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July 22, 2006
Article
Jurassic Carp
by Adam Johnson
When the fishing gets tough it's because
those walleyes, bass, pike, crappies,
and even the big bluegills take a break
from eating once in awhile. It's almost
always when the forage base is at its
peak or the weather is erratic. But, you
can count on the carp. These fish never
stop rooting up the bottom in search of
something to eat. They are what I would
call dependable.
Now I don't like fishing for any carp. I
want to catch Jurassic Carp. He's that
dinosaur that weighs over 15 pounds and
he's all raw muscle. It's the Jurassic
Carp that fights until there's nothing
left and then makes a few more hard runs
when you go to scoop him up. And what
makes it even more fun, I tackle this
beast with medium spinning gear and
eight-pound test line.
There are some tricks to catching carp
even though there are some anglers that
think it's just a matter of pitching out
a couple of kernels of corn. There's the
rule of chum. There's the rule of taste.
There's the rule of feel. Follow them
and you will catch Jurassic Carp.
The rule of chum is that you don't want
to be stingy, yet you can overdo it.
Timing can be important too. If you are
going to use corn to chum an area figure
about a 15-ounce can of niblets for a
section about 10 feet by 20 feet. If you
are chumming the day before you plan to
fish double that amount. It's always
better to chum the day before and then,
if possible, a couple of hours before
you fish the spot.
I can accomplish this time lag by
setting up on a few spots. Chum the day
before, come back and chum and area,
move to the next one, then the next one
and by the time you get back to the
first spot the carp are biting.
The rule of taste is simple. The carp
will eat anything that tastes good and
won't touch anything that tastes bad.
When I make my dough-balls I use white
bread, cut off the crusts, and put in
lots of cinnamon. Carp like this taste.
BUT, if I handle a dough-ball after I've
applied sunscreen it doesn't matter how
much cinnamon I've used, those carp
won't eat it. They don't like DEET
either and just wiping the sweat off
your brow and touching your bait will
shut you down. How do I know this? From
fishing side-by-side with other anglers
and watching this taste scenario play
out time and again. Keep your hands free
of contaminants that carp don't like,
and that tasty morsel on your hook will
get eaten.
The rule of feel is if a carp can feel
you on the other end of the line, he'll
drop that bait. I see it all the time.
Three tugs on a nightcrawler that was
sitting on the bottom. The angler sets
the hook and gets nothing back. The carp
dropped the worm and the angler jerked
that bait free from the hook when he
reared back to set the hook. There's a
better way.
Leave the bail open and when you feel
that light tap release the line just
like you do with a live-bait rig. Don't
hold the line too tight, just keep it on
the top edge of your finger.
This begs the question; what kind of
sinker do I use? Slip sinkers wok fine
but if the wind isn't a factor a small
split shot will get the bait down
nicely. The smaller, the better.
Hooks are extremely important. I've
discovered that a Tru-Turn hook is my
number-one choice because I believe you
get more hook-ups with them. They are a
lighter wire so keep the drag a little
looser so you don't straighten the hook
when that Jurassic sucker hits. They
peel off a lot of line when they're
fighting, but it is a lot of fun.
So be prepared to flip off the anchor
ropes and fire up that bow-mount
trolling motor and chase that fish once
it's hooked because they can spool you
pretty fast. If you're fishing from
shore, consider stepping up to a little
heavier system. Something in the
15-pound test range.
Here's a little trick for the anchors.
After you get the anchors down on the
bottom, tie a loop in the rope about a
foot above the water level and wire-tie
a milk jug onto the loop. Now when you
get a big carp on the line you can toss
the anchor ropes, fight the carp, and
then come right back to the spot and
hook the ropes right back onto the
cleats on the boat. It saves a lot of
time.
The beautiful thing about chasing
Jurassic Carp is that they are
everywhere. Every lake, river and
reservoir is full of big carp and they
don't get enough fishing pressure to
condition them to stop eating cheese or
strawberry or anise-flavored baits. You
can toss canned-corn, dough-balls,
nightcrawlers and even chocolate-chip
cookie dough at them and get them to
eat.
And they fight! It's some of the best
fighting action you might get all
season. So when everything else is fat
from the wealth of forage and just
sitting on the bottom watching your bait
go by, consider the carp. They're always
biting.
Adam Johnson is an Aquatic Biologist and
can be reached from his web site at
www.adamjohnsonoutdoors.com .
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