NEWS UPDATE:
All of the CarpQuest blog content has been migrated to a dedicated website.
WWW.CARPQUEST.ORG
Please visit this site in future to keep up to date with all the latest blog and news content for CarpQuest.
Thanks!
John
CarpQuest
CarpQuest is a Finney Films video blog production. Follow John Finney, and his friends, as they quest for carp at venues across North America.
Saturday, January 3, 2015
Monday, December 1, 2014
A Wise Man asks for Advice
my article on Big Carp News.
When I first returned to the sport of carp fishing my baits and approach were very simple, a hook, a night crawler and a run rig. I certainly caught a lot of fish and this immediate success certainly helped fuel my ongoing passion.
My work schedule at the time allowed me to get a lot of morning sessions in at a local lake. After a few months I began to notice the carp at this venue were getting far harder to catch. There were days when I would watch the carp feeding, approaching my trap, only to swim away at the last minute. The arms race had begun!
I changed tactics and baits, from the worms, to using plain sweetcorn on the hook. This was an instant hit, highly effective and yet more carp were landed. The only issue I noticed was far too many hook pulls. I switched again, this time to sweet corn on a hair rig, popped up with a piece of fake corn. The carp continued to suck down the baits eagerly and the rate of hook pulls greatly diminished. My catch rates were good but I felt they could be better.
With more research on North American carp angling tactics I soon learned about pack baits. These are very commonly used across the states, especially for the paylake style fishing. The pack bait approach was similar to the method feeder, and ground baits, I had used long ago in the UK. The main difference I could see was that the “pack” was molded around the hook bait, or as the paylakers would call it, the “pickup”, rather than a feeder or the lead. The benefit of pack baits here in Colorado is that it meets the local regulation requirement of the bait “must be attached to the hook” when cast out, Colorado has anti-chumming laws.
Here are a couple of the pack bait recipes I used.
Basic Panko “Pack”
1 lb unflavored panko bread crumbs, 1 tin creamed corn, 1 tsp salt, 1 tbsp flavoring
Flavorings, common ones I use are cinnamon, or liquid food grade pineapple and banana
Combine dry ingredients and mix well, combine wet ingredients and mix well, mix both together. Store in zip seal bag.
Panko and Oats “Pack
1 lb of old fashioned oats, 8 oz of plain panko bread crumbs, 1 tbsp salt, 1 tsp cinnamon,
1 tsp chili flakes, 1 tin creamed corn, 2 tbsp karo syrup.
Combine dry ingredients and mix well, combine wet ingredients and mix well, mix both together. Store in a zip seal bag. I find this mix is best after at least a few hours to allow all the liquids to be fully absorbed by the dry goods.
Both mixes can be kept in the fridge for up to a week, though they tend to dry out requiring a little additional liquid to be added before use. Combined with plain sweetcorn on the hair, cheap, effective and gets the job done!
The results of using pack baits were immediate and very impressive, my catch rates went through the roof and I felt as though I was now ahead of the never ending carp arms race with the local fish. Not only did I change to using pack baits but I also switched from the run rig to a fixed/bolt rig style and approach.
As this first season of angling came to a close I observed once again the carp were becoming wise to my traps. Over the winter I contemplated some new tactics and baits. When I fished in the UK, back in the late 70s, boilies were in their infancy, not a commonly used carp bait and not commercially available. I honestly had no experience in using them.
As winter faded the spring thaw melted the tomb of ice covering my local lakes. I decided, with my typical gung-ho approach, to switch from sweet corn and pack baits, to the humble boilie.
As the season started, and over the next few months, I tried a literal plethora of different sizes and flavors of boilies, from nearly every commercial brand available here in the USA. I even delved into some homemade offerings. With the no chumming laws, and without the pack baits, it was literally the hook and a boilie vs. carp.
For many sessions, I sat upon the bank and watched the carp approaching my baits, give them an inquisitive sniff, and then turn away. It was as if they did not recognize the boilie as a food source! Yes, I did finally catch a carp on one of my homemade garlic boilies, I also caught a slew of trout and a couple of catfish, either on the homemade or the commercial brands. I went so far as to experiment with using boilies with the panko or oats pack baits. This did get me another carp, but otherwise, my catch rates had dwindled to almost nothing. That I started to do better with the inclusion of the pack baits, should have been an indicator that something needed to change.
To say I had lost any confidence with boilie fishing would be an understatement. After a few months of experimentation the boilies went into the trash and the flavored corn and maize were once again on the hook, paired with the pack baits for the remainder of the season. The rest of the year was certainly good. I ended with 100 carp landed, a state record common carp at 37 lb 5oz and was a very happy man indeed!
Wintertime is hard for carp angling here in Colorado. The lakes and reservoirs are frozen over and there are few opportunities to pursue our chosen quarry, unless it is upon the ice shrouded rivers, streams or through a hole drilled in the thick ice. It is however a great time to review, contemplate and plan for the upcoming years fishing.
I am a math junkie and I spend far too much time reviewing and analyzing data and metrics. Those who know me well consider me to be obsessed with statistics! Looking back at my stats for the 2013 season I noticed a familiar trend. I was catching a lot of carp but I was also catching a lot of small specimens. The pattern of a typical session would be the catch sizes would steadily increase throughout the day, with the larger fish coming right at the end, or a single big fish at the start of a session followed by all smaller ones. My findings were basically, without a doubt, the flavored corn and pack baits were catching.
For the 2014 season I decided once again to select a variety of boilies to deploy. This time the boilies were to be fished alongside the corn and pack bait offerings, one rod setup with each.
I really wanted to learn what flavor combinations could work. I had no illusions that the sweet corn and pack baits would likely to catch more fish but would the boilies reduce the small fish captures and produce an average larger size? Could I find a flavor profile that worked?
Through the cold spring I stuck with my plan. I soon discovered it was very hard not break down and switch both rods over to the corn and pack bait offerings. It was not a case of the corn out-performing the boilies, it was more that I couldn’t catch a carp on a boilie at all!
