Carp, its all about carp lately

[lara4228]

I would love to catch one like that Lara. It is called a mirror carp. Your hubby was lucky to tie into that.

ty Chilli. I'll sen dhim your regards

That is what made me kinda become interested in it. That sucker tied up 3 of our lines that night. It was frustrating untangling them fromthe net and from each other. But it definitley was fun to watch and see in person.

That was sheer bull sh*t luck for him. lol. Even though I outfished him that night, I think that made up for all my smallies I caught

[lara4228]

I hope this helps.

hmmmm I'll try to figure that one out. Its simple, yet complicated?

What are the pink things suppose to be? What are the brown ovals suppose to be?

I figured out the corn

[hammercarp]

hmmmm I'll try to figure that one out. Its simple, yet complicated?

What are the pink things suppose to be? What are the brown ovals suppose to be?

I figured out the corn

pink thingy - is a stop. I used a piece of pencil erasure.

brown oval - handle of the bait needle. Made from a large worm hook and a piece of wooden dowel.

there should be a pink thingy on the other side of the egg sinker - grey thingy - this protects the knot from damage

So, you put a stop on the line first, then the egg sinker ( 1 to 3 oz.) , then another stop, then a swivel. You put your hair rig on the swivel, then the bait, then the bait stop. You use the bait needle to put the stops on as well.

It works like this. The carp takes the bait and when it tries to spit it out the hook sticks in the carps mouth because it is bare. When this happens the carp will try to rid itself of the hook by shaking it's head. When it does this it will pull on the weight and drive the hook in. The carp will then take off at full speed. This will drive the hook in even further and will also result in your rod being pulled in to the water at lightening speed. So you use a baitcaster or a baitrunner reel or you back the drag off on your reel.

This is just one method of catching carp.

[hammercarp]

I forgot to say. Congradulations! on catching a mirror.

[Guest JPCT]

Carp fishing is definitely intense. Especially when you get a tank on.

It fills the void for me when I can't catch salmon and trout.

[lara4228]

Thank you Hammercarp

[Paulie Tigernuts]

Lara,

This a pretty decent link to a page that will give you a step by step on how to tie a hair rig (this is first one that came up on a google search):

http://pleasurefishing.com/html/hairrigs.htm

If you're able to stop by Bill's Bait or Fishing World in Hamilton, they both sell inexpensive baiting needles that will make threading your bait onto the hair much easier. If you google images for a "baiting needle", there are various types and styles available

To keep the bait on the hair, you can either use a small peice of toothpick, or pick up a package of bait stops from either of the above mentioned stores.

You can also purchase pre-tied hair rigs for a couple of dollars as well.

A sliding egg sinker (.5oz - 1oz) above your swivel is all you need to get started. Best to keep it simple to start with, and once you're comfortable catching carp, you can decide to get into more advanced stuff.

Make sure to keep your drag loose or to always hang onto your rod if you don't have a baitrunner reel. I've seen many rods fly into the water after a carp takes the bait.

Hope this will get you started!

[road.ripper]

Well after some research and some paitence we made some boilies YUMMY!!!

not like it needs to be a secret

we used a basic recipe with basic ingredients

made about 100 at 1/2" kinda round...

rolled oats

bisquick mix

4 eggs

liquified kernal corn

corn syrup

and a cheap sweet blue flavour drink mix . ( dont know what the flavour is we could never figure it out )

they look ok ... we plan on trying them tonight... hope they work ,we will let ya know ...

http://www.niagarafishing.net/forums/uploa...89_192_4502.jpg

road..

[Luvevolution]

Road

the best base mixes are those made of 8oz of Semolina, 4oz of Corn Meal and 4oz of Soy Flour. you can always play around with those numbers as long as they add up to 16oz (or 1lb). you can also use powdered rice in your base mix too. I use our magic bullet for this. then you use 3-4 large eggs as the binder. for sweetener, you can use intense sweetener, corn syrup, liquid sugar, or packets of sweetener that you would get in a restaurant.......................thank you Tim Hortons for your unbeknownst generous contribution. hahahahahahaha. then your flavouring. I like cans of crushed Pineapple, strawberry jello, orange jello, grape koolaid and pretty much anything you can imagine. you can also use things like Grape Crush or any can of pop that is fruity. I'm thinking of trying Lime Crush next. LOL.

then boil them till they float and you are done. these boilies will stay on the bottom of where you fish. if you want to make pop-ups, you need to microwave them instead of boiling. pop-ups are exactly what they do, they pop up off the bottom and float above the bottom. the will float as high as you set your weight from the bait. the way to microwave them is to cook them for 1 minute, then 30 seconds, then 30 seconds. the point is, you want to keep checking them every 30 seconds or so, to see at what point they burn. then back off the time and cook them all to that point, just before they burn. nuke about 10 or so at a time and you'll be ok. cook too much at a time and they won't cook thoroughly enough. hope that helps.

