Central Park Fall Carp Campaign

My second carp campaign for the month was at Loeb Lake in Central Park.  The campaign was daily chumming a specific part of the lake with ground baits like corn, oatmeal and bread crumbs for at least five days.  From my past experience I know that carp like to feed in this area between 1:30pm and 4:00pm.

Early in this campaign I tried fishing 3:00pm and 5:00pm.  My catch rate went down.
The air temperature began to drop and feeding stops regardless of how much chum is put
in the water.  But before 4:00 o'clock, whenever the air temperature is near fifty degrees; keep your line in the water.

I'm thankful that the wind was calm.  I put out a buffet fit for a carp.  The algae has disappeared.    However, there are no signs that fish are in this area at all.  No bubbles, no swirls; not even a turtle or a catfish can be seen this afternoon.   With these conditions, If there is no activity it could mean that something has spooked the fish.

After four days of chumming, a weather front passed and the weather got colder.  I did not resume
chumming until the warmer temperatures returned several days later.  I picked up where I had stopped, bread crumbs, corn, and oatmeal.  The first carp I caught seemed to have deformed mouth.  It was missing the lower lip. That made it difficult to use the fish grip to hold the fish.  I tried about four times and each time the grip would slip off.

Fortunately, I brought my big net and used it.

My pop up rig allows me to loose one out of four carp.  I don't have any idea why but one
out of four carp never lands in my net.  I will make some pop ups using the Middy Las Soo carp
rig.  It maybe that the hair rig I used was too short.  I have used the Middy Las Soo for years with
excellent results.

Knowing how carp behave is essential to catching carp.   Aside from the behavior exhibited when carp spawn in the spring, I know almost nothing about carp in Brooklyn.  That is the reason I have not caught more carp in Prospect Park Lake.

It is just the opposite at Loeb Lake.  When air temperature is fifty degrees or in that area, I know that carp will be active in the afternoon before four o'clock.

I hope there is another warm spell.  I would like to be able to catch carp this winter.