportunity that we had to really size
years, Kevin and I fell right into sync and in no
up the competition. What I saw truly amazed me.
time we were ready to rock and roll. We spent the
The efficiency in which the other teams operated
remaining time taking in the venue, watching the
was something to see. Each movement made
water and sizing up the lake. We spotted movement in
with a purpose,
the swim in a couple of different areas and thus our game plan was formulated.
North American Carp Angler
41
For 48 hours we gave it hell with bait we procured from the Italian team but we couldn’t get a bite to save our lives. We each only slept for 2 hours each night in the bivvy while the other was up taking care of the swim. We tried everything we could think of and even a few things a little on the crazy side but came up empty. Somewhere around that 48 hour mark our prayers were answered when Lee let us know that our bait and gear had finally arrived! We wasted no time rigging up the long distance rods and mixing up our zig slop, as most of the fish in our section had been caught on the zig. With a renewed vigor we got the rods back out and began piling in our bait. Spomb after spomb we put in. After half an hour Kevin and I were back at the brolly mixing up a new batch of bait when the silence was broken by the sound of a Delkim screaming. It took me a split second to realize, hey that’s mine! A mad dash…The swing… Nothing there… I was gutted, our only run of the event and I had missed it. The seconds following that missed opportunity were the lowest point of the event for me, but then I had a realization. After only 30 minutes of having the proper bait, I had a run, and there was still 24 hours left in the tournament. A few deep breaths to calm my shaking hands and it was back to work. And work is what we did.
North American Carp Angler
43
For the next 24 hours Kevin and I worked our swim like our life depended on it, because in our hearts, it did. By the time the sun came up on the last morning we had managed to weigh in three fish. With the end of the event only a couple hours away and our bodies exhausted but our hearts still full of fight, we kept plugging away. Our tenacity was rewarded with two more fish before the final horn.
With the blowing of the final horn, our dreams of winning a World Championship came to a close but we have a saying around these parts. Kevin and I, “left it all on the bank,� we gave it EVERYTHING we had, we were not losers, we simply were not the best anglers on the bank that day. I find no shame in admitting that. Over the course of the event, we used the term gladiators to describe a number of other anglers, watching the Croatian team put a spomb out non-stop at 200 yards with pinpoint accuracy was like watching an artist paint a masterpiece.
North American Carp Angler
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We packed in relative quiet, both of us silently reflecting on the events of the past few days. I can’t even explain how I felt at that point in time. So many emotions were flowing through me it was almost overwhelming.
dying day. Grown men shedding tears of joy and pride, knowing that they stand tall amongst the elite of our sport, each a World Champion carp angler. The highlight of the whole week for me came
Disappointed yet proud, happy yet sad, full of
shortly after the awards were handed out, when
excitement yet exhausted, a whirlwind it was. I
I was approached by a member of the Croatian
don’t really remember packing the van and head-
team. You see there is a tradition amongst an-
ing back to the villa. What I do remember was
glers at the world championships, as a sign of re-
wanting a shower, three days on the bank working
spect an angler will approach another and ask to
non-stop had left me in a bad place! A nice hot
trade jerseys, and here a man who earned the top
shower later and I was a new man. Once eve-
prize, asked me for mine.
ryone was cleaned up it was time to head to the closing ceremony.
I was truly humbled as he slipped my American jersey on, reached back in and pulled out his gold
As we approached the amphitheater we could
medal and let it fall back down to lay on that red
hear the singing of the Croatian Team, proudly
white and blue that I hold so dearly. Seeing that
singing their national anthem, the voices of World
medal on his chest, inches away from my name lit
Champions. The sense of pride was so thick as
a fire in me that is still burning fiercely, a fire that I
we wove our way through the crowd into the seat-
will poke and nourish over the coming years and
ing area, stopping periodically to be hugged or
when my skills are honed enough,
have our hands shaken by a fellow competitor. Watching the Teams be awarded their medals, Bronze to Belgium, Silver to France and Gold to Croatia, is something I will carry with me till my
I will return to the World Championships,
and this time I will be the one painting a masterpiece.
Captain - Lee Young Vice Captain - Alin Hosu Anglers – Bogdan Bucur MihaiAciu Sean Lehrer Ivelin Petrov August Wells Kevin Olivier Reserves – Eric Glazewski Christine Stout
For further details on Team USA, please visit their website @ http://teamusacarpsquad.com/ team-usa-carp-squad/ North American Carp Angler
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Discovery Month
North American Carp Angler
49
Introduction
Discovery Month
North America is a huge continent with a lot of water and very few anglers fishing for carp. CAG discovery month is about opening up unfished waters. It might be the gravel pit down the road, the tiny park lake that people keep telling you has monster carp, the big drinking water reservoir that is a pain to fish as you need a special permit, perhaps a local lake that you are not even sure has carp in it!
How to participate
To participate simply follow the rules given below. The CAG Discovery Month is entirely free for CAG members.
Rules 1. The CAG Discovery Month is a month long
event which takes place in October. Participants can fish as much or as little as they want over the course of the month. Anglers can fish more than one swim.
2. Locate one or several swims that to the best
of your knowledge a CAG member has not caught a carp from within the last three years.
Anglers are encouraged to fish as far away as possible from known swims. At the very minimum, participants should at least not be able to see a known swim from the spot they are fishing from.
3. Document your adventure with photographs
4. You can fish the way you want, using as many
rods as locally allowed, using whatever fancy
gear, pre-bait, boats, baitboats, whatever you like, but please catch carp with a single hook and practice catch & release.
5. Although this event is centered on Cyprinus
Carpio, feel free to document incidental captures.
6. Carp anglers from any country, any age, and
any gender are most welcome. The more partici-
pation, the better! Non-CAG members (guests) are welcome to fish with CAG members during the weekend however they will not be eligible for prizes.
7. This event is run on the honor system. Anglers
and a good story. Past winners can be seen be-
do not have to disclose venues if they do not feel
low. Remember even a blank can make a great
comfortable doing so. Please no cheating, you’ll
story!
only be cheating yourself.
Prizes In order to qualify for the prize you must write up a story and document your story with photographs. The main prize will be awarded based on a vote that will take place here in the forum. All members will have an opportunity to vote. Entries will be judged based on originality, quality of story, and quality of pictures. The intent of the event is to encourage discovery, undoubtedly the more adventurous the angler and story the better the chance that you will win. Other prizes vary year to year.
Check past winners Harbor hogs bait war and more My discovery month search for the prefect fish in location Crack or be cracked Super cddm success in record form Discovery 2008 Discovering Pennsylvania Saturday night fever in vermont Click on the links to go to the winner’s original article
North American Carp Angler
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Discovery Month Winning entry
By Craig Welch My busy fall schedule had come to an end and I
This is an area deep in Sandusky bay, a small
found myself with a week of vacation that I want-
gravel road around 250 yards long takes you
ed to use before the weather got too cold.
through a heavily wooded area from the main
I decided to head up to Lake Erie for 5 days and
road towards the lake. It’s an area I took a very
see what would happen. I had fished Erie before
quick look at in the spring on route to the fish in.
of course. The Ohio chapter of CAG has a fish in at East Harbor every spring, I had caught a few
It was busy then, a popular spot with the locals it
fish over the years but nothing over 17 pounds
would seem and with it not being the biggest area
with the biggest witnessed being 22lb.
I made a mental note to maybe return during a quieter time.
With it being discovery month what better time to go exploring other areas and with Erie being
As I made my way down the track a smile came
10000 square miles there was a lot of unfished
across my face as it appeared no one was here.
water to go at and some potential monsters to
It wasn’t long before I was unloading the car and
catch.
setting up camp.
My plans were vague at best, I had one area I wanted to look at first and with a fully loaded car I made the 2 hour drive up to Willow point.
North American Carp Angler
53
A few casts of the marker rods showed it to be a shallow area no more than 3 feet deep and baits were cast around 40 yards out and I put the kettle on for the first cup of tea of the week.
Action was not forthcoming but I did make a new friend. A racing pigeon, taking a well earned break from it’s journey hung out for a couple of hours. I wonder if he was enjoying my company as much as I was his.
North American Carp Angler
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There was no action during the day and before
I did manage to catch a couple of small carp in
long it was night fall and the Mosquitos came out
the morning but by noon I was packing up. Now I
to play. They were at their insufferable worst and
needed a new plan.
were making rest impossible. Around 9pm a car made its way along the track
I drove to the Sandusky bay bridge fishing ac-
and a huge spotlight was peering into my vehicle.
cess but didn’t fancy it, then I thought the best
I grabbed a bank stick and approached, the light
plan would be to camp over at East Harbor, then
made it hard to see who it was but I asked if eve-
go off and fish different spots each day.
rything was ok. “Yeah, US border patrol”, came the reply. He asked a couple of questions and was soon on his way.
One area I did want to have a look at was in East Harbor itself. Not the site of our fish-ins. I wanted to look at the other end, near the boat ramp. This
That wasn’t the end of the visits as every 2 hours
is a deeper area and the marker Rod showed it
a car would make its way down the long track be-
to be a weedy area. I did find a couple of clearer
fore turning around next to my car and returning
spots and a soon a 2 PVA bags were dispatched.
the way they came. When the final car of the night did the same thing at 3am I decided I needed to find somewhere else to fish.
Soon a storm rolled in and I was scrambling for the brolly.
North American Carp Angler
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By evening I had no action but due to the close proximity of my camp I thought it would be a good
The area had good parking with a concrete pier reaching out into the main lake.
idea to bait it twice daily and return on my last
Unfortunately it was 15 feet above water level
day, Friday hoping to have drawn some fish to the
and with huge boulders down both sides it made
area.
getting down to the water impossible.
On Wednesday I was off exploring again and arrived at Mazurik Park and the north shore of the Marblehead peninsula.
There was a small beach area but it didn’t look appealing so I was back in my car. I found myself heading towards downtown Sandusky so I decided to check out some of the park down there. The first one I came to was called Shoreline Park. There are 3 piers that go out into the lake and at one point they were used for shipping out
They have since been renovated with the first one looking the most appealing. Around 200 yards long a small road went half way along it with some small trees and benches strewn around. No one was fishing so I made my way down to the end and had a cast around.
stones and minerals amongst other things.
North American Carp Angler
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It was about 9 feet deep slowly getting deeper the further out into the lake you went. I spodded a couple of spots 50 yards out and settled down for an enjoyable afternoon.
A little later I spotted a fish show very close in. I threw a handful of hemp out and vowed to watch the spot.
Discovery Month
A little later a few bubbles then another fish showed. I wound a rod in and flicked it out. 30 minutes later it was away and a small carp around 6lb was in the net. A further 2 carp were caught up to 12lb.
North American Carp Angler
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It was obvious I was too far out and before I left
There was rain in the forecast and it wasn’t long
for the night I baited up off the edge and vowed to
before I was trying to get the brolly up on the hard
return the next day.
ground. A little improvising was needed.
Thursday arrived and I was back at Shoreline Park. Baits were put out close in.
The action started at 11am. 2 low doubles were in the net. At 1130 another take had me expecting the same, only this time the fish had me back winding and the line was singing in the breeze. Once up on top I could see a deep broad shape of a nice fish. After a spirited fight I slipped the net under what turned out to be a beautiful 26lb common in amazing condition.
North American Carp Angler
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Storms came and went and the fish kept feeding. I had a few others up to 18lb and this was turning into a great day. Like a rainbow sword through the clouds, was it showing me the way to monster carp?
Later in the afternoon another biggie was to be netted as the boilie rod went off and another good scrap resulted in a 23lb common.
North American Carp Angler
65
The weather didn’t improve so as the sun started to dip on the horizon I started to pack up.
