Jumping Carp

[shorefisher]

I have been fishing a small lake good for carp and have noticed many carp jumping out of the water. I have seen this many times on lots of lakes and just never ask anyone why are they doing this. Should I be fishing off the bottom when thay are jumping like this. Any one have any ideas on why? Just a rainy day thought

[riverrat56]

Try fishing a bare hook with a few split shots a foot up in shallow water, Use corn and a floating jig head or just a bare hook. Crawler can work ok, but you will get pecked at by smaller fish more with crawler. Keep a tight line and feel for the bite. Also if these fish are in shallow water ( which i prefer to fish with when using this method ) They will be very spooky, make a long cast and dont use to much weight.

[Fish'n guy]

You may also want to try a crawler or corn under a slip float although fishing on the surface with a fly rod would work better to keep the bait high off the bottom.

Riverrat56's rig is also a good option, I just like to see them slam a fly or marshmallow on the surface !!!!!

GOOD FISHIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[cmoredrakes]

For carp in shallow bays I've heard you can use bread doe balls, too. They say it also produces bigger fish. I myself haven't tried it though.

One problem I keep thinking of is how they get the bread doe to stay on the hook without it getting soggy and junk and it falling off your hook .

---Livin' large at 14---

[mr wizard]

Bobber or a dryfly that imitates a cottonwood seed. To keep the bread on you need to wet it and squeeze it into a ball. If it breaks up you need to squeeze harder when forming the ball.

[Dan Thiem]

I would also like to know why the jump.

[bronzeback01]

They make a hook that has a spring around the shank, this gives the bread something to stick to. I haven't had a fish steal my bait since I started using this method. However, once you set the hook with this style of hook you have to keep your line very tight because the hook doesn't penetrate as deep as a regular bait hook and if you give the fish any slack they will shake it almost every time.

As for the doe balls, I started using them exclusively for carp about 2 years ago, and fishing the Mississippi last summer I don't think I had a fish under 8 lbs, with the average being around 10 lbs.

[goody]

Shore fisher and Dan,

I have also always been curious - why common carp sometimes jump from the water. (It can scare the you know what out of a guy.) So I once asked a local highly respected angler (trout angler). He wasn't positive, but he had three theories. 1. The impact back onto the water assists them in removing parasites or fresh water lice from

under the edges of their large scales. 2. During pre-spawn, females jump from the water to benifit from the slap back onto the water. It helps loosen the eggs (I didn't buy that one). 3. Carp are extremely curious fish, and they are simply jumping to gain a view from above the water's surface. This sounds a bit nuts, but very often, carp will swim up to check out the legs of a wading fisherman, so I wouldn't be surprised if they do jump just to take a look at our world up top. Any other theories out there?

[Fisher Dave]

I have a 4th theory .. maybe the fish are just active and playful...

I have had days fishing for other species of fish(crappies for this example) in clear water in spots I knew were currently productive.. while I was doing my usual routine of casting and retrieving a jig.. every cast I would get multiple stikes.. one after another for the entire length of the cast.. every cast.

Needless to say I was confused. Upon looking into the very clear water, I could see the crappies just swipeing at my bait.. sometimes as many as 10 fish at a time.. not one open mouth. I tried switching my presentation and they would swipe at everything, but eat nothing. I caught 4 fish I think in an hour and a half, with more bites than that on every cast..

The fish looked playful.. I dont see what else it could be after observing them for so long...

I have also observed what seemed to be horseplay in my aquariums over time with some species of fish, or at least that is what I translated it to be..

Who's to say that gamefish, or roughfish dont get the same playful tendencies?

Its a theory, I believe in it, but I dont know if thats why carp jump... only the carp do.

[LEECH21]

I was thinking the same thing. I think Fisher Dave may be right.