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 …

• 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.

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.

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

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.

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

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 !

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

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

Fear of the Dark

from my article on Big Carp News

No, not the Iron Maiden song; rather my first experiences of night fishing for carp.

This has been a crazy year for weather in Colorado. First with the never ending freezing winter followed by boiling hot days, cold nights and record rainfall, dust storms and electrical storms, high wind; sometimes all in the same day. The volatile conditions have made this year’s fishing a real challenge. After many a day session blanking this summer, burning up in the heat, without hide nor hair signs of a carp, it was time for a change – for me that would be, night fishing!

For many carp anglers, overnight sessions are the norm, rather than the exception. Yes, I have fished into the hours of dusk before, nothing remarkable there. However I have only fished once through night, but a few years ago, to test out some tackle and lighting options.

You may ask yourself, why?

Well, there were many reasons, safety being the primary concern. Many of the more urban Colorado venues are not the most hospitable as twilight descends, that’s the polite way of putting it. Many other urban lakes have limitations on the hours you are permitted to fish, no night fishing, or dawn to dusk angling only. Once out of the city there are then other factors to consider, the obvious one for us here is, the wildlife.

I am fortunate enough to live in a state that has mountain lions, black bears and coyotes, to name but a few. This is not to say you are animal food the minute you set foot outside the city limits, but you do need to be more aware of your surroundings and appreciative that we are living in a wilderness.

Here was a picture I took a few years ago from my driveway, black bears in our garden!



None of these things were a consideration when I fished, back in my homeland of England as a youth. The only wildlife to be wary of there was a stray dog, or an annoyed mother goose, if you setup too close to her nest! Was I being paranoid? Hopefully not, though I do acknowledge I was being overly cautious.

Given the safety issues I decided it was important to team up with another angler in the upcoming night fishing operation. With my variable work hours this was a difficult proposition. I was fortunate,  a passionate angler new to carp fishing. He was eager for the challenge and happily offered to join me for an evening session that worked with my hectic schedule – btw, thanks Ron Altman!

In advance of the trip we discussed what changes in our preparation and gear would be required. From lighting, to shelter, devices to heat up drinks, camcorder lighting, head lights and warmer clothing. Fortunately we were both very familiar with the venue and swim. If we had not this knowledge then certainly we would have scouted the venue and swim in advance during the daylight hours, or arrived at the location much earlier. I can imagine nothing worse than turning up at a new venue in the dark, no clue of the layout, swims, parking or even rest areas. With the date set, we readied our gear and finally descended upon Chatfield Reservoir, CO – armed for battle!

We arrived at the venue a few hours before dusk and were greeted by the usual Colorado early evening thunderstorm. Thankfully the storm was moving out of the area and we were able to safely head down to the shore after a short wait. In light rain we setup the shelter, ground sheet, rod pods, prepared our rods and finally the baits were cast out.  All our necessary gear was setup within reach, the carp mats and cradle, a pair of landing nets (in the event of a double run), camera tripods, lanterns, everything we thought we would need. It would be fair to say we had gone a wee bit overboard in our preparation and gear – better to over engineer than not be ready!

Feet up, we watched the sun setting against the mountains and waited for the highly anticipated carp action.

Ron had brought with him an underwater camera. He bravely waded out into the reservoir and setup the device in 4 feet of water; dropping his bait down so we might catch a glimpse of any fish that came to investigate. 

I do admit to misjudging just how deep the water was. As Ron waded out into the reservoir he almost vanished beneath the surface as it got deeper, and deeper, the surface edging ever closer to the top of his waders!  

A good lesson in just how well I actually “knew” the depth and layout of our swim – which I had plumbed before, with a marker float. I was very supportive from the bankside in offering encouragement, “just a few feet further”, I would call out, through the fits of laughter.

The video camera is from: Marcum Technologies

VS385C Underwater Viewing System 7" LCD Color

A cable ran back to the shore from the camera to a monitor, we called it, our “Carp TV”. I must say, it worked remarkably well, with a good field of view and resolution. 

