A Carp? Cool!
Today was another trip to Fairy Lake in search of crappie. Unfortunately, the cold front that moved in yesterday sure slowed down the bite. For me it was almost non-existent, landing only two fish. For Darrell, it was much better.
Since the crappie were not in a playful mood, and I wasn’t feeling so great, I took the chance to have a nap on the boat (again, one of my favorite places to nap). As I drifted in and out of sleep, I heard Darrell say, ‘I might be in trouble.’ Knowing darn well that statement is usually followed by a need for the net, I jumped up, extended the handle on the net, and got ready.
Keep in mind, we were out for crappie – we had ultralight gear, 4lb-test line, and a Berkeley micro power nymph. As I listened to the drag scream and saw Darrell’s line flying off the spool, I knew he had something much bigger than we intended to catch. An absence of head-shakes, and the fish’s desire to stay down, had us smiling in the hopes that we might finally land one of the carp I had longed to catch in Fairy Lake.
I had heard stories about the strength of these fish, and I was quite thrilled when it started to pull the boat along. She put up quite the fight, but Darrell finally brought her to the surface and I quickly netted her. Then I almost lost the whole lot when I tried to lift the net out of the water and was caught off-guard by the weight. In the end, Darrell had caught himself a solid 15lb carp! When I saw the size of her girth I had no problems believing she wanted that nymph – I’m pretty sure she’s been eating everything in sight.
We tried to get set up for a picture but quickly learned two things – carp are very slimy, and they don’t like being held. After getting slime all over Darrell’s jacket, and making an entire mess of the boat (I’ve never before been messed on by a fish I wasn’t holding), she jumped out of Darrell’s arms and swam back to the lake floor. That’s exactly where we were going to put her, but I really wanted a picture first.
So despite the lack of bites on a chilly day on water, we ended up landing one of the species I have been hoping to target. Hopefully I’ll be able to hook into a carp of my own in the not-to-distant future.
If you have any tips for targeting carp, or any good locations in Southern Ontario, I’d love to know!
argosgirl
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To bad about not getting the picture, but there’ll be more opportunities. Early in the season carp prefer a piece of meat like a worm and as the season progresses the tend toward starchy baits like corn,dough-balls and even pasta. Chum the intended fishing area with handfuls of bait and pin your presentation to the bottom using a sliding weight.
You’d have a harder time finding carp free water in Ontario, but some real hot spots are Hamiton Harbour, Upper Niagara River, Jordan Harbour and 15 Mile Pond – Charles Daley Park, St, Catherines.
To make it even more interesting try for them with a fly rod. They are extremely smart and wary prey, but can be fooled with a subtle presentation.
Good Luck
Awesome info – thanks! I can’t wait to target them again. Of course, with trout opener being this weekend, a carp outing will have to wait.