cold carpin'

[Guest]

hello USA
this might seem daft, sitting as I was in bright sunshine yesterday in the middle of a heatwave, but I was thinking about the winter. The spot I was at is one of my winter venues and I was reminiscing about sitting on the same swim back on New Years Eve. It was freezing cold and raining, and being on my own I had the radio on when some bright spark of a DJ played the song 'Summertime'!I caught one small carp then went out to partee.

Anyway, the point here being is - what do you guys do in the winter? I know ( from my wife ) that it gets a bit chilly over there. I enjoy winter fishing for carp - Yes it's hard work for often little reward, but the lakes are empty apart from a few of us hardy souls / lunatics ( delete as appropriate )and there's more of a sense of camaraderie - you know, us serious all year anglers against the odds etc. It was once thought that they hibernated in the mud over winter. The game is to find them, and the feeding spells. Carp will shoal up very tightly in cold weather and hardly more for weeks - we've got a pond at work full of Koi carp and thats what they do. Its always worth looking at ornamental carp ponds because you can learn alot about their wild brothers from them. They also usualy feed for limited short spells, although I have caught them over the course of a day as well.

Anyway, we've 2 months of good fishing left. In fact autumn can be a real good time for them since they're feeding up for winter. So do you guys carry on or just put the tackle away till spring. I'm going to try more Pike fishing this year - there have been some big weights out over the summer in some places and come autumn they'll really start packing it on.

roll on, say I..
Cheers
Steve

Right, wheres my suntan oil?

[Blackstarluver]

I don't do this but it is really popular. People here whilst the lakes are frozen over, drive their vehicles to their ice fishing houses and sit over a couple holes in the ice in a 35 degrees C mini cabin on the lake, play cards, watch the game on tv and disrobe 'cause it's too bloody hot. Drink beer/schnapps and catch a few fish(or bottle bass). I am a lure angler and it is too hard to use plugs on frozen water. I don't hear much about carp or other "real gamefish" being caught through the ice.
God lyk!
JC

[This message has been edited by Blackstarluver (edited 08-24-2003).]

[This message has been edited by Blackstarluver (edited 08-24-2003).]

[Guest]

Yeah, I've seen that on Frasier!
Seems like a **** good idea to me- the number of times I've sat freezing quietly to death despite seven layers of clothing with the rain dripping down my neck. I just wish we had ice form thick enough to do that.

Cheers
steve

[Uncle Grump]

Hi Steve

I'm one of those crazy Minnesotan's who spend their winter - at least part of it - fishing thru a hole in the ice.

I've never caught a carp in the winter - never in the right spot I guess (but in all fairness I've never actually persued carp in the winter either), but I have seen the effects a big school of carp can have on the ice - they can literally wear a hole right thru it - even at sub-zero (Frarenheit) temps.

Most of the time when I'm on the ice, I'm chasing panfish (sunnies and crappie), and on some occasions, pike.

UG

[Crawlerman]

I asked the exzact same question last winter as I was curious, and got a few replys. Look back aways in like last decemeber/january if it's still there... Someone did on part of the Mississippi-- though for me it was too risky to attempt what they did. I refuse to fish on frozen rivers, as I treat them with a great deal of respect, even in the open season. Getting sucked under the ice by current on a river is one of my re-occuring nightmares . Don't know about catching ice carp in lakes though... I know they did a thing for icefishing for cats last year; but I wasn't able to attend.

[This message has been edited by Crawlerman (edited 08-26-2003).]

[Guest]

One thing puzzles me - how do you know where to put your hole in the ice? i realise its gotta be where its safe, but does anything else come into your decision?

I saw one of those huts parked up in a friend of my wifes drive last visit - looked v.cosy. Reminded me of the huts my shepherd uncle and I used to sit in during lambing time playing cards by the old oil stove.

[Bogsucker]

While never targeting carp I've caught many through the ice while fishing for walleyes below the lock and dam spillways.

Locating fish under the ice is similar to open water fishing. while ice fishing the river I try to locate current breaks and eddies more so than depth or structure, while ice fishing on lakes I try to target fish on structure or at a particular depth.

I'd guess most open water fishemen in Minnesota are also ice fisherman and typically target the same species as they would in the open water season.

As far as ice fishing accommodations go, I prefer the portability of a 5 gallon pail

englishsteve,

I'm sure most any fm'er would take you on an ice fishing expedition.

[Crawlerman]

Again... I'd prefer not to gamble with my life, thank you very much. Ice Fishing under a Dam? Are you nuts? Do you have ANY idea of what would happen if you were to fall through? Undertows are deadly even in the middle of summer.. not to mention in sub-zero water where there is no chance of resurfacing.

If they are catchable during the winter on the river, they have to be catchable in ponds and lakes as well; espically a few metro ponds that I know which are loaded with em.

[Bogsucker]

Yeah, most people I know think I'm a little crazy, but that may be for other reasons also. I certainly won't admit to take any chances when ice fishing areas with current or depth as there is no such thing as "safe" ice.

[Bogsucker]

Ya got me thinking there englishsteve,

My success on walleyes through the ice approaches nil, but I do know where a good bunch of big carp school up in the winter and if I can figure out how to tie a knotless knot hair-rig and if I can talk the wife into lettin me use the kitchen to whip up a batch of boilies, I'm going to catch me some big carp this winter.

Any particular flavor of boilie work better in the winter? I expect the carp in the river I fish eat a lot of crustaceans (scud, small crawfish, clams, etc...) perhaps a shell fish flavored boilie might work?

This hair-rig deal is entirely new to myself and I expect most fishermen around here have not heard of it. I'm quite anxious to try it on several species of fish.

[Guest]

Bog
best of luck in that mate -carp are hard to catch in winter months as their digestive systems more or less close down. As i said, location is the key but don't expect them to be in the same place winter as in summer. For example in my local lake you'll usually find them all around the margins, come winter they head for the middle of the lake. That being said another lake I fish they will hang out in the same spot come winter or summer - unpredictable little sods as they are! )

Baitwise I would go small - 10mm boilies and a size 10 hook are as big a bait as I would use in winter. There is a carp lore here that says fishmeal based in summmer, birdseed based in winter as regards boilies. As you'd expect some would disagree, however the high oil content in fishmeal baits does take longer to digest and can overfeed carp ( although again some would argue otherwise - confused, you will be! )A favourite tactic here for winter fishing is a single, highly attractive bait ( I'm talking well flavoured fruit/birdseed boilies that are brightly, nay flourescent in colour). The thinking being that carp cannot overcome their curiosity about a brightly coloured smelly bait. Its caught me a few and is worth giving a go.

I wish you luck with winter carping - don't expect great results, but to be honest a 10lb carp caought in freezing January weather beats a 20lb carp caught in summer hands down
Cheers
Steve