As dusk fell, and the light diminished, we saw bass, perch, crappie and, we think, a carp that swam high overhead. Sadly we had no way of recording the footage from the monitor –  something for us to consider for the future trip.

We both fished with two rods. Ron setup his first line with sweetcorn on the hair, popped up with some plastic corn, panko/oats flavored pack bait. His second with a pair of 15mm Nash Instant Action Coconut Crème boilies, again with the panko/oats pack as an attractant. I fished one rod the same as Ron, popped up sweetcorn and the other with pair of NGT 16mm squid and octopus boilies, both with panko/oats pack.

Most nearby shore anglers and park visitors departed as the light faded away, though a few stayed, their bonfires blazing upon the shoreline and casting a red glow into the night. We both thought it was against the State Park regulations to have open fires upon the shore. This was soon confirmed as a pair of State Park Rangers stopped by to talk to us briefly then headed on to cite the enthusiastic fire makers. With all the dry weather we have in Colorado, the terrible wildfires of the past few years, it was sheer madness to build a fire on the narrow shore with trees limbs dangling overhead! The camp fires were soon extinguished. A few hours passed and neither of us saw, or heard, any carp action before us.

We decided to wind in our lines, check the baits and cast them out again. I went again with one rod on the popped up sweetcorn but switched the other from the squid and octopus to a pair of NGT white chocolate 16 mm boilies topped with a 12 mm fluro pink pop-up – a real mouthful for the local carp. My logic being “bigger baits = bigger fish” – which certainly has not often proven to be the case.

It was just after 9pm.

The white chocolate had barely been in the water for five minutes when the Delkim bite alarm screamed with a fast take, run lights flickering brightly into the dark. The battle was on! Line peeled off against the drag and the fish took a good fifty yards before slowing from that initial powerful run. In the darkness I found it difficult to see the angle of the line to water which made bringing it back in harder than I had expected. Only in the dark do you appreciate how many visual clues you rely upon when playing a fish.

Early into the fight I could tell this was a good sized fish for Chatfield, though I was not 100% certain it was actually a carp; in the back of my mind I was thinking, it’s a channel catfish. The run was straight out from the bank with very little sideways action. Carp at this venue are notorious for kiting to the side and then straight into the bank, the shallows, gravel and rocks.

After about five minutes I had the fish in close and Ron waded out with a net. We could finally see those welcoming carpy scales glittering in the torch light – moments later the fish was in the net. We placed the carp in the cradle and could at last see this was a good common carp capture for Chatfield. The average carp from this venue runs around 10 to 11 pounds with both commons and mirrors. There are many nice mid to upper doubles and more rarely a 20. This was a very long, slender, healthy looking male. He weighed in at 24 lbs, 8 oz on the Heaton scales and was an impressive 36” in length.

This was one angry fish. I am not certain if it was just annoyed at being brought form the darkness into the light of our lanterns, or was simply having a bad carp day. It took quite a while to finally calm down in the cradle. A few other anglers and beach goers stopped by to admire our capture, many had not seen a carp before, let alone, a 20+ lb fish. I took the opportunity to talk to them about carp and carp fishing. I use every opportunity I can to showcase the species to others in a positive light. Carp have a bad reputation in Colorado, deemed responsible for every and all ill that befall any body of water. Attitudes towards them are changing slowly though, in their favor. For me the past few years have been a project of one angler educated at a time, and in turn, one more potential catch & release carp fisherman for the future!

With some video footage taken we returned the fish to the water in a retainer sling. We continued to fish into the early hours of the morning but no more carp were to grace our nets. Tired, a little damp and cold, we called it a night around 2am and packed up, heading back to the car park for the long drive home.