Finally I found a flavor profile of boilie that the carp seemed to relish, sweet, very sweet, with both tuitti fruit and then white chocolate flavors consistently putting fish upon the bank. Ironically the particular brand of boilies I was having the success on, NGT, sold-out, go figure – the carp gods truly despised me. I was left looking for yet another commercial brand to try.
I discussed my saga with a good friend, BCN News Contributor, Brian Wingard. His help and advice over the past year with my CarpQuest had been invaluable. He is a fountain of knowledge which he shares without bias.
Now I knew Brian had put some tremendous carp upon the bank with the bait ranges from CC-Moore, be that Equinox, Live System, Odyssey XXX or N-Gage XP. He suggested I give them a try, this time with a PVA stringer of baits, or small PVA mesh bag of additional offerings versus just a boilie on the hair.
It would be fair to say I am a skeptic. I am one of those people who want to see results in person, not on video or a blog. Though I do trust the advice of my friends I also prefer to form my own opinions on a product.
So, having looked through the entire CC Moore product range, I selected their glugged hook baits. Never doing anything by half, I acquired all four different flavors!
Once they arrived, they looked great, smelled great and were very cost effective. I was excited to test them at a venue I knew was packed with hungry carp.
Again, after a few sessions, I was unable to get a single run. A little disillusioned, and wanting to again to see carp in my net, I relapsed and returned to the flavored corn and pack baits. It was not long before I had carp upon the bank. Though it was great to be catching again I felt like I had not really given the CC Moore products a fair try.
To say I am stubborn would be an understatement. So, after a couple of months with fish again on the bank, I was ready to return to the boilie project. This time, rather than just go all-in again on every flavor profile offered, I took the time to look at each of the CC Moore product ranges, paying particular attention to the flavor profile.
Remember, the carp I had previously caught on boilies liked sweet baits.
So, to compare the four …
The decision was made, I was going to go all-in with the Live System – I am sensing a pattern here as I sit and write this article!
Rather than obtain the various boilies, pop-ups, pellets and glugs separately I went with their “Session Bucket” option. It contained everything I needed to get started. Paired with some PVA mesh and string, I was now feeling confident.
I selected another run’s water for the trial. This venue had provided me with my best carping ever in Colorado with carp on the bank vs. hours spent fishing. I was not so concerned with the size of fish at the venue, rather the quantity of fish and their apparent greedy nature and ease of capture.
Again, I decided to fish with the panko/oats pack bait and corn with one rod, the CC Moore Live System boilies, PVA mesh, pellets and glug, on the other. I arrived at the venue just before first light and was setup quickly with both baits out there, perhaps 10 yards apart. I really wanted the carp to be able to choose which they preferred.
After an hour I had the first run, a nice common on the sweetcorn. Half an hour later, a second run on the sweet corn and another carp was on the bank. Fifteen minutes later, a third run, yet another carp for the sweetcorn.
I do admit that after a few hours fishing it wasn’t looking good for the boilies!
Finally the boilie rod took off and I landed my first carp on the Live System, a real nice 17 lb common.
Half an hour later another run with the boilies and a second carp, this time, 16 lb’s, was on the mat. For the remainder of the session three more commons fell to the boilies. I even banked a nice 8 lb channel cat on the boilies right as I was packing up.
The day ended with 5 carp on the boilies and 3 on the sweet corn. I had almost caught more carp in a single session on boilies than I had in the past two years. The sweetcorn captures had an average weight of 11 lbs, those on
Once bitten, twice shy, is a motto of mine. A single good session was no proof for me that I had selected the correct flavor profile. Thus I decided to return again to the same venue a fortnight later, fish the same spot, with the same process and see what would transpire.
The results from the second session were even more impressive, 0 carp fell to the corn based offerings and I had 4 runs, landed 3, on the Live System boilies, with an average weight of almost 17 lbs.
I also caught my second largest carp ever, a fine, 28 lb 12 oz gravid female.
When I first returned to the sport of carp fishing my baits and approach were very simple, a hook, a night crawler and a run rig. I certainly caught a lot of fish and this immediate success certainly helped fuel my ongoing passion.
My work schedule at the time allowed me to get a lot of morning sessions in at a local lake. After a few months I began to notice the carp at this venue were getting far harder to catch. There were days when I would watch the carp feeding, approaching my trap, only to swim away at the last minute. The arms race had begun!
I changed tactics and baits, from the worms, to using plain sweetcorn on the hook. This was an instant hit, highly effective and yet more carp were landed. The only issue I noticed was far too many hook pulls. I switched again, this time to sweet corn on a hair rig, popped up with a piece of fake corn. The carp continued to suck down the baits eagerly and the rate of hook pulls greatly diminished. My catch rates were good but I felt they could be better.
With more research on North American carp angling tactics I soon learned about pack baits. These are very commonly used across the states, especially for the paylake style fishing. The pack bait approach was similar to the method feeder, and ground baits, I had used long ago in the UK. The main difference I could see was that the “pack” was molded around the hook bait, or as the paylakers would call it, the “pickup”, rather than a feeder or the lead. The benefit of pack baits here in Colorado is that it meets the local regulation requirement of the bait “must be attached to the hook” when cast out, Colorado has anti-chumming laws.
Here are a couple of the pack bait recipes I used.
Basic Panko “Pack”
1 lb unflavored panko bread crumbs, 1 tin creamed corn, 1 tsp salt, 1 tbsp flavoring
Flavorings, common ones I use are cinnamon, or liquid food grade pineapple and banana
Combine dry ingredients and mix well, combine wet ingredients and mix well, mix both together. Store in zip seal bag.
Panko and Oats “Pack
1 lb of old fashioned oats, 8 oz of plain panko bread crumbs, 1 tbsp salt, 1 tsp cinnamon,
1 tsp chili flakes, 1 tin creamed corn, 2 tbsp karo syrup.
Combine dry ingredients and mix well, combine wet ingredients and mix well, mix both together. Store in a zip seal bag. I find this mix is best after at least a few hours to allow all the liquids to be fully absorbed by the dry goods.
Both mixes can be kept in the fridge for up to a week, though they tend to dry out requiring a little additional liquid to be added before use. Combined with plain sweetcorn on the hair, cheap, effective and gets the job done!
