ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ…….ZZZZZZZZZZZ..ZZZZ screams the drag on my spinning gear and it feels great. Memories from seasons past soon flood into my brain matter and reflexes instantly set in. FIGHT ON! It’s that time of year again and I finally had some time to get out to check out some early season carpin’ holes and results so far have been mixed. We’ve had no problem locating numbers of small fish on the Mighty Mississipp’ but the big girls on some smaller streams have not been as eager to show their pretty mugs for the camera, although my buddy Serpent’s dad did manage to hook into this beauty that went almost 23 Lbs. on a digital scale.
As stated above the Mississippi River in certain areas is on fire right now although the size of these fish as per usual isn’t the greatest. It does make up for it in the quantity and fun factor areas for sure though. If anyone is looking for a good time shore fishin’ with the kids right now is the time. The corn bite has been spotty but these fish have been very aggressive on crawlers as of late. A basic bottom fishing rig with either splitshot or slip sinkers is probably your bet bet (nuthin’ fancy goin’ on here). A ten plus fish day is not uncommon. Look for your typical current seams, culverts, and deeper slack water close to shore and you should score some sucker mouthed scaly critters.
Rain, rain, and a little more rain is what we need to get fish moving on some of our metro small rivers and lakes. The bite on both has been very slow. Hopefully todays weather will help in getting things rolling on these bodies of water. Our next stop is in fact, a north metro gem of a river that produces some very large carp in the spring and fall. The river is exceptionally low and fishing has been slow. We have, however managed a few decent fish on the last couple outings. Corn has been the ticket here as crawlers only yield bonus Redhorse and White Suckers which can be a blast as well. Once again for the carp a simple bottom fishing rig is the ticket here, while the suckers preferred drifting and dragging techniques similar to Walleye fishing.
Carp and Roughie season is upon and things will only improve from here on out through the early summer months. If you are looking to scratch that itch for some metro fish that actually put up a fight……get on out there and scratch it! Good luck, explore, and most importantly have some fun!