Carp Fishing Made Easy

[niagarangler89]

Nothing gets your adrenaline pumping like being awakened from a daydream by the sound of your drag screaming and looking over to see your rod bent over to the water. You instantly know you have a carp on the end of your line. The only question you now have left to answer is, “How big is it?, and answering that question is usually no easy feat.

As I mentioned a while back, I wanted to do a fairly descriptive post on the two simple, yet effective rigs I use when carp fishing; breadballs and corn on a hair-rig. My apologies for the wait, but I wanted to make sure the report was thorough, as well as easy to understand and to replicate.

I would like to start off by saying that I am by no means an expert carp angler, and there are many more experienced members than myself at carping. I’m still a relatively new angler, but I’ve had a fair bit of success at carpin’ and wanted to share that with our members in hopes of getting you into some more fish!

So without further ado, here is a post that will hopefully help you catch carp more consistently!

The Gear:

I definitely do not use the most ideal rod and reel combo for targeting carp, however it works, and it’s cheap! So this post is meant for those of you who aren’t able to or don’t want to break the bank to get a new rod and reel for each species of fish you target.

Here’s the list of the various components to my carp fishing setup:

-7ft Medium Power/Fast Action Spinning Rod

-Front Drag Spinning Reel

-15lb Braided Mainline

-1/2 – 1 oz sliding (egg) sinker

-Plastic Bead

-Size 8 Ball Bearing or Barrel Swivel

-15lb Fluorocarbon Leadline

-Size 1 – 1/O Octopus Hook or Baitholder Hook

-Net

-Canned Corn/Jello

-Bread

My rod and reel are relatively lower-end in price-range, but are rated well and have suited my needs perfectly. You can use a shorter or longer rod (the latter being the better of the two choices), but you should adjust your line accordingly. One of the most important components to this set up is your reel. You should have a reel with a good drag system and can hold a fair amount of line (doesn’t have to be expensive, just decent quality). I like front drag reels as I find that they are easier to adjust when fighting a fish.

Because I use a shorter rod, I use heavier line to accommodate (higher end of the rod rating). I prefer braid because the spot I usually fish has several large weed beds that the carp love to try to take cover in. The braid slices through the weeds much better than mono or fluoro when hauling those horses out of heavy cover.

A sliding weight (or egg sinker) is needed so that when the fish sucks up your breadball or hair-rig, it doesn’t feel the weight of your rig. 1/2oz weights should be fine for most waters in this area, but you should adjust the weight to the water you’re fishing (if there’s strong current, up the weight). You want enough weight so that your bait is held on the bottom and isn’t pushed around by the current.

A swivel is another critical component to this rig. I have found that the carp love to perform “death rolls”, so the swivel helps to prevent line twist (it also makes connecting the fluoro lead easier). I prefer ball bearing (BB) swivels to barrel ones just because IMO they are smoother and stiffen up less (on the flip side, they’re also a little more expensive).

Since I use braid as main line, a fluorocarbon leader is essential to getting bites from those pickier fish. I have found that by using braid as my main line and fluoro as my lead line, even though they are equal pound test, the fluoro still usually breaks when snagged, so you have less retying to do and lose less tackle. The flouro lead line is also more abrasion-resistant than braid, so when your leadline rubs against rocks or zebra mussels, it will break less frequently.

I use decent size hooks (size 1 for corn, 1/O for bread) when carp fishing for two reasons: to hold the bread better, and bigger target for the carp when using a hair-rig with corn. In my opinion, shape and sharpness of the hook are much more important than size. I like the octopus hook because the shape is fairly versatile; you can let the fish set the hook itself or you can set the hook on those fussy eaters. Unfortunately, a pack of good, sharp octopus hooks can be fairly expensive, so I find myself using cheaper baitholder hooks more often now (seem to work almost as well). The main idea here being that the hook is fairly sharp because most of the time with this rig, the carp is setting the hook itself (and I don’t trust those guys to do it right themselves).