The results of using pack baits were immediate and very impressive, my catch rates went through the roof and I felt as though I was now ahead of the never ending carp arms race with the local fish. Not only did I change to using pack baits but I also switched from the run rig to a fixed/bolt rig style and approach.
As this first season of angling came to a close I observed once again the carp were becoming wise to my traps. Over the winter I contemplated some new tactics and baits. When I fished in the UK, back in the late 70s, boilies were in their infancy, not a commonly used carp bait and not commercially available. I honestly had no experience in using them.
As winter faded the spring thaw melted the tomb of ice covering my local lakes. I decided, with my typical gung-ho approach, to switch from sweet corn and pack baits, to the humble boilie.
As the season started, and over the next few months, I tried a literal plethora of different sizes and flavors of boilies, from nearly every commercial brand available here in the USA. I even delved into some homemade offerings. With the no chumming laws, and without the pack baits, it was literally the hook and a boilie vs. carp.
For many sessions, I sat upon the bank and watched the carp approaching my baits, give them an inquisitive sniff, and then turn away. It was as if they did not recognize the boilie as a food source! Yes, I did finally catch a carp on one of my homemade garlic boilies, I also caught a slew of trout and a couple of catfish, either on the homemade or the commercial brands. I went so far as to experiment with using boilies with the panko or oats pack baits. This did get me another carp, but otherwise, my catch rates had dwindled to almost nothing. That I started to do better with the inclusion of the pack baits, should have been an indicator that something needed to change.
To say I had lost any confidence with boilie fishing would be an understatement. After a few months of experimentation the boilies went into the trash and the flavored corn and maize were once again on the hook, paired with the pack baits for the remainder of the season. The rest of the year was certainly good. I ended with 100 carp landed, a state record common carp at 37 lb 5oz and was a very happy man indeed!
Wintertime is hard for carp angling here in Colorado. The lakes and reservoirs are frozen over and there are few opportunities to pursue our chosen quarry, unless it is upon the ice shrouded rivers, streams or through a hole drilled in the thick ice. It is however a great time to review, contemplate and plan for the upcoming years fishing.
I am a math junkie and I spend far too much time reviewing and analyzing data and metrics. Those who know me well consider me to be obsessed with statistics! Looking back at my stats for the 2013 season I noticed a familiar trend. I was catching a lot of carp but I was also catching a lot of small specimens. The pattern of a typical session would be the catch sizes would steadily increase throughout the day, with the larger fish coming right at the end, or a single big fish at the start of a session followed by all smaller ones. My findings were basically, without a doubt, the flavored corn and pack baits were catching.
For the 2014 season I decided once again to select a variety of boilies to deploy. This time the boilies were to be fished alongside the corn and pack bait offerings, one rod setup with each.
I really wanted to learn what flavor combinations could work. I had no illusions that the sweet corn and pack baits would likely to catch more fish but would the boilies reduce the small fish captures and produce an average larger size? Could I find a flavor profile that worked?
Through the cold spring I stuck with my plan. I soon discovered it was very hard not break down and switch both rods over to the corn and pack bait offerings. It was not a case of the corn out-performing the boilies, it was more that I couldn’t catch a carp on a boilie at all!
Finally I found a flavor profile of boilie that the carp seemed to relish, sweet, very sweet, with both tuitti fruit and then white chocolate flavors consistently putting fish upon the bank. Ironically the particular brand of boilies I was having the success on, NGT, sold-out, go figure – the carp gods truly despised me. I was left looking for yet another commercial brand to try.
I discussed my saga with a good friend, BCN News Contributor, Brian Wingard. His help and advice over the past year with my CarpQuest had been invaluable. He is a fountain of knowledge which he shares without bias.
Now I knew Brian had put some tremendous carp upon the bank with the bait ranges from CC-Moore, be that Equinox, Live System, Odyssey XXX or N-Gage XP. He suggested I give them a try, this time with a PVA stringer of baits, or small PVA mesh bag of additional offerings versus just a boilie on the hair.
It would be fair to say I am a skeptic. I am one of those people who want to see results in person, not on video or a blog. Though I do trust the advice of my friends I also prefer to form my own opinions on a product.
So, having looked through the entire CC Moore product range, I selected their glugged hook baits. Never doing anything by half, I acquired all four different flavors!
Once they arrived, they looked great, smelled great and were very cost effective. I was excited to test them at a venue I knew was packed with hungry carp.
Again, after a few sessions, I was unable to get a single run. A little disillusioned, and wanting to again to see carp in my net, I relapsed and returned to the flavored corn and pack baits. It was not long before I had carp upon the bank. Though it was great to be catching again I felt like I had not really given the CC Moore products a fair try.
To say I am stubborn would be an understatement. So, after a couple of months with fish again on the bank, I was ready to return to the boilie project. This time, rather than just go all-in again on every flavor profile offered, I took the time to look at each of the CC Moore product ranges, paying particular attention to the flavor profile.
Remember, the carp I had previously caught on boilies liked sweet baits.
So, to compare the four …
- N-Gage XP is highly digestible bait based upon proteins and feed stimulants which come in the form of spirulina, N.Z green lipped mussel extract, hydrolyzed proteins, pepper meals and their FeedStim XP and Feedstim powders.
I had caught well on GLM infused maize in the past so this range had potential for me.
- Equinox was another highly digestible bait, that is soluble and will eventually break down even in the coldest of waters. It contains carbohydrates, spices, fruit extracts, yeast, natural feeding triggers and Robin Red.
The fruit extract note appealed to my eye for sure.
- Odyssey XXX contains high amounts of GLM and Betaine along with proteins, bird foods, yeast and low temperature pre-digested fish meals. The bait has a particularly strong fishy aroma as a result.
This range was very interesting to me, especially as it has a high GLM content. I had excellent success the previous year with GLM infused maize and corn hook baits.
- Live System has a distinctive sweet, yeasty aroma with ingredients including proteins, bird food, cream powders and corn steep liquor powder. The footnote on the description stated, If you’re looking for a bait that can be used throughout the year without any pre-baiting or a boilie that can be fished alongside another bait, then Live System is the ideal choice for you.