After such a good day I wanted to come back one last time. I had plenty of bait so I put out 3lbs of boilies and a couple pounds of tigers and headed back to base camp. After setting up the bivvy in another torrential storm I decided to cook some more tigers
I left the pot out next to my car and went to
I caught a few small fish and around noon they
sleep. Sometime in the early hours I heard a
packed up, before their car had even pulled away
noise followed by chaos as 3 raccoons fought
I had my rods moved onto my spot. The work paid off and 45 minutes
over my bait. I scared them off and moved the pot to safety of my car and got back to sleep. Friday and the last day of my adventure. I got to The park only to see a couple of
later my boilie rod was away and a nice plump 21lb 10oz common was netted.
pleasure guys fishing my baited spot, just great I thought. I hauled my gear down there and set up next door hoping they wouldn’t stay long.
North American Carp Angler
67
A few more carp were caught but mostly singles
It was not to be but I had an amazing week, dis-
as the wind picked up and the week drew to a
covering new spots, meeting new people and
close I stood over my rods looking out into the
learning new things. I had one last look at another
vast unknown hoping for one last biggie.
park further along but was soon heading south back home hoping to one day return.
AROUND
THE
GLOBE C
arping is now a global activity with most corners of the world contain-
ing avid anglers. With this in mind we introduce a new feature to NACA; Carping around the Globe. This edition we are fortunate to get underway with three cracking articles. Firstly we have Marcus Tackley, who has written for NACA before. Marcus hails from the UK but in this article he details a recent adventure in Canada. Next up we have Chris Ward, hailing from Australia where carp fishing has a small, but active community. Chris details his fishing and some of the unique challenges he faces! Finally, we have Mark Pitchers from the UK. Mark details a presentation that is particularly effective during the colder months and that may help you all put a few more fish on the bank. We hope you enjoy this new feature and we also hope to receive many more submissions from around the Globe.
Thinking Differently Thinking Differently By Marcus Tackley I’ve long been a slave to wild carping. Like a parasitic Lamprey, it attaches itself to my
imagination and feeds from the nostalgia generated by my childhood fishing memories; mist rising from the water during a late spring dawn, woodpigeons and collared doves
gently cooing at each other, the flick of a reed stem as something unseen brushes past beneath….
Fishing for wild carp in unknown waters is life’s
At some preordained but completely unpredict-
great counterbalance for me. The clock-watching,
able time in to a session, it suddenly clicks! I get
meeting laden, traffic wallowing normality can
it. Through what I’ve seen and heard I’m then able
temporarily be put on hold and instead replaced
to make the connection and angle to the best of
by the gradual process of reacquainting oneself
my ability.
with nature. I’m a believer that the longer you spend waterside, the more you attune to your
This is the reason I fish. It has less to do with
natural surroundings. If this is done diligently
the physical act of fishing and much more to do
enough, you are finally accepted as part of the
with the mental re-balancing through the process
background.
of fishing. It is increasingly hard for me to ‘get my fix’ in the UK and over the years I’ve become disil-
It manifests itself by the appearance of all kinds
lusioned with the carp scene here.
of fauna you normally wouldn’t be lucky enough
Waters that evoke my childhood memories like
to see. It is at this point I feel most at peace with
Ashmead, Redmire and The Mangrove are too far
the world; the stresses and strains of everyday life
removed for mere mortals such as myself! Fortu-
banished for a few wonderful days. A by-product
nately over the years my nostalgia has evolved,
of ‘tuning back in’ is that like a lot of anglers, I be-
like a Lamprey ditching its host and finding an-
gin to develop a richer, deeper understanding of
other, I’m now attached to wild carping. To target
the underwater aquatic environment –“think like a
these fish it’s of paramount importance that you
carp” – is often touted around, but it’s true.
think differently. There’s absolutely no background in terms of
If you spend countless hours staring out across
anglers reports, forums, times and dates when
the water, then the brain wants to make patterns,
named fish were last caught so you need to rely
draw conclusions; mankind craves process and
on watercraft, technology like Google Earth, Echo
understanding, making sense out of chaos and
Sounders, Underwater Cameras and your innate
disorder.
ability to tune in to the natural environment. North American Carp Angler
71
Thinking Differently
A small Cheshire water in the late 90’s, these were my childhood memories of carp fishing I have fished several new water bodies in 2014,
The Waterway includes the Trent River, the Oto-
the first being the Trent Severn Waterway in
nabee River and of course the famous Kawartha
Southern Ontario, Canada.
Lakes.
It’s an area I keep being drawn back to on the
We decided to fish the Otonabee River and one
map, but ever since a big carp death in 2007 at-
of the Lakes called Katchewanooka Lake. Anglers
tributed to KHV, the bacteria columnaris, and oth-
like Bob Nudd and Chris Tarrant have fished this
er environmental abnormalities that year, it had
area before, so it’s not true pioneering but at 240
taken a back seat in my plans. However, due to
miles long with no carp anglers present, I’m sure
a life altering event with my regular fishing buddy,
we could find a quiet backwater to fish!
this year I took a relative carp fishing virgin out with me for a spot of pioneering.
Our first two days were spent acclimatising to the daily heat and persistent mosquitos; locals
The Trent Severn Waterway connects two of the
advised this was the worst epidemic since 1974
Great Lakes – Ontario and Huron – and stretches
– just my luck! Prior to flying out I’d identified sev-
240 miles.
eral likely looking areas of the river using both
Thinking Differently Google Earth and an application called Navionics.
So we made a plan to bait the top of a steep shelf
We rolled up in the rented car to the first of those
we’d found using Navionics (shown in photo 2)
areas and walked out to the end of a spit of land
with 25kg’s of method balls and 10Kg’s of boilied
adjacent to the lock.
and flavoured maize, then go and grab a bite to
After 5 minutes we saw our first Otonabee River
eat, get an early night once the mosquito’s came
carp roll, quickly followed by a second, third and
out to play, and come back to the spot early the
fourth!
next morning before first light.
We fished the finger of land adjacent to the lock and the top of the Italy shaped drop-off
We arrived just on first light and lugged all of our gear down to the point to be greeted by a quite magnificent aerial display. Every 10 seconds or so a fish or two would launch themselves clear of the water before disappearing in to the crystal clear depths. North American Carp Angler
73
Thinking Differently We quickly tackled up a single rod each (only 1
My buddy John was now playing the fish at a
rod is allowed by the Ministry of Natural Resourc-
right angle and of course the inevitable happened
es in Ontario) with an Avid Flatbed Feeder and
in these zebra mussel infested waters – ping!
scopex flavoured giant maize on a standard blowback rig, and positioned each rod along the top of the bar in the picture. Once positioned, the spod and the method blast-
After re-tackling, the rod soon doubled over but by standing on a nearby rock, John managed to keep the rod high enough to avoid this snag.
er put in an appearance and we topped up from the previous night with another dozen balls and a couple of kilo’s of maize.
If you’ve ever been fortunate enough to experience what anglers call ‘flat rodding’ then you’ll have some appreciation of how difficult it is to
Surprisingly our first run didn’t come until late
keep 12ft of carbon fibre up over your head with
morning, but it was an absolute screamer and the
the butt jammed in to your groin whilst that event
fish headed straight over the ledge in to deep wa-
is occurring! John eventually wrestled his first for-
ter, and then took a sharp right back up and over
eign carp to the waiting net and bundled in a new
the ledge via a huge boulder.
PB at 29lb 8oz.
Not a bad start to John’s first foreign wild carping trip
Thinking Differently Over the course of that day we continued to see fish crash around us, and we kept the bait going
I’d found that upon introduction of bait, the showing carp would tail slap, tail-walk, or flank flop.
in but only managed 7 takes with 6 fish landed. We repeated the baiting process that evening and planned to follow up again the next morning.
Over many years I’ve found a pattern with wild river carp that I can’t scientifically prove, but it appears that they try to make as much noise as
The second morning was just stunning; the sun
possible upon finding a food source. I think this
rose directly in front of us and quickly chased the
is because they naturally shoal in the great rivers
whirls of mist back to the margins before evapo-
and the shoal mentality means they feed as one.
rating them completely. Our day fared better than the first with 12 fish landed and 4 lost with the big-
Sound travels great distances through water so
gest nudging 25lb’s. We packed up that evening
I’ve concluded that the noise created by this type
sunburnt, thirsty and starving and decided to give
of activity is designed to notify the shoal that a rich
this area one last go before moving to pastures
feeding ground has been found.
new.
Based upon the shoal size and the area of bait
By now we’d started to find a rhythm, and worked
dispersion, the carp revert to porpoising, head
with our environment rather than fight against it.
and shouldering and my personal favourite; com-
I commented in the bar that evening that a num-
ing vertically out of the water and slipping back
ber of fish were showing within 20ft of us from the
in the same way almost without producing a rip-
point so we got the Navionics App fired up and
ple, I’ve christened this ‘Daleying’ after the British
tried to work out the patrol route the carp were
High Diver who seems to be able to enter the wa-
taking upstream. What structures were they using
ter with a similar sound to a distance lead hitting
for navigation and where their destination might
water from a great height!
be? They appeared to spend the evenings in the large
Again this is conjecture on my part but I think this
bay to our right, this was shallower and therefore
is the carp clearing their gills after feeding in the
warmer and they clearly wanted to feed amongst
super soft silt common in these rivers. During the
the milfoil which was dripping with invertebrates.
noisy activity I’ve rarely had a take, but when the
We’d spent two and half days staring at the same
gill clearing starts it’s often difficult to keep a pair
stretch of river, so tried to work out their move-
of rods in the water.
ments based upon what we’d seen. The third day dawned and upon arrival we evalu-
Based on the previous evening’s discussions I
ated our options based upon the prior evening’s
switched tactics to a favourite method of mine –
discussions.
float fishing. North American Carp Angler
75
Thinking Differently An underarm swing from knee deep water found
even though it’s marketed as a snag leader) at-
that the bar temporarily dipped in front of us be-
tached to a Solar 101 in size one and good old
fore rising up to the bank, this in effect created a
fashioned tinned sweetcorn straight on the hook.
deep water channel between the main river and the shallow bay perpendicular to the bar.
A small catapult of loose feed and a two minute
At 15ft it was too deep to fish the traditional float
wait and the rod was wrenched from my grasp
method so I swapped the 66lb power pro for 12lb
resulting in a mid-20 common, this was an A Team
Korda Kontour a Polaris float and a half ounce
moment – I love it when a plan comes together –
in-line lead. I left a 12” length of Arma-Kord (I use
and we went on to take 22 fish that day using this
this for all my hooklengths when fishing abroad
method.
Waiting in anticipation on ‘Strike Rock’ as we christened it, sharing a run a person
Thinking Differently
Working with nature and not against it.
The second event that got me thinking differently
We wandered along the top of this structure
actually came from a most unexpected and un-
where there were various fishermen fishing with
pleasant source. I’d identified an area close to a
bobbers and worms for pickerel and walleye
boat lock called Youngs Point around 10 miles up-
15ft below them. Around a quarter of the gates
stream from where we were.
were open and the ferocity of the water spewing through was a real sight to behold. The remainder
We went to check it out that evening but it didn’t seem to cut the mustard, so we crossed the lock
of the gates were closed, so this created a huge back-eddy on either side of the white water.
to the barrage. I won’t go in to too much detail but we met a As it’s a river you can’t just place a lock on it; the
teenager with a bow and arrow who was taking
flowing water needs somewhere to go so adja-
pot shots at fish. Upon closer inspection these
cent to each lock was a large manmade barrage
fish were carp. Whilst this sounds shocking I’ve
that consists of gates that can be opened to allow
been exposed to it many times during my travels
the water to continue its journey.
to the US and Canada. North American Carp Angler
77
Thinking Differently I initially took the typical response most Euro-
another dam 12 miles upstream where his buddy
pean carpers would take; attempting to argue
bow’d a 54lb carp last year, so we took that infor-
against the barbarity of the ‘sport’, and this got
mation and went on our way. The following day
me in to a few sticky situations as I was never the
being a Monday, we cautiously ventured back up
one holding the weapon!
to Youngs Point to find it devoid of any anglers, weaponised or otherwise, so donning caps and
Then over time I attempted to educate, by showing them unhooking mats, nets, even Klinik (that
polarised glasses we walked the 300 yard stretch of the barrage.
got a few laughs!) and on several occasions I’ve
Looking over the railing we saw groups of 10-12
let them take the next run to see for themselves
fish swimming close to the gate structure and in
what a truly great sport fish the carp is, so maybe
and out of the columns up to the white water and
helped changed the minds of a few of these bow-
flashing their flanks in to the incredibly ferocious
men.
current.