We had learned much from our first night of fishing. We were well organized in advance of darkness falling. We had a plan on what to do when we hooked into a fish and knew where we were going to land them. The cradle setup, nets and sling were ready, bucket for water nearby. The swim was kept clear of obstructions with nothing underfoot to be tripped over – given we also had a gas lantern, last thing we wanted was to step atop it and start a fire.

I learned that though we had lanterns galore I still did not have enough, or appropriate, light for filming. I also totally forgot to take any still photos of my capture, in the all elation of the seeing that 20 in the net. This had been my first carp capture at night. To say I was a very happy man, is an understatement. The memory of my first carp, landed in the darkness, will stay with me for many years to come.

As I think about it now, a few weeks later, it had not simply been the safety issues that had discouraged me from fishing into the night, or an irrational “Fear of the Dark”. It was the lack of experience, or more importantly, confidence, in adapting to the new conditions and challenges the darkness would bring. In the end, everything worked out well. It was a good session, a fine carp was banked and I once again got to spend time on the bankside with a friend.

Will I fish again at night?  For sure, I am already planning the next trip … this time, with more lighting, and hopefully, more fish! 

I highly recommend, if you haven't tried night fishing, give it a try …

You can also watch the CarpQuest episode for this article here, or on youtube,

Tight-Lines,

John

A Milestone, thankyou !

The 1000 like/fan mark was reached overnight for CarpQuest on Facebook.

www.facebook.com/carpquest

A "victory" coffee moment for sure !

Thank you ALL for your support, encouragement and feedback !

Please don't forget to subscribe to the youtube channel to keep up to date with latest CarpQuest videos as they are released.

www.youtube.com/carpquest

When I once again picked up rod and reel, after an almost 25 year hiatus, carp fishing in Colorado was something many did in secret, or alone. Our beloved species was looked upon with disdain by the majority of local anglers, hunting organizations and even the local Parks & Wildlife commission. Rarely did anyone share their endeavors, knowledge or captures a public forum.

Thus my CarpQuest began with one anglers journey to learn more about carp fishing in a foreign land, with very different venues and hostile attitudes towards the species I loved from my homeland of England.

Carp are quickly becoming the “big fish” species that many desire to catch here in Colorado. Anglers both young and old, seasoned or new to the sport, are pursuing carp with passion and enthusiasm, from the bank, from boats, euro style, ledger, with bobbers, spinning lures, fly rods – all are deployed to catch that “Golden Ghost”, or “Rocky Mountain Bonefish”, as some call them here.

In but two short years carp fishing in Colorado has now seen an explosion in popularity. Local Outfitters offer catch & release "euro style" or "fly" fishing carping trips. Carp are on the "game fish" list which offers them at least a modicum of protection, though we still have no bag, slot or creel limits.

Catch & Release for carp is growing in popularity and quickly becoming the norm, rather than the exception. Some fish are taken for sustenance (carp were introduced to North America as a food source in the late 1800s) yet many are still killed by hunters for sport. As attitudes continue to change hopefully we will see regulations change in favor of carp in the future.

I would like to take a moment to thank a few people – sheesh, I feel like I am doing an “Oscar’s Speech!”

- My wife Alisa for her tremendous support and patience.

- My brother Peter, for the amazing “CarpQuest” video titles and his extensive social media skills.

- The Carp Anglers Group (CAG), whose members so willingly shared their knowledge and advice - Robert Hogan, when are you going to get out fishing again? www.carpanglersgroup.com.

- All the guys FishExplorer who embraced the “UK Madman” and allowed me to share my stories and promote carp fishing so well here in Colorado. www.fishexplorer.com

- Big Carp Tackle whose assistance has allowed me to share my quest with many more anglers upon the bankside than I would otherwise have been able. David Moore, you’re da man! www.bigcarptackle.com

- Brian Wingard (bwingy!) – a scholar and a gentleman, supportive, helpful, encouraging and gracious. www.youtube.com/user/bwingy

- Finally, I would like to thank my Uncle Frank, who in 1978 took a young 9 year boy out fishing with him for the first time, on the River Trent. I caught my first fish that day, a chub. Though he is no longer with us, I know he is still looking down upon me from above and likely smiling.