Yes, I am a skeptic, but the Live System description matched exactly what I was looking for and literally leapt of the page at me.
The decision was made, I was going to go all-in with the Live System – I am sensing a pattern here as I sit and write this article!
Rather than obtain the various boilies, pop-ups, pellets and glugs separately I went with their “Session Bucket” option. It contained everything I needed to get started. Paired with some PVA mesh and string, I was now feeling confident.
I selected another run’s water for the trial. This venue had provided me with my best carping ever in Colorado with carp on the bank vs. hours spent fishing. I was not so concerned with the size of fish at the venue, rather the quantity of fish and their apparent greedy nature and ease of capture.
Again, I decided to fish with the panko/oats pack bait and corn with one rod, the CC Moore Live System boilies, PVA mesh, pellets and glug, on the other. I arrived at the venue just before first light and was setup quickly with both baits out there, perhaps 10 yards apart. I really wanted the carp to be able to choose which they preferred.
After an hour I had the first run, a nice common on the sweetcorn. Half an hour later, a second run on the sweet corn and another carp was on the bank. Fifteen minutes later, a third run, yet another carp for the sweetcorn.
Finally the boilie rod took off and I landed my first carp on the Live System, a real nice 17 lb common.
Half an hour later another run with the boilies and a second carp, this time, 16 lb’s, was on the mat. For the remainder of the session three more commons fell to the boilies. I even banked a nice 8 lb channel cat on the boilies right as I was packing up.
The day ended with 5 carp on the boilies and 3 on the sweet corn. I had almost caught more carp in a single session on boilies than I had in the past two years. The sweetcorn captures had an average weight of 11 lbs, those on
Once bitten, twice shy, is a motto of mine. A single good session was no proof for me that I had selected the correct flavor profile. Thus I decided to return again to the same venue a fortnight later, fish the same spot, with the same process and see what would transpire.
I also caught my second largest carp ever, a fine, 28 lb 12 oz gravid female.
I was a now VERY happy man!
I honestly did not think that a boilie project was going to work and I could catch carp on a consistent basis with them. What it took was the correct approach and tactics. The addition of the PVA mesh offerings with bait glugged pellets, as opposed to just a single hook bait, was the key factor. It was also I had taken the time to do some research on a flavor profiles that might be better for the carp in my area.
It was not that any of the previous ranges of boilies I used were bad – though it could be said my homemade vindaloo curry boilie were a creative failure, even if they smelled good enough to eat!
It was that I was using them in a very ineffective manner. With the local carp only having ever fed upon naturals, perhaps a few bread and corn offerings, they had never seen a boilie before.
With no pre-baiting campaign allowed, my single boilie offerings were never going to produce the same results as sweetcorn and a pile of pack bait. As soon as I started to enhance the boilies appeal, either with glugs, dips, small PVA freebie offerings of pellets and mixes, it was carp on!
For the rest of the season I stuck with the boilies. Yes, my catch rates dropped overall, as I had suspected they would. However, the average size of fish landed increased by more than 20%. Nuisance captures of trout are reduced to almost zero.
I have also started catching more catfish – I not sure if this is a good, or bad thing!
Do I still use sweetcorn and pack baits? For sure, especially when I am hitting up a new venue or taking another angler with me to quickly get them into their “first carp”. However, for the majority of my angling, the boilies will now be out there in the never ending quest for that next big carp capture.
Next season I plan to do more testing to see which flavor profiles work better in the spring, summer and fall. Which flavor works best at a certain location, or with a particular additive? The learning process never ends and I am looking forwards to the results.
Dean Brookes, BCN Editor, has a couple of great articles here at BCN on the topic of boilies. Well worth reading to gain a better understanding.
- The Art of Boilie Fishing: Origin’s
- The Art of Boilie Fishing: Types and Varieties
The morale of this story is that when trying something new, be that baits, rigs or tactics, put in the effort to do some research first.
Don’t be afraid to ask for advice, be that from a friend, on a fishing forum, your local tackle shop/vendor or even a fellow angler on the bankside. You will certainly save yourself a lot of time, money and headaches on the bankside.
In my case, this would have been a season of frustration with but a humble boilie!
Tight-Lines,
John
Wednesday, November 26, 2014
Team Korda USA is live on facebook !
The "Team Korda USA" page is now live on facebook.
This is excellent news and demonstrates the growth of carp angling here in the USA.
Lets step up and show our support ! https://www.facebook.com/KordaUSA
Victory Coffee moment for sure.
This is excellent news and demonstrates the growth of carp angling here in the USA.
Lets step up and show our support ! https://www.facebook.com/KordaUSA
Victory Coffee moment for sure.
Friday, November 14, 2014
Two seasons into the Quest, thoughts and future plans ...
CarpQuest was originally created early in 2012 as a video blog series to demonstrate to Colorado’s anglers that fishing for carp can be challenging, fun and very rewarding. I wanted to get the word out about carp and showcase the species to the local masses in a positive light.
I had never intended for the videos to contain in-depth carping educational content, be that on rigs, mechanics, tackle or baits. There are plenty of other good people publishing that style of content. Also, given that I had only just returned to the sport after a 25+ year hiatus, I still had much to learn about modern carp fishing, especially in a different country with very different attitudes on carp as a species.
What you may not realize is that initially, filming myself talking into a camera made me very self-conscious. It was never easy in those early episodes. There were many retakes and a lot of editing required afterwards just to get something I could release to the you, the viewers. However, no matter how hard I tried, I felt as though the energy and passion I have for carp fishing was was not coming across on content when released.
Over the first year of CarpQuest the technology used in production improved. My brother created the highly popular opening title sequence for the video blog series. I think I finally got over my nerves talking into a camera.
The local angler attention for CarpQuest increased and my message was certainly getting out there to the masses. I started to be flooded with requests for information regarding carp fishing, the tactics and tackle I used in their pursuit. Most of all, requests to take others out with me on my bank side adventures. I was humbled for sure at the attention!
