All Hallow’s Eve Carpin’ 2011

Bonfires burning bright.
Pumpkin faces in the night.
I remember Halloween!
This day anything goes.
Crazy carp bending our poles.
I remember Halloween!
I remember bottom feeding ghosts from Halloweens past.
A few Halloweens ago to be exact.
Memories of screaming drags in the brisk fall air….
Memories of dummies and stupid costumes they wear!

These past memories caused myself and a group of friends to change our Saturday plans from Muskie fishing to Carpin’ instead…a fine change of plans indeed! Saturday greeted us with high skies, bright sun, and unseasonably warm temps. What more could one ask for when it comes to sitting on the bank of a small stream, shootin’ the poop with pals, and catching a bounty of bonus bugle lips!

With our lack of rain the past few months we arrived to find our little stream 3-4 feet lower than it was during our last visit. The low flow and lack of current made it a little tougher to find an area holding fish than in falls past. A long hike through the brush finally brought us to a promising hole that had some current leading into deeper water and an outside bend. A few casts and a few minutes later it was game on!

The plan of attack and bait of choice was about as simple as it gets..A half ounce slip sinker atop a swivel with about an 18″ leader was the trick. Bait of choice was good ol’ Butter Kernel corn strategically smothering a number 4 Octopus hook.. Crawlers also took a few fish towards the evening hours if you could keep the pesky Bullheads at bay.

When all was said and done I think we ended the day with at least fifteen fish, a PB for Coleybutt, one double, and many hilarious miss n’ whiffs by all! No real lunkers on this trip…. Perhaps the biggest/ smartest fish in the brook were able to navigate our Corn Maze only to be hopefully caught at a later date. Good times with good friends on what was probably the last carp outing of the year.