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Got one down at the creek today after a trying few days. Not the biggest (although a very respectable 69.9 cms), but it did put up a decent enough fight, going on a massive run and making a sizeable dent in the line on my spool at one stage. Should have got at least 2, but one took off with my hook - a common theme for me these days...in fact, I've lost more fish than I've caught this past week, but I guess that's part and parcel of fishing sometimes. I also heard one of my rods 'crack' when I lifted it up from by 'rod holder', i.e. bike as it got caught on the front stem (it was very windy today). I'm afraid it's only a matter of time before it breaks completely...and when it does I might 'upgrade' to the 'surf' telescopic rod they've got at Kmart - it comes with a big ass reel (excuse the Americanism), thick line (20lb+) and is hopefully about 10ft in length...that should be enough to put a bit of 'hurt' on all the big bertha's I'm getting at the moment, 'cause right now the odds are stacked in the Carp's favour, not mine...


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2020/21: 7 (1770)

CC
That's right, I'm taking a surf rod down the creek

Look out coronal, there bringing out the big guns

Your certainly finding some good size fish this season.
I'm not sure what your requirements are for the rod but it may be worth looking at a 4 piece travel rod rather than the telescopic for the next out fit. From memory ugly stik do one that's 6'6 and 3-6kg if you really want to put the brakes on fish.

I've tried a few times since my last post, but no luck unfortunately. I experimented with a berley mix of stale bread, wheat bran, oats, corn all mixed with some water, but I'd recommend throwing a berley mixture out at a time, or in a section of the creek where there aren't many ducks.
I'm not sure if it's the rig, timing, or luck that have caused this lull in catching. My concern is that bites aren't registering or that the bait is getting buried in the silt, but I'm not quite sure.

ubiquitous wrote: ↑

Sun Nov 01, 2020 6:53 pm

I've tried a few times since my last post, but no luck unfortunately. I experimented with a berley mix of stale bread, wheat bran, oats, corn all mixed with some water, but I'd recommend throwing a berley mixture out at a time, or in a section of the creek where there aren't many ducks.
I'm not sure if it's the rig, timing, or luck that have caused this lull in catching. My concern is that bites aren't registering or that the bait is getting buried in the silt, but I'm not quite sure.

I come from Ireland as my name suggests, where carp are held at a much higher esteem. Some of the methods I learnt that you could use include making a firm, doughy burley with corn mixed in, use a grip lead on a running sinker and then mould the burley around the grip lead. Another method includes feeding up the area for the days prior to fishing there, by throwing in handfuls of corn. I would also try using worm, if you can get hold of a few, or even luncheon meat cut into cubes. Another thing that is very important is making sure your line has a lot of slack so when the carp picks up the bait they don't feel any resistance. Finally I would recommend using smaller hooks size 8-12 works best for me, I see a lot of people using size 2 even up to 1/0 or larger and although they will work I find smaller hooks are far more effective. Hope this helps mate, I know carp can be tricky buggers sometimes.

Irishfisherman wrote: ↑

Sun Nov 01, 2020 7:56 pm

ubiquitous wrote: ↑

Sun Nov 01, 2020 6:53 pm

I've tried a few times since my last post, but no luck unfortunately. I experimented with a berley mix of stale bread, wheat bran, oats, corn all mixed with some water, but I'd recommend throwing a berley mixture out at a time, or in a section of the creek where there aren't many ducks.
I'm not sure if it's the rig, timing, or luck that have caused this lull in catching. My concern is that bites aren't registering or that the bait is getting buried in the silt, but I'm not quite sure.

I come from Ireland as my name suggests, where carp are held at a much higher esteem. Some of the methods I learnt that you could use include making a firm, doughy burley with corn mixed in, use a grip lead on a running sinker and then mould the burley around the grip lead. Another method includes feeding up the area for the days prior to fishing there, by throwing in handfuls of corn. I would also try using worm, if you can get hold of a few, or even luncheon meat cut into cubes. Another thing that is very important is making sure your line has a lot of slack so when the carp picks up the bait they don't feel any resistance. Finally I would recommend using smaller hooks size 8-12 works best for me, I see a lot of people using size 2 even up to 1/0 or larger and although they will work I find smaller hooks are far more effective. Hope this helps mate, I know carp can be tricky buggers sometimes.

Thanks for the advice, I'm going to try some of these recommendations. I've watched a lot of YouTube content from UK anglers and have seen some very interesting content on carp fishing - hair rigs, feeders, quiver tip rods, etc.

I have some method feeders coming in the mail which I'm looking forward to trying out. You raise a good point about hook sizes; I'm using relatively small, wide gape hooks. Perhaps I should go down another size of two.

I'll also try feeding the area before fishing. The main issue is the abundance of bird life who devour the berley in short order.

I suspect that it is my rig and line that may be causing issues. The section I fish is relatively shallow and has a very soft silt bottom. When the rig is cast, the sinker is buried in the silt, potentially burying the bait, and at the very least, creating more resistance when a fish takes the bait.

I've taken to fishing weightless with the bail arm open when targeting carp. Not as refined as the above methods but they seem to take the bait a bit more confidently when doing so. I've also found worms to be a very good bait for them, especially when the water isn't clear.

I finally succeeded recently using a running sinker rig with 2 kernels of corn on a very small hook (size 10? a bit bigger than what I use for garfish). I think the secret might have been throwing in the leftover corn from the past few trips, but haven't got any more since.

I normally cast out, close bail arm before it sinks, then leave it alone with the line slack. When the line starts to go tight (it goes pretty quick!) then lift the rod and you're on. I actually missed a few times where I left too much slack, where I saw the line start moving, decided to wait until the rod buckled, but the carp had managed to steal the corn and swam away. Rebaited, cast in same spot with less slack, and within 5 mins he was back on.

eddyt wrote: ↑

Mon Nov 02, 2020 7:23 pm

I finally succeeded recently using a running sinker rig with 2 kernels of corn on a very small hook (size 10? a bit bigger than what I use for garfish). I think the secret might have been throwing in the leftover corn from the past few trips, but haven't got any more since.

I normally cast out, close bail arm before it sinks, then leave it alone with the line slack. When the line starts to go tight (it goes pretty quick!) then lift the rod and you're on. I actually missed a few times where I left too much slack, where I saw the line start moving, decided to wait until the rod buckled, but the carp had managed to steal the corn and swam away. Rebaited, cast in same spot with less slack, and within 5 mins he was back on.

The key to success this time of year seems to be fishing structure (reeds or submerged objects).
Thats where the bigger fish are hiding and you will find that your probably at the highest chance of landing a giant this time of year.
Ive landed 3 or 4 fish between 4 and 8 kg in the last week or so doing this as well as a few of your average fish.
This time of year itll be quality over quantity

your're also spot on, 2 corn kernels is the way to go in my experience.

I use a size 6 kl hook and pins them in the corner of the mouth 9 times out of 10