A net is optional, although highly recommended. Having a good quality net with mesh made from material that is fish-friendly will be beneficial to both you and the carp. These fish do not give up easily, so having a net will help you safely land more carp and therefore result in more successful releases.

That’s pretty much it for the gear folks. I’ll get to rigging up in a bit, but first let’s talk bait!

The Bait:

As I’ve already mentioned, I exclusively use bread and corn when carp fishing. I’ve found that on some days one bite will be hotter than the other, whereas on other days, the carp could really care less. You’ll get the odd day when they’re not willing to snack on either, but those days are few and far between. Generally, I find that corn works better during the day and the breadball bite seems to be better early morning/late evening (these are just casual observations though; not really sure if there’s a pattern there or not yet). If you’re fishing with a buddy, have one guy rig up with corn (whoever is better at tying), and the other with bread. You’ll probably end up getting bites on both, but usually one is more consistent.

For breadballs I prefer to use whole wheat bread, but that’s probably only because my confidence in carp fishing was established using that type of bread. Personally, I think the grainier the bread, the better, but I’ve also read the starchier the better, so who knows!? For corn, brand isn’t as big of a deal as the type of corn you’re buying. You want whole kernels and you want them to have good structural integrity. The harder the kernels are, the longer they will stay on your hair-rig.

If you want to give your corn a little added flavour: boil some water, stir a package of jello-powder, turn the heat down to medium, and then add your corn. Let the corn sit for 5-10 minutes on medium heat, then remove from the heat source and let sit for another 15-20 minutes. This should provide enough time for the corn to absorb some of the jello-water, while keeping the kernel structure intact. If you keep the corn in the water too long, the kernels will become mushy and won’t stay on your rig.

I usually only make the jello-corn if we chum the area with lots of regular corn the night before we fish it. I like to think that the chum acts as an attractant, and once the carp are in the area you intend to fish, they will gladly pass up the old chum in favour of your sweet corn. If I’m fishing an area I haven’t pre-chummed, I just stick to regular corn. Regardless of whether or not I’ve pre-chummed the night before, I always like to toss some corn and small breadballs in the water we’re fishing. Might be a waste of bait, but I like to think it gets the fish feeding (also gives you something to do).

So now that we’ve covered gear and bait, let’s start tying up!

The Rig:

The two rigs I use and the way I fish them are almost identical (the only difference being when you attach your leader to the swivel and how it’s tied to your hook).

For both rigs, start by sliding on your egg sinker. Next goes the plastic bead to prevent line fray at your knot. The last step that is mutual to both rigs is to tie your swivel to your mainline.

Now here’s where things differ for either rig. I’ll start with the breadball rig, as it is the easier of the two:

Simply connect your lead line to the other end of your swivel (your choice of knot, just make sure it’s strong) and then tie on your hook. I like to use just enough bread to cover the hook (a little larger than a twoonie), but as the bite varies, try changing things up. I also like to wet my hook a little before putting the bread on as I find it holds to the hook better. To put the bread on the hook simply lie it flat in the middle of the circle of bread and fold the bread up around the hook. Another important thing to mention is that crust is no good for making breadballs—stick to the middle part!

For the corn hair-rig, you tie your leader onto your hook before you connect it to the swivel. This has to do with the way I tie my hair-rig. Start with an ~18 inch piece of lead line and thread the leader through the eye of the hook and along the back of the shaft of the hook, leaving about 6”of line below the hook and 12” of line above the hook. Take the 12” of line above the hook and wrap it around the shaft of the hook (starting at the base of the eye) approximately 10 times. Make sure the coils are pulled nice and tight and do not overlap, then thread that same end of leader back through the eye and pull both ends of lead line tight. Now connect your leader to your swivel (if you connect it before starting the hair-rig, you won’t be able to pull the line back through the eye).

The next part of the hair-rig is the trickiest and takes some practice.

I like to tie a slipknot at the bottom of the 6” piece of leader below the hook. Remember to adjust the slipknot to the length of the hair-rig you want (if you’re using only a few pieces of corn you’ll want a short rig, and vise-versa). The sliptknot is used to fasten a small piece of twig to prevent the corn from sliding off the line.

