1st Carp Outing of 2020 !! Fun Day !

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Rare Black Carp Caught at Smith Mountain Lake - Virginia Carp Fishing

Smith Mountain Lake Virginia
Virginia Carp Fishing
Dates  October 13th and 14th 2018
Water Temp  64.5 degrees
Water depth  10'


My wife and I spent the weekend at Virginia's Smith Mountain Lake so I did some Carp fishing while I was there.  The first day I had only 3 hours or so to fish as we had to go out to eat and be back in time to see the UNC vs Va Tech Game.    The game for me did not go as well as the fishing.

It was a productive Saturday session with 4 Carp Brought to the dock with one of those being a Black Carp.  A first for me.
The first fish came within 15 minutes and the other 3 were spread out on this outing.  I had not pre-baited this spot so I thought that was a pretty good session.   However, I did know I had a good chance to fish Sunday so I did bait this area so my Sunday session would hopefully be better or have bigger fish. This "baiting" consisted of throwing out 1 can of corn and 1 can or cream corn.

Sundays session was only 1.5 hours but but I did catch the biggest of the trip and had 2 other "runs"
All of these fish were caught in 10 ft of water on the outfits listed at the bottom.  A big thanks to my wife for patiently waiting in the car while it lightly rained for most of this session.

The Highlight of the day was when we left the lake a Big ole Fox Squirrel ran across the road in front of us.   

My You Tube Video of this will be posted below near the bottom.  Please subscribe to my blog and You Tube Channel for more Posts.  

Here are my 2 outfits I used on this trip, All fish were caught on the Shimano 3500 Baitrunner, I don't know why all came on this outfit other than I was casting each to the same spots which were about 30 feet apart from each other.  This reel is matched to a 8' Ugly Stik and spooled with 16 lb High Vis Momoi Line

This is the other outfit, a Daiwa Millionaire 6000 on a 7' Ugly Stik Lite rod also spooled with 16 lb Hi Vis Momoi Line

Both of these are in Driftmaster Rod holders and DriftMaster Clamp mounts

The rig I use is a 1 oz weight ( more if windy) and a very  short length of 25 lb or 30 lb flouro leader and a # 1 Gamagatsu Octopus hook

Here are my baits and attractants.....I left one out as I can't give away all of my secrets. LOL

These mixed with Oats makes this pack bait along with 4 - 5 kernels of corn.

Here is the small but Unique Black Carp

The Biggest of the weekend

Now the Video,  Don't forget to subscribe and ask any questions as I try to answer all of them.

Tags
" Virginia Carp "
#Carpfishing
Virginia carp fishing
fishing with Corn
Smith Mountain Lake fishing

Big Carp Smackdown - Crabtree Lake

Went Carpin yesterday (4/09/2017)  after work from  4-7 pm with my wife Cindy. Caught 10~ carp and 4 or 5 channel cats in about 3 hours with most of the action coming in hours 2-3.   It was  Good day with a few big ones being landed. I had one really big run that I lost , the hook pulling out for some reason.   The outing started slow but once they started coming in it was on.  We Had 2 doubles on as well.

We were set up on a small point on a local lake using sweetcorn for bait. See below.   The carp in this lake really luv sweetcorn and I have only had 1 day there in the last year where i have not caught a carp.  Hopefully this trend will continue and  will have more post to do in the future on this spot.
  

Bait- Sweetcorn with secret packbait on weight.
Reels used- 2 shimano 3500 Baitrunners , 1 on 8' ugly stik and the other on 7 ft Ugly Stik Tiger-  Daiwa Millionaire II 5000M on Abu 7' rod
Line 16lb Momoi Hi Viz

Here are a few pictures.

Here is my you tube video of the outing





Thanks for looking.

#carpfishing

#carp

#fishing

My First Carp of the Year

First Carp of 2017

Tuesday February 7th, 2017

Time:  10am-2pm
Air Temp- 70 degrees
Water Temp- 54 degrees
Outfits-

2 Shimano 3500 Baitrunners , 1 on an 8' Ugly Stik

The other on a 7' Ugly Tiger Rod.  Line was 16 Momoi Hi-vis

on one and 15 lb Big Game on the other.