Mostly though, I just distance myself from any bow hunters or politely ask them to move on if
The practical part of me thinks they were ridding
they cross my lines on a boat with a drawn bow.
themselves of lice, but having watched them in
This young lad however approached us and we engaged him in soft conversation, he told us of
complete fascination for over an hour, the emotional part says they were enjoying the feeling!
The ferocity of this white water was incredible, and to think carp happily feed in and around it!
Thinking Differently
Carp would dip their flanks in to the fastest flowing water beneath me, seemingly for pure pleasure!
On this point I have to digress slightly because at another lock further downstream we witnessed
You can just make out the carp in 6 inches of water; they repeated this time and time again
the most bizarre carp behaviour I’ve ever seen. As you can see from the photo; there was a large piece of submerged concrete around 30ft in length that had a jet of water running over it from a leak in one of the barrage gates to a depth of around 6� of flowing water. I watched in stunned disbelief as a pod of 12 carp made their way to the bottom of the concrete, managed to get their bellies up on to it and thrashed like salmon up a waterfall the entire length before slipping off the top. They did this repeatedly, in line and for nearly half an hour before heading off. Again, it appeared the carp were displaying this behaviour purely for enjoyment over any other reason. North American Carp Angler
79
Thinking Differently Back to Youngs Point, the carp seemed to work
We repeated this process twice more before
their around each pillar in the slack water as a
thinking about lowering a rod in. We’d ascertained
shoal, waiting for spillway to deliver food items in
that if we did hook a fish and kept it out of the
to their path before disappearing out of sight in to
white water, then by lying down on the concrete
the white water only to appear a minute later back
slab we could just about dip the net under a fish
at the first pillar.
and haul it up safely. With an increasing sense of
They had a defined route and stuck to it like clockwork, which in itself was interesting as it proved
anticipation we lowered our baited rods over the railing and waited for the fish to return.
theories about the much discussed patrol routes. We had half a bucket of boiled, salted and sweet-
Sure enough they soon came around again and
ened maize so dropped a handful 15ft down on to
cleared out all the free offerings and left both of
one of the shelves they were regularly patrolling.
our identical hook baits alone! It was both frustrat-
The depth of water at the top of the shelf was
ing and exhilarating at the same time, watching
around 3ft falling to around 8ft on a 45 degree an-
fish – some of which were nudging 40lb’s – ac-
gle. Most of the maize managed to hold the shelf,
tively feed so close to your bait really got my heart
whilst the rest just got swept up in the vortex and
beating.
swirled about like it was in a washing machine. As the carp came around they instantly began hoovering up the maize and it quickly vanished in to about a dozen 20lb fish.
You can make out the dark shadow next to the column
I’m not one to admit defeat easily so we persevered with our methods for an hour and did actually hook and land a teen
Thinking Differently
John got lucky and managed to hook and land an 18lb’er North American Carp Angler
81
Thinking Differently That evening we once again retired to the pub –
Having stripped back to just a bare hook we
our best thinking is done there! – and discussed
both baited with some soft boiled maize, threw a
methods and tactics in an attempt to extricate one
handful of sweet starchy maize in to the cauldron,
of these fascinating fish. We were fishing stand-
watching the torpedo-like shadows scoot around
ard rigs with a length of tubing, 4oz leads, 8” of
picking it off as our lines were beaten around by
Arma-Kord with a standard blow-back rig.
the flow of the water.
We decided that even to uneducated carp this was still fairly blatant in clear water presented on
In this scenario you have to hold your rod over
a concrete slab. With that in mind we decided to
the railing and point it down to the water. Using
really get back to basics the following day and
braid this meant I could feel every knock and
strip it all back to a hook directly tied to the 30kg
tweak but you always knew when something had
power pro, doesn’t get any more simple than that!
engulfed the hook with the familiar head shake, and that’s when I would strike.
We still fished the morning sessions on Lake Katchewanooka as we were taking a boat out to
The first hit came within seconds and took off like
bait up heavily at dusk before the mosquitos be-
an express train. I palmed the spool as the fish
came unbearable, and fished it on first light up
ran directly away from me heading towards the
until late morning when the runs would typically
first of the open barrage gates.
dry up. We then grabbed a sandwich and went back to Youngs Point to put our plan in to action.
I kept giving the fish line, under great duress but I kept hitting the point when you feel that some-
Upon arrival we dribbled in some maize all along
thing’s going to give, so just allow a couple of
the barrage. Being midday with the sun almost di-
yards of line to spin off the spool before clamping
rectly overhead we found the majority of the larger
your palm around it again.
carp were patrolling the very first gate. Stupidly I let this happen too often and the carp This seemed to be an area they were congregat-
made the white water. At this point I was physical-
ing in prior to setting off along the gates on their
ly dragged along the wall until I ran in to the railing
patrol route.
at the end and the braid gave up and snapped
Unfortunately for us there was only an area the size of a tennis court to hook and land the fish in due to the ferocity of the white water just downstream and in front of us. We did consider for a while just not attempting it, but He Who Dares!
close to the hook.
Thinking Differently Jigging for carp next to a concrete wall, it took my
back to my crab fishing days in Corwall!
It was close to thirty degrees at this point and
During our many hours spent just watching, not
I was shaking like a leaf and sweating buckets
a single fish had shown itself above the water,
so I found some shade under a tree, rehydrated,
so there has to be a relationship between these
checked the braid for nicks and tied on another
events.
hook. I knew the fish were still there as I believe all At this point John had hooked a fish which did ex-
these carp spend their time around the feature
actly the same thing to him – time to re-evaluate.
and rarely venture back to one of the connecting lakes.
With the increased activity, and two sweaty-
I thought their reaction of sinking in to the depths
faced lads peering down at them the carp sunk
was perhaps a learned behaviour from having
out of sight. Interestingly though since we’d been
pot shots taken at them with an arrow and indeed
baiting little and often every few minutes a carp
some of the fish we saw had brutal round holes on
would tail walk on the edge of the white water, this
their backs after a lucky escape.
further convinced me my theories on their aerial activity was related to feeding. North American Carp Angler
83
Thinking Differently I decided to put a small lead back on to a lead
I decided to further refine my approach to include
clip and tie a 2ft length of 200lb Kraken as the
a Korda Quick Release Lead Clip and I bought
hook link. I’d have some weight to get the bait
some of those horrific looking shiny silver cheap
down and the hook link would be pushed horizon-
leads, or sinkers as they call them, from a local
tally away from the lead with the flow of the water.
tackle shop.
I put in a small handful of maize, waited 20 sec-
This meant I could get the bait down, but the lead
onds for it to sink then slowly lowered my rig down
would drop on the pick-up meaning I could play
with the lead bumping against the wall.
the carp much harder without having 3oz’s of lead banging around the fish and the rocks. Initially I
The water depth was slightly under 22ft so when
waited no more than 60 seconds once the bait
my bait got to around half that depth I felt a violent
was in the water but towards late afternoon, and
shudder. The beginnings of a head shake com-
having thinned out the stocks by returning them
menced when I struck powerfully and clung on for
upstream, the wait was longer.
dear life. The fish tore off to the white water like last time,
I tweaked my tactic and began jigging the bait
and whilst I still gave in a couple of times and give
slowly down to 22ft, and then equally slowly back
it a little line, I got it turned before it could enter
to the surface. I never got to more than my sec-
the current.
ond full jig before the rod was wrenched down and I was in to another mighty battle.
An incredibly fraught 5 minutes ensued before John scrambled down the steep rock and pushed
Unfortunately time was against us so having
the landing net out around the corner in to the cur-
played a numbers game, hoping for the bigger
rent to engulf the carp.
carp we’d seen to take the bait, we had to leave the job half finished, but there’s always next year!
Once netted John passed the end of the handle
Incidentally the following day I hooked and landed
up to me 15ft above him and I’d haul net and fish
a mid-teen fish that still had my Solar 101 and an
up and over the railing and on to the waiting un-
inch of Arma-Kord in its mouth, which I removed.
hooking mat. She nudged 20lb’s and we released her above the lock where she would hopefully
The mid-teen was the first fish I hooked the previ-
live a longer life without the danger of being har-
ous day that made it to the white water, they have
pooned.
such incredible power these fish, at the time I was
Over the course of that day we landed 16 from 22 takes with only two escaping with the hook.
sure I’d lost a chunk!
Thinking Differently
I can’t imagine ever jigging for carp again, but at least now I have it in my armoury should I need it, but by confronting situations you never normally encounter and using the years of knowledge you’ve built up, the impossible becomes achievable. Thinking differently and challenging the perceptions of those around you can lead to some great adventures, and it’s those adventures that I relish in my carp fishing. North American Carp Angler
85
Carp in the Great Southern Land. By Chirs Ward
Sunset on a newly discovered tidal lake, the question was are there any Carp? This is the essence of Australian Carp angling, discovery of waters and Carp. I have been a lifelong angler, but it wasn’t until 5
There are few anglers and a lot of water, most
years after migrating to Australia that I happened
of which hold Carp and native species plus other
upon this lucky countries largely untapped Carp
introduced species.
angling potential - this soon developed into what I can only describe as a divine addiction.
To give you an idea of the scale, as a Carp angler it would fair to say I have the upper freshwater reaches to the tidal river and lakes of an entire
It would be fair to say that since then I have had little interest in anything else and I have become
system pretty much to myself save for a few anglers chasing other species.
firm friends with the few likeminded Carp anglers here in Australia.
Carp are not very popular in Australia and are
The Carp scene in Australia is still very much in
considered a pest, the only thing less popular
its infancy compared to the USA, Europe and the
than Carp are Carp anglers who openly practice
UK.
catch and release angling.
I should point out here that we’re not doing any-
Snakes are probably the thing that no Carper
thing illegal by releasing our catch, it is all within
wants to interact with. I think I am right in saying
the regulations of our respective states.
that Australia plays host to 3 of the most deadly
There have been attempts to eradicate Carp,
snakes in the world.
all of them have proved to be a futile exercise in
The mundane sounding Eastern Brown Snake is
wasting money and resources. I’m not sure we
one I’ve encountered twice and both times it was
will ever see Carp accepted as a worthy sport fish
fairly alarming.
here in Australia, but there are an ever growing band of Australian converts and migrants taking
Once I was laid in some long grass alongside
up this fantastic sport and making the most of the
my pod clad in mossy oak and propped up on an
unique Australian Carp angling experience.
elbow, the next thing I knew I was eye to eye with a 1.5 metre Eastern Brown and the adrenalin was
A part of the ‘unique experience’ here in Australia
pumping, along with a few other things!
would have to be its wildlife, but it is a little known fact that Australia’s inland waters kill more peo-
We stayed like that for what seemed an eternity
ple than its snakes, spiders, sharks, shores, surf
before the snake got bored and slithered off. My
and riptides every year, drowning in inland waters
next encounter with the same species of serpent
is more prevalent than it is at the beach and we
came on an urban stretch of river.
have some very dangerous beaches.