To slide the corn on the hair-rig you can use actual ‘baiting’ tools, or you can simply peel the plastic covering off a ty-wrap and use the thin metal wire as a baiting tool. Make a small loop with one end of the wire and put that through the loop of the slipknot on your leader. Squeeze the wire loop so that it’s flush with the lead line, and then slide the corn onto your hair-rig.

Cover the entire length of your hair-rig with corn (this is why it’s important to get the size right at the beginning). Now find a small twig and fasten it to the bottom of the corn with the slipknot to prevent the corn from falling off. Trim the tag end of the slipknot and either side of the twig with cutters so it’s smaller than the diameter of the corn, and voila!

Now that we have all of the basics covered, let’s apply everything we’ve learned and discuss how we’re actually going to catch these fish.

Getting Into Fish:

First thing you’ll need is a good carpin’ spot, and luckily there are no shortage of spots around our region. Look for somewhere with a smooth bottom, a little current, and some weeds (preferably with a good size opening to cast into and fight the fish in). I fish waters with fairly good visibility, so scent doesn’t play a huge role with my baits. If you fish really murky water, where fish are relying more on their sense of smell vs sight, I would probably use the jello corn, as it would produce the most scent.

Now that you’ve found a spot that looks like it might have some potential, you’ll need to figure out how you’re going to secure your rod. IMO, this is one of the neater parts of carp fishing; making creative rod holders. You can use anything from holes in the ground, large branches, rocks, roots, etc. The key idea is that the butt of the rod is securely fastened down so that when a carp hits and starts peeling drag, your rod isn’t going to fly into the water. If you aren’t feeling very creative and want an easy rod holder, simply find a wishbone-shaped branch and place one of your eyes of the rod in the crevice of the branch and a rock on the butt of your rod.

My personal favourite DIY rod holder is a hole in the ground (large enough in diameter to loosely hold your rod butt, and deep enough so that it comes up close to your reel). The one thing with using a hole is that the ground must be solid enough to support the rod when a carp hits (mud, loose pebble, etc., won’t work). This DIY rod holder points the rod at more of an angle making it easier to detect bites and puts more of the rod’s backbone into a fish making it’s initial run, which helps in setting the hook.

After setting up in a good spot and making a rod holder, you’re now ready to bait up and cast out. If I’ve pre-chummed an area, I’ll cast in the same spot that I was chumming. Otherwise, I simply look for an opening and cast to it. Let your bait sink to the bottom (won’t take long with the heavy weight) and then slowly retrieve a little bit of line to try to feel bottom (making sure you’re in a snag-free spot with no weeds on the line). Now place your rod in the rod holder, tighten up any loose line lying on the surface of the water, and loosen your drag almost all the way. Loosening your drag is definitely a step you DO NOT want to forget. I’ve almost had my setup ripped into the water when my drag has been set right, so I could imagine how easily a carp would drag your rod into the water if your drag wasn’t set properly.

And finally, the waiting game begins…

Most of the time, there’s no mistaking when a carp hits. If the carp doesn’t hook itself and start peeling drag instantly, your rod will bend over and snap back in a telltale way that you know it must’ve been carp. Be patient, because usually when the carp has had a taste and there’s still something left on your hook, it’ll come back for the rest (or one of it’s buddies will).

However, occasionally, the bites will be subtler/less noticeable. When the fish are biting like this, you will probably have to set the hook yourself (which is why I like using octopus hooks). I don’t like to set the hook like I would for a bass because if your drag isn’t set perfectly, you will surely break your line. Instead, I leave my drag fairly loose while loosely palming my reel and apply slow upward pressure. The fish feels this pressure, scares, and takes off, which sets the hook even further. This finesse setting of the hook will take time to perfect, and will inevitably result in a few break offs at first, but on days when they aren’t doing it themselves, someone’s gotta do it!