Carp Rig-

This is my "normal" Carp Rig which is a 1 oz sinker, swivel, and just a few inches of 30lb Fluorocarbon attached to a Gamakasu hook.  The packbait on the sinker is Oatmeal(Brown Sugar and Maple) mixed with cream corn to which Vanilla flavoring has been added to.   Then I put 4-5 pieces of whole kernel corn on a #1 Gamakatsu Octopus hook.

Its has been a long while since I have caught a carp(October?)  and though now is Shad and Striper season I needed to stay close to home today so I made a decision to hit up my favorite Carp spot and try for a few. Now, I luv  to Carp fish but in previous years it was a summer thing when more glamorous species where either hard to catch or I was just tired of catching them.  If I was succesfull today it would be the earliest I have caught one.

I set up at 10am and after a few minutes I catch a 2~ Channel Cat.   Not a bad start but I wanted something bigger.   30 minutes later and I get a big hit.   I can tell this is probably a 15 plus pounder and after a few minutes the hook pulls out!!   30 minutes later and I catch another 2 plus lb channel cat.    Back to waiting and a short while later I get another big run.  Good fight, strong fish and as I get it near the hook pulls out again!!  What! am I cursed today?   I cast out again and another short wait and another good run.   I  battle this strong fish for 5 minutes and get in my first Carp of the year.
Now, this one wasn't as big as the first two runs but a very nice fish.  I have  a video of the landing that I will try to post soon.    

Thanks for looking, Mack

#carpfishing

#carp

Carp from my Old Stomping Grounds.

I grew up on the banks of the Haw  River just north of Burlington, NC.  The Haw is where I learned to fish and where I caught my first carp. 9lbs? if I remember correctly( I will get that picture and have it scanned and post it one day).   Just north of my parents house is a tributary of the Haw that has a millpond on it.   I sometimes would split my time fishing the Haw around my parents house and then sometimes I would hop on my bike and go after some nice bass and White Bass that this old millpond has.
It was a big adventure back when I was 14 and biking those 2 miles to the millpond. 2 miles back then was like a 100 today.    I never did purposely fish for carp in that old millpond but I did catch some by accident while pursuing other species.  One memory I have of that pond is a couple of older gentlemen who fished that  millpond religiously for carp. They used packbait and I remember seeing that and thinking how could a carp eat that??   I do remember that I saw them catch some huge carp some probably 30 lbs plus.
So fast forward to this year(Oct 28, 2016) and I decided to go there and  purposely fish for carp.  I only had 2 hours so I was not sure I could catch one.  I used my normal rig and pack bait of oatmeal, cream corn and vanilla with 3 or 4 kernels of corn on the hook.   I caught a small bullhead about an hour in and at about an hour and a half in one reel starts screaming!  Fish on!  .    After a brief battle I pulled in a
4lb carp give or take.  Not a big carp but I was very proud of this one as it was my first at this childhood spot on purpose.    A very  good day.

The rods and reels.   Shimano 3500 Baitrunner w/15 lb test on an  8' Ugly Stik , and a Daiwa 2600SS w/12lb test  on a Pinnacle Rod.

The Bait.....there is a 1 oz weight under there

The result......

Like I said, not a  huge carp but a very special one.   Now I just need to pull one of those 30 lbers out.

Mack

"Carp fishing North Carolina"

October 2nd Carp Trip

Oct 2, 2016
Public lake Wake Co. NC
6-8 pm

I Had another  chance to go after Carp on October 2nd so I went a place where I knew Carp should show up and hopefully be easy.
It only took about 5 minutes to get my first hit and she was a decent one,

Then another

I caught probably 6 or 7 1-3 lb channel cats to get to these fish but I am not complaining about the cats.  If you need to see my bait , rod choices see my blog post http://mackinncblog.blogspot.com/2016/08/carp-catchin-after-work.html

This spot also provides for some very nice sunsets. 

Thanks, Mack

Storms, Rainbows and Carp

I decided to go Carp fishing after work today 6PM - 8 PM.  My Buddy Mark met me out there and we set up 2 rods with Corn on the hook  and oatmeal/creamcorn/Vanilla Extract as a packbait.