The river was crystal clear and the area I was night fishing had a raised platform, because of
This probably owes a bit to the need to escape
this I’d taken to not using any lights. I had just had
the heat during the hot summer months (Novem-
a decent Carp and was putting everything back in
ber-February) though it can still get very warm
order - I went for my landing net pole to put the net
outside those months, I measured a temperature
back on and it wasn’t a landing net pole, it was a
of 46.3 centigrade in a swim last October.
very lively snake.
The hot weather can make angling quite difficult, I have found the best times during the summer are when a storm breaks the heat. Fishing the thunderstorm has been quite productive, but it’s not without risks, flash flooding, tree
I immediately threw it into the reeds but not before it struck out catching me in the armpit, luckily the strike merely grazed me and caught more of my T shirt than anything else.
falls and lightning being the main ones, finding your way out of a flooded tidal woodland waist
That was a very big wake up call. The first ques-
deep in water at night with all your gear during
tion I got asked after that was, was it brown or
a torrential storm is a sobering experience, you
black? I forgot to turn on my head torch to find out
wouldn’t think you could get lost with a head torch
was the reply without the expletives.
on! North American Carp Angler
87
I suppose the next logical point here is an acquaintance that I have only recently become
out, every Carp I’ve had from this water has a good side and a bad side.
aware of since exploring the tidal reaches, luck-
Recently I was talking to an angler who was fish-
ily I found out about them after wading in to re-
ing for Bass on the fresh side and I asked him if
trieve shopping karts that had been a hindrance
he fished the tidal lake and he replied he used to
to my fishing, otherwise I wouldn’t have waded
fish it in his kayak until last year, when out one
out there.
morning he was shadowed by 3 Bull Sharks all
The Bull Shark is a voracious predator, grows to 4
bigger than his Hobie Kayak. That made the hairs
metres long and there’s literally nothing they won’t
on the back of my neck stand up, it was the same
eat. After the Great White and the Tiger Shark it is
time of year I was wading across the channel to
one of the most dangerous sharks about, particu-
remove shopping karts!
larly as it is tolerant of fresh water and migrates
Despite the obvious downside to fishing the tidal
up stream during the spring and summer. I have
side I still believe that it has the best chance of pro-
had a few encounters with them now and they re-
ducing the biggest of Carp, there’s just so much
ally bugger up your session.
available protein in the form of shellfish, prawns,
The Carp always seem to have 20 to 30 minutes
crabs and the like, the system also boasts riverine
on them, it’s like they instinctively know what’s in-
connections to Australia’s very first Carp popula-
coming and take cover, I’m sure some get caught
tion which was stocked in the late 1800’s.
The sign at the entrance to one of the tidal lakes, despite that it’s still annoyingly popular for water sport.
I expect that after all this we are ready to see
The early sessions were not all that promising
some Carp, the first one is a fish I really worked
and a few other people guested and left pretty un-
for when I eventually discovered this area on the
impressed, but I stuck at it and eventually winkled
fresh water side.
out a scraper 20 that showed promise – it was full bodied and not skinny.
I was in all honesty about to give up what I called ‘the search’, but after a few trials, tribulations and
Not too long after I had a 26 that was a Carp of
a lucky contact I gained what could best be de-
the Prussian strain reportedly stocked in a local
scribed as exclusive access, key to the gate and
pond, a very short stout Carp with not much po-
facilities such as a toilet and shower.
tential if I’m honest, it was looking like that was about it, but then I had a 22 that was classic Pros-
The only downside is that during summer it is
pect Strain and that changed my outlook com-
water ski central, but I built a rapport with the ski-
pletely as these Carp could go over a metre long
ers and in the end they were happy to have me
and carry the weight.
around. 2 years later and many 20’s and upper 20’s later this happened, if I look shocked it’s because I am.
40lb on the nose, an athletic river Carp I christened The Haymaker after my favourite pale ale.
North American Carp Angler
89
After fishing the fresh water the tidal offers a very different challenge, the water comes and the water goes, quite literally in this lake. When it comes it floods and you get wet, when it empties it does just that, as though someone pulled the plug out, lucky if there’s 3 feet in it, some parts are left high and dry. I plugged away baiting every day for a month and exactly 4 weeks later saw a 20 head and shoulder, until that point I had no idea if there were Carp in there, it was as good as catching one. Now I knew they were around I kept feeding the particle but also introduced Shellfish B5 boilies in an attempt to imitate the abundant soft shell crabs, it was a Friday afternoon thunderstorm when I had a screaming run on a double 20mm boilie tipped with spicy squid corn.
35lb 5oz, spewed bits of crab and boilie on the mat. A crab eating beast of a Carp.
One of my favourite pictures, the other thing I love about Carp angling in Australia are the stunning photo opportunities. Two of the things I don’t like about Carp angling in Australia are the Eels (Anguilla Australis) and the Ninjas (Turtles). They make impossible to use boilies for all but a few months of the year, particles are not immune from their attention either. I have had my fair share on everything from bread to peanuts.
Me and an Eel, I think this one went about 18lb, unfortunately I have had them bigger. North American Carp Angler
91
So what does the future hold for Australia and
Things have progressed and an example would
its Carp anglers? Personally I think it looks quite
be a water my friend Steve identified around
promising, we have the waters and the Carp are
2006/2007, he noted the Carp in there were
undoubtedly going to get bigger.
always full and very few skinny ones came out, with the efforts of a small group of anglers it has
I’m not sure things ever will take off here as they
turned into our premier big fish water, there are
have in other places, equally I think all here would
other waters that might hold 1 or 2 big Carp but
agree that we don’t really want that anyway, most
this one’s mean size is larger and I’m pretty cer-
of us are more than happy with this little niche
tain the biggest in that water have yet to grace a
having experienced the other side.
landing net and mat.
Having said that Australia is a long way from anywhere so it’s about as far as you could go to catch a Carp, there’s bound to be people up for that.
One of my favourite photos taken by my friend Duncan, our first specimen Carp camp and I was very fortunate to catch the biggest Carp at 32lb 9oz during a 4am thunderstorm.
Mirror Carp are a difficult subject for me for some reason I don’t catch many at all, I think my last one was over 7 years ago and it was about 11lb, fortunately my friends seem to pull Mirrors out every other time they go fishing, so here are a couple of very nice specimens. My friend Steve Borkowskis with a pristine fully scaled Mirror of 12.12kg, cracking fish and well angled, Steve is the best all round angler I have ever known, could catch in a puddle.
Another good friend and another beautiful Mirror, Scott Rollo cradles his well-earned prize. North American Carp Angler
93
That’s just about it from the lucky country, here’s another friend found through fishing about 4 years ago my dog Hawkesbury, a story for another day. See you on the bank mate, catch a big ‘un.
Running
man
Mark Pitchers has recently been experimenting with a classic lead arrangement that is often overlooked by many carpers in the modern world... North American Carp Angler
95
I
am by my own admission a massive fan of inline leads be that fished semi-fixed or drop-off style. That
is because for a large percentage of my fishing I like to employ the use of solid PVA bags and therefore these lead setups lend themselves to such tactics. However, over the winter period I was asked by the guys at Fox to field-test a new product that they were working on as part of their Edges range.
It was the brainchild of Scott Day, the same brain
I’m convinced that had I not been using the run-
that brought you products such as the Rapide
ning rig lead setup that fish could well have got rid
Load System, Black Label bankware, FX Low
of my hook without me even knowing about it – let
Rider barrow and Flatliter Bed & Bag System to
me explain my thoughts behind this....
name just a few! So when I heard that this product
If you look around your chosen venue the chanc-
was one of Scott’s babies I was instantly inter-
es are you will see most anglers casting out inline
ested as I knew he had form for delivering so to
leads, helicopter rigs or lead clips set-ups.
speak. All of these involve the use of fixed or semi-fixed The product in question is called the Angled Drop
leads and it is these types of presentation that I
Off Run Ring Kit. As soon as I saw it I thought to
believe pressured carp are becoming all the more
myself “now this looks like the one”. The guys at
wise to.
Fox explained the benefits of the kit and I was instantly sold, but still I needed to fish with it and see for myself how it performed. And so over this winter just gone I have tried to fish with the running rig on at least one of my three rods on each and every session. So far the results have been very encouraging and the standout capture has to be that of a 36lb mirror banked in January whilst out shooting a live feature for another carp magazine. On that session I had another two carp on the running rig set up and the second carp literally only gave me a couple of bleeps and didn’t take any line.
As I see it there are two main advantages associated with the use of a running lead presentation. Firstly the lack of resistance when a carp picks up your hookbait can be a massive advantage as the carp will not feel any resistance and will not be able to use the weight of your lead to help eject the rig successfully. These days as soon as a carp feels that slightest resistance from a lead they can often spit the rig very quickly and even shake their heads and use the weight of the lead to throw the hook.
By using a lead of 3oz+ on a running set up the fish will clock the inedible hook a lot later and then when it shake its heads to rid itself of the hook the weight of the lead will not come to its rescue! The second advantage is that a running lead set-up can give you much better bite indication.
When fishing with running rig setups it is important to fish with semi-slack lines with a small drop on the bobbin.
This is because as a fish moves off with the rig the lead will not act as a pivot point and therefore your main line will pull through the ring on your lead, which in turn will cause the line to pass over the roller wheel of your bite alarm and you will then get a bleep on the alarm. When
targeting
pressured
carp, bites can be very finicky and quite often your rig will be ejected without your alarm registering a single bleep, however by swapping over to the running set-up you can convert many more chances!
North American Carp Angler
95
Running Rig with a Big Edge! Previously running rigs had one massive disad-
drawbacks, which I’m sure you will all agree is a
vantage in that they were a nightmare to use on
massive edge! You may be asking yourself how
weedy or snaggy venues as the lead could not
can it be setup to drop the lead? Well it’s pretty
be ejected and in fact would get caught up in the
simple, the T-Peg that normally holds your lead
weed whilst the fish swam a long way from the
in place on the ring can be removed and then a
lead, then all you would do is wind the carp back
small PVA pin put in its place.
to the weed where it would be locked solid. This PVA pin holds the force of the cast but once Fortunately the new Angled Drop Off Run Ring
it melts it enables the lead to eject free.
Kit that I have been using is designed in a way
Due to the way that the leads swivel pushes into
that it allows the lead to eject should it come into
the ring it has enough resistance to hold the lead
contact with weed etc.
when you reel in unless you encounter a weed
This now means that I can get all of the benefits of a running lead set-up without the previous
Mark has been field-testing a new running rig design over the winter.
bed or jerk the rod too violently when reeling in.
Leaders This winter when I have been fishing lakes that are gin clear I have fished my running rigs on leaders tied from fluorocarbon as there is nothing less conspicuous at my disposal. Again this winter I have been testing a new product from the Fox Edges range, in the shape of the Trans Khaki Illusion Fluorocarbon. This stuff takes fluorocarbon to a whole new level and from the footage I have seen taken by Rob Hughes really is something special. When the water isn’t so clear I will often go for a leadcore or lead-free leader as these offer greater abrasion resistance.
Hooklink The actual hooklink rig that you choose to use with a running lead really is down to your personal preference, this winter I have done very well using hinged stiff rigs, with a supple boom section and a Milky Toffee pop-up tipped with maggots. This has worked really well with the running lead but really you can use just about anything you have confidence in.
How To Use the Angled Drop Off Run Rig Kit
Take a ready-tied leader and thread a buffer bead from the kit down it and over the swivel. The next step is to slide one of the rings from the kit onto the leader.
Take the swivel of your chosen lead (min. 3oz recommended) and push it up inside the ring as shown. Now take one of the T-pegs supplied in the kit and secure the lead in place on the ring like so.
