|
Sometimes it's too easy to catch carp, we have all seen it, you arrive at your chosen swim & cast in, two minutes later your into a fish. This might happen all day long, complacency sets in & you think it's all too easy! However don't get too smug just yet, you know that carp are so adaptable, in fact they are more suited to a variety of conditions ,more than any other fish. In fact there are probably more carp in the world than any other freshwater fish ! This fact should tell you to go & fish different venues & different TYPES of water. To catch fish from many varied situations you will have to match the carp for adaptability, Try those fast water power dam swims, fish at 120 yds into an vast open lake. If this is not your style try the deep water reservoirs , river systems, inland seas of the Great lakes & lastly those farm ponds. I have striven to catch carp from all of these places, in some I have failed or had only meagre success, however I treat even a failed session as an exercise in learning more about carp, so many questions ? What are the carp feeding on that is causing them to roil the water red ? How is it that the guy next to me is getting carp on 30 lb line mono & #2/0 hooks ? Where are those traveling carp going along the shoreline of the Great lakes ? Where have all the carp gone ? Why am I catching sod all, when there is 100 carp in front of me tearing the bottom up ?!??? you have probably asked many of them yourself, when you have found all the answers ,drop me a line & join the carp fishing club extraordinaire ! ( I'm not in it & likely never will be !). Joking aside, some carp are easy & some not, mix it up a bit since the satisfaction of the hard earned fish often outweighs a dozen easy fish. For me ,the Great lakes fish present the biggest challenge, surviving in almost total isolation from any threatening form of capture, you would think these fish would be easy ? THINK again, these fish just don't seem to play by the rules, they are often very single minded about diet & talk about nomadic, I am sure these fish have come from the lost world or something ,they certainly have not read any of the books about what carp are supposed to do ! however, slowly things are falling into place, but still the catch rate is very sporadic. I can usually get the location thing close enough. The rig to catch them on is not too critical, the main problem with the big lake fish is BAIT. How can you travel 50 miles or so once a week & present your carp with a failsafe bait, when it has survived 20 years already without your bait ? it does not need it , does not look for it, does not most times recognize it or sometimes appear not to even notice it ! In the Great lakes I have foul hooked (accidently) more carp in proportion to any other water I have fished. The frustration of the carp getting that close to the bait but having no intention of inhaling it is very frustrating. I am sure that there are many big fish to be caught but so far only a very few have graced the net. The method which is gaining respect amongst many carpers is, fly & jig fishing. Bigger fish can often be stalked this way & it is a very selective way to present a bait, since most times the fish will have been sighted & actually cast to, at least then the selective presentation will pay dividends since a bigger proportion of large fish should grace the net. It is not a lazy way to fish & these guys deserve all that they catch, they might not catch many but they seem to latch into the better fish.
So in retrospect, how can you ever get bored with carp fishing ?
If it happens; simply redefine your targets. Remember when did you last catch a fish from that freezing cold winter swim, those big waters will often contain the biggest fish , that clear water river has carp in ! Go & catch one . Don't kill yourself though! it is supposed to be a pleasure, so take along the correct equipment for the task in hand. As one famous carp angler said: Dont forget to smell the flower's along the way!
BFC's & Tite lines,
Carpsava
|
|
