Seasonal Carp Patterns for MN

[Bushwacker7]

Just getting 'hooked' on Carp fishing and was wondering if anyone has any organized thoughts they'd like to share about where carp tend to go in MN lakes in relation to season/water temp. If such a thing is possible.

Has anyone ever caught one (not snagged) ice fishing?

Any info would be interesting!

[Stick500]

I'm kinda confused about what carp are doing this time of the year myself. I've been snorkeling in the shallows of local lakes all summer long and big carp have always been roaming the weeds. But about this time of the year I notice the carp all disappear from the warm shallows. Where do they go? It makes no sense- you would think they would be enjoying the warm shallows in the fall as the air temps begin to fall.

I'm thinking about popping Dr. Sorenson at U of W an e-mail- he would know!!

I'm also wondering what the carp bite is like at the rivers in Sept.- Oct. Down in SW Wisconsin I was still catching them in the small rivers almost up to T-Day a few years ago!

I'm going to Cannon River tomorrow and will give a report on the carp activity down there- will be armed with corn, crawlers and minnows for whatever might be bitin'.

I've seen on this forum that people do catch carp on bait while ice fishing surprisingly often. How they get thru them the hole, I don't know!

[Stick500]

Back to Bushwacker's question- here's what I know about carp movement in metro-area lakes. (I've only lived here a few years, so by no means an expert, but I do love chasing carp).

In the winter they typically bunch up in deep holes in huge groups. Some do wander around (spearhouse anglers see some whoppers every winter) and there is some feeding.

Apparently soon after ice out they're ready to chow down as evidenced by some of the folks who start catching them on this forum very early in the year (I haven't done much lake fishing for them at that time of the year).

Then in the spring they either seem to wander upstream in creeks and rivers to spawn, or head to the shallow lagoon areas of the chain of the lakes they live in. Right in the middle of the spawn (when you see 'em boiling in the shallows), they aren't much interested in any baits.

I've found the best carp bites are in late spring and summer and the times when I can really hit a "carp rodeo" is right after a big rain and I set up at a storm drain inlet on just about any lake. They stack up big and are feeding very aggressively. Toss in some corn to get em going and then give 'em the hook.

Like in my post above, I don't know where the heck they go in late summer/early fall, though the storm drains after a rain still seem to produce.

[Bushwacker7]

Thanks for your response. It's very informative. They are very curious fish. Yesterday, I saw that, compared to the warmer weather a few days ago, they were jumping much further out. I also noticed that they mostly only jumped when the sun was shining, as the sun kept ducking in and out behind clouds.

Look forward to see what you find out at the Cannon.

Thanks

[Stick500]

Sunday Cannon report: I could see carp cruising around but they weren't very aggressive on the bite. Only caught one medium size one, but it put on an incredible fight in the current. Maybe I should have tried crawlers instead of corn. The only thing people were catching were small sheepies and there seemed to be plenty in the river. Threw some minnows on a jig but only caught sheepies.

Saw about a half dozen carp lazily sitting in a feeder stream into the lake above the dam, but didn't try to catch them- I've seen them not active like that and you practically have to drop the bait in their mouth to catch them.

[HuskerBen]

Not sure about this, but something I've noticed: As the water gets cooler, I tend to catch more carp on crawlers vs. corn, and have caught a surprising number of carp on minnows. I think that they are looking for more high-protein food sources before freeze-up. Again, I don't have anything to base this on other than my own experience and a theory that seems to make some sense, at least to me.

[Bushwacker7]

Yes, that makes sense that as the water gets cooler, they would be lookin for a real meal deal.

I was kind of wanting to know what their pattern was for going to deeper for based on water temperature in lakes, also.

Thanks Guys

[mwal]

Last Sat pool 2 they were thick in the shallows but would not take anything. Switched over to channels and caught a bunch of them on stink baits in current areas.

Mwal