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