I guess that this is a good time to mention that other species of fish, besides carp, will hit bread and/or corn. Bullhead and channel cats were a common by-catch this summer, and I even had a giant smallie take my jello-corn one evening. I’ve also heard stories of pike smoking the jello-corn when retrieving your line to recast. So moral of the story (and also a tagline from one of my girlfriend’s favourite summer reality shows), expect the unexpected. If you think you’re getting hits, but it’s not peeling drag, set the hook sooner rather than later (chances are it’s a bullhead nibbling at your corn or bread, and if you wait too long to set the hook, you’ll have lost a hook to the fish’s stomach).

Well that's pretty much it NFNers; my carp fishing secrets have all been revealed! I know that not all of you will agree with my methodologies and you're probably justified in your reasoning. However, I honestly feel that this is an extremely easy, effective, and more importantly, enjoyable way to fish for carp. I can't guarantee that this report will help you catch fish, but if you've been having trouble getting into the carp, it will drastically improve your odds.

If there's anything you want clarification on (or even better, any suggestions you have) don't hesitate to reply or shoot me a PM. Like I said before, I'm no expert, and am always looking for ways to improve my skills.

Last, but not least, make sure you're having fun out there! Carp fishing should be an enjoyable experience, so don't get frustrated if they're not biting. Take time to 'smell the roses', so to speak...enjoy the company you have and the pleasantries nature has to offer. And then when you least expect it, SCREEEEEEEEEAAAAMMMM..."FISH ON"!

[hammercarp]

That is a great tutorial. I very much enjoyed it. Thanks. I am sure that you will help anglers enjoy a great sport when they read this. Simple baits fished effectively is always a winning combination in carp angling.

[niagarangler89]

That is a great tutorial. I very much enjoyed it. Thanks. I am sure that you will help anglers enjoy a great sport when they read this. Simple baits fished effectively is always a winning combination in carp angling.

Thanks Lorne...though I have to admit, you're tutorials were somewhat of an inspiration for writing my own, so thank you as well!

[jordanl]

Thanks for thirite up man, carp fishing has been something of an interest for me latley, just seems my presentation is way wrong. Now that I saw this thread though I think I will have a better shot at catchingse monsters, question though, how long would bread stay on the hook for approx? I feel like one cast and it would just fall off

[niagarangler89]

Thanks for thirite up man, carp fishing has been something of an interest for me latley, just seems my presentation is way wrong. Now that I saw this thread though I think I will have a better shot at catchingse monsters, question though, how long would bread stay on the hook for approx? I feel like one cast and it would just fall off

No problem! As for the bread, just pack it as tight as you can on the hook and if you aren't constantly recasting, it'll stay on your hook for a surprisingly long time.

I've had my line soaking for more than a half hour and thought there was no way I could still have bread on my hook, then all of a sudden I get a hit.

That being said, there are times where it will come off (if the bite has been hot for a while and you stop getting hits all of a sudden, check the bait).

You'll quickly start to get a feeling for when your bread has probably come off, but at first, try to be as patient as possible.

[jordanl]

Thanks for the fast reply man:) I'll for sure try the bread out, I would love to fish for 10lb fish with my new 8 foot medium action rod, can't wait to hear the drag scream, would 20lb braid be to much though?

[Jason15]

I use 15 lb braid and have no issues. I hauled out a 20 lb carp with it no problem just make sure your drag is set right and you'll be fine.

[jordanl]

Thanks man, I'll look into some good 15lb braid any suggestions?

[niagarangler89]

Thanks man, I'll look into some good 15lb braid any suggestions?

My two favourites are Berkley's Fireline and PowerPro. If you want to spend a little less because braid can get expensive, Spider Wire has decent braided line for a good price. Also, keep an eye out for one of the local tackle shops to have a "Spooling Clinic" where you can bring your reels in and get them spooled up with braid for a 5-7 cents a yard. Those are usually pretty good deals as well.

[Jason15]

I have spiderwire and power pro I haven't used the power pro much yet it's on my bait cast for salmon and the spiderwire I use 2-4 times a week casts smooth and can pull out loose tree branches without loosing tackle.