A few weeks ago I had some time on my hands and spent a morning watching all the old CarpQuest episodes. As I watched the content I could see where a change in theme and content occurred. The context changed from a pure blog, into entertainment with a carp theme. My energy and passion for the sport finally started to break through.
So, when did this change occur ? It was when I began to take others with me on the CarpQuest.
A shout out to those who have accompanied me on the quest so far, Chris “C-Dog”, Patrick, James, Roland, the guys at Fish Explorer, Casey, Brittany, Brayden, Ron "Alty" Altman and finally Daris, Marty and the cat fishing crew.
Another quick shout out to David Moore (Big Carp Tackle / Big Carp News), Brian Wingard (Carp Fishing Lifestyle) and the community at FishExplorer.COM. Their help, support and advice have helped me reach out to the masses and provided opportunities for others to accompany me to the bank side which otherwise simply would not have happened.
Over the past two seasons CarpQuest has now taken on life all of it’s own. It has morphed into far more than simply one anglers fishing video blog about catching carp. It's popularity, especially with social media, has been remarkable!
So, what plans do I have for 2015.
I intend to continue producing foremost entertaining content for my viewers and fans, showcasing carp as the World's Greatest Sportsfish, which I truly believe they are. As my own knowledge, and confidence in the mechanics and tactics of carp fishing grow, I will begin to share this information more with the viewers, tackle reviews, products, rigs - how-to videos, basically.
New faces are certain to join me upon the bank side, as well as new tackle, baits and rigs. Different venues will be researched and targeted, hopefully in a few other states as well as Colorado.
I hope starting in 2015 to expand the reach of CarpQuest across the nation and help others come to see that carp can not only be a challenging species to target, but a whole lot of fun to catch. As a consequence you may start to see local chapter pages of CarpQuest appearing on Facebook as I setup the infrastructure in advance to support this endeavor. I am already in the process of working with another passionate angler to setup a trial program for CarpQuest in his local state.
Of course, it would not CarpQuest without tremendous amounts of coffee being consumed on my never ending Quest for Carp!
Thank you everyone for your support and encouragement!
Tight-Lines,
John
CarpQuest
I had never intended for the videos to contain in-depth carping educational content, be that on rigs, mechanics, tackle or baits. There are plenty of other good people publishing that style of content. Also, given that I had only just returned to the sport after a 25+ year hiatus, I still had much to learn about modern carp fishing, especially in a different country with very different attitudes on carp as a species.
What you may not realize is that initially, filming myself talking into a camera made me very self-conscious. It was never easy in those early episodes. There were many retakes and a lot of editing required afterwards just to get something I could release to the you, the viewers. However, no matter how hard I tried, I felt as though the energy and passion I have for carp fishing was was not coming across on content when released.
Over the first year of CarpQuest the technology used in production improved. My brother created the highly popular opening title sequence for the video blog series. I think I finally got over my nerves talking into a camera.
The local angler attention for CarpQuest increased and my message was certainly getting out there to the masses. I started to be flooded with requests for information regarding carp fishing, the tactics and tackle I used in their pursuit. Most of all, requests to take others out with me on my bank side adventures. I was humbled for sure at the attention!
A few weeks ago I had some time on my hands and spent a morning watching all the old CarpQuest episodes. As I watched the content I could see where a change in theme and content occurred. The context changed from a pure blog, into entertainment with a carp theme. My energy and passion for the sport finally started to break through.
So, when did this change occur ? It was when I began to take others with me on the CarpQuest.
A shout out to those who have accompanied me on the quest so far, Chris “C-Dog”, Patrick, James, Roland, the guys at Fish Explorer, Casey, Brittany, Brayden, Ron "Alty" Altman and finally Daris, Marty and the cat fishing crew.
Another quick shout out to David Moore (Big Carp Tackle / Big Carp News), Brian Wingard (Carp Fishing Lifestyle) and the community at FishExplorer.COM. Their help, support and advice have helped me reach out to the masses and provided opportunities for others to accompany me to the bank side which otherwise simply would not have happened.
Over the past two seasons CarpQuest has now taken on life all of it’s own. It has morphed into far more than simply one anglers fishing video blog about catching carp. It's popularity, especially with social media, has been remarkable!
So, what plans do I have for 2015.
I intend to continue producing foremost entertaining content for my viewers and fans, showcasing carp as the World's Greatest Sportsfish, which I truly believe they are. As my own knowledge, and confidence in the mechanics and tactics of carp fishing grow, I will begin to share this information more with the viewers, tackle reviews, products, rigs - how-to videos, basically.
New faces are certain to join me upon the bank side, as well as new tackle, baits and rigs. Different venues will be researched and targeted, hopefully in a few other states as well as Colorado.
I hope starting in 2015 to expand the reach of CarpQuest across the nation and help others come to see that carp can not only be a challenging species to target, but a whole lot of fun to catch. As a consequence you may start to see local chapter pages of CarpQuest appearing on Facebook as I setup the infrastructure in advance to support this endeavor. I am already in the process of working with another passionate angler to setup a trial program for CarpQuest in his local state.
Of course, it would not CarpQuest without tremendous amounts of coffee being consumed on my never ending Quest for Carp!
Thank you everyone for your support and encouragement!
Tight-Lines,
John
CarpQuest
Friday, October 3, 2014
It's "dead" Jim !
The past month has been frustrating for sure.
My video editing computer, an AlienWare Aurora R4, died a sudden and permanent death. Now, when I say it died, it really died. It is now basically a large paperweight sitting upon the desk. Fortunately I did have an in-home service warranty with next business day support!
Thus the repair saga began.
After a couple of calls to DELL they sent out a field tech to replace the motherboard. There was a parts delay so he eventually turned up a day late with a box of bits. The motherboard was replaced, end result, the computer was still dead, no video output, the main fans spun up, that was about it. The friendly field tech even noted to me, "it's dead Jim!" - obviously a trekkie !
Another call to DELL and another service call was scheduled. This time they were sending a 2nd motherboard, a graphics card, some memory DIMMS. Yet another parts delay before the tech was onsite with multiple boxes of bits to replace. The components were swapped out, end result again, the computer was still dead, same as before. It was the same field tech as before and I could see the clear disappointment on his face. He cared, a rare thing, for a field support person who gets nothing but grief all day from his customers.
