Surfacing Carp

[Mr Special]

Ever time I go out on Tonka for bass early morning, I see tons of big carp surfacing,in shallow near lillys. My buddy actually caught one on a 7"power worm texas rig. But just wondering if there is a way to get them to bite when they are schooled up and surfacing? I would definitely put down my bass gear for a chance of those biggies.

Thanks

[Aquaman01]

I dunno what the carp will hit, but don't put down the bass gear!
In two different bodies of water I've noticed a repeated pattern in lake carp and lake bass - when the carp schools are on a feed, there's often a small school of LM bass behind them picking off the food the carp disturb and pass up.
I get them with a bottom-presented worm of some sort. Sometimes a crawler on a weedless hook plain, or a mister-twister on a light weedless jig. In both situations, the bass hit a slow bottom presentation.
If I was gonna target the carp, I'd throw out a dissolving ball of dough-bait.
My .02

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Aquaman
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"The bow is set to distant shore,
then loss is gained and gains once more.
When beach is reached and sails are torn,
the journey is it's own reward."

[Mr Special]

Thanks Aquaman01,
I tell yo this, I'd rather catch a 10 or more punds carp than a 7lbs bass. i means when they school up I'm talking at least a hundred of them. That could be mutiple fish over 10lbs, which I doubt will happen when bass fishing.

[vern]

Try fishing some bread wieghtless on a small hook. Just form a small ball over the hook, heavy enough to cast but still light enough to float. Then do some sight-fishing & cast to the feeding carp. You'll see them take the bread off the surface. Lot's of fun. I bet a fly rod would be a blast fishing for surfacing carp. Vern

[Mr Special]

Vern,
I think I'll start carrying bread then. But Aquaman01 is on to something, it would save on battery life, using carp as trolling power.

[EBass]

Kinda like horse and buggy but different - LOL

Toss out corn in the direction you want to go and wall-la!

[This message has been edited by EBass (edited 09-08-2003).]

[Aquaman01]

WHOA! I've never seen a school like that! I usually only see 5 or 6. How about a lasso?

[CornPirateKiller]

I've had some luck taking surface sucking carp in the past using mini marshmallows. They're tough to cast, but the big boys really like 'em. The best way I found was to attach a bobber about 6 feet above the hook. Gave the line enough weight to cast and didn't effect the floating treats. I found some bright orange ones in a Colorado bait store once that were supposed to mimic a spawn sack. Not sure if the color made any difference, but the only thing that I could catch on them was carp.

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Quando Omni Flunkus Moritati

[Mr Special]

Lets see so far we have Corn, Bread, and Marshmallows. I guess if I don't catch fish and get hungry I'll have lunch. But anyways thanks everyone, and hopefully soon I can try these methods out.

Good luck

[Aquaman01]

Mmmm - Marshmallow Cornbread! yum!

[Guest]

Pet food mixers
carp go nuts for them and the're dead cheap. Slingshot a load of them to the feeding carp and watch what happens - carp here are a bit wary but in any case I'd suggest chucking them out for a good 15 minutes to get their confidence up.

Putting them on the hook - well I use a hair rig, but you can just as easily soak them in water for 20 mins or so until they become just soft ( but not too soft) to put on a hook. Another way we use is to superglue a piece of cork ( any cork will do as long as its trimmed to look like your baits )to the hook shank. Takes a leap of faith, but carp will go for it I promise you.

If they're close just freeline, otherwise you need a bit of weight to get it out there. Without getting too euro on this, and I'll come back to other set ups later, put a float on the line ( pike floats that have a tube running through them are good, but you can even use a bit of twig attached to the line with rubber bands ) fixed about 3 ft from the hook just to give you a bit of casting weight.

Surface fishing for carp is as good as sport gets - watching a big set of lips rise and take is like fly fishing heaven. One tip - cast beyond the feeding carp and slowly draw your hookbait into the area they're feeding. Casting directly on top of them can spook them.

Best of luck
Steve

[This message has been edited by englishsteve (edited 09-10-2003).]

[Crawlerman]

I've allways wondered about fly fishing for them when they are doing that, but never really had the chance to try it (nor know how to anyways...)

What I've done in the past is taken about half a piece of bread, and use a multi-hook spinnerless crawler rig, spreading out the three hooks in the bread. Mash the parts of the bread where the hooks meet, and flip it out. It really doesn't matter how well it is hooked after that, because more often than not the carp will SLAM it. I've also heard French Fries and dry dog food (though I never figured out how you would hook it without crumbling it..) works as well....

[Guest]

Crawlerman
trust me here on this one - since late july, due to the heatwave, I have caught more than 90% of my fish on surface fishing tactics. Bottom baits have been next to useless in many waters cos they've all been on the top, and I have to admit its been a real learning curve for me asince we tend to be more bottom bait orientated and regard surface fishing as a bit of a last resort.

Believe me, if it floats they'll try and eat it. I use what we call a controler float set up, usually a 3ft mono leader attached to a strong mono mainline with a large bouyant float attached the the link to give casting weight and some bite indication. If I had a pound for every carp that tried to eat that float I'd be retired and living on a small private island!

Simply get yourself a load of small dog biscuits and slingshot them to the feeding carp. Get a piece of cork - wine bottle stuuf will do, and trim it to vaguely resemble your biscuits. Superglue it to the hook shank ( a size 10 is ideal ), cast it beyond the feeding area and draw it into where they are feeding. Don't worry too much about it being an unflavored bait - if they're feeding hard enough and as a result becoming competetive fo food they will grab at anything on the surface. Also fly fishing for carp is practised by quite a few peole and works well.

Cheers
Steve

[This message has been edited by englishsteve (edited 09-12-2003).]

[Catmendo]

Carp can literally be conditioned to eat anything! So with that in mind, keep it simple. Why make things difficult for yourself when it's totally unnecessary.

I've been routinely been catching these incredibly powerful water rockets for many years now. During which time I've experimented with all sorts of baits from, corn, bread, catfood, dogfood, many different colored & flavored boilies. I've fished them on the lead and on float tackle and at times I've free lined for them when they were actively feeding on the surface. I have to agree with a previous comment made on this thread about how rewarding it is to watch a carp slurp a floating crust off the surface. Man there's nothing quite like the thrill of watching a carp explode on the surface when you set the hook, WOW!
At times carp can be difficult to catch when they're feeding on the surface. They seem to be so preoccupied with what it is they're feeding on. This doesn't mean they cannot be manipulated into taking some other free offering. Try throwing bits of bread directly in their line of travel as they're swimming by. Often they will be curious enough to investigate it. Once they've sampled it, they quickly realize that it taste good and they'll start searching for more. Throw enough bits of bread at them in order to keep their interest. Once you've got them feeding on it, they're yours for the taking! When you bait up with bread and you want it to float, only crimp a portion of it around the shank of your hook, leave the remaining portion natural or uncrimped. It's the uncrimped portion that will enable your presentation to remain floating. You can actually watch as a carp turns and heads towards your floating bread. The anticipation of what's about to unfold when the carp slurps down the bait is incredible and well worth the effort! The speed and power demonstrated by a carp that has been hooked for the first time in it's life has to be experienced to be fully appreciated! They are simply awesome.

Fish "HARD" Forever!