The outfits were exactly the same as my previous outing.....

We immediately started catching channel cats form 1 -2 1/2 lbs but it was the Carp we were after.   One of my rods got a bite and I picked the rod  up felt another bite and set the hook on a good fish.   After a brief intense battle I land a good  ~10 lb Common Carp.



A Nice Common

We caught a few more channels as an intense storm was developing around us.  Mark wanted to head out but I convinced him to stay.   Luckily the storm went around us. We had a good storm to East of us and one to the west of us.    We got to see an intense lightning storm to the east and a Beautiful storm to West of us that ended up with a spectacular skyline and a Rainbow to the North of us. 

Fishing is not just about the fish.  It is about the camaraderie with friends and the Beautiful things we see in Nature.

tap on this picture to open it up more.  It is a Panoramic picture and it has to be opened to see it fully.

thanks for looking.....................

Carp Catchin after Work

Sunday August 7th, 2016   Central North Carolina

I have Carp fished 3 times this year .  Twice at the spot I went to today which resulted in lots of Channel Cats but no Carp and once at Smith Mountain Lake which resulted in 1 - 4 lb carp.

I decided to try again today after work so my time was limited from 6-9 pm.

The Outfits I used today are a 4500 Shimano Baitrunner on an 8'6'' Med action Ugly Stik and a Daiwa 5000m Millionaire on an  Abu 6'6'' Med Heavy Rod.  Both Of these are spooled with Blue 15lb Ande Line.

My Rig consist of a Carolina Rig using a 1 oz Steel egg sinker ,  #5 Black Barrel swivel, 4 inches or so of 25lb Flurocarbon snelled to a #1 Owner Mosquito Hook.   The bait was as usual 4-5 grains of whole Kernel Corn.   I also used a packbait consisting of Maple and Brown sugar Oatmeal and cream corn with Vanilla Extract added. this is packed around the egg weight.

Pack Bait Ingredients 

Bait

This is what my rig looks like minus the tag end I hadn't trimmed yet. This pic was taken last week at Smith Mountain Lake and not today(also usually my leader is shorter). 

  I threw out my lines at aprox 6pm and at aprox 615 my Outfit with the Millionaire Reel is Doubled over.  The Battle was intense but after 5 mins or so I subdued this beast. A Beautiful  North Carolina Carp !

Then aprox 15 mins later another!  This one was on the Baitrunner outfit.

I ended up with another 1 about 4 lbs or so and lost a big one right at dark as she ran into my other line and came unhooked.  It was a fantastic evening on the water.

Thanks for looking, Mack

#carpfishing

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#lakecrabtree

Carp on Lures ?

Carp on Lures ?

Catching  Carp on lures?  Carp can be occasionally caught on lures. Flyfisherman catch them sight fishing clear water carp.  

Sometimes people fishing for other species catch Carp on lures though this is not the norm,  I probably catch a few each year that randomly hit lures and one that stands out the most to me was a 14 lb common carp that hit a rat l trap below a spillway back in the 90's.  
That fish wasn't foul hooked,  the trap was half way down its mouth!  Today we made it look easy but trust me catching carp on lures is tough.  We may never see another day like this again.

The day started off with a Bass/Crappie trip to one of my favorite spots.  A local spillway that has some easy fun fishing.

 I landed 1 nice Hawg on a White Spinnerbait, aprox 10 crappie on jigs and 2 2lb channel cats on Jigs.  I fished here from 630 am -9am. The lures that I  used were a White tandem blade spinnerbait and a 1/16 oz Chartreuse Monks head with a 2'' Acid rain grub. 

I was then home doing yard work and got a call from Fishwhisperer who talked me into a paddle on a small Piedmont river . Then Another friend called me to fish another river but I was committed to this float. (that friend caught 20 plus largemouths!! in just a few hours),,,OUCH!

The River Fishwhisper(Jeff) and I went to looked awesome. We put in and paddled to our destination fishing as we went. 

A nice drop on the river.

A nice Bass that hit a Fluke on the way to our destination.