North American Carp Angler
101
Now attach your chosen hooklink rig to the swivel of the setup. Your running rig set-up is now complete and ready to fool those wary carp.
Create a Drop-Off Running Rig Remove the T-peg from your ring and replace it with a PVA pin instead..
Take a sharp pair of scissor and carefully trim the excess PVA away.
North American Carp Angler
103
Your lead is now locked in position for the cast but once the PVA melts it will be able to eject. During the winter months Mark will often opt for a fluorocarbon leader to aid concealment.
Ready-tied leaders can save you vital time on the bank.
Running rig success whilst testing new products!
North American Carp Angler
105
Featuring scenic images and catch pictures
S ’ R E B MEM
from our very own CAG Members.
Y R E L GAL
Photo By David Moore
North American Carp Angler
107
Photos By Adam Cieplik
North American Carp Angler
109
Photos By Craig Parkes
Photos By Dave Pickering
North American Carp Angler
111
Photo By Brian Sherwood
Send in your articles and photographs and get published in the NACA magazine. We are always looking for reports on tournaments and fish-ins as well as instructional articles, personal anecdotes, book and tackle reviews.
Photographs and videos are always welcome. If you submit an article please try to include several photographs to accompany it. Submissions must be sent via e-mail to: naca@carpanglersgroup.com
Approaches to Winter Only a few short years ago many American carp anglers believed that carp could simply NOT be caught in the winter. In fact I still hear anglers state that once water temperatures drop to below 50 degrees the carp not only stop feeding but go into a dormant state!! Let me tell you this is simply not the case. Carp can be caught in the harshest of conditions for those anglers willing to brave the cold and although location, baits and tactics may need adjusting it really is simply a case of getting out there and experiencing it for yourself. If you need further proof we have four articles from carpers who are no strangers to cold water fishing. The first is from new contributor Erik Grubb, who lives in the North East of America and can be found on the banks in the bitter depths of winter. Next is Brian Wingard who gives us some of his methods for beating the cold when fishing out in the clear lakes of Pennsylvania. Iain Sorrell also details some tips and tactics to tempt a fish or two and finally Dean Brookes gives us his view of winter fishing. Hopefully, you can take some of this knowledge and during the next few months get out onto the banks and put it into practice to catch a few fish.
WINTER IN NEW ENGLAND By Erik Grubb
It is just a few days before Thanksgiving as I sit writing this. I just sat down with a pot of tea and was having a look around my Facebook wall. A friend asked if I’d mind doing up a piece about winter fishing. Local chatter has been about the six to eight inches of snow coming toward the end of the week. With falling temperatures, shorter days, colder nights and a perceived slow-down in fish activity many anglers have been winding down the season. They have started shelving the gear and talking about pictures from much earlier in the year.
“Have a look at this beauty from Spring”. They say,” I can’t wait till it is here again. Going to be a long winter.” A good portion of anglers simply pack it in during the colder months. They rely on old pictures and stories of previous captures to keep them satisfied. They perceive it as a good time to get back into projects they didn’t bother with the rest of the year and to get caught up on house work. I say there is no good time to get caught up on housework. I don’t want this to sound like I am judging anyone, I am not. If anyone could be judged it is probably me, my house is a mess. There is nothing wrong with taking some time off. I simply believe that many anglers are missing out on a great experience by writing it off completely. Winter is an interesting time in carp fishing. In all honesty, I was hesitant to write an article about this subject. The truth is the banks in winter are quiet. There is a sort of calm out there, many times alone, just you and the banks.
One of my favorite things is sitting along the river, just below a weir pool, huddled in snow and sipping tea while I eagerly watch the tip of my rod, hoping for one small sign of life. During the year these are the 3 months when I rarely see another angler, and when I do, I know they are just as crazy as I am. So you see, there is a bit of selfishness involved my hesitancy. I want all this great cold weather fishing to myself! Then I thought, what do I write about to help others out? I could turn this article into a sort of science lesson about the cold water habits of fish, though it has been covered before, by anglers far better suited to it then myself. I could talk about rigs and baits and the best cold weather alarms. Though, again, it has been said many times, by anglers paid to do so and a few not so lucky. Instead I will simply offer a brief summary of known thoughts. Carp do not hibernate, they remain active and feeding all through the year. Some reports have seen carp rooting around the margins under the ice in January. In a nutshell carp continue to behave like carp all year long. North American Carp Angler
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Travelling Light
Some things do change however, which does bring me to my first point. I read in a book once, which I am paraphrasing here;
“Only when an angler has fished his water at least one full year can he even begin to understand how it works.”
Changing your tactics on the fly, or adapting to the changes in fish behavior can be key to success in any session. When the odds are stacked against you, it is crucial. For example, the past few years I have gotten into feeder fishing. I use a lighter feeder style rod, usually with a method or cage feeder and a crum-
This message is important. We all understand
bly ground bait combined with smaller hook baits.
that weather impacts the fish we chase, as do the lunar cycles, water temps, water depths, food
The presentation is much more subtle and the
sources...the list in fact is very long and honestly
takes can be very light. I have ditched the alarms
rather boring to write about over a cup of tea this
in these sessions, instead relying on the quiver
early in the morning.
or swing tip for indication. The idea is simple and
Fish move about whatever body of water they
I will go through my process to help explain why
live in based on a large variety of conditions. Only
this is so important to my recent winter fishing.
by fishing these areas repeatedly and over the
Let’s take a look at a past session.
course of multiple seasons can we start to see patterns develop. This is a very simple idea and it means to really understand the swim you fish, it is important to see how it works in the summer, spring, fall and winter. You can’t show up to a strange water and hurl out a two pound oat method ball with a size 2 hook and double 22mm boilies in both January and June. Well you can, however your results may vary from your expectation. This leads me to my second point. Adaptation. This word should be very important to carp anglers all year round, but especially so in the winter. This can mean learning more than one style of angling, or understanding a variety of rigs and baits, or simply understanding your swim and knowing when to move with the fish.
Winter baits North American Carp Angler
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Quiver Take
My gear is light. I carry a feeder rod, with additional rod tips to allow change as needed, and my net in one hand. A bucket with bait ( a trout pellet/bread crumb/roasted hemp ground bait, sweet corn, a few plastic baits and a pot of neon yellow 12mm pop ups and of course a tub of worms ) in the other. I have my rucksack with tackle, lunch, tea, camera and mat on my back. This “lightening” of gear has become increasingly important to me in the winter. If I need to move to find fish, I prefer the ability to do so. I find that too much gear makes me lazy. This could mean the difference between a blank or an awesome snow carp photo. Once on the water I look around for a bit. I know this weir pool swim well by now, I have fished it for years and have seen it change and evolve significantly over time.
I remember three or four years back when a tree used to lay across the water where I am now standing and all of the fish congregated there. It has since gone down the river and the fish no longer hide beneath it. Instead they move to two other locations in the winter. One was to follow the new current out and school up just inside of it, along a nice little drop off. The second was to school up along a back current around a nice silt patch. Both are in the deeper water for this section, which ranges from about 3 feet to almost 10. This day I will be fishing just inside of the main current. I unpack my gear, get the kettle on, lay out the mat and net, sort out my camera. I prepare the ground bait by getting it wet with river water. I won’t need much today as the water is cold, maybe two pounds.
I’m using a small cage feeder, and a very long
will look for food in that area in the spring. If carp
hook length of light material down to a size 12
migrate along a specific route in the fall, they will
hook. I think, as it is a chilly morning, that I will
migrate along that same basic route next fall.
start with worms. I find it very hard to beat a natural at this time of year. The bonus is many other
This is important because it means if you find
species have slowed down as well which also al-
where the fish are during the winter one year, they
lows you to use worms far more effectively.
will typically be there the next year.
I cast this just inside the current, which allows bait to trickle out of my feeder down river and draw fish up onto my hook. I sit the rod down into the bankstick, keeping the butt end in my lap. I have a slight bend in the quiver tip just above the water. I sip my tea and watch the tip, waiting, ready to strike it if moves. Two minutes pass and it does not. I recast, repeat. On the third cast I get a twitch, then a pull and I am into a fish.
If you feed them they will eat. If they eat, you can catch them. This is how simple winter fishing can be, at least in theory. Of course this is a very basic example and we hinted at the number of things which may modify this. It is important to think about though, and it has been the key to my success in winters past. The first winter I fished the weir pool was tough.
The sun had just crested the trees and I am guessing it was around 8 or 830 am. The air temps were around 35 degrees, which would raise to around 40 that afternoon. The water temps were not much better. It was mid-January and there was snow on the ground. It took me 10 minutes to catch the first fish.
I had a basic understanding of the water structure but I had no idea where the fish were. After some looking around I stumbled into them. It took weeks of slowly trickling bait into the swim, every couple of days until they began to fully respond. Respond they did though, and with the effort came rewards. After this first winter I had a swim that could turn out large numbers of amazing fish
I don’t say that to brag and I understand this will not happen everywhere, or every time. I say this however to outline my next point. Which is that carp are creatures of habit. They tend toward the same behavior each year. They will do the same things they do in one summer, the next summer as well. If you feed an area in the spring, carp
in any time of the year. It has been over 5 years now and the swim continues to produce very well. When people are hoping for Spring, I am enjoying days in January and February landing over a dozen carp. Which brings me to my last point ... North American Carp Angler
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Winter Brace
Don’t be afraid to try it isn’t that tough. I don’t want to say it is easy either. It will require a bit of effort on your part. Take time to understand and learn your swim. Find the fish, and give them some food. Be willing to stay mobile. Be willing to change tactics. I can’t promise that you will catch, but I can promise that you will have fun. It may not be for everyone, but if you have thought about setting foot on the banks in the winter I hope that this may encourage you to do so. It really is a good time to fish, in fact some of the largest fish weights from waters have come out during these months.
North American Carp Angler
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COLD WATER CARPING
By Iain Sorrell
So let me first say that I’m NOT a fan of fishing in winter. The winters in New England are generally much too severe for me to even consider sitting bank side let alone venturing out on to the ice. Snow and ice for me are simply a good excuse to sit beside a warm fire or migrate to warmer climes in search of other species. However there is no doubt that for the brave and adventurous falling water temperatures can be remarkably productive. It can also throw up some real lumps which is why I continue to suffer through bitter conditions well into December while the water temps are barely in the 40’s. One myth that needs to be dispelled is that
your rig to minimize any friction through the rings
carp invariably retreat to deeper water in winter.
which might otherwise impede the movement of
While this might be true in some instances they
your swinger or bobbin.
are more likely to be found laying up in old weed
Adjusting your alarm sensitivity and bobbin
beds or snags, sheltering in bays or areas that
counter weights will allow you to optimize bite
receive maximum daylight and are out of the
detection without suffering false beeps from line
wind or current.
drag or wind and wave action. This is where Delkim’s unique vibro detection system really
One of the most important aspects in catching
scores by being able to detect those subtle rod
cold water carp is to maximize each and every
knocks and line bites that other alarms simply
opportunity. Unless you pay close attention to
cannot detect because they require line ‘move-
your rig mechanics, hook points and bite detec-
ment’ to turn the roller (especially if the roller has
tion then your chances of success will be greatly
frozen solid…).
reduced. Unlike warm water conditions the carp
And don’t just take my word for it. If you look
will respond much more slowly so do not expect
carefully you’ll see many of the top anglers using
screaming runs and self hooking rigs to do all
Delkims instead of their ‘sponsored’ products.
the work. If ever there was a time for optimizing
While a warm car or bivvy might be very wel-
bite detection then this is it. A simple running rig
coming it can’t beat sitting close to your rods, es-
(instead of a bolt rig) on a tight line will show up
pecially during those afternoon spells when you
even the most hesitant pick up or drop back and
most expect to get a bite. Some of my biggest
will also transmit the odd line knock to help boost
fish have come as the result of a few hesitant
your confidence that there are fish in your swim.
beeps before hitting into a 2-3 inch lift or drop of
Ideally you should point your rod directly toward
the bobbin.