Tight-Lines,
John
CarpQuest

Lightning - it's not worth the risk !

from my latest article at www.fishexplorer.com;

I was out fishing yesterday morning, had not been at the lake long, when I could hear thunder in the distance. A few minutes later a flash of lightning lit up the sky, no rain had fallen at my location yet. I was fishing with my usual long 13 ft rods. I decided that it was not worth the risk and packed up for the day and headed home. I was disappointed to only have gotten in a brief few hours yet safety must always come first.

Next to me was a family, 2 adults, 2 young kids. They continued fishing as the storm closed in. I was at a loss for words in the sanity of their actions. Perhaps they wisely also decided to call it a day and seek shelter after I had left ? Lets hope so.

Lightning strikes kill on average a hundred or so people each year, time times that number survive, leaving many with lifelong injuries and disabilities. Colorado is a hot spot for lightning and two tourists were recently killed in RMNP.

Lightning can strike 10-15 mile from the storm. If you can hear the thunder, or if you can see the flash and the bolt, then you are within range of any lightning the storm produces – simple as that !

If you are out on the water, and you are hearing thunder, that should be an indicator to head to land and shelter.

Do not wait for the lightning to be blasting around you before you decide to call it quits – by then, it could be too late!

If you are caught out in the open on land.

- STOP fishing
- Avoid open fields
- Stay away from tall isolated trees.
- Get away from the water
- If your car is nearby, take shelter, avoid touching the metal.
- A tent, BIVVY, umbrella, is not a safe shelter

(I have sheltered under my umbrella in the past, not smart!)

If you are caught out on the open on water in a small open boat.

- Drop anchor and stay as low as possible
- STOP fishing and waving those lightning rods about!

Wait at least 30 minutes until the last roll of thunder before considering it safe to be back outside in the open if you must continue to fish.

This simple blog does not even cover flash flooding, for all those who love to fish our rivers and streams. Given recent weather here in Colorado, consideration should be given not only to where you are fishing, but what the weather is doing upstream/river from you – many miles away!

We all love fishing, we all love being outdoors, but please, do so safely.

Tight-Lines,
John

Between the Planets - "Pay it Forward's!"

From my FishExplorer.COM article

Between the Planets


In the 1951 book, “Between Planets”, by Robert A. Heinlein, the phrase, “Pay it Forward’s” was popularized. Sixty years later I try to live by this philosophy in my fishing endeavors.

When I first returned to fishing, a few years ago, there were many who gave to me their personal time and shared their wisdom and knowledge so that I might be more successful in my endeavors. Never did they ask for anything in return except that I post a few pictures of my carp captures for them to see and in turn share the knowledge with others when the opportunity presented. Often all I needed was but a pointer in the right direction and a virtual "pat" upon the back when things went well.

Just recently I have had the honor of taking others with me on my “Quest for Carp”. The only thing I’ve asked of them is that they take what they have learned and “pay it forward to some other brother who needs it". Thus the knowledge and passion are shared and the legacy continues and spirals outward.

We all have valuable insight, wisdom, experience and knowledge, from the novice angler to the seasoned professional. None of us want to give up that favorite honey hole or irresistible bait, nobody expects you to (well, perhaps some do!). However, take a just minute from your busy day to help someone with their angling passion, a hint, a tip, a bit advice or simply just some words of encouragement – you have probably spent longer already reading this blog!

Tight-Lines,
John
CarpQuest

Rattlesnakes & Carp

It has been many months since I was able to get a session in on the bank with Chris (C-DOG). Our last trip together, to Pueblo Reservoir, had ended with a spectacular dust storm, 50 mph winds and the destruction of my new HD camcorder from dust in the internal mechanism's. Tumbleweeds were flying through the air and we finally had to take cover behind our car to avoid injury!

