A Canadian Swim

Carping During the spawn

Spawning Carp

Mallard Duck

One of the 16lbers had a bad eye.

I went fishing today and caught two carp . Both of them weighed in at sixteen pounds. Carp were spawning all around the marsh, so I was happy to catch at all. Scopex pips were the successful bait this time.

Check out the duck picture,  I caught him mid-quack and I think it gives him a cartoonish aspect.

The Secret Carp

The Secret Carp by Chris Yates

I just finished reading The Secret Carp by Chris Yates.  It was tricky to get a hold of a copy  in Canada but well worth it.  It isn’t the typical how-to fishing book, but the story of a day and nights fishing at a forgotten carp lake in England. The book really delves into the feelings of mystery and the mind altering states that can arise through carp fishing. I’d say that Yates is second only to Arthur Ransome  in being able to really get to the essence of our sport.  If you ever heard me rambling on about Ransome you’ll know that’s high praise.

Muskrat love

Muskrat gathering bulrush shoots.

Here’s a pic of that busy muskrat I mentioned in a previous post.

Bullheads Asian Style

One of many bullhead.

I got  my Asian whip fishing gear together today and went to try and catch  some bullheads.  It was a beautiful sunny day and the bullhead were quite cooperative as well as a few perch. All gave a pretty  good account of themselves on the 4.5 metre hera whip.

The more I try this type of fishing the more I enjoy it . Look for a gear report coming up as my Ebay purchases start to be delivered.  I’ve got a lot of floats and other goodies making their way from the far east.

Still Skiving off

Three grains of scopex pips and a piece of artificial maize on a simple hair rig.

Today's lonely carp.

I took another day off work again today (I could get used to this!) to do some more fishing. I only caught one carp but it was a nice 28 pound common,  so I can’t complain.

Tackle-wise I used my usual rig today,  a simple hair rig using twelve pound Maxima and a #4 Partridge F5 hook.  I use a Palomar knot to connect the swivel and the no-knot knot to connect the hook and make the hair.  A three ounce inline lead fished semi-fixed for the bolt effect.

Nature watching between bites

Though clearly in love, these geese nearly drove me to the brink of gibbering madness with their constant honking.

The biggest catch of the day at 21lbs

I took another day off work today to do some more carping. There was a lot of nature to watch today between fish.  A muskrat was busy gathering bulrush shoots.  Snakes and turtles were swimming by and  all kinds of birds were flying by,  including some type of small heron, various gulls and terns, mallard ducks and a couple of very loud Canada geese.

On the fishing front I caught five common carp up to 21 pounds. They didn’t want the Minzilla Maize today preferring Wacker Scopex Pips.

A Good Days Carping

I thought this 14lber was the best looking fish of the day.

This bullet-nosed 19lber was a real brawler.

Had a good days carping today with a total of six fish ranging from ten to twenty-four pounds. It’s still the pre-spawn period here, so the good fishing should last for a while yet.

I was glad to see water levels a little higher today as they’ve been really low this year due to the lack of snow this winter.  One thing I wasn’t pleased to see was a few large algae mats floating around. You don’t usually see these ’till much later in the season. I hope it’s not a sign of declining water quality.

I should mention all the carp I’ve caught so far this year have been on Mintzilla Monster Maize.  It’s  available from newworldcarp.com which I couldn’t recommend more highly. All the products I’ve ordered from them have been top notch as well as the service.

1st Carp of the Season

First Carp of the Year!

I set out this morning determined to catch some carp. I saw a few fish crashing in the distance while setting up my gear,  so I had high hopes.  These hopes started to flag a bit as the hours went by – there was no sign of  feeding activity or any sign of fish in my swim.

I had decided to give it one more hour when the the buzzer sounded and I had a large carp on the line. The fight was very short,  perhaps due to the cold water. The healthy looking common weighed in at just over 29 pounds . That was a real session saver! I did stay for an hour after that but had no more action.

The swim.