Sunday, December 11, 2016

Late fall carp


After the success, I had last Christmas Day, I was anxious to try and catch a few more carp
before winter cold sets in for good.


I selected a place on the lake where it is often quiet.  A place where I believed the fish would feel safe
and undisturbed by people in row boats.  I picked a place where I know carp travel and loiter.  This spot, I have fished for carp on many different occasions, spring , summer, fall and last winter when the air temperature was a balmy 65F here.


I recommend if you want to try this, that you chum at the same time, for at least 3 days.
Yes, a minimum of three days before you wet your line.  The idea is to create a place where the tired,
cold and hungry carp can come relax and enjoy the company of others like themselves.  Want
 seconds ? no problem.  Not hungry? It will be there all the time just waiting for carp to feed.  After several days of this hospitality, carp are very likely to be less weary.  And anxious to partake in the carp smorgasbord spread out on the bottom of the lake.


On the third day, I begin to test the waters for feeding carp.  The carp rig I used has been modified to suit my needs.  I've attached a split shot above the "corn",  I've hair rigged to my tippet.  This particular "corn" is  buoyant and the split shot allows the lure to suspend about 2 inches above the ground where a feeding carp can see and hopefully take my offering in its mouth.



Traditional crap fishers call things like this "pop up".  Pictured above is one of my carp
fly boxes.  All of the flies pictured can be fished as "pop-ups".


Fishing for carp in late fall or winter requires fortitude and patience.  I once sat in a steady
downpour watching carp go about their business. Around the ninety-minute mark, my fingers started to get numb.  I had to make several attempts to land the carp as my  fingers were so numb from the cold that they were hard to move.  I hope to get a day or two more of warm,(for this time of year) weather to see how many December carp I can catch.  I lost 4 carp before
landing this one.

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