We both had an afternoon to spare and decided once again to head back down to Pueblo to see if we could finally get some fish on action together!

We drove down to Pueblo in my new car; well, not so new, it's a 1999 4-runner that has been heavily modified for "expedition" and "off-road" use.

The banks around this venue can be steep, rock strewn with many deep ruts. Previous drives across this terrain in my wife's Lexus RX300 likely contributed to it's downfall !





Arriving just before noon Pueblo was a packed madhouse of people, cars, boats, jet-ski's, off leash dogs and children splashing in the water. This was "father's day" weekend and it should have been no surprise to us that our usual fishing spots were taken.

Driving around the edges of the reservoir we were finally able to find a clear spot. The area looked good being just on the inside edge of a sheltered bay with the wind blowing in towards us.

There was a "fence" to our right and no other anglers close by to our left.



Whilst setting up the gear I was curious when "carp dog" Raven was suddenly obsessed with in a nearby stick She was almost touching it with her nose - tail wagging happily! I had walked past that "stick" a few minutes earlier, likely almost stepped on it with my bare feet in but a pair of crocs. On closer investigation, to my horror, I realized "that's no stick", it was a rattlesnake !!!

I removed the serpent from our area. Thankfully Raven and I avoided being bitten. So darn close to total disaster. If Raven had not been on a short leash to me, I would not like to imagine the outcome of this encounter!

We finally finished setting up and took a brief respite beneath the sport-brella; it was a hot and sunny 90F with a warm wind blowing in. No sooner had my backside touched the chair when we observed Park Ranger boat heading directly towards us.

The inevitable doom occurred, though I tried to 'wave" the boat away from our lines it did no good. The boat came right into the shore, parked up to our right, the prop sucking in both my lines and spooling off a good 50+ yards of line before the engine was cut. I was fortunate the bait runners were on lest my rods had followed the line into the prop of "death" and been sliced to bits!

Our fishing licenses checked, a few unhappy words with the officials, and they were back on their way - well, on their way after I helped cut the line from their prop and pushed them back out into open water as they were literally "beached" in the shallows!

The carp "gods" favored me mid-afternoon and I was rewarded with 3 captures, in just over an hour, a 15'6 common, a 9'10 common and finally an feisty 8 lb common.

Sadly Chris was not so fortunate. It appeared that the carp were travelling into the bay from that right hand edge and encountering my baits first. We did swap sides towards the end of the session but it was too little too late. A powerful storm front moved into the area with winds gusting to 40+ mph or more. With flashes of lightning in the distance it was time to pack up and head home.

Here is the video we took of the session.

Hope you enjoy !
Tight-Lines,

John
CarpQuest

Take a Kid Carping - 2014

June is TAKC "Take a Kid Carping" month for the Carp Anglers Group.

To honor of this event, I had the privilege to take Casey, Brittany and their 4 yr old son, Brayden, out carp fishing for their first time. Casey had written to me earlier in the year to ask if I could take his son our fishing so he could see a carp up close and personal !

I chose Chatfield Reservoir, CO, as the destination. This venue had provided some great days fishing last year. If there was anyone to get a carp on the the bank for the young lad, this would be it.

So, how did we do ?

Casey banked his first carp, and the biggest of the session, a fine 13 lb 8 oz common. I landed 3 more commons, all low doubles. Though we did not manage to catch a carp "as big as Brayden", we sure tried for the young lad. His enthusiasm was quite infectious.

Casey went on to take Brayden out again carp fishing over the following days and week and they had some real fine captures.

I had the opportunity to meet and fish with a wonderful family.

Brayden was able to get up close and personal with some big fish. He did appear quite pleased with our captures!

So to all of you, get out there, and "Take a Kid Carping"

Heck, just take a kid fishing, it's worth it, to see the beaming smile upon their face!

Here was the video of that session, hope you enjoy !

