That would depend entirely on what gets done with the carp after it's skewered.
There is no greater fisherman than "the guy here yesterday."

Thanks for the boilies recipe Stonecrusher. Now how do you use it? Do you sling shot the boilies around the area? Then cast out with one on a hook amongest thee others.

PS: I thought maybe why we hadn't see here in awhile was them nurses got a hold on ya and wouldn't let go.  lol

Lifemember and Bushwacker SMF http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u194/wellsleyny/NAFC_Life_Member1.jpg

I use two different ways when I fish the boilies, but they amount to generally the same thing. If I have a big batch of them, I just slingshot out a good bunch with some of them but smaller, then use one bigger one or a couple smaller ones for bait, but the easiest way is to put out a good scattering of the boiled field corn before I even set up the rods, then a few loose boilies and my baits once I get organized. Lets me experiment with flavors a little easier that way. And yes, as ridiculous as it may sound, I se a slingshot to get the free stuff out into the water (ever try throwing a handful of boiled field corn more than 20 ft?). Good way to keep younger ones amused, too, I've found.
There is no greater fisherman than "the guy here yesterday."

I got another question of a local matter. How deep is the hudson river? Are there maps that show the depths from say catskill to Albany? Sorry thats two questions.
Lifemember and Bushwacker SMF http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u194/wellsleyny/NAFC_Life_Member1.jpg

Free ones are a tough row to hoe. I wound up making my own (for a couple different local reservoirs) that never have had maps by laying a transparent version of a recent topo map over a regular version of an older one I found at the USGS website. Not exact, but better than guessing, and quite revealing as it turned out. If I remember (can't find the one i have for the section you and I have fished) it's about 12 foot at the outside edge of where I can cast, not taking into the variations in tide, the age of the maps I was looking at, and my foggy memory. The DEC site has a bunch of REALLY generic lake maps on it, but I found if you can take the ones that are actually old impoundments and find one of the older USGS surveyor's maps of the same area, you can improve on them 100% in just a couple of minutes.
There is no greater fisherman than "the guy here yesterday."

Now what about hook type and size? Catfisherman  use circle hooks and some put their bait on treble hooks. Yet I've never heard anyone fishing for carp with treble hooks.
Lifemember and Bushwacker SMF http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u194/wellsleyny/NAFC_Life_Member1.jpg

I don't know if any of you have seen the most recent NAFC TV show.  Dr. Hal Schramm did a little piece about the "flying" silver carp.  I don't know enough about how this species was introduced, or am not agreeing or disagreeing with the potenial damage these fish can create. But, this seems to be how the Carp is always portrayed. Invasive, Eco Threatening, and even Dangerous.  I have read in different fishing publications about how these fish are a danger because of their tendency of being big jumpers.   One article talked about the danger to small children while jumping. What better way to put a stigma on an animal than to say it is a "Danger to Children!".  On this last NAFC episode it shows a clip of literaly hundreds of these fish in a small area, and what looks like Fish and Game Guys netting these carp.  Is that clip a Normal  days occurence?? Or was that during a Spawning phase when these fish come together in concentrated areas. It sort of insinuates that this is the way these fish are all year long. Maybe they are. But I doubt it.  Once again I'm no biologist. Just a Fisherman.

 

   

Dan "Stealthfisher" Doc NAFC LIFE MEMBER I FISH, THEREFORE I AM <*(((>>>< ><<<)))*>

Around here,(Wichita, Ks), you can buy a fly tied to look like a cottonwood seed. At the right time of year, they are said to be quite effective. I haven't tried one yet but it seems resonable.  GOOD FISHING GL

 

If these fish ever get into the water you fish.  You will want them all dead.  We have tousands of them in both Kentucky, and barkely lakes.  They are dangerous!  I have only had one land in My boat.  But have had many close calls.  They grow fast, and can reach 60 pounds.  A ten pound fish hitting You at 40 mph, can do some damage. If you are in a bass boat, at 60 mph, they can break Your bones.  Any time You get near a school, they panic, and jump in every direction.  They do not look like any other carp.  Their eyes are set so low in their heads. That it looks like their heads are upside down.  Around here, they are called big head carp.  If they have not yet, gotten into the Great lakes, they soon will.  Then every one will know about them.  If You fish the big southern rivers.  Be afraid, be very afraid. 