[jordanl]

well i went to charles dailey today. from about 12 till 3. lots of carp surfacing and lots of activity. i used bread balls since i didnt want to learn the hair rig and put it on two rods today just for sake of maximizing my chances. had one rod, 8 foot eagle claw , with 20lb suffix braid, and a 7 foot total tackle pike rod with 12 lb mono on it:P, it was a interesting set up to say the lease. seemed almost to light of a set up but it got the job done today, got myself half ounce egg sinkers, got the swivels, and some bait holder hooks. did the bread set up and was relatively happy with how easy it was to get this set up going. used whole grain bread from zehrs since it was on sale for 1.99.

anyways, i got to charles daily and went to the beach side. there was a bench there that was very convienient for relaxation and a real pain to move in the sand, so i tossed out the set up with just enough balled up bread on the hooks to cover from the bottom to the top of the hook. instantly had a huge strike on my 8 foot rod, but that was the first and only action the rod saw today. i think i really need to go to mono line on that rod, and for sure go down to 15lb line. for the rest of the day it was action for my 7 foot rod. i had about 5 or 6 good runs through out the 3 hours. i missed a few good ones simply because i wasnt paying enough attention to the line. but there was one time today when i did get a fish on. this thing was massive. it was creating wake everywhere it went and had my drag screaming, it managed to get out all the way to the middle of the pond, at that point i faught back and tightned my real, i guess that was a rookie mistake which i wont do next time, for the next few mins it was me getting him to shore, and him peeling line to the middle, and kept going about 4 times more. at this point i really started reeling in, i had a net on my lap and the fist 4 feet from shore.. and it spit the hook out on a good pull... that was the action or the day, it was a pi$$ off that i missed it, but it was a huge adrenaline rush seeing my rod bend so much and having so much power on the other end of the line.. i can see why people consider this to be such a awesome sport fish. il be going after them more often from now on, il be out sunday approx 11 till 4, any tips from my story that the crap anglers would like to throw out there?

[Jason15]

The carp seem to be picky there I have tried corn, bread balls, and worms. Most of the carp I have caught there are on worms with braid as my line due to the fact I only have two rods. As far as the fight goes its usually 30-40 mins depending on the size of fish if they seem to want to go when the get to shore let it go and then reel it back in. What hook were you using? Seems odd that it would spit the hook after all of that.

[jordanl]

I guess that's where my in experiance starts then, I wouldn't expect such a long fight, I'm not used to fishing for anything over 3lbs really. So this is n all new ballgame for me. I'll for sure let the fish run around then, and tire itself out. And I agree, I have tried worms and corn, even artificial corn from berkley, they don't even go near it, but seeems my 15 mono set up with the bread was the trick today. And I don't know the hook size, but it was a baitholdeook that was probably 3/4 inch in lenght to maybe a inch. I'll check in the morning, the hooks are in my back pack which is in the car

[CLofchik]

Get the cheapest, whitest, white bread you can find. Carp seem to hit the white bread more than the brown or whole grain.

You can't really use bread or canned corn anywhere there are gobies, they'll just strip you off in no time. That's when you have to move to harder feed corn and a hair rig.

And carp have an inexplicable ability to spit out a hook. They just do, no matter what you'll always loose some.

[niagarangler89]

well i went to charles dailey today. from about 12 till 3. lots of carp surfacing and lots of activity. i used bread balls since i didnt want to learn the hair rig and put it on two rods today just for sake of maximizing my chances. had one rod, 8 foot eagle claw , with 20lb suffix braid, and a 7 foot total tackle pike rod with 12 lb mono on it:P, it was a interesting set up to say the lease. seemed almost to light of a set up but it got the job done today, got myself half ounce egg sinkers, got the swivels, and some bait holder hooks. did the bread set up and was relatively happy with how easy it was to get this set up going. used whole grain bread from zehrs since it was on sale for 1.99.

