dunder Posted December 28, 2009 Report Share Posted December 28, 2009 I cleaned up the wrapping paper and put down the knife and fork then headed out for some winter carping. The common misconception that you can only catch carp in the warmer months is wrong. They do bite all year if you know where to find them and put a little time and effort in. A great place to find them is a warm water discharge of some kind. Society has figured out a way of ruining perfectly good water and turning it into some some sort of run off from sources like coal generating plants, steel plants or city 'run off' and turn it into polluted water fit to fish in . If you have lemons you make lemonaid right? lol Generally, if you find water like that it will hold a number of species and almost certainly carp ( they are smart and know where it's nice and warm I used a sweetcorn on a 10", in line bolt rig and used cream corned to bind chicken feed into a ball to wrap around the 2 ounce weight for 'chum/ ground bait'. I also threw a couple of handfuls of sweetcorn ( canned corn) around the place my rig was laying. It took a while for them to put thier heads down to feed but by mid afternoon I hooked into 4 and landed 3. While there I was approached by the usual " Carp? Why? passer by, the OPP and a Hamilton Cop who said he received a call by someone that a guy that looked like he was about to commit suicide? ( er? that was me apparently? ). Needless to say I didn't have plans to snuff myself. I think the only way I would commit suicide was if I decided to jump into the coloured water I was fishing in . The wind started to pick up as I watched the cormorants ingest bullhead after bullhead in front of me.It's amazing how they can snarf back cats with the spines they have. I decided to pack up later in the afteroon. It was a good day to get out after being cooped up for the past little while. Happy new year everyone! P.S The reason for the paper under my chin is because I'm holding a 'entry ticket' for a fishing competition called the Canadian Winter Carp league ( hence the goofy look lol) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erik.T. Posted December 28, 2009 Report Share Posted December 28, 2009 Cool nice carp! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smerchly Posted December 28, 2009 Report Share Posted December 28, 2009 I was visualizing you were catching carp through the ice until the warm water was mentioned ...ha ! We get the "odd" carp through the ice at Port/Martindale because the weeds are there all winter .I remember a 20 lb. or maybe even larger carp was "squeezed" through a 6" hole . Carping would be fun for the new centre pinners to give their new rods & reels a workout ! Congrats hairwig , you guys who know your stuff can still have a good time carping through the winter season . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spottedGARRR Posted December 28, 2009 Report Share Posted December 28, 2009 Inspired. hopefully i'll have a winter carp report comparable to yours, now to figure out where the water is warmer... if i had rubber lips where would i hide.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hammercarp Posted December 29, 2009 Report Share Posted December 29, 2009 Nice fish Mark. I did try Martindale once last year through the ice. I plan on giving it a few more shots this winter. I have heard about carp in the marina in winter as well and plan to check that out as well. WTG Mark! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smerchly Posted December 29, 2009 Report Share Posted December 29, 2009 I don't know the carps' habits while they are under the ice . I know that the trout , pike & perch can all be caught from the same hole since they roam the marinas in the usual 8 to 12 fow that I fish . Where would you look for carp ? Do they like the deeper parts or the shallower areas with denser weed cover ? I'm guessing they might like where the slope from shore levels off with some weed cover . It would be fun to target them for a day . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hammercarp Posted December 29, 2009 Report Share Posted December 29, 2009 I don't know the carps' habits while they are under the ice . I know that the trout , pike & perch can all be caught from the same hole since they roam the marinas in the usual 8 to 12 fow that I fish . Where would you look for carp ? Do they like the deeper parts or the shallower areas with denser weed cover ? I'm guessing they might like where the slope from shore levels off with some weed cover . It would be fun to target them for a day . What I have read is that the north shore is a good place to start. Then if there are weed beds and water depth anywhere from 4 to 10 ft. Carp will densely school in the winter. Martindale suits this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smerchly Posted December 29, 2009 Report Share Posted December 29, 2009 What I have read is that the north shore is a good place to start. Then if there are weed beds and water depth anywhere from 4 to 10 ft. Carp will densely school in the winter. Martindale suits this. So they like the sunny side of the lake or pond . I know a few good spots that suits those conditions well . I think I would use my regular ice fishing pike rod with my Sahara 2000 & 8 lb. mono a good combo .....or maybe beef that up a notch . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
knightfisher Posted December 29, 2009 Report Share Posted December 29, 2009 Good job geting out and into some Hairwig. Do you fine they are not as feisty this time of year ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dunder Posted December 29, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 29, 2009 Good job geting out and into some Hairwig.Do you fine they are not as feisty this time of year ? Thanks KF. They are definatly less "feisty" in colder water. The fish I caught in these photos are from water that is steamy in the cold. If you handle the weights or fish they are warm ( ish) to the touch. Like I said in the post- I try to find water that is warmed by some source like a factory, run off from under the city, water treatment plants. Fishing for them in freezing cold water is challenging. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dunder Posted December 29, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 29, 2009 I don't know the carps' habits while they are under the ice . I know that the trout , pike & perch can all be caught from the same hole since they roam the marinas in the usual 8 to 12 fow that I fish . Where would you look for carp ? Do they like the deeper parts or the shallower areas with denser weed cover ? I'm guessing they might like where the slope from shore levels off with some weed cover . It would be fun to target them for a day . Smerch I have little ice fishing experience but when I did I targeted other species. I would like to target carp with you and hammer sometime ( since we can use two lines ). Your knowledge of the local water would definatly make it worth a shot! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spottedGARRR Posted January 2, 2010 Report Share Posted January 2, 2010 geared up with everything i felt i could need for winter carping, turns out i should have brought fish with me too. spent 5 hours feeding and floating and moving down stream and feeding and floating and moving down stream. i used sweet corn and a mix of marinated beans and tossed a handful in every area i tried. i walk my dogs in this area and often see carp near the surface of this shallow stream, no luck today tho. But i did have an audience, this guy didn't seem spooked at all by my fishing attempts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arkangel06 Posted January 2, 2010 Report Share Posted January 2, 2010 nice carp mark! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iCarp Posted January 5, 2010 Report Share Posted January 5, 2010 Great write up, 'wig. Sorry about that 911 call- I didn't know it was you... spottedGARRR- It looks like you've got a good spot there, and great company. I've had mixed results myself so far this winter, but sweetcorn on the float seems to have been pretty reliable. Maybe the carp just weren't on that day. The Canadian Winter Carp League is definitely encouraging anglers to go out and find cold weather carping opportunities, and the results have been pretty impressive so far. More details can be found here: CWCL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.