My Bait Tips: When the water temps fall into the 40’s mass baiting campaigns will become counter productive. I like to focus more on hook baits and local hook rig attraction than any specific feeding program. One of my all time favorite boilies for cold water use was the original EA range from SBS. EA stood for ‘Ethyl alcohol’ better known as ethanol and its high degree of solubility ensured maximum spread of the bait flavor at low temperatures. Sadly the SBS range is no longer available in North America but be sure to check other EA flavors from companies like Nutrabaits. You can also create your own EA baits. A quick look inside your liquor cabinet should provide you with some interesting options to flavor boilies or particle baits or simply add some vodka to an existing flavor and then add as an overnight soak to your regular boilies. As the water temperatures fall lower so does Another great winter attractant is Betalin. This in-
the carp’s appetite and rate of metabolism. A few
tense natural sweetener has a lingering potency
freebies is all that is required to stimulate them
that carp find irresistible. It can be used to soak
to feed and one of my most successful strategies
baits in or added to your favorite flavors. In the
has been to fish a PVA stick containing a mix of
winter of 2013 UK anglers Tom Maker & Mark
liquidized bread and ground boilies.
Bartlett landed an incredible 90 carp (including 30 over 20lb and 3 over 30) in 72 hours from a lake
This creates maximum attraction and allows the
that was half frozen. 78 of these fish fell to yellow
carp to home in on the scent trail as well as be
foam zigs soaked in Betalin.
attracted to the stand out white mass against the typically dark back ground on the bottom. North American Carp Angler
123
Natural baits such as worms or maggots (spikes) can also prove deadly as they are easy to digest. Grind some up with a few pellets or bread and place in a PVA mesh stick to create a very attractive slick. Finally try fishing a brightly colored imitation boilie or piece of corn with your regular bait or even just on its own. Carp are inquisitive by nature and when the water is cold and clear these bright colors really stand out like a homing beacon.
Bread Boilie on PVA
Pay Attention to Carp Care. When the temperatures plummet below freezing it is vitally important to pay attention to care and handling of any fish you catch. When you remove a carp from the relative comfort of the water into air temperatures several degrees below freezing the fish is subjected to very real danger. If you place a fish on a mat then there is a very real risk that it can freeze to the surface which can lead to significant slime loss or scale damage.
The gills in particular are liable to becoming frozen and brittle so if you are not extremely careful it can lead to them breaking with potentially fatal consequences. Always have a bucket of water on hand to prevent the fish from becoming frozen and limit any handling to the absolute minimum. If I intend to weigh or photograph a fish then I will transfer it to a retention sling and keep it in the water until everything is ready and the mat or cradle has been thoroughly wetted to bring it closer to the water temp. Better still simply unhook & release the fish while the landing net remains in the water. Good luck, stay warm and tight lines! North American Carp Angler
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Defeating the ColD By Brian Wingard
For most of us winter is in full effect and my local lake is just about to freeze over for many months. The other lakes I usually fish are already frozen solid which leaves me with many months of experimenting with 2015’s combinations that I want to use and coming up with a game plan. Having experienced the cold chill of the water in the fall and as the ice comes off in the spring you start to develop a pattern of what to do and what not to do.
The biggest strategy I like to play into the fall and
One important tip to consider is try to locate
winter months is always remember that the wa-
weeds or silt because they will both hold the
ter temperature takes quite a while to cool down.
warmth better and the fish will usually be found
Even though it may be 20F outside the water at 40
there.
yards out and 20 feet deep may be a lot warmer into the 40s still. Never assume the air temperature will match the water temperatures. The other thing to remember is even though you feel the water close in near the shore the water temperatures out deeper will certainly be much warmer. With the above being said temperatures play a crucial role in not only approaching certain
For me it becomes really an instinct and you have to observe when you feel the bite is becoming slower. Up until this point you can bait up a lot and the fish will still gorge themselves with food preparing for winter. If you started to fish a venue and the bites are getting very light or just slow in general I would start to deploy the following techniques.
venues but bait selection as well.
North American Carp Angler
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For me the Korda Solidz PVA is my go to year
I will give it a 5 minute rest period before adding
round and especially in the winter months. A small
stick mix over the pellet and then mixing again. At
bag of highly saturated pellets or stick mix can re-
this point I have a 3 stage mix that will yield vari-
ally hone the fish in on your hook bait. My rule of
ous break times. The first to come off will be the
thumb throughout the year is doing a 3 to 1 ratio
stick mix. This will rise up and down in the water
of pellet to stick mix and as the water turns colder
and draw fish down from all levels.
I use less pellet and more liquid and stick mix.
Finally the liquid that is left over on the outside of the pellet will dissolve and move throughout the
Finally right before the lakes begin to freeze I will
water drawing fish in from a long range. Last but
turn over to all stick mix and liquids only because
not least you have the pellet itself. After about 10
the fish are barely feeding and the attraction is
minutes the pellet will be fully expanded but not
enough to get a weary bite out of the fish.
dissolve.
The way I make my pva is a little different and I included a video showing you my process in do-
Pellets tend to hold their form until something
ing so. I will start out with pellet and add some
touches them so as soon as the carp move in to
matching dip or the liquid of your choice over the
eat the pellet it will just dissolve before being eat-
pellet. Be very generous and after pouring the liq-
en and the only thing left is your attractive hook
uid over make sure you mix thoroughly so each
bait and this results in a nice screaming run.
pellet is coated.
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The second choice is another way to draw fish from a distance in the cold weather months and that is to simply pour your favorite liquid into a pva bag. Now the issue with this is being a liquid it can be tricky to seal the bag so I prefer to use pva string or tape to seal the top and then tie the remaining around the bend of the hook. Now this does not cast a mile by any means but can be very effective for casts under 60 yards. The bag will melt and the liquids will ooze everywhere on the bottom and draw fish in instantly. Sometimes the water can really reduce the break down time on the pva so you can either poke holes into the bag itself unless of course you are filling it with liquid or you can change over to mesh sticks. Mesh sticks will not allow you to fill them with liquid but you can still get a really nice mix together like mentioned above. A lot of times to boost the stick even farther I will dip the mesh stick into a liquid coating the outside which will give you a very similar effect like you had with liquid only in a bag just not as intense. In the last issue of the NACA you can see a really great technique of using liquidized bread and I do like to use this technique in the cold water months. One big edge I like to give the bread is to simply add in some CC Moore Robin Red into the food processor as I am blending the bread. It gives the crumb a really nice boost that the fish love. Sometimes a simple additive in with an everyday item can take it to the next level where the fish find it irresistible!
After experimenting with the hook bait presentations using a pop up to either tip your bait or to
My two go to colors lately have been either orange or white.
use the pop up by itself seems to really work over your standard bottom bait in the cold.
With the above information these should give
I think due to the brightness of the bait some-
you quite a few choices to choose from and a few
times the weariest of carp can become curious
more fish on the mat. As the water cools down
with something they usually do not see and of
it can become very tough to say the least. Just
course being so bright it stands out from a dis-
keeping your head in the game and of course get-
tance.
ting the bank time in will help you find the results
This fall I found a lot of success with using half
you are after with the right approaches.
of an Acid Pear pop up to tip off my Live System boilies. This combo was outdoing the other rods
Next issue I will go over another couple of tech-
with the same bait 4 to 1! Sometimes simply using
niques for cold water including one that works
a pop up hovered a few inches above the bottom
well in cold water but also works all year long in
will pull in a big fish as well. I think it comes down
producing fish. Stay tuned to find out what that is
to the movement of the water making the pop up
in the next issue of the NACA!
stay active that lures them in.
Brian Wingard
North American Carp Angler
131
S N O I S S E CONF
R E P R A C R E OF A WINT
By Dean Brookes
I’ve said it in the past and I’ll say it again; it takes a certain type of person to fish in the depths of winter. You could say committed, determined, stubborn or just plain mad BUT if you follow some basic guidelines the rewards far outweigh the sacrifices.
STAY WARM If you want to stay motivated while fishing in cold temperatures then you need to be comfortable. Wear layers and clothing that is appropriate. Personally, I utilize under armor style base layers, fleece and then an outer wind proof layer with water proofs when necessary. A good hat is also a must as are gloves.
PICK A SUITABLE LOCATION If you want to catch carp with any regularity in
the colder months then you need to pick a location that the carp reside in. Summer spots are not generally good winter spots and vice versa. It’s a common fallacy that carp will be in much deeper areas during the win-
Remember that in cold weather the very bottom layers of water will most likely not receive much in the way of sunlight or oxygen and these areas tend to be quite noxious. Personally, I will look for a nice depth of water but nothing too deep. In flowing water this could be off of the main flow and in still waters I will look for areas that also have structure. Once you have chosen an area you think the carp will be in then you will now want to give them some bait.
ter. Yes, they may be in deeper water, but if so they are usually in the mid layers.
North American Carp Angler
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FEED THEM AND THEY WILL COME Even in the coldest weather, the carp can and do continue to feed if given the opportunity. Now if you turn up in the depths of winter, without any bait having gone in you may very well find the carp unresponsive. Without easily available food the carp will conserve their energy and stay in a torpid state for many hours, only feeding when conditions are good. However, if you keep trickling in bait the fish will continue to feed, which in turn will expend energy and start the whole cycle again.
I’ve also heard some claim that carp do not digest food in the winter months, but I’ve seen many, many fish extruding bait on the mat that proves otherwise. Another favorite I’ve heard is carp will not feed if the temperatures are below 35 degrees. Absolute poppycock. I’ve caught numerous carp in sub artic conditions. Do not let the naysayers put you off. Have faith. If you pick a good location and give them bait that they like they will eat it and you will catch them.
THE PROOF IS IN THE PUDDING
from easy to catch as the area gets busier each
Let me highlight a few sessions that give proof
all the way through the winter. In total I would esti-
that your efforts will not be in vain. First up is my
mate I did around a dozen or so sessions as on a
favorite winter water, a local intimate river that has
couple of occasions the river was in full flood and
a very healthy population of small carp.
unfishable. North American Carp Angler
Most are in the 5-15lb bracket but they are far year as more and more anglers target them. Two years ago I averaged one session per week,
135
I started fishing in December and got off to a good start catching a dozen or so fish. At this point I started to introduce bait at the end
Each session would see a slight change in tactics, sometimes in regards to the rigs and sometimes changing hook baits.
of each session, usually around 1 kilo of boilies and whatever method mix I had left. This feeding
Utilizing glugs for hook baits certainly kept bites
was important as I knew it would keep the carp
coming, with my favorite being an equal mixture
active and looking for bait.
of Kaluha and Bailey’s Irish Cream.
On the coldest of days I would also bring worms and use them in conjunction with my boilie rigs. This slight adjustment kept the bites coming and by the end of the winter I had caught over 150 carp, many of them cracking mirrors. The next water is another local river, but this time instead of deeper water the area has a section of shallow, fast running flow with a slacker back eddy where the fish like to hang out. Again these fish are often targeted and instead of my usual boilie approach I choose to fish free lined baits with bread or Slim Jims being preferable. I have fished this area only a handful of times but some of them have been memorable due to the harsh conditions. On one such short session the area was heavily iced and I had to venture a few yards onto it in order to present the bait. North American Carp Angler
137
After an hour
of inactivity I began to question
my
san-
ity but in the
next 5 minutes I had two nice fish and shortly later I was on my way home with a big smile on my face.
