Brandy soaked giant white corn

Rough looking 7lber

I did some Euro-style carping yesterday. I never seem to have much luck when there is an east wind blowing and this trip was no exception. The only run I got was this rough looking seven pound common that took two grains of pineapple flavoured giant white corn with a single piece of  plastic maize.

I tried some giant white corn that I’d soaked in brandy for over a year but had no takes. It’s probably  the best smelling bait I’ve tried. I’ll have to give another go sometime!

Easy to see floats

Here are some floats from a couple of sets I bought with thickened top sections. They are easy to see in the water and I can put off getting glasses for a little while longer.

Particles

A good part of carp fishing lies in the preparation. I’ve been sorting through all my various particle baits left over from last year. I think I’ve got enough to make a good start for this season, including;

• pigeon mix
• giant white corn
• peanuts
• wheat
• popcorn
• chick peas
• sweet corn

The mysterious white stuff in the baggie is rock salt. I use it to flavour most particles.

Monster Perch

With the recent summer-like weather in March,  I had a chance to do some early fishing on the Asian whip and some of the best perch fishing I’ve had in years. The average size of the perch was way up and I had four or five that I’d consider trophies.

I also caught two brown bullhead a pumpkinseed sunfish and one fish that I can’t identify. Please leave a comment if you can I.D. the mystery fish.

March 24/12 Update – After a bit of research I’m pretty sure it’s  a Golden Shiner.

What is it?

I thought it was a cicada at first but after some internet research it turns out to be a katydid or bush-cricket.

Lift-bite in action.

Weedy Swim

I went and did a little Asian style whip-fishing on Sunday. The weedy swim made things a little difficult but I still managed to catch a few. This time it was perch, small-but-beautiful  pumpkinseed sunfish and a surprising number of  largemouth bass. The bass gave a pretty good battle on the whip,  despite their small size.

Bud Yancey

One of the founders of the Carp Anglers Group and its first president,  Bud Yancey has passed away.  I never met Bud but like all North American carp anglers, I’ve benefited from his tireless efforts to promote our sport.

Time tough here too -- no chance to go fishing.

Rod Bag and Float Box

Open Float Box

Float Box Detail

Here’s some more Asian style fishing gear.

The bag is 46” long and holds all my whips, rod holders and folding net. Its made of heavy nylon with a rubberized backing. I was hoping it would have some padding to protect the contents but it doesn’t. The long pocket on the front holds my float box.

The float box is made of bamboo and lined with some kind of foam rubber that’s cut away in intervals to reveal metal strips.  The floats are secured with the rubber collars you can see in the picture. The collars have magnets to hold to the metal strips. and the box is held shut with magnets as well.

For  anyone wanting to learn more about this style of fishing here are a couple of links.

This is an eight page pdf file from a Japanese bait company that explains the basics in English. There is plenty more information there,  so be sure to check out the rest of the site.

Thanks to a fellow member of the Carp Anglers Group for this link to an hour long video on hera fishing  from Shimano Japan.