ICEING OLD RUBBER LIPS!

[MrTwisters]

reposted with a ok from author Scott Osmond.

OK, Christmas passed near a month ago. A major cold snap has gripped the Northeastern states with sub zero temps for over a week, making open water carping, that we enjoyed the first 2 weeks of January all but a memory. The Charles River in Massachusetts is a unique fishery here in the northeast, as it is overrun with carp from 5-15lbs, similar to some southern, fertile waters. The major difference is that it freezes in the winter. I’ve been fishing one section of the Charles River (Boston/Cambridge Basin) for about a decade, but never really fished it after November, or before April. But, Jerome and Domm Mariano have fished this section with good success into December, setting up a memorable FFF session!

Arriving early at the “WWD” (not so warm) on New Year’s Day, the location where we all “concluded” was going to be the only place to land carp at this time of the year. Water: 37 F. Most of the Basin is iced over. We were gonna have to work for fish. Around 1 pm, nothing has been biting. Domm gets the idea to give the Muddy River confluence a look (this is where Domm and Jerome did so well just a couple weeks prior). After a little persuading, 4 crazy NE carpers were off to the Muddy (Jerome, Vinny, Domm, and Bill), with 2 others, Chris and Bob, deciding against it. Making a long story short, we managed nearly 2 dozen carp to 13+lbs in 2 small openings in the ice in just about 3 hours! Water temp: 36 F!!! Could it be possible, ice fishing for carp? We surmised that this was basically just that, and it was a plan to successfully attempt it here, soon.

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I and many other hardcore, cold climate carpers have fished to varying degrees throughout the long winters, we have to in many cases or acute carpless psychosis sets in. One well believed myth is that carp are attracted to the deepest water during the cold winters (once water dips below 39 F). Over the last 4-5 years, I have personally caught many big carp (from big fish waters) in very shallow water, even during the dead of winter, so I “knew” this wasn’t always the case. I was still surprised there were so many actively feeding carp here at the Muddy, where its only 5’ deep even 100 yds from shore! The next 2 weeks, temps stayed mostly above freezing, enabling me to account for over 100 carp to 24lbs! Water staying mostly around 39 F, the carp continued to be attracted to this confluence.

End of January saw a major cold snap here in the NE, totally shutting off any attempt to open water fish. It wasn’t until the first weekend in February that gave us our opportunity to attempt the “undone”, ice fishing for carp! Now I can’t say it has never been attempted, as there have been catches of carp through the ice, I even managed 2 small fish from a tiny local pond one March. But the importance of this endeavor would be substantial: actual planned ice carping!

Fran Slasinski, Vinny Jeffreys, Jerome, and myself were ready. Fran and I have been ice fishing for other species for many years (Fran more), Vinny has been out with me many times, but Jerome had never ice fished. First things first, how to tackle hole cutting. These, while smallish carp, are still big fish and standard 6-8” holes just weren’t gonna fly. Fran surmised that his hand held 6” auger would do well if 3 holes were cut in a triangle shape and the centers cut out with a hand chisel. This made sense.

We cut the first 4 holes close to where the action was best during open water, in about 4-5’ of water. Ice was OK, about 7-10” thick, which isn’t bad considering this is a river. I had no traps (type, tips, leans, whatever one calls them), as mine were in NH with my father, so a small rod and reel would do for Vinny and I. Fran cut 2 more holes and had 3 jigging rods (you’re allowed 5 lines through the ice here in MA) and a pair of “type”. The holes were chummed and Vinny stays close to shore and manages a hook-up on corn! Oh no… lost it….but we’re pumped!

Well, nothing for the next hours or so…then Vinny’s shallow hole scores. Vinny is fighting it with a semi-long rod, and awkwardly lands an 8-9lb common. Success at last! After about half an hour, Vinny had to go feed the meters, and Jerome took over his rod watching duties. Guess what…another hit on his hot rod, Jerome lands a 5lb range common! Meanwhile, Fran had several flags on his traps, but none materialized more that just a short chew-n-screw, leading our forward thinkers to surmise that the slight tension of the flag tripping device caused the finicky carp to drop the bait. So, open bails we go…..I managed to hook up with 3 fish and land 2 nice mirrors in 6lb range this way! Again, a few other flags, no fish…we HAD to be right…right? Not too bad for our first time exclusively targeting carp through the ice, 2 commons and 2 mirrors!

Fran, being a bit snakebitten but a true ice warrior, was back the next day to even better results: he managed at least 4-5 carp to over 10lbs, with at least 2 on traps! We weren’t so right afterall, they would take if aggressive enough. Moreover, before the ice left for good, Mike Dragone and Son Gaeton from CT both managed their ice carp! So much learned, only to realize so much we don’t know about our friends below the ice…let me explain.

Now that we have “proven” carp can be targeted through the ice, what now? What do we really know? First and most important, we KNOW carp in any water have to be found in winter. We knew this to a point, anyone who fishes open water in winter realizes how tough it is until you find where they winter. Once found, however, they seem to school tightly, making them much easier than once though to catch during the big chill.

We also surmise that, though open water in winter they can be very active, they were much less active once the ice covered the water. Even in the same locale as open water. I personally believe the lack of oxygen transfer during ice cover has a lot to do with this. They do move and feed, even in the harshest weather, but once ice covers the water, the carp seem to slow even for winter.

We can, from open water winter experience, assume stable and warming weather has a positive impact on feeding carp in winter. This is usually the case, but we just don’t know if it makes a big difference under the ice.

What about depth? Well, the old adage that carp are only found in deep water in winter is not always true. What then attracted them to this shallow confluence? Well, it could be as simple as an outflow of what seems like run-off water from the city. Only a couple degrees difference, seemed to attract them to such shallow water and stay aggressive even during that cold spell.

We can also assume that a target water should have an abundance of carp in it, as waters with few carp are very tough to find in winter. Plus, lack of competitiveness would have a negative effect on winter carp feeding. The Charles has an overabundance of fish, therefore they have to feed more aggressively in the coldest water to survive.

What else? What will the winter of 2005, 2006 bring? First winter 20? New records for CAG members? The current ice fishing records from the National Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame list a 31lb fish for their jigging rod record, and but a 7lb 15ozer for their tip up record. At least the tip record can and should be beat.

This might be the last carping frontier! Ice fishing for carp, is there any other way for us northerners to survive a long winter without picking up a bowling ball?

[MrTwisters]

bite on corn

[MrTwisters]

River giving birth to a carp

[MrTwisters]

Author with a wintertime Mirror

[MrTwisters]

who says carp can't be caught through the Ice?

[MrTwisters]

ahhh carp!!!!!!!!

[MrTwisters]

Lots of guys fish carp in winter.

[Note from admin: Very cool info and pics. Keep em coming. Please be sure to read forum policy as well]