Finally, over the last two winters I have started off my campaign on the fantastic Seneca River in Upstate New York. This river ticks most of my winter boxes as it has lots of bank side access and big populations of hungry carp. However, it is relatively lightly fished in the winter and during the December sessions I have sat on the banks I have seen hardly anyone else fishing, and non of them fishing at night.
My first year saw the weather very cold but rela-
more bait. My approach was to fish boilies only
tively stable and as such I decided to bait fairly
so that I could hopefully pick out the bigger fish
heavily for the winter with around 1-2 kilo’s of boil-
and with this in mind I only used 20mm baits and
ies being introduced on the first afternoon.
fished double 20mm boilies on the hair.
Generally, if the temperatures are up and down,
My first night saw snow falling and the tempera-
the fish turn off for a while, but even in the coldest
tures dropping but I caught steadily through the
weather if the temperatures have been stable for
night with some cracking twenties paying me a
a week or so I am much more likely to give the fish
visit.
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I decided to keep the bait going in and rebaited after every bite with another 100 boilies or so.
At 4am in the middle of a snow squall I was rewarded with a cracking 33lb snow carp.
The next day saw me putting in 2-3 kilo’s of bait and then leaving to fish a different location for several hours. In this new spot I once again scattered some bait and started catching after only an hour or so. The
day
passed
quickly with plenty of nice fish up to mid twenties.
Just before dark I moved back into my original swim and for the next few hours sat on my hands as the fish were all over my baited area, constantly giving me line bites. Once the first fish came it was all hands on deck again as I caught another dozen fish through the night, topped by a fat upper twenty.
North North American American Carp Carp Angler Angler
141 141
The following year was nowhere near as prolific and on arrival half of the river was under a thin layer of ice!
Not to be deterred I put some bait out; only 100-120 baits as I did not think the fish would be feeding, rather I wanted any fish that came through the area to find a few boilies and then start to investigate more. The day passed uneventfully, but after dark I did pick up a few smaller fish. As the temperatures continued to plummet I was honestly not expecting much, but on first light one of my rods signaled a quick take and I was in auto pilot playing a very angry fish. After a spirited battle I slipped the net un-
der another 33lb winter common and as the weather was getting very nasty I made a quick retreat back home.
To sum up I would first say, take the plunge and
Think about scaling down your tackle, with small-
start winter fishing. Make sure you stay warm and
er hooks, lighter line and smaller leads. The carp
have plenty of layers and warm drinks.
do not move around as much and the water clarity
Put some initial time into locating possible fish holding areas, it’s better to spend more time finding the fish than fishing in barren areas.
is much higher. Finally, keep at it. It may take you several trips before you hit gold.
Make sure you keep the feeding light but give them something that is easily digestible and that they like. North American Carp Angler
143
By Evan Cartabiano
For some reason I had never fished in the FFF, but in 2014 I made an effort and got out there. I decided to fish Sooner Lake in north central Oklahoma, one major reason: it has a warm water discharge and hence does not freeze up like all the other lakes in the area. Before you say that is not in the spirit of the event let me add that I was fishing miles away from the actual discharge and the water was cold. Even thought the FFF starts at 12:00am January 1, it was cold out and I did not feel like fishing all by myself in sub freezing temperatures, in the middle of the night, in the middle of nowhere, so I got on the bank around 6am. January 1 turned out to be cold and clear with high pressure and persistent wind around 8mph from the south. Not conditions that inspire confidence. In preparation I had been baiting a spot on a point in about 8ft of water that drops away into a channel of about 20ft that connects the two halves of the lake. I had fished near this spot in the past, but due to high water levels I could not fish the spot I was hoping. My pre-bait consisted of a mix of squid and fishy soluble boilies, range cubes, sweet feed, various flavors of maize, and sweet corn, all soaked in lake water.
The first bait cast of the new year. A popup tipped with fake corn with a small PVA bag of squid boilies. North American Carp Angler
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Sunrise, Jan 1, 2014
As it turned out even 6:30am would have been unnecessarily early. Dawn came around and no takes. I began to get worried that I had wasted 3 days of baiting. As I was sinking down into the dark pit of blanking, a most welcome sound greeted my ears - one of my alarms was finally making some noise! I won’t say it was screaming run - it wasn’t - but it was enough to let me know I had a take.
8:24am. The first fish of the new year, 7lbs 10oz,
I moved the rods to the left, closer to the chan-
caught on a 10mm snowman blow back with a
nel, as I thought the fish might have moved that
size 8 Ashima Long Shank. Squid bottom bait and
direction as the light levels were increasing.
artificial popup on top. After a short, sluggish fight, I landed a small healthy looking carp of 7lbs 10oz. This made me feel much better as I was not going to blank and I felt more confident that there was fish feeding in the area. A few minutes later, I missed another run, this time on a single piece of fake sweet corn. The rig was the fault, so I changed it out and recast. There is a lesson here: don’t use experimental rigs when actually trying to hook fish.
In a bid to get a take I rigged up a CC Moore Bloodworm wafter topped with half of an red ar-
Things died off again and nothing happened
tificial 10mm boilie on a “counter balance” blow
for the next few hours. This prompted some rig
back rig tipped off with bloodworm pellets in a
changing and recasting in a bid to get a take.
small PVA mesh bag. North American Carp Angler
147
Waiting.... PVA bag of crushed boilies with a cut down hook bait. Over the course of the morning I tried a few different baits.
A more detailed view of my “counter balance” rig. This rig I have tested…unlike the one that I missed the run on!
After making the bait changes the situations did
Well I was not going to lose this fish so I waded
not improve. I still was having no action, and it
out into that very cold water without waders. How-
was looking like I might have to settle for just the
ever, it was worth it as I got the fish in the net.
one fish... It was getting close to 11am (the time
It turned out to be 13lbs 4oz. and had taken the
set that I had to head home) and it was time to
bloodworm wafter rig. This rig I had cast way over
start packing up.
my baited area into the channel at about 100yds
I had just gotten everything except the rods
or so. A very welcome fish to end the day.
stowed, when I heard one of my baitrunners making noise. I turned around to see one of my rods
So in the end I was quite pleased to have caught
point in a very different direction than the one I
two carp for a total of 20lb 14oz. This weight, to
had set it down in. It turned out to be a better fish,
my surprise, won me a few prizes which just made
which ran across my other lines, making a quite
the experience that much better.
a mess. Of course I had packed the net I by this point…if
As of writing this I am preparing for the FFF this
anyone had been there to watch I must have look
year, in a new state, on a new venue. Time will tell
quite funny trying to fight the fish and sort out the
if I can catch this year, but even if I don’t this event
net.
sets the right tone for the New Year – being on the
Things were going good when the fish became
bank fishing for the World’s Greatest Sport Fish.
tangled in another line (mine) and the other line got snagged (of course), leaving the fish stuck about 20 feet off the bank.
North American Carp Angler
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FIRST FISHING
FOLLY
2 01 5
Who are the winners and what are the prizes? You should really participate in FFF 2015 for the challenge of catching a carp on New Year’s Day, but there is a good chance that you will actually win something! Prizes will consist of cash to be sent to you via Paypal and two new Reuben Heaton scales donated by Adam Cieplik.
Thanks to CAG for its contribution of $500 for prizes, to Adam Cieplik for his contribution of Reuben Heaton scales for the biggest and smallest carp captured during FFF 2015, and to Frank Rink for his contribution of $200 for prizes. 100% of these donations will be used for prizes! In addition, I will put together some certificates of achievement for winners that will be posted on an FFF 2015 forum thread for download. Rather than taking water temperatures, anglers will designate, at registration, if their FFF 2015 venue is in a North/Phone Zone or in a South/Warm Zone. The southern border of the following states will form the line of demarcation between the North Phone Zone and the South Warm Zone for FFF 2014: Virginia, Kentucky, Missouri, Kansas, Colorado, and Utah. The line of demarcation will continue through Nevada from the Utah-Arizona border to Grapevine Peak (on the NV-CA border) and the boundary line will continue through California from Grapevine Peak to Santa Cruz, CA. Other than the FFF First Carp Award, the Reuben Heaton scale awards from Adam Cieplik, and the FFF 2015 Jerome Adventure Tale Award, there will be two award packages (one for each Zone) for each of the weight categories. There is no guarantee that it will be cold above the line and warm below it. It’s just a line. However, it gives more anglers an opportunity at some prizes and recognition. See the map below for Zone boundaries. North American Carp Angler
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Prize categories 1. The FFF First Carp Award and Lucky 13
second place winner will receive $15 and a certifi-
corded is the local time at which the fish is safely
awarded to the registered anglers catching the
Awards: First carp of the year. The time to be rein the net. The required picture of the angler holding the fish plus accompanying data (time, weight, angler’s name) must be submitted.
The winner will receive $25 and a certificate. The cate. The third place winner will receive $10 and a certificate. In addition to the $25, $15, and $10 first, second, and third carp of the year in North America, those with the 4th through 13th carp will also receive a $10 award and related downloadable Lucky 13 certificate.
2. The FFF Monster Award: Biggest carp
5. The FFF Prince Award: Total weight of all
caught during the FFF. The required picture of the
carp caught by the angler who is 17 years old or
angler holding the fish plus accompanying data
younger. Note, however, that juniors are eligible
(time, weight, angler’s name) must be submitted.
for all other awards. For example, if a junior wins
Winners from each Zone will receive $25 for first,
the Emperor Award, then the Prince Award will
$15 for second, $10 for third, and a certificate.
be given to the second place junior and so on. The required pictures of the junior angler holding
In addition, Adam Cieplik (thanks, Adam!) will
every fish plus accompanying data (time, weight,
award a new Reuben Heaton scale to the an-
angler’s name) must be submitted. Winners from
gler catching the biggest carp overall during FFF
each Zone will receive $25 for first, $15 for sec-
2015, regardless of zone!
ond, $10 for third, and a certificate.
3. The FFF Baby Award: Smallest carp caught 6. The FFF Scubadoc Mirror Award: Biggest
during the FFF. The required picture of the angler
mirror (or leather) carp caught during the FFF (in
holding the fish plus accompanying data (time,
honor of Dr. Neil Stern). The required picture of
weight, angler’s name) must be submitted. Win-
the angler holding the fish plus accompanying
ners from each Zone will receive $25 for first, $15
data (time, weight, angler’s name) must be sub-
for second, $10 for third, and a certificate.
mitted. Winners from each Zone will receive $25 for first, $15 for second, $10 for third, and a cer-
In addition, Adam Cieplik (thanks, Adam!) will
tificate.
award a new Reuben Heaton scale to the angler catching the smallest carp overall during FFF 2015, regardless of zone!
7.
The FFF Sunrise Award goes to every FFF
2015 registrant who submits a photograph of the
4. The FFF Emperor Award: Total weight of all
first sunrise of the year. The primary intention of this category is to share some fabulous January 1
carp caught by the angler. The required pictures
photos with fellow CAG anglers. In fact, if it’s too
of the angler holding every fish plus accompany-
foggy, cloudy, snowy, or rainy, you can still take a
ing data (time, weight, angler’s name) must be
picture at the approximate time of sunrise.
submitted. Winners from each Zone will receive $25 for first, $15 for second, $10 for third, and a certificate.
The picture may or may not include a fish, but it has to include at least some kind of evidence that the photo is fishing related (pod, rod, scale, angler, or whatever you deem fishing related). North American Carp Angler
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Anyone submitting a sunrise picture earns an
Those will be judged by a panel consisting of
FFF 2015 Sunrise certificate. After all, you have
Jerome Moisand, Bob Giordano, Adam Cieplik,
to be out at sunrise with camera and carp gear for
and myself. The winner will receive $25 and a
a photo (no small feat in itself). We will create a
certificate. The second place winner will receive
separate thread for submission of sunrise photos.
$15 and a certificate. The third place winner will receive $10 and a certificate.