Rich

[Dan Andrews]

Think I'll stick to bass and perch. just slap on a minnow, worm or mister twister and go fishing. Ya there are some real cool looking carp and they fight like bulldogs but all this special equipment, chumming and now doing dishes is just way too much work for a fish I'm not going to eat.All the power to ya though. The steelheaders put allot of time and money into gear and stuff too but I'm just a lets go fishing today kind of guy. I'll have to call one of you guys if i want to go carp fishing I guess.

Hey Pauly Tigernuts could you do me a favour man. Let Bills Bait know we are here and that there is an advertising section where he can list prices of baiting needles etc. We seem to have as many Hammertown anglers here as Niagara anglers and I think we could serve him well.

[Paulie Tigernuts]

No problem Chilli, I will send him an email with the information!

[DarkEdge]

I dunno about fancy bait needles. I used a #6 hook, straightened it out, and closed off the barb. Ran a snap swivel through the eye for something to hold on to, and voila. Home made bait needle. Just remember not to ram it all the way through the bait, or it won't stay on your hair rig.

[Paulie Tigernuts]

I dunno about fancy bait needles. I used a #6 hook, straightened it out, and closed off the barb. Ran a snap swivel through the eye for something to hold on to, and voila. Home made bait needle. Just remember not to ram it all the way through the bait, or it won't stay on your hair rig.

There's no problem with using something like that either. I just find that they're cheap enough and I prefer a needle with a hinged gate to grab onto the hair.

As long as it gets the job done for you, that's all that matters.

[T.Barry]

I've fished all kinds of different baits and I will tell you the #1 bait is for me. Maize (cattle corn) soaked in hot water for at least 6hrs. (or overnight) then boiled for 45mins. -1hr. Left to absorb all the water for another 12hrs (or overnight) . All I add is some sugar and a half bottle of liquid Anise (available @ Fortinos, Bulk Barn etc.). Corn will out produce boilies way way more times then boilies will out produce corn. Gobies, bullheads etc. don't really eat the cattle corn. I've used this bait for over 10yrs. and caught thousands of carp all over Southern Ont./N.Y. with it. I also really like using cukk corn from Bill's Bait or New World Carp.com. Trust me chum with the cattle corn and use it on the hair rig and you will not be dissapointed!! Hmmm all this carp talk and stupid NE winds so I can't get out on Lake Ont., might just have to go carping this evening!!

http://newworldcarp.com/osc/baits-and-bait...f85e5fd00160c6b

[T.Barry]

Think I'll stick to bass and perch. just slap on a minnow, worm or mister twister and go fishing. Ya there are some real cool looking carp and they fight like bulldogs but all this special equipment, chumming and now doing dishes is just way too much work for a fish I'm not going to eat.All the power to ya though. The steelheaders put allot of time and money into gear and stuff too but I'm just a lets go fishing today kind of guy. I'll have to call one of you guys if i want to go carp fishing I guess.

Hey Pauly Tigernuts could you do me a favour man. Let Bills Bait know we are here and that there is an advertising section where he can list prices of baiting needles etc. We seem to have as many Hammertown anglers here as Niagara anglers and I think we could serve him well.

If you ask me it's easier to just boil up a big pot of cattle corn and freeze a bunch of large ziplock bags full of it. Then when you feel like going just pull a bag out the night before, show up to the spot the next day throw a bunch in as chum and keep a little for the hair rig and you will catch carp all day!! A lot easier then trying to catch/buy worms/minnows and trying to keep them alive.

[lara4228]

Think I'll stick to bass and perch. just slap on a minnow, worm or mister twister and go fishing. Ya there are some real cool looking carp and they fight like bulldogs but all this special equipment, chumming and now doing dishes is just way too much work for a fish I'm not going to eat.All the power to ya though. The steelheaders put allot of time and money into gear and stuff too but I'm just a lets go fishing today kind of guy. I'll have to call one of you guys if i want to go carp fishing I guess.

Hey Pauly Tigernuts could you do me a favour man. Let Bills Bait know we are here and that there is an advertising section where he can list prices of baiting needles etc. We seem to have as many Hammertown anglers here as Niagara anglers and I think we could serve him well.