So, another call to DELL, this time they offered to replace the system. Now, as I had originally purchased this system as a "refurbished" model, they would only swap like for like, as they then went on to say "it may take a while but we will give you weekly updates!"
That sounded ominous .... had visions of yet more weeks, or months, with a dead computer ...
A few days later the nice lady from the DELL exchange team contacted me. They were unable to find anywhere a suitable system to replace mine with. They were going to try again the following Friday. The days passed and I was contacted again to inform me they still could not source a replacement but would be in touch again the next week. More days passed, my anxiety level growing. Finally they called me back again, still, they could not find a refurbished replacement system.
"Now what?", I asked, frustrated.
There is a silver lining in this story.
As DELL were unable to find a replacement system, the same spec as mine, and we were now weeks into my system being dead, they offered to build me a brand new computer, to spec, the same, or better than I had before. RESULT !
After reviewing the build order DELL certainly stepped up to the plate with fulfilling their commitment of equal or "better" - the new system will actually be about 10% faster ... SWEET !
Hopefully, another week and my new computer will arrive and the CarpQuest video productions will resume and new content again available. I already have a few sessions worth of content to edit and produce.
So, if you were wondering where the video content production had vanished to, now you know !
Tight-Lines,
John
CarpQuest
PS: yes, all my data is backed up ! whew !
My video editing computer, an AlienWare Aurora R4, died a sudden and permanent death. Now, when I say it died, it really died. It is now basically a large paperweight sitting upon the desk. Fortunately I did have an in-home service warranty with next business day support!
Thus the repair saga began.
After a couple of calls to DELL they sent out a field tech to replace the motherboard. There was a parts delay so he eventually turned up a day late with a box of bits. The motherboard was replaced, end result, the computer was still dead, no video output, the main fans spun up, that was about it. The friendly field tech even noted to me, "it's dead Jim!" - obviously a trekkie !
Another call to DELL and another service call was scheduled. This time they were sending a 2nd motherboard, a graphics card, some memory DIMMS. Yet another parts delay before the tech was onsite with multiple boxes of bits to replace. The components were swapped out, end result again, the computer was still dead, same as before. It was the same field tech as before and I could see the clear disappointment on his face. He cared, a rare thing, for a field support person who gets nothing but grief all day from his customers.
So, another call to DELL, this time they offered to replace the system. Now, as I had originally purchased this system as a "refurbished" model, they would only swap like for like, as they then went on to say "it may take a while but we will give you weekly updates!"
That sounded ominous .... had visions of yet more weeks, or months, with a dead computer ...
A few days later the nice lady from the DELL exchange team contacted me. They were unable to find anywhere a suitable system to replace mine with. They were going to try again the following Friday. The days passed and I was contacted again to inform me they still could not source a replacement but would be in touch again the next week. More days passed, my anxiety level growing. Finally they called me back again, still, they could not find a refurbished replacement system.
"Now what?", I asked, frustrated.
There is a silver lining in this story.
As DELL were unable to find a replacement system, the same spec as mine, and we were now weeks into my system being dead, they offered to build me a brand new computer, to spec, the same, or better than I had before. RESULT !
After reviewing the build order DELL certainly stepped up to the plate with fulfilling their commitment of equal or "better" - the new system will actually be about 10% faster ... SWEET !
Hopefully, another week and my new computer will arrive and the CarpQuest video productions will resume and new content again available. I already have a few sessions worth of content to edit and produce.
So, if you were wondering where the video content production had vanished to, now you know !
Tight-Lines,
John
CarpQuest
PS: yes, all my data is backed up ! whew !
Sunday, September 14, 2014
Quality time with a friend and CC Moore & Co Ltd bait testing
Fishing for me is about spending quality time with friends and family. My neighbor, Roland, has had a rough year getting over shoulder surgery. With his recovery almost complete it was time to once again take him out with me for a day of relaxation, fishing and most of all, fun!
For a destination we chose Adams County Fairgrounds, in Brighton, north east of Denver. Though quite a drive north this destination offered multi species angling with lakes jam packed with warm water species of fish, and of course, carp! Though Roland likes to target trout he really cares not what he catches, so long as it's a fish.
I hadn't fished the Fairgrounds in almost 2 years. My last session at this venue had been remarkable, 9 carp banked in a single morning, with the majority of captures being low to mid doubles with a couple pushing the scales close to 20 pounds. I couldn't wait to see how those carp had developed in my absence.
The weather on this Sunday turned out to be a perfect, sun, a few clouds, a light breeze. The Fairgrounds were deserted when we arrived so we had our choice of spots to fish from.
We ended up setting upon on a peninsula on Mann-Nyholt Lake.
This spot gave us a great view of the lake and provided a variety of different environments to target, shallow water, margins, weeds, or out deep.
It didn't take long for Roland to get his bobbers, batied with a worm, cast out there.
I decided to start off with a pack bait mix and sweet corn, popped up on the hair. The pack mix was formed from a base mix of NGTs Spod Mix with some added panko and oats to soak up the liquid, allowing it to be cast out there without the need of PVA, catapulting or spodding. The last time fishing this venue a panko packbait had proved very effective thus my choice to use a similar offering for this session.
It was not long before the first carp of the day was in the net, a nice 13 lb 6 oz common. Adams County Fairgrounds was not failing again to deliver and as we watched the lake there were plenty of signs of more action to come, carp jumping, rolling, bubbling and feeding.
Before too long I had banked another 12 lb 8 oz common followed by a feisty 4 lb 9 oz common. Though Roland had not yet managed to get any action he was proving to be an excellent "net man" and camera operator.
With the three quick carp captures it was obvious there was a good number of fish out there and they were feeding with abandon. Over the past year I had been testing out using a variety of different boilies in my fishing but had honestly had little success. The goal was to reduce the number of nuisance captures (trout) and hopefully target larger specimens.
I had recently decided to test one of range of products from CC Moore & Co Ltd, their Live System boilies, pellets and concentrated bait dip.
