Finally! After a bunch of crappy weather and weird temperature fluctuations the carp are starting to respond to our stable weather pattern. Fishing is still somewhat hit and miss but overall has started to produce fair numbers of fish. The big girls still haven’t shown their mugs, although I would expect them soon! If you are looking for some exciting rod bending action other than panfish and Mississippi River Walleyes you need look further than out your back door if you live in the metro area.
Basically, a few buddies and myself have just been focusing on different areas of Rice Creek in the past few days because of it’s proximity to home and limited fishing time. Bait of choice once again has been primarily corn (or the good ol’ cornhead jig)
CORNHEAD JIG!
CORNHEAD JIG!
A rig that consists of a bunch of corn strung up along the line and down the shaft of a normal #2 walleye hook exposing enough of the hook to strap a crawler on the end. This particular rig has proven very effective for both early and late season carp. Once it warms up a bit more the crawler is not necessary at all and boilies will also start to produce with the summer months and rising temps. Here’s a picture of my pal Ferlin Cobb with a nice early season carp that left him full of river mud.
As far as weight goes we’ve been trying out a new technique that has yielded some pretty good results. It’s your basic undersized egg/slip sinker set up with a bead about two feet or so up from the hook. This allows the fish to take the bait without noticing the weight of the sinker at all as the line slips through the sinker and allows the fish to take the bait.
Anyway, if you are looking for a good time and some tight lines don’t overlook our roughfish pals that wander our local waters big and small. Good Luck! Here’s one more photo of a muskie junkie friend turned carpmaster!