8.
The FFF Snowcarp or Sandcarp Award
goes to every FFF 2015 registrant who creates and submits a photograph of a carp sculpted from snow or sand or dirt or a combination thereof. Anyone submitting a Snowcarp/Sandcarp picture of their creation earns an FFF 2015 Snowcarp/ Sandcarp certificate.
9.
The FFF 2015 Hall of Fame. Anybody cra-
zy enough and skilled enough to catch a carp of any size on January 1, 2014 between midnight and 6:00 a.m. (local time zone) will be entered in the very select FFF 2015 Hall of Fame. The required picture of the angler holding the fish plus accompanying data (time, weight, angler’s name) must be submitted. All winners will receive a Hall of Fame certificate.
10.
The FFF 2015 Jerome Adventure Tale
Award. Many of you have submitted interesting FFF summaries with accompanying photos in the past. In honor of Jerome Moisand’s quick wit, photography skills, way with words, and dedication to CAG and FFF, we are adding an award category for the best written summaries with photographs of your 2015 FFF adventure.
All submissions must be posted on the designated CAG forum thread by 10:00 a.m. on Monday, January 5, 2015. An angler may not win more than one award per category. In other words, you may catch the first, second, and third heaviest carp in your zone, but you will win only the first place prize. I hope to have awards distributed and certificates available for download by Friday, January 9, 2015. Good luck!
You must register by 6:00 p.m. (EST) on
December 31, 2014.
Registering much earlier than that, like
right now, is always appreciated. Thanks.—
Dr. Frank Rink
FFF 2015
Sometimes the weather and the fish win Sometimes, many times, Mother Nature simply does not cooperate when it comes to carping events scheduled for specific dates. A nation-wide cold front on January 1, 2015 created a double-edged sword for the 60 anglers who registered for CAG’s FFF 2015: The conditions made it just too cold, too icy, or too snowy for many anglers to safely get to and utilize their venues, and, for most who were able to get out on January 1, the carp were tight-lipped and difficult to catch. The biggest winners of FFF 2105 were the weather and the fish.
In total, only eight anglers reported catches on
One, magic 16-6 mirror submitted by Evan
January 1, 2015. All eight anglers, of course, won
Cartabiano took the South’s Monster Award,
Lucky 13 prizes for being among the first 13 an-
First Fish Award (12:09 a.m.), and Scubadoc
glers to capture a carp during FFF 2015.
Award, while taking second in the South’s Baby Award and Emperor Award competitions.
Thirty-three carp weighing 315 pounds were submitted for FFF 2015, averaging nine pounds, nine ounces.
Evan’s 16-6 also won the scale donated by Adam Cieplik for the national big carp caught during FFF 2015. FFF 2015 prizes don’t make
Six North/Phone Zone anglers submitted 30
people rich, but Evan’s lone mirror garnered
catches and two South/Warm Zone participants
$105 and a new scale for placing 1st or 2nd in
swept their region’s awards with three valuable
six different contest categories!
carp on the board. North American Carp Angler
155
Chris Broadbent, who fished with Evan, recorded two mirrors resulting in first place in the South’s Emperor competition (24-11) and Baby competition (11-4), while placing second in the Monster (13-7), First Fish (12:26 a.m.), and Scubadoc (137) competitions.
Rick Alexander and Matt Latzo fished together and landed 16 fish (eight each) to dominate the North.
Rick
Alexander’s
15-4
won the North’s Monster Award and also anchored his 93+ pound bag of carp for the top Emperor Award.
Matt Latzo’s eight fish resulted in second place finishes in the North’s Monster (13-7) and Emperor (79-4) competitions.
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Dave Pickering caught the North’s only mirrors. In fact, he caught two, plus a common. His 8-0 mirror won the Scubadoc Award for largest mirror in the North.
Joey Sitarski pulled in a 1-7 to win the Baby Award in the North and the new scale donated by Adam Cieplik for small carp nationally.
Jim and Frank Rink caught ten fish between them (five each) at the frigid DesPlaines River in Illinois. Jim Rink won third place in the North’s Emperor competition (41-15), third in the Baby competition (4-13), and was fourth in the First Fish competition (2:44 a.m.) to round out the four who achieved FFF 2015 Hall of Fame designation (capture a fish by 6:00 a.m.).
Frank Rink’s 3-10 took second in the North’s Frank Rink’s 3-10 took second in the North’s Baby Baby Award contest, and Frank placed third in Award contest, and Frank placed third in the North’s the North’s Monster competition with an 11-11 Monster competition with an 11-11 that was also that was also the third fish caught chronologithe third fish caught chronologically (12: 48 a.m.) cally (12: 48 a.m.) during FFF 2015. during FFF 2015.
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Certificates were awarded to Robert White and Frank Rink for Sunrise photos.
Several awards went unclaimed, including all of the Prince awards for carpers 17 years old and under. FFF mainstays such as the Gordon family gave it their best, but it wasn’t in the cards this year. For FFF 2016, more states will move to the South Zone to even out the competition a bit. This year there were three times more North Zone anglers than South Zone participants. Here’s to a better catch rate for the remainder of 2015 and to a banner day on January 1, 2016 for FFF 2016!
Special thanks to CAG for sponsoring/funding the event and to Adam Cieplik for his donation of scales. Huge thanks to all who registered, to all who participated, and to all who had intentions to get out, catch some fish, and win some FFF prizes. Sometimes, the best intentions go unfulfilled. Better luck next year.—
Dr. Frank Rink,
FFF 2015 Coordinator
2015
MIDWEST REGIONAL
TRILOGY
MAY 2ND & 3RD 2015
Hello Hello again Midwest carpers, This Regional is designed and intended for you and your fellow State representatives to work together as a team, have fun and socialize while doing your best to catch some hogs! Think about and discuss with your teammates what to do for lunch on the bank, where to go after day one ends to catch up and socialize and of course team strategy on how to catch the 10 biggest fish in that river.
Here is a brief description of the event held
The Angler who catches the largest carp on the
on the Saginaw river between Bay City and
winning team will go home with the trophy unless
Saginaw:
that person elects to give the trophy to another on their team.
We have 4 States being Represented; Ohio,
World Classic Baits has also signed on as an
Michigan, Indiana and Illinois. Each State may
Event Sponsor and will also have 2 other trophies
have up to 20 Registered CAG Members making
up for grabs. Whomever catches the Largest
up their team. A Registered Reserve list will start
Common Carp and Largest Mirror Carp will re-
if a State sells out and the first reserve on the list
ceive a very nice trophy from World Classic Baits.
would replace anyone dropping out. There is a $15 Registration fee that will 100% be What is at stake is State Pride, Bragging rights and a HUGE travelling Trophy.
used towards Raffle items. The raffle will be conducted after the Trophy presentation. North American Carp Angler
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Your state goal is to work together to catch the 10 largest carp in the river and those 10 carp’s total weight will be up against the other states 10 largest carp’s total weight. Yes, you can bump off any fish that is on your State top 10 if a bigger fish is caught. This is a 2 day event, May 2nd & 3rd. On May 1st I will be on site and putting up orange flags that will represent the beginning and end of each “Zone”. Anyone is welcomed to come along and ask questions. I will update this thread as to when I will start in case you want to meet up.
A “Zone” is the stretch of River that your State will fish within. There will be more zones than teams. No team will be able to fish the same zone 2 days in a row.Each morning we will have the “Zone Draw” at 6am, Each State name will be put onto paper and put into a bucket. Each Zone location will be put into a separate bucket. First State name out of the bucket gets to pick a random zone from the other bucket. On day 2 if a state picks the same zone, they will pick again. Following the Zone Draw, I will ask each State if they wish to conduct a peg draw for within their zone. If the State does not want a peg draw, then they can proceed to their zone and start setting up. If the State does want a peg draw then I will have the materials there to do one. Names go into a bucket and the first name out gets peg one and so on. Peg one would start at the furthest east zone boundary and go to the west zone boundary. If your fishing with one or more other anglers from your state then add everyone’s name onto one slip of paper. Once that slip is selected and it has 4 names, they will get the next 4 pegs. If your state wishes to have the peg draw at your zone, once everyone has a look at it, then materials can go with you to do your own peg draw at your zone.
Lines in at 7am...aka start of the event. I will do my best to work with others to post up Day one will end at 7pm and day two will end at
State Standings on the CAG forum on a regular
4pm. If a fish is being played prior to the end time,
basis. I highly encourage Teams to post pics and
it will count.
your own updates to rattle the other teams
After day two ends at 4pm, we will meet in Bay City on the Island for the Trophy presentation, group pictures and Raffle. Directions will be handed out at the Zone draw. It is also the location of one of the Zones.
After the end of Day one, many folks wish to meet up with others, grab dinner, have a drink and socialize. There is no one place that is set up for as large a group as we will have so I ask that each state organize your own outing and post up
At the Zone draw on day one I will select 2 or
invites and info as to where you will be.
more anglers from each state that I will appoint as the Marshals for your State. Any fish caught must be recorded by these individuals and reported to me. This is an honor system and should anyone
Are you in?
Andy Sprinkle
be caught fudging a weight they will disqualify not only themselves, but the entire State they represent. You will be disgraced to no end....
North American Carp Angler
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The Austin Team Championships (ATC) February 26th, 27th and 28th 2015
This year is the fifteenth running of the ATC and is being hosted and
organized by Austin Carp Anglers for the Carp Anglers Group. Austin Carp Angler members are all local to the venue, and have been responsible for swim clearing, marshaling, and other organizational duties for the past few years.
North American Carp Angler
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What’s the same and what’s different: 25 Teams It will continue to be a two person team event teams will be allowed one runner, who will not be allowed to touch any rod/reel with bait, or fish on. Draw will remain the same, with teams randomly drawing a number during the corn boil, to determine peg draw order. On day one teams will pick in order, drawing two pegs and choosing one within 15 seconds. Day two, the same procedure will apply with teams drawing in the reverse order of day one.
1st, 2nd and 3rd Place winners determined by total weight Corn Boil will still be at the same place and time, but good ol Texas barbeque will be the fare, rather than the traditional pizza and wings. Traditional buckets will contain all sorts of goodies. Lunch will be provided for both anglers, on both days, by Thundercloud Subs teams may choose from a limited selection of subs when registering Post event celebrations and prize giving will be held at a local Austin restaurant, Patsys Cowgirl Café. Teams must choose from the restricted menu at registration time. Non-team members/
guests choosing to attend may pay $12.50 to join in for food. Special Award for the Largest Carp (No Grassers! ONLY Commons, Mirrors, or Koi) Special award for the Largest Smallmouth Buffalo Non-club sponsored pots for Total Weight, Big 4, Largest Carp and Largest Buffalo
Hotel link-----2015 ATC Hotel Reservation Info Registration link (be sure you are signed in as a member to get membership rates) http://www.carpanglersgroup.com/forum/index. php?/store/product/130-atc-2015/
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Registration Info
Department
Modest registration fee of $150 includes:
- meet the faces that communicate on the CAG
Two Anglers (One Team) Registration Corn Boil Activities (Barbeque, Sodas) Pastries, coffee, tea, hot chocolate each morning of the peg draw Lunch delivered to the pegs on Friday and Saturday Discounts on meals at local restaurants Complete dinner at the Awards Banquet with guest speakers from the Texas Parks & Wildlife
And of course the friendship of fellow carpers board.... Both team members must be CAG members. Entry fees can include membership at $25 for one non-member ($175) and $50 for two non-members ($200). http://www.wyndham.com/hotels/texas/austin/ wyndham-garden-austin/hotel-overview
We thank our sponsors for all the donations towards events. They always add that extra bit of spice to any event. We ask that you support the Vendors listed below. The more we support them, the more they can support us.