Chilli, I was thinking the same thing. I see an awful lot of Hamiltonians on here...hmmmm....Hamilton Fishing Forum....Sister forum to Niagara maybe????? Just a thought.

I'm in and willing to be a help!

As for sticking ot bass and perch, yup, I'll be doing that too! I'm just trying to test the waters with carp. I definitely do agree though, it is A LOT preparation, precision and technique. I'm going to give it a go soon. I'll keep you updated.

[Paulie Tigernuts]

Chilli, I was thinking the same thing. I see an awful lot of Hamiltonians on here...hmmmm....Hamilton Fishing Forum....Sister forum to Niagara maybe????? Just a thought.

I'm in and willing to be a help!

As for sticking ot bass and perch, yup, I'll be doing that too! I'm just trying to test the waters with carp. I definitely do agree though, it is A LOT preparation, precision and technique. I'm going to give it a go soon. I'll keep you updated.

You can make carp fishing as easy, or as complicated as you want. You don't need all the fancy gear to catch them, thats for sure. In some cases, it makes it easier, but it definetly is NOT necessary.

The only necessary thing I suggest to new carp anglers is a decent baitrunner reel. This will save you from losing a fishing rod when you're not looking!

T.Barry hit the nail on the head, cooked Maize (cattle corn) is one of the best baits going. I cook mine on a large propane cooker for 10-15 minutes after it comes to boil, then let it sit in the pot for a couple hours. Its soft enough to use on a hair rig, and makes great chum. You can purchase 50lbs of it for under $10 at most feed stores.

[foremanian_one@hotmail.com]

You can make carp fishing as easy, or as complicated as you want. You don't need all the fancy gear to catch them, thats for sure. In some cases, it makes it easier, but it definetly is NOT necessary.

The only necessary thing I suggest to new carp anglers is a decent baitrunner reel. This will save you from losing a fishing rod when you're not looking!

T.Barry hit the nail on the head, cooked Maize (cattle corn) is one of the best baits going. I cook mine on a large propane cooker for 10-15 minutes after it comes to boil, then let it sit in the pot for a couple hours. Its soft enough to use on a hair rig, and makes great chum. You can purchase 50lbs of it for under $10 at most feed stores.

Feed stores isn't really my forte. Anyone know of one in the Hamilton area?

[hammercarp]

Feed stores isn't really my forte. Anyone know of one in the Hamilton area?

Tregunno Seeds on Catherine St. N. in Hamilton. They are between Wilson and Cannon. You can buy corn in bags 5 lbs and up. Don't buy the pidgeon corn just the feed corn. A 10 lb bag is under 4 dollars.

[Paulie Tigernuts]

Feed stores isn't really my forte. Anyone know of one in the Hamilton area?

If you're downtown Hamilton, Tregunno seeds at 126 Catharine St. North sells all sorts of carpy baits. He even puts them in smaller 5 and 10lb bags.

On the mountain, I usually go to Home Hardware on Dartnall Road (formerly Country Depot).

Both places are well aware that carp fishermen frequently buy feed for use as bait.

[Dan Andrews]

I never thought of freezing it Thanks . It usually sits in my driveway until the lid pops off and then it goes in the compost.

[foremanian_one@hotmail.com]

Awesome. Thanks guys!

[DarkEdge]

All this carp talk. Chilli, I'll have to head back down to Fort Erie, maybe we can convince some of those carp we were after last time to bite. My fish record isn't looking too good this year. Though, it's better than it's been the last few years.

[lara4228]

Well!

Thank you everyone! I mean everyone for all your help in regards to carp fishing.

I went tonight with hubby and his friend, who happens to fish carp only. What an evening.

We personally didn't catch anything, but, a young couple who we fished beside, he caught a 14lb carp.

It was beautiful! I never thought I would catch myself calling a carp beautiful, nor would I think of myself getting 'excited' about someone else catching a fish. But I did. I thoroughly truly enjoyed the evening.

I was able to piece together EVERYONE's advice about hair rigs, boilies, corn, rod set up, line set up, pods, chumming the water, etc. etc. Listening to each and every single one of you on here who contributed to this topic was a help. Each little tid bit of advice, web links, do's and don'ts, must haves and not so necessary, diagrams and stories have all played an integral part of what I learned tonight.

Fishing was very slow (apparently), and I didn't one nibble. But the practability of watching and doing it first hand was more than an experience.

I will definitely do this again

Sum it up....exciting!

[T.Barry]

Here is another piece of advice! Carp really don't bite good on days with east winds (like Thursday). It seems to affect them more then any other fish. Also first thing in the morning seems to almost always be the best time to go this time of the year.