I was particularly interested in this flavor profile given the corn steep liquor and sweet smell and taste.
I started with the Live System, "Session Bucket", this provided the boilies, pellets and bait dips all in one simple to use package.
I switched out one of my rods to a use a dumb bell of their 15 mm boilies and got it cast back out there, this time about 10 yards off the previous spot.
My efforts were rewarded and a real nice 17 lb common was banked.
My first carp on the Live System ! YES !
Confidence in your tackle and baits is paramount. Impressed with how quickly the Live System had gotten the job done I rigged up a snow man, 24mm + 15mm and got cast out there again, this time alongside the other rod with the popped up corn. Which bait would be taken first ?
Soon after the boilie rod took off and another real nice common for the Fairgrounds, at 16 lb 8 oz, was landed. Honestly, I was a bit surprised, I was convinced the sweetcorn would win out in a side by side test.
It mattered not to Roland that he wasn't catching, his enthusiasm with my captures was remarkable. It was becoming a true carping team effort ! The afternoon's action was heating up for sure on the lake with the carp jumping and breaching with surprising regularity. Another common, 10 lb 12 oz, was banked on the boilies. Given the obvious success I was having with the boilies I switched out the sweet corn and was now fishing both rods on Live System.
A 13 lb common fell to our offerings, mid afternoon, I really like the colors of this one. This session at the Fairgrounds we becoming total carp madness !
Roland's fortunes started to change as we got into the late afternoon, he had a bluegill and a couple of nice little bass, though he did refer to his captures as tiny "anchovies!". The carp activity had calmed down and there were a few hours peace to sit back, enjoy the scenery, the wonderful weather and wildlife we could see.
Just before tea time I landed another chunky carp, this time, 16 lb 2 oz, on the dumb bell of 15 mm boilies.
Roland finally hooked into a nice trout, which he later referred to as "his dinner". I think it actually became his "lunch" the following day. Whilst I practice catch & release fishing entirely, I am not against someone harvesting a trout for sustenance. Trout are stocked specifically at this venue as a "put & take" resource for the locals.
As we reached the end of the day, with the light failing, this session with Roland had turned out to be my best of the year - great company, some good captures and a lot of fun.
We witnessed a beautiful sunset. It's days like this that remind me just why, I go fishing.
As we started to pack up the gear for the day I was certain the session was over. The Fairgrounds was not in agreement and provided one last surprise capture. A fine, 8 lb, channel cat.
What a session ! The Live System had proven to be highly effective and my confidence with boilies had increased dramatically. The Fairgrounds delivered yet again. Given the quality of frequency of captures during this session it was certainly a venue I planned to return to soon.
I am certain there is are a few 20+ in there, who knows, maybe even a 30 lurks beneath the water waiting to be captured!
Roland is always a pleasure to be with and a real gentleman, net-operator and camera man!
Here is a link to the CarpQuest Episode of this session.
Hope you enjoy watching it as much as Roland and I with the our days fishing!
Tight-Lines,
John
CarpQuest
For a destination we chose Adams County Fairgrounds, in Brighton, north east of Denver. Though quite a drive north this destination offered multi species angling with lakes jam packed with warm water species of fish, and of course, carp! Though Roland likes to target trout he really cares not what he catches, so long as it's a fish.
I hadn't fished the Fairgrounds in almost 2 years. My last session at this venue had been remarkable, 9 carp banked in a single morning, with the majority of captures being low to mid doubles with a couple pushing the scales close to 20 pounds. I couldn't wait to see how those carp had developed in my absence.
The weather on this Sunday turned out to be a perfect, sun, a few clouds, a light breeze. The Fairgrounds were deserted when we arrived so we had our choice of spots to fish from.
This spot gave us a great view of the lake and provided a variety of different environments to target, shallow water, margins, weeds, or out deep.
It didn't take long for Roland to get his bobbers, batied with a worm, cast out there.
I decided to start off with a pack bait mix and sweet corn, popped up on the hair. The pack mix was formed from a base mix of NGTs Spod Mix with some added panko and oats to soak up the liquid, allowing it to be cast out there without the need of PVA, catapulting or spodding. The last time fishing this venue a panko packbait had proved very effective thus my choice to use a similar offering for this session.
Before too long I had banked another 12 lb 8 oz common followed by a feisty 4 lb 9 oz common. Though Roland had not yet managed to get any action he was proving to be an excellent "net man" and camera operator.
With the three quick carp captures it was obvious there was a good number of fish out there and they were feeding with abandon. Over the past year I had been testing out using a variety of different boilies in my fishing but had honestly had little success. The goal was to reduce the number of nuisance captures (trout) and hopefully target larger specimens.
I had recently decided to test one of range of products from CC Moore & Co Ltd, their Live System boilies, pellets and concentrated bait dip.
I was particularly interested in this flavor profile given the corn steep liquor and sweet smell and taste.
I switched out one of my rods to a use a dumb bell of their 15 mm boilies and got it cast back out there, this time about 10 yards off the previous spot.
My first carp on the Live System ! YES !
Confidence in your tackle and baits is paramount. Impressed with how quickly the Live System had gotten the job done I rigged up a snow man, 24mm + 15mm and got cast out there again, this time alongside the other rod with the popped up corn. Which bait would be taken first ?
It mattered not to Roland that he wasn't catching, his enthusiasm with my captures was remarkable. It was becoming a true carping team effort ! The afternoon's action was heating up for sure on the lake with the carp jumping and breaching with surprising regularity. Another common, 10 lb 12 oz, was banked on the boilies. Given the obvious success I was having with the boilies I switched out the sweet corn and was now fishing both rods on Live System.
A 13 lb common fell to our offerings, mid afternoon, I really like the colors of this one. This session at the Fairgrounds we becoming total carp madness !
Roland's fortunes started to change as we got into the late afternoon, he had a bluegill and a couple of nice little bass, though he did refer to his captures as tiny "anchovies!". The carp activity had calmed down and there were a few hours peace to sit back, enjoy the scenery, the wonderful weather and wildlife we could see.
