Carp, And Why I Hate Them... 2024
NathanW reply :
I estimate that I spent an hour and a half of my very valued time on the water last weekend battling these fish. In total I snagged 5 carp last weeknd that I could not shake off and had to battle 3 of them into the boat to avoid losing LC crankbaits. The other two I just broke off because they were on a drop shot and a tube. And a handfull of others I was able to shake off.
I dont remember having this problem a few years ago. Are these fishing getting more aggressive? Are they evolving? (; These fish dont quit, and they are so strong, and I end up chasing them down the lake most the time while fighting them.
I was thinking about getting a gaff pole so that I could get them in the boat quicker...Anybody have experiance using a gaff? Would this help?
McAlpine reply :
Sounds like a good fight. I don't see the problem?
ww2farmer reply :
I catch one or two a year on accident, sometimes in the mouth, sometimes on other parts of the body. Let me tell you a 35-40lb carp, hooked in the tail with a red eye shad is quite the tussle. I enjoy it, and have gotten most of them in successfully, but I am glad it's only a couple times a year.
Alonerankin2 reply :
I love catching them it's a great battle...
OntarioFishingGuy reply :
I love fishing for and catching carp, but they are ugly as heck...
Darren. reply :
I have yet to catch a carp, even the few times I targeted them!
Guess that means this is my year, LOL.
livetofish28 reply :
I will snag them every once in a while the first of the year being this week i was throwing a wiggle wart and and with the bass just getting into prespawn here i thought i hooked into a massive lunker until I saw the fish probably weighed about 20-30 pounds was a bit of fun especially on a medium moderate Avid ive never seen that rod bend like that
tight lines
Andrew
NathanW reply :
On 4/12/2014 at 6:40 AM, livetofish28 said:I will snag them every once in a while the first of the year being this week i was throwing a wiggle wart and and with the bass just getting into prespawn here i thought i hooked into a massive lunker until I saw the fish probably weighed about 20-30 pounds was a bit of fun especially on a medium moderate Avid ive never seen that rod bend like that
tight lines
Andrew
Yeh, if you hook them close to the mouth they sometimes feel like largmouth the way they bulldog you. Its pretty heartbreaking when it surfaces.
The Carp in our area are typiclly in the 8lbs to 15lbs range but they swim so good and have endless stamina. 20+ pounders must be another story.
livetofish28 reply :
On 4/12/2014 at 6:48 AM, NathanW said:Yeh, if you hook them close to the mouth they sometimes feel like largmouth the way they bulldog you. Its pretty heartbreaking when it surfaces.
The Carp in our area are typiclly in the 8lbs to 15lbs range but they swim so good and have endless stamina. 20+ pounders must be another story.
Snagged him right between the eyes and had the strength to spin the boat as it was heading for open water talk about a fight. it had been a while since i had hooked one and it was a rush slash heartbreak once i saw it
tight lines
Andrew
tomustang reply :
Carp fight so much better than bass, I don't get disappointed when I hook into them.
Bass NC reply :
I'm always scared when I catch/snag one that I will break my rod.....
gulfcaptain reply :
If fishing is slow, why complain about the fight that fish has given you. Unless you plan on keeping that carp you gaff, then it wouldn't be a good idea. I don't believe in just killing a fish just because it happens to be the wrong kind, ugly, or some think it's useless, not to mention if you buy a commercial gaff, odds are it's not gonna be as good as you would like. Having made many a gaff while working on sportfishing boats in S.Cal, those gaffs are crap, the hook is normally too big, and depending on your state fishing regulations, IE, Cal, it's illegal to gaff ANY freshwater fish. Get a net and release your opponent safely and be thankful for the fight it gave you. It maybe annoying when you hook them, but it's still fun to pull on something that pulls so hard without giving up.
Munkin reply :
I catch one or two a year by accident and will admit at first thinking I have the new state record bass.
For anyone trying to catch them on purpose just use some oatmeal on a size 6 treble hook with some sugar or koolaid mixed in.
Allen
clark9312 reply :
I had a neighbor that kept a .32 in his boat and every carp he caught ended up with a bullet in it.
boostr reply :
Well, its better than getting skunked... I'm happy when I snag some weeds... it feels like a strike 
JeziHogg reply :
I started fishing carp with my old man @ Toronto Island as a youngster. Coming from Europe he loves carp fishing, they're like our version of the bass over there.
Not_Here reply :
i enjoy my mud salmon bycatches, always a fun battle...
flyfisher reply :
I target them whenever I can...underrated sport fish and the most fun on a fly rod I have ever had.
00 mod reply :
Are these grass carp or asian ( bighead/silver) carp?
Jeff
gulfcaptain reply :
On 4/12/2014 at 10:57 AM, 00 mod said:Are these grass carp or asian ( bighead/silver) carp?
Jeff
Think we are talking about the good old common carp.