Life member since 04/05/1989. Samuel J.

Hey Wells, sorry I didn't get back to you sooner ( so many distractions, so little attention span ). I've seen a few guys use trebles for their doughballs, mostly old school types who still think you need 60 lb. mono to land a ten pound fish and seem to have the opinion that big fish are damn near indestructible. Myself, I avoid using trebles for any sort of bait fishing, including cats. Having said that, hooks are mostly a personal choice as far as I'm concerned (how many have been landed with old rusty Eagle Claws over the years, after all), but I recommend smaller than what is considered "normal" as long as they are 1) forged for strength and 2) as sharp as my insulin needles. I've gone as large as #2 for my bigger boilies and as small as #8. Depends on the hook style as well. I've had very good results with Circles for carp (as well as cats) as long as I can manage to remember they are about two sizes smaller than a regular hook marked with the same size ( I have a package of #10 Circles that are full up if you add just a single kernel of corn to them I'm tempted to try out, might be good for suckers in a trout pool I know .........hmmmmm). A point I am open to new opinion on would be whether or not having an offset point is of any real use in a circle hook. I have tried both styles for carping and noticed an actual decrease in hookups with the offset circles unless you count how much more often I seem to stick my own fingers with them.
On the silver carp posts, if I recall they were another in a long, long string of fish imported mostly for the ornamental trade ( but also for aqua-cultural experimentation ) released into the wild by no one really knows who for whatever reason it is these people use to justify adding yet another non-native species to the growing list of exotic invasives. I don't see much hope for complete eradication, only signs it is a problem that is only going to grow and continue to burn resources that are already stretched woefully thin.

There is no greater fisherman than "the guy here yesterday."

Stonecrusher, You answered my question with, it depends on whats to be done with the Carp after they are shot with a Bow.

What are they good for?

I have eatin a few of them and when they are taken out of cold water there not bad. My intention for some of them is to use them for bait for Coyotes and Crawdads. Now I am not trying to be a smart azz here. They are fun to catch but what else do you do with them? We have some lakes out here that have so many Carp that the other species have no chance of competing with them.

YellowBear NAFC. AMI. NWWF.

Thank Sam,  I don't know if this particular species is abundant in NJ.  We sure have our share of Carp though. I fish a kayak, and have drifted over top of  carp and had them bump me trying to get away. Very strong fish. and I have had a few leap near me, so I understand what your saying.  The NAFC show clip showed the silver carp leaping out of the water in huge numbers, some at least three feet. So I won't ever argue in the carp's defense if it is dangereous or not.  The carp that I have seen in this area, I think are Common carp or Grass carp.(Once again, I'm now biologist ) I don't know if you had a chance to see the NAFC clip, but, the question I had was do these silvers come together in the groups they showed all year? ( I guess you would have to have seen the show) You could have literally walked on them there were so many.   If so, boy I wouldn't want to be unlucky enough to paddle into an area like that, they would probably sink me.  You know what can be almost as scary? Did you ever run into a flock of birds resting on the water a night while your motoring down a waterway? Talk about Flying projectiles!  Thank again Sam.

  

Dan "Stealthfisher" Doc NAFC LIFE MEMBER I FISH, THEREFORE I AM <*(((>>>< ><<<)))*>

I do not know that much about these fish.  Just from personal expereance.  That they panic, when You run up on a school of them.  Other fish, will just swim out of the way.  But I have seen big head carp jump strait up, at least 6 or 7 feet.  And when they come out at a lower angle.  I have seen them fly at least 15 feet. I had one that was about 10 pounds land in the boat. That is what scares me.  If they hit a person in the head, or chest, it could hurt.
Life member since 04/05/1989. Samuel J.

Yellow Bear, I wasn't trying to imply anything. I just can't see killing any fish without some sort of purpose to it. We had a situation here in NY, where bowfishing is legal, where they had a competition. At the end of it they had dump truck loads of dead carp and absolutely no idea what they were going to do with them. Unacceptably bad planning, yes, but even if their original thought, which was to dispose of the carcasses in a local landfill, had been possible, it still comes back to the question being "if you have no uses for them once they're dead, WHY kill them?" Even if you were to use them as garden fertilizer, there's a purpose. Rotting in a landfill or tossed up on a bank, nothing but a huge waste for the sake of gratification.