anyways, i got to charles daily and went to the beach side. there was a bench there that was very convienient for relaxation and a real pain to move in the sand, so i tossed out the set up with just enough balled up bread on the hooks to cover from the bottom to the top of the hook. instantly had a huge strike on my 8 foot rod, but that was the first and only action the rod saw today. i think i really need to go to mono line on that rod, and for sure go down to 15lb line. for the rest of the day it was action for my 7 foot rod. i had about 5 or 6 good runs through out the 3 hours. i missed a few good ones simply because i wasnt paying enough attention to the line. but there was one time today when i did get a fish on. this thing was massive. it was creating wake everywhere it went and had my drag screaming, it managed to get out all the way to the middle of the pond, at that point i faught back and tightned my real, i guess that was a rookie mistake which i wont do next time, for the next few mins it was me getting him to shore, and him peeling line to the middle, and kept going about 4 times more. at this point i really started reeling in, i had a net on my lap and the fist 4 feet from shore.. and it spit the hook out on a good pull... that was the action or the day, it was a pi$$ off that i missed it, but it was a huge adrenaline rush seeing my rod bend so much and having so much power on the other end of the line.. i can see why people consider this to be such a awesome sport fish. il be going after them more often from now on, il be out sunday approx 11 till 4, any tips from my story that the crap anglers would like to throw out there?

Sounds like an action fill day bud! Don't worry about losing a couple fish...sounds like there will be plenty more for you in the future.

Carp have fairly hard mouths, so if your hook isn't in very deep, chances are it's going to come out during a long battle. There are a few things you can do to minimize this occurrence though:

When you have the fish near the bank, make sure your drag is still fairly loose because they run as soon as they see the net. Also, you may be tempted to horse it in by this point, but DON'T. Almost every single time a carp has spit my hook, it's been within a couple feet of shore, and while I was applying too much pressure trying to haul it in.

Get the cheapest, whitest, white bread you can find. Carp seem to hit the white bread more than the brown or whole grain.

I've heard this before, but from my (limited) experience with breadballs, the grainier the better. To be honest though, after having a fair bit of success with one type of bread, 'anglerstition' sets in and inhibits me from buying any other type

[smerchly]

What a great informative post Steve ! Your methods have obviously proven to be successful & I'm sure you will be fine tuning your carp skills in the future . I bought a bag of puffed corn from the Bulk Barn on 4thAve and I saw cheapo white bread at the Buck store ($1.50) which should work fine .....maybe try their hot dog/hamburg buns since they have a different texture . When I fished with Hammercarp , we used oats with cream corn to make the oats stick together just enough to form a ball with the single piece of puffed corn inside ......worked awesome !

[Jason15]

If your interested fishing world has a carp tackle section at the back of the store I didn't have time to look too much last time I was there but it looked like they had lots of stuff I did see carp hooks!

[niagarangler89]

What a great informative post Steve ! Your methods have obviously proven to be successful & I'm sure you will be fine tuning your carp skills in the future . I bought a bag of puffed corn from the Bulk Barn on 4thAve and I saw cheapo white bread at the Buck store ($1.50) which should work fine .....maybe try their hot dog/hamburg buns since they have a different texture . When I fished with Hammercarp , we used oats with cream corn to make the oats stick together just enough to form a ball with the single piece of puffed corn inside ......worked awesome !

Thanks Bill! I've read Lorne's tutorials on pack bait many times and intend on experimenting with that method in the future. I feel like it is definitely a better method to catch bigger carp.

@jordanl...just realized you said you were using two rods (possibly after seeing my picture with the two rods set up). It's actually illegal for one angler to have more than one line in the water at one time (except when fishing the great lakes from a boat). You can't tell from my picture, but I was fishing with my girlfriend who has her conservation license. I know it can be tempting, so just be aware that if a CO sees the two lines, he can write you a fine. Best of luck on your carp quest man!

[jordanl]

snap eh, i guess il throw some mono on my 8 footer and put my 7 footer away:P, or il bring my girlfriend along to account for the other rod but il remember that one for sure, i would rather respect the law even though there is such a low chance of being caught. although, i do have to say that i have seen quite a few people fishing charles dailey with more then one line by themselves. i guess i learnt from watching other people:P