Pmoss1 reply :
When I used to visit my dad in South Carolina, we would go to carp rodeos at night and it was always a blast. Never have caught them other than that
bmac31 reply :
I didn't think you could catch carp on lipless cranks. I thought they only went after dough balls and such. Interesting topic, up intill now I thought they were a boring catch. I'm hoping to land my first this year, might have to target them some outing this year.
Brian
nascar2428 reply :
I've always got a can of corn with me when I'm fishing. When the bass bite slows down I'll start chumming some corn and go carping. Tremendous fighters and I'm usually the only one going after them on purpose.
McAlpine reply :
On 4/12/2014 at 3:09 PM, bmac31 said:I didn't think you could catch carp on lipless cranks. I thought they only went after dough balls and such. Interesting topic, up intill now I thought they were a boring catch. I'm hoping to land my first this year, might have to target them some outing this year.
Brian
I caught a big one in the mouth on a spinnerbait once. That was a surprise when I saw it.
There are a lot of guys that tie flies that look like grass to catch those big suckers. What a fight that wiuld be!
If you don't like carp, go catch some freshwater drum. No way I am believing something that is in essence a 5-10 lb bluegill shape is not a gamefish.
00 mod reply :
One of, if not the, strongest freshwater fight I have had in that current behind me!
Jeff
Smallmouth Hunter reply :
Wait till you try fly fishing for big 30-50 lb grass carp. Now that is FUN!!!!
Bluebasser86 reply :
My buddy caught about a 20lb common carp on a finesse jig yesterday, had the bait right in the outside of it's mouth. Thought he had a monster bass for just a few minutes. I don't mind it when I snag one, we try to snag buffalos in the winter when the bass fishing is slow in fact. Still, my preferred bait for carp is a heavy fiberglass arrow with a barbed tip flung out of a compound bow 
Jar11591 reply :
Carp are fun as hell. Poor man's bonefish.
basscatcher8 reply :
Least it wasnt an Asian. You snag one of those it gets all the other ones in the area riled up then you got em jumping at the boat while your trying to land the snagged one. We had a big 10-15 pound one snagged once and as we were hauling him up two more jumped and hit the side of the boat and about knocked me out of it lol.
NathanW reply :
On 4/12/2014 at 8:26 AM, gulfcaptain said:If fishing is slow, why complain about the fight that fish has given you. Unless you plan on keeping that carp you gaff, then it wouldn't be a good idea. I don't believe in just killing a fish just because it happens to be the wrong kind, ugly, or some think it's useless, not to mention if you buy a commercial gaff, odds are it's not gonna be as good as you would like. Having made many a gaff while working on sportfishing boats in S.Cal, those gaffs are crap, the hook is normally too big, and depending on your state fishing regulations, IE, Cal, it's illegal to gaff ANY freshwater fish. Get a net and release your opponent safely and be thankful for the fight it gave you. It maybe annoying when you hook them, but it's still fun to pull on something that pulls so hard without giving up.
The commercial gaffs do look increadibly cheap.
Don't worry there are always folks on the bank who are more than greatfull to take the dead carp off my hands. I have not looked into the WA state regs but I figure that if you can bowfish for them than you can spear/gaff them.
Carp are invasive to bass habitat as they uproot vegetation, kick up bottom and suck up eggs. I have read that they are especially threatening to the largemouth spawn, which bothers me because the largemouth population is struggling in our waters while the carp population is absolutely thriving.
I kind of get the idea that I am the only one fishing waters as densly populated, as I have not been out yet this year where I have not snagged at least one Carp. Like I said I had a five carp day last weekend and a three carp day this weekend on two different lakes 100 miles away each other. I run and gun most of the time too so its not like I am snagging them all in one spot either.
Bankbeater reply :
Had one swim into my line a couple of years ago and almost spooled my spinning reel before it got loose. That was quite a fight. I think the carp won.
buzzed bait reply :
only caught one…. ever….. but it was on a 5' ultralite rod with 4 pound test, perhaps the fish fight of the century…. felt like hemingway's old man and the sea!!
MarksHooked reply :
Lots of big common carp come out of my area. Earlier this month I went targeting them for the first time. (Bass season is a ways away and I have been looking for other fish to target with the gear that I have) I landed one and lost a few, but MY GOODNESS! I recently started fishing, and in all the fish I caught last year, I never had any run on me or pull line, no monsters. WHAT A FEELING it was, to just hold my rod up as some shapeless beast peels my line off like crazy, unable to control or horse it in! Needless to say I know what I'll be doing from now until the 3rd week of June!
Elwood aka Ted Striker. reply :
Want to catch carp? Why not try floating baits such as bread and bread crusts when they are up in the water on sunny days. Did you know this can sort out the bigger fish. Carp are known eat up spawn and fry and small mouth sized fish in the early part of spring as did you know they spawn a lot later than most species in the uk so eat a lot of protein prior to there own spawning time. If the carp are present in high numbers then the bass will numbers will definitely be suffering over time aye.
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