Roland finally hooked into a nice trout, which he later referred to as "his dinner". I think it actually became his "lunch" the following day. Whilst I practice catch & release fishing entirely, I am not against someone harvesting a trout for sustenance. Trout are stocked specifically at this venue as a "put & take" resource for the locals.
As we reached the end of the day, with the light failing, this session with Roland had turned out to be my best of the year - great company, some good captures and a lot of fun.
We witnessed a beautiful sunset. It's days like this that remind me just why, I go fishing.
As we started to pack up the gear for the day I was certain the session was over. The Fairgrounds was not in agreement and provided one last surprise capture. A fine, 8 lb, channel cat.
What a session ! The Live System had proven to be highly effective and my confidence with boilies had increased dramatically. The Fairgrounds delivered yet again. Given the quality of frequency of captures during this session it was certainly a venue I planned to return to soon.
I am certain there is are a few 20+ in there, who knows, maybe even a 30 lurks beneath the water waiting to be captured!
Roland is always a pleasure to be with and a real gentleman, net-operator and camera man!
Here is a link to the CarpQuest Episode of this session.
Hope you enjoy watching it as much as Roland and I with the our days fishing!
Tight-Lines,
John
CarpQuest
Tuesday, September 9, 2014
Fishing, Family and Grass Carp
In this episode of CarpQuest we take a family picnic down south to a lake near Pueblo. This was our first visit to this venue and I was unsure if the rumors of grass carp in these waters would prove true.
About a decade or so ago the lake had been stocked with grassers to control the abundant weed. Though typically a sterile hybrid nature always finds a way and there was now a breeding population present – or so I had read.
Arriving at the lake mid-morning I took a walk around to scout out the margins. Shallows, overhanging trees, bull rushes, the place sure looked very carpy!
Out in the middle of the lake I could see trails upon the surface formed by large fish just beneath. The wind was light and my wife and I picked a spot a few hundred yards from the car park to setup.
With the sportbrella setup for my wife, a tie-down secured for our dog Raven, I setup the fishing gear.
The clouds were dark and full overhead and I was pretty convinced the heavens would open and we would be soaked with a downpour.
Now, as I knew this venue had both common and grassers I chose a very fruity bait offering, some giant peach flavored maize. Combined with the usual panko/oats packbait I cast both rods out to a distance of 40 yards off the bank.
The first few hours were peaceful, no rain descended and no runs were had. I enjoyed the picnic sandwiches my wife had prepared though sadly I had forgotten my coffee.
Reeling in the lines I cast them out again to the same sports and waited. Just after lunch the wind started to gust and chopped up the surface of the lake nicely.
My efforts were finally rewarded with a fast run. Pulling into the fish at first I wasn’t sure if it was a big trout, channel cat or carp. Once the fish was close to the bank I could see the glittering off those golden scales and the familiar long torpedo shape of a grass carp.
The slender carp was netted and placed in the weigh sling. This gave me a great opportunity to test out my new Cygnet Sniper Weigh Tripod. Over the past few months I’ve been getting over a back injury and wanted something to help me with weighing the fish and getting a more accurate reading. SD
The Cygnet Tripod was christened and my first grass carp topped the scales at 10 lb 4 oz.
The peach flavored maize was going the job nicely!
Quickly re-baiting up the rod I cast it back out again .The storm clouds above looked ominous and I was not sure just how long left we had. Not fifteen minutes later I had a nice screaming fast run on the other rod. This time the fish put up a good fight but was soon netted.
Another grasser, slightly larger and longer than the first, which weighed in at a respectable 11 lb.
Again this grass carp fell to the peach flavored corn. Two fish in less than twenty minutes, both grass carp,
My earlier research was being proved accurate. The gusting winds faded and there was the occasional glimpse of sunlight through the blackness above.
We managed another couple of hours at the venue, I even caught a baby catfish. With weather alerts on the smartphone implying rain was imminent we packed up and headed back to the car for the drive home.
It was a great day out, we avoided the storms, had a nice picnic, got to spend some time together, and yes, a couple of nice grass carp graced my net.
Here is the video of the session.
Tight-Lines,
John
CarpQuest
About a decade or so ago the lake had been stocked with grassers to control the abundant weed. Though typically a sterile hybrid nature always finds a way and there was now a breeding population present – or so I had read.
Out in the middle of the lake I could see trails upon the surface formed by large fish just beneath. The wind was light and my wife and I picked a spot a few hundred yards from the car park to setup.
With the sportbrella setup for my wife, a tie-down secured for our dog Raven, I setup the fishing gear.
The clouds were dark and full overhead and I was pretty convinced the heavens would open and we would be soaked with a downpour.
Now, as I knew this venue had both common and grassers I chose a very fruity bait offering, some giant peach flavored maize. Combined with the usual panko/oats packbait I cast both rods out to a distance of 40 yards off the bank.
The first few hours were peaceful, no rain descended and no runs were had. I enjoyed the picnic sandwiches my wife had prepared though sadly I had forgotten my coffee.
Reeling in the lines I cast them out again to the same sports and waited. Just after lunch the wind started to gust and chopped up the surface of the lake nicely.
The Cygnet Tripod was christened and my first grass carp topped the scales at 10 lb 4 oz.
The peach flavored maize was going the job nicely!
Quickly re-baiting up the rod I cast it back out again .The storm clouds above looked ominous and I was not sure just how long left we had. Not fifteen minutes later I had a nice screaming fast run on the other rod. This time the fish put up a good fight but was soon netted.
Another grasser, slightly larger and longer than the first, which weighed in at a respectable 11 lb.
Again this grass carp fell to the peach flavored corn. Two fish in less than twenty minutes, both grass carp,
My earlier research was being proved accurate. The gusting winds faded and there was the occasional glimpse of sunlight through the blackness above.
We managed another couple of hours at the venue, I even caught a baby catfish. With weather alerts on the smartphone implying rain was imminent we packed up and headed back to the car for the drive home.
It was a great day out, we avoided the storms, had a nice picnic, got to spend some time together, and yes, a couple of nice grass carp graced my net.
Here is the video of the session.
Tight-Lines,
John
CarpQuest
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