Carp Quandry

[Catfish Everdeen]

Hey everyone,

So yesterday, I took a quick two hours on the way home from work to go fishing at Humber Bay Park. This was my first visit there and I was so impressed when I arrived in the east park: minnows all across the eastern pond, and in the western pond, I saw tons of carp moving around! I can not convey how excited I was, quickly rigging up the fastest hair rig I ever have and throwing my line toward the carp I could clearly see. I ended up going home skunked.

I do not understand why though. I was using a method feeder and a hair rig with corn on it. I tried popup corn, but when that did not worked, I let it rest on the bottom. I cast to the carp and saw them swinging around my bait, but there were no takes. I chummed to them, but all that did was feed the ducks. I do not understand why I went home empty handed.

A few notes about the evening:
- My hair rig was really short, about a nine inches. Was that the problem?
- The carp were gulping at the surface every so often and there seemed to be a lot of bugs around.
- They were moving around and were splashing in schools. Were they spawning?
- I fished in a pond, in a smaller contained bay where I saw the majority of the movement. To my left was more open water.
- Some were kicking up some mud, but I did not see many. They were more to my left, but I cast there and my bait went untoched for half an hour.

So what went wrong? Did I spook them? Was I in the wrong place? Or were they only focused on sipping flies of the surface and ignoring anything else? Or was there something else that went wrong?

The carp are clearly there in numbers so I do plan on going again, but I would like to know for next time and know just in general. Always helps when you know as much as you can about fish behaviour.

Catfish Everdeen

 

[Alfiegee]

I live in Hamilton, no shortage of Carp.
They are actually a very finicky ( no pun intended.) And very spooky.

Alfie.

 

[BearInTheWoods]

Spawning too, not meaning they won't eat - but it is not their first priority.

Although I like pizza in bed so I don't understand what the problem is.

 

[creek chub in your pocket]

clear water = they can see you, you can see them
still spawning so they have mild intrest in feeding
carp are smarter than most fish believe it or not.

tiny jigs with nymphs work well, as mentioned above...they get spooked easily.

 

[Catfish Everdeen]

clear water = they can see you, you can see them
still spawning so they have mild intrest in feeding
carp are smarter than most fish believe it or not.

tiny jigs with nymphs work well, as mentioned above...they get spooked easily.

Thanks for the tip! I guess I overestimated how spooky those carp were, I was probably casting to the wrong place!! As well, I thought they would be done spawning right now? But I guess not! Anyways, maybe next time will be better!

 

[Catfish Everdeen]

Just a quick update, I went to the same place again, Humber Bay East, in the enclosed pond. I spent nearly seven hours there, corn and a method feeder and I did not get one bite, at all, all day! I kept a low profile and I kept my bait in the same place for a good two hours and nothing, when I reeled in, I had a little feed left and all my corn. I kept a low profile and I even saw some of them rejecting my bait when they moved in shllower in the evening and I gently dropped my bait anticipating them. So I really am at a loss, as I have never spent more then five hours carp fishing without getting a bite, so I do not know what I did wrong.

 

[instapump416]

Don't fish the enclosed pond but fish the creek. The best time to go is when it hasn't rained in a few days making the water levels low with some visibility. Walk along the creek and look for bubbles where they are feeding. That's where you want to chum and setup. Carp are more actively feeding there then the pond. Good luck

 

[rich_ace_G]

try to chum close to you. If they close in, they will feed.

 

[Shawarma]

Keep an eye for a line of murky water as well. They're head down kicking up alot of silt and whatever else is there and you can, if the water is in reasonable conditions, see these carp lines. it might help and give you an idea if you have a good vantage point and glasses.

 

[Catfish Everdeen]

thank you so much for some great replies! I did try chumming, but those ducks kept beating the carp to it! Anyways, thanks again, as I am really enjoying this spot for its convenience, now to only pull in some fish!

 

[steve7321]

If people feed the ducks bread then try bread balls on bottom or floating French bread crust on the top of the water. Put your hook through the middle of the crust and then wrap your line around the crust 3 times and then hide the point of the hook in the crust. Works awesome on sunny days.