Tight-Lines,
John
CarpQuest

An Unexpected Meeting

from my fishexplorer.com article;

You just never know who you may bump into on the bank side.

I headed up to Chatfield Reservoir on Wednesday, 5/27/14, the first long distance run for my new (1999 4-runner), the "carp mobile". I was planning to meet up with a young lad from the Carp Anglers Group. He was interested in learning about carping with "bait" rather than "on the fly". Alas, due to a last minute schedule change for him, he wasn't able to make it. I almost cancelled the trip.

However, for the CarpQuest, and the lure of Chatfield, I just had to head up there.

As it turned out I was not to fish alone this day. Whilst walking Raven, my carp-dog pup, down the bank I met up with old familiar face from FXR, Jacob. He was already there, on the shoreline, both rods out and had been fishing since the morning without much success.

Fishing is always better with a friend. So after a bit of a chat, some introductions to my "psycho" puppy, I setup just down the shore from him - making sure we both had enough room so as not to get tangled if we got fish-on.

We didn't have to wait long before the carp action was ON. I banked a couple of commons, 10'12 and 14'6,

Jacob followed up with a pair for himself, both around the 10 lb mark. Jacob had another real nice ~12 lb'er mid-afternoon.











The next few hours we both had our fair share of miss-adventures with fish-on, fish-off, a couple in particular right before they were at the net - sometimes carping is not so easy!

Just before 5 pm, as I was about to pack up for the long drive home, I had a nice run and landed my 3rd of the session, an 8 lb common - before that was even in the net, my 2nd rod had real a screamer and the best fish of the day, a real chunky 18 lb common, was banked.







All told, we landed 7 carp, lost maybe 4 or 5 between us. It was a great afternoon, doubly so, as I got the opportunity to fish with an old friend I hadn't seen since an early session last year. We shared the highs and the lows of fishing together that day. I also finally managed to get some carp on film again for CarpQuest.

 It would have been easy for me just to cancel my trip when I found out my intended partner for the day wouldn't be able to make it. I am so glad I did not and chose to make the drive up to Chatfield yesterday. It was an unexpected meeting with an old friend and a chance for us to fish together again.

So get out there, rods in hand, you just will never know you may meet up with.

Here is the video I took of the session.

Don't forget to subscribe to my youtube channel, www.youtube.com/johnfinneycarping to keep up with all the latest episodes as they are published.

Tight-Lines,

John

CarpQuest Youtube: www.youtube.com/johnfinneycarping
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/carpquest
Twitter: @finneycarpquest

Everything is better with Friends

CarpQuest is all about having fun and, most of all, fishing with friends.

On a chilly early morning I took a trip to Pikeview Reservoir, Colorado Springs, to fish with James. Arriving just before dawn I got setup, drank that first morning cup of java and waited to see what the light of day would bring.

Since the start of the season we had yet to put a carp upon the bank together. The sweet corn had not gotten the quick action of the past year and it was time to change something. So, rather than fish my usual sweet corn and panko/oats pack bait, I decided to go with something different, some NGT tiger nuts.

James arrived an hour or so later. We both had other commitments later in the morning so this was really going to be a very quick session. Fortunately I had seen a few carp jumping and rolling out on the water earlier. I was initially fishing both to the left and right of the spot. It was a coin flip, should James fish to the left, or the right? Both had showing fish. I volunteered the right side and James setup quickly and got his baits cast out.

The session was brought to life when James had a great fast run and soon after banked a fine 18 lb 12 oz grass carp. He was a very "Happy" man to say the least. Well done James !

This was the first carp banked together for the "carp crew" of the season. James had to depart again soon afterwards and by 9am I also had to head for home. It really was a lightning quick session, only a few hours. Though I had not put one in the net for myself I was so happy to see James holding up his prized capture. All in all, a successful outing to Pikeview !

You can see the video of our session here.

Tight-Lines,
John
CarpQuest