Northwest Fishing Reports

i took my girlfriend fishing last weekend and all we saw on our search for bass was carp. i know lures dont work so i didnt bother fishing for them, there were alot of the, they were active and jumping. after a couple hours of showing her how not to catch a bass she kept just casting to the carp and wishing we could fish for those....

so what the plan? do i need my steelhead pole i can imagine they fight stronger then your everyday rainbow or bass. does creamed corn really work?

yes

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but they can be fun on a flyrod.

when they are jumping like that in mass, they are spawning, trying to spawn, or getting ready to spawn. They might not eat anything.

sounds good, what fly pattern should i use if i bring out the fly pole?

We just used earth worms.

carp are great fun on light gear. They'll pick up your offering and slowly swim away, until you set that hook, then they will make long drag screeming runs.

I've had luck with worms, but more with just white bread mashed onto the hook. The thing is you want it to be as natural as possible. Ever seen a Goldfish eat? They suck in the food, then blow it out again. Carp do the same thing, they will suck in your bait, but if they feel anything odd (weight, hook) they will blow it back out again. Sometimes the hook will catch when they blow, sometimes not.
I usually will have just a 4' leader tied to my mainline via a swivel and a hook. The only weight being the worm or bread (maybe a split shot - just enough to get it where I want it). Then cast it out where they are boiling , secure your rod, open your bail, and crack a book. If line starts going out, close the bail and set the hook.

Yes! Another carp thread! I have a special place for these guys. They like corn, and I've had my best luck with corn. When they are jumping around on the spawn they can be tricky to get to bite, they're just too involved to eat, but usually they will stop in the morning or later before sunset to eat. An you will find others not so interested in spawning that may pick up your offering. Best bet for carp is to find a lake that allows chumming and get a swim going at a regular spot. When you can chum, the smells and abundance of food can snap them out of it and make them hungry, and when you can get a school of carp to start eating, you can catch one after another.

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_q ... sk1hqz_sTg

My brother in law is from the UK and is a semi-pro carp fisherman (yes there really is such a thing http://www.britishcarpchamps.co.uk/. His advice is to try some of the more popular links on youtube about making carp bait. He advises a pretty standard dough bait made with whole wheat flour, cornmeal, strawberry jello, garlic powder, and creamed corn as a good all around starter. They make literally hundreds of scent additives that are sold online specifically for carp that you can buy(mainly from European websites or Ebay) like https://www.dnabaits.com/. Berkley has started making a PowerBait for carp as well.

wow, thanks for all the pointers looks like i will be headed over to eastern washington i couple weekends to try my luck.

Lake Washington is full of carp. Green Lake has big ones in it, sammamish and half of the lakes on the west side have a lot of carp in them. It doesn't have to be an eastside show, we just don't target them as much over here. Last year we got a 35 pounder on Lake Washington, so you'll find some big fish here as well.

Youan fly fish for them as well, with crawfish or little nymph imitations, I like to fish for them on my 5wt, it makes it a lot of fun.

Get yourself a bowfishing rig. A little expensive up front, but incredibly fun, and you can whack those things all day long. During the spawn, you can get dozens per day.

Bowfishing is great if you want to eat the carp you catch and its a far easier harvest method where you can get a view from above in shallowish water, like from a low bridge, dock, or boat. I know some people eat them but IMHO they are down the list as far as good eating fish does and there is no catch and release with a bow.

You use them for fertilizer or give them away to people that do eat them. Carp are not a native species, and they do interfere with and mess up the ecosystem for our lakes. That's why there is no limit or rules on how to get at them around here. In Europe, they are hurting for fish to catch, over fishing and whatnot, so carp are pretty much the only thing that is prolific enough to be a sportfish for 'em. I don't know much about fishing over there, but it's got to be bad when you can go pro as a carper!

Well people/WDFW consider Pike invasive, but there is still a big movement amongst fans of catch and release for them by the look of the threads around here. If you want to believe this or not there are a lot of Europeans that dream of coming to the US to fish carp here. My brother in law has come from the UK twice just to fish for carp. I always just used them for sturgeon bait after they got a good stink on them.

If you ever head out over to Banks Lake, you can catch both bass and carp pretty easy at Osbourne Bay. Orange/crayfish lipless cranks along the road early morning and late evening will kill the smallmouth. During the day, you can catch all the carp you want on a slip-sinker rig with enough canned sweet corn to cover a #2 hook. I use light steelhead gear, and have no problem landing them.

I have been getting them lately in the north end of Lake Washington, averaging 20+ pounds. I use bread flavored with a little vanilla and then mashed into a dough. I chum with corn and just throw my bait out with no weight. Leave your bail open and after they carry it for 10 or 15 seconds I close the bail and slowly increase the drag until they are hooked.

Good Luck

John

For a basic dough bait/boilie do 50/50 mix. 8oz Semolina flour, 8 oz Soy flour in separate bowl add 4 eggs and 2ml of vegetable oil and 10-20 ml of Molasses lightly mix. Add the two together and knead and form a brad ball. Break off little chunks and roll balls between 1-2”.Put these balls into boiling water for 2 minutes and remove and store in the frige or freeze until you want to go fishing. Best used on a hair rig. Carp love molasses and it’s cheap and easy to get. For further info on boilies check out this site.
http://www.fishforcarp.com/html/bait%20soaks.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
As for flavors getting them from the U.K. can be expensive, here is a site that is U.S. based and is a lot cheaper:
https://www.resistancetackle.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

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Use a bow and kill the ugly things and remove them from your waters.. Bow hunting for carp is legal..

I don't understand the hatred of carp vs. catfish. Catfish, to me at least, is infinitely uglier. Both fight great. Love them both.

In any case, the carps that I've seen out of Lk Washington are common carps, not grass carps. Carps is a very broad family, with the ones in our neck of the wood typically common carps. The grass carps in our ponds are triploids that can't reproduce, and is planted to help control aquatic weeds. The much feared asian or silver carps are in the mississippi system and is yet another species.

Carp are an incredibly invasive species, with some very nasty habits. A female can produce an astounding number of eggs, making them highly prolific. (I shot a 13 lb carp last week, and it had almost 3 lbs of eggs). They can rapidly take over a lake, represent a high percentage of the ioverall biomass. They habitually root around in the bottom of lakes and rivers, messing up spawning habitat for more desirable fish, and muddying up waters. The end effect after a number of years is that you have a muddy lake full of carp, and little else.

As a food fish, they are truly awful (and I've tried numerous times various ways). Out of a 10 lb carp, there is only a few ounces of meat that are edible, and even that is not good. Moreover, they build up contaminants, and probably aren't safe to eat in any sizeable amount. Carp are a fun and challenging sport fish, as they are powerful fighters, but difficult to hook.

Catfish are not native to WA, but are not as invasive or destructive to the environment as carp. They are excellent table fare, although they may have the same contaminant problems as carp. As with carp, they are superb sport fish.

I'd say the hatred comes down to (1) the fecundity of the carp, (2) the fact that it is basically inedible, and (3) the fact that it wrecks habitat for more desirable sport and food fish. The fact that they are fun on a rod and reel doesn't make up for the other unpleasant aspects of the fish.