There is no greater fisherman than "the guy here yesterday."

Stonecrusher I agree with what you are saying and I know about the Carp that are waisted in the tournaments that they have. I also agree with you about using the resource rather than just waisting it. Some of the Carp guys that I have talked with think shooting them with a Bow should be outlawed. I do not intend to just kill them and let them lay. There is nothing worse than tripping over a stinky ole fish carcass, LOL.

I am looking forward to learning from you folks how to catch them on Rod and Reel. They have got to be one of the hardest fighting fish that I have ever caught and they are not half bad on the table if you take care of them proper.

I just did not want to step on any toes here.

YellowBear NAFC. AMI. NWWF.

Yellow Bear, I think you've pretty much distilled the entire basis of the argument against bowfishing down to what it should be. I'm not a "purist" about most things, this is one of them. I don't think either camp is 100% right in their attitudes on it (pretty much how everything in life works). Having put my neck in the noose with saying that, I just ask how many bowfishermen would continue shooting ANY of the fish they target (not just carp) if they actually had to make use of every one they shot? I think the sport would go the way of the dinosaur if the guys shooting a couple hundred pounds of fish on a weekend outing a couple times a month had to do more than find someplace to get rid of them when they were done showing them off. How much carp can someone actually eat (given that you can bake it, broil it, fry it, stew it, jerk it, smoke it, and pickle it for variety)?
There is no greater fisherman than "the guy here yesterday."

I spend most of my time on a small Res, of a 127 acres. It has steep cliffs and deep water. There are 3 sandy flats with no vegitation. The population of Carp seems to be very high as we see 100s of them in a day. We see the Carp all over the Res. Deep and shallow. I seem to catch a few Carp evey year on small jigs while fishing for Bass.

My question is, were would I have the best chance at catching these fish? Some are in the 40 lb range. and , would you fish them from a boat or off the bank?

YellowBear NAFC. AMI. NWWF.

Without being able to actually put eyeballs on your reservoir, I'm just going to stick with generalities (sorry), so here goes.

Carp are wanderers, constantly foraging along like loose herds of buffalo, but they usually follow something of a "grocery trail" as they do so. Signs of actively feeding carp would be bubbles coming up from the bottom (sometimes leaving a trail of them behind like a scuba diver moving along) or unexplained clouds of muddy water. Just having carp rolling on the top, while not actually a sign of feeding that anyone knows for sure, at least tells you they're in the area for something.

With their lips pointed down, they feed predominantly (but not exclusively) on or near bottom, and their pharyngeal teeth (basically a set of molars in their throat) they're outfitted for eating things with a hard outer coating -- mollusks, crustaceans, insect larvae, so knowing where you would find these delicacies would help. Usually gravel and rock on the bottom, piles at the base of your cliffs perhaps, and anywhere you could find a transition between your sand flats and other bottom content. The top and bottom of a sharp depth change (contour break) would be good.

Time of year and water temp pretty much go hand in hand. They're very tolerant of higher water temps, but like any fish have preferences they'll head towards until forced otherwise. Spring water temps in the mid 40's to low 50's will start things off with the big females putting on the feedbag for the coming spawn in late spring. Feeding during the actual spawn is a hit or miss sort of affair, but once recovered and with water temps hitting the mid 60's to low 70's, life should be good for everyone.

Boat or shore? whichever you prefer, honestly, though a canoe could be really helpful for either. I don't own a boat, so my option is pretty well already set for me, but I like sitting on shore playing the waiting game anyway, and I've always found sitting on shore fishing bait on the bottom easier than from a boat. Where would the canoe come into play, if that's the case? Well, one of the best ways to fish for carp is to put out good quantities of free stuff in an area they're known to frequent. Gets them to stop and feed, or at least check things out in their wanderings. Much easier to pour quantities of feed corn from a bucket over the side of a canoe or rowboat than it is to try and throw it out there somehow (they actually make RC boats expressly for the purpose of baiting areas for carp for the shorebound angler).

Hope that gets you started.


There is no greater fisherman than "the guy here yesterday."

I love carp fishing!!!!!! They are such a blast and not as dumb as most people think......there are some frickin big ass carp swimming in our waters and they didn't get that big for no reason. My biggest is a 36 pounder that was 36 inches long and had a girth of 32 inches.