 Jeff  caught several nice bass  as well. When we arrived at our destination we were throwing Flukes and Big pods of carp where chasing them and hitting our flukes!. They would suck it in and spit it out lots of times before we could even set the hook. They were following our baits creating huge wakes. We missed a lot But, we caught a lot as well especially on super flukes with 5/0 EWG hooks!!. 

This is one of the first ones that crushed a Fluke, you can see the Pearl Super Fluke still in its mouth.

You can also see a Fluke in this Carps mouth as well 

Jeff with a few......

 Here is one of 4 that hit a Powerbait tube under a Cork, if you look closely you can see the tube it its mouth.

We lost some really big ones who broke us off on the sharp rocks. It got to the point that we were throwing different lures at them to see what they would hit. Flukes, pop r's , curly tail jigs, beetle spins, a rebel floater and last 4 I caught hit tube jigs under a cork!

 Several Times we had doubles on. 

Date May 27th , 2016

Location:  Central Piedmont NC River

Lures-  Pearl Super Fluke w 5/0 EWG hook, 1/16 oz crappie tube(powerbait) under cork,  1/16 oz jighead with 2'' white powerbait curly tail,  Beetle spin, and several topwater lures.   The only lure I threw that they wouldn't hit was a small fluke.

An awesome day on the river and one that will not be forgotten.  Thanks for the Invite Fishwhisperer (Jeff) !!

   

Euro style Carp Fishing

Friday June the 15th , I met Aki and Santosh at a local lake to try my hand at Euro Style Carpin.  Now, I used to fish all the time for carp but that was with a Carolina rig , a small baitholder hook and some whole kernel corn. I usually chummed with corn also. Their method was similar but they use heavier weights and a lot heavier leaders. The main reason for the heavier leader is it is stiff.....When the carp sucks in the hook with the corn on it she feels the stiffness of the line and tries to spit or blow the hook out.....One problem, she cant spit it out because the line is so stiff , she then turns and runs setting the hook on herself....Brilliant!....They also use "packbait" , this is a combination of grits and creamed corn you Pack on to  the weight and what it does is when your rig hits the water and then the bottom this packbait falls off and chums the area around you corn on the hook.
We fished from 5:30 till 8:30 and probably caught 6 carp, that many cats, though most were small  but I had a great time fishing with Aki and Santosh.  Here are a few pics.... Thanks again Aki and Santosh

My outfits today were 1.  A Shimano 3500 Baitrunner on an 8 ft rod with 15 lb test 2. Penn # 9 loaded with 20 lb Cajun on a 9 ft rod.  The Carolina rig consisted of a 2 oz egg sinker, black swivel, 30 lb leader, and a #6 hook.
                                                                            The rig

The fishies

                                                    Santosh with a  Rare ghost carp

Mack

A Grand Day Carp Fishing

Location- Piedmont Lake, 3' low
Conditions- Sunny , Air Temp 70's
Date October 4th, 2011
Time 3PM-6PM


I had a few hours to kill before my lodge meeting so I decided to do what I do about  every other year or so.

Carp Fishing.  I grew up carp fishing on the Haw and the famous Snoffers Lake on the Burlington Graham City Limit Line.  Today  a few hours would be spent relaxing  under the shade of a tree hoping to catch a carp or 2.

My bait today would be an old standby-

My outfits today would be a Shimano 3500 Baitrunner loaded with 15 lb line on an 8' rod and a Daiwa 2600 Tournament loaded with 20lb braid with a mono leader also on an 8' rod

I left the horizontal holders at home because the vertical ones are lighter and I had a long walk from the truck. Both reels will catch any carp that swims and here is what the Shimano caught today.

I was rewarded with this monster common carp which put up 1 heck of a fight!.

Don't laugh Aki and Santosh, at least I wasn't skunked!.

I'll  bet a few of you are thinking how can this be a Grand Day with only one little carp caught ?  Easy, Remember that shade tree I was sitting under???   I planted that tree approx 20 years ago. That little seedling started off as a 3 ft Bald Cypress and now that little seedling is 30' tall and doing well.  Mack