I've been fishing this particular river for sometime near where I live and have noticed several gianormous Carp swimming around (one was at least 36" and had to weight over 25 lbs). Well I decided that I was going to catch one of those bad boys just for the fun of the fight. So I rolled out of bed around 5am and hiked down to the area where I've seen the big daddies swimming around before. Here's what I found:

1) I threw out some Uncle Josh's Carp Bait I picked up from Wal Mart (I wasn't going to spend my time making my own dough bait) and I dang near started a feeding frenzy.

2) I baited a #6 hook so it was completely masked and tossed it in with now weights

3) After I would feel them mouth the bait a couple of times they would pick it up and start off to get away from the others and I would set the hook.

4) My drag would squeal and then the line would just snap (I was using 14lb Vanish, which I must say worked like crap. I had my drag set for about 2lbs but the fish were obviously too big and powerful.)

5) I was too dumb to stop and repeated this process 4 times in that exact order.

I must say that these fish have always been hard to get their attention with ANY kind of bait, but this Uncle Josh stuff must be "Crack for Carp." I went out today and bought 65lb Spiderwire Camo Braid, spooled it up and set my drag for about 9lbs. I'm going to give this deal a whirl tomorrow morning about the same time and see what I get. I'm trying this on light tackle for the challenge, but if them make me mad, I'm going to get my "cat rod"  or my "big wather rods" out and haul their butts in for sure.

You more experienced carp guys can offer some feedback if you have any other suggestions. But my findings are that this Uncle Josh stuff works pretty dang good.

Well I went out again this morning and had the Carp all over this bait again. I hooked my first one and this time he straitened my hook and got off the line (but my line did not break). So I "up-sized" to a #2 hook and had no more problems.

My only complaint was that I had two carp toying around with my baited hook. One was a monster and the other not so much. Well, as my luck would have it, the smaller one picked up my hook and the ensuing battle spooked every carp there. My catch was only 3lbs 10 ounces and he was only a fraction of the size of the one next to him near my hook. So I was disappointed. After that they were slow to pick up anything.

So I cast across the river near the far bank. I sat there and watched a carp play with the line for what seem like forever while I was talking with my son. Fortunately my son was paying better attention because the carp picked up the line and actually hooked himself. I had to dive to catch my rod from going in the water holder and all! He made a run straight for the log jam and "lay-downs" in water just up stream and got me tangled pretty good. So my son held the rod while I climbed out there and got him untangled and we brought him up on the bank. This one was only 3lbs 4 ounces.

Bottom line:

1) No line snaps even when the second one ran me all in the "crap." That Spiderwire braid held up nicely. My only complaint was that I couldn't cast it without adding weight, but that's a small trade off and didn't seem to have any effect to slowing down bites.

2) They eat this Uncle Josh Carp bait stuff up! These are the first two times I've fish the carp intentionally and I've heard they're not the easiest to catch because they spook so easy. Thus far, hooking them up has been a piece of cake. Now that I have a strong line and I'm using at least a #2 hook it's been surprisingly easy.

Not bad considering I had a total hook in water time of less than an hour because I had to get back and take my son to the 4th of July parade. As soon as I catch one of those mack daddy carps I'll post the pics.

Happy 4th!

The only thing I've found at my wal-marts was uncle joshs bait...But it was porks and rinds....I couldnt find the carp bait!

Guys I wrote this a couple of years ago on another site....... 

Flavoring Sweet Corn

I learned this the other night and thought I'd Post it to help folks out who have never done it. Its so simple you'd think the whole world would know , but alais I didn't and I thought it was neat. Take a can of sweet corn with Corn juice , Dump it into a plastic bag ( Ziploc style ) and then add flavoring , yeah its just that simple. Leave over night ( will test this out here shortly ) Heck i even tried some with my cryovac machine , and I will post my results once I check it. This may be one of those things everyone knew , But I didn't and thought it would be neat to post it for those who didn't


Now I have flavored sweet corn ( canned )  with plain Vanellia , Anise , or I even used pound cake flavorings.   Course just plain ole sweet corn out of the can works great! 

As for those Pre Fab  baits , IMHO its a gimmick and The only way I have got those baits to work was when the carp are piled up on top of each other and tossed it in to feed them.  But if they work in your area man go for it.  I am By No means a Pro or knwo everything Just thought I'd add some of my experience of carp fishin'

be cool and go easy......

Hey Scott,

Some very funny stories I must say. I fished for carp in England for many years if you need any help on how to fish for them just let me know. They are a very intelligent fish believe it or not, and they have some awesome power to go along with it as you have found out first hand. The best way to catch these monsters, and there are many, is to buy a bait runner reel or set your drag up so that when the fish takes the bait it can run with it. This will help tire out the fish and make it easy to bring in. Carp are primarily bottom feeders and they have a suck and blow type action when they eat this is why its best to use a "running leisure weight" with a "hair rig". as for bait the stinkier the better, Just4kix is also 100% correct they love flovoured sweetcorn, I used to use red strawberry which works great. Hope I helped out a little, good luck with the fishing iam sure you will net one of those big monsters soon..

uncle josh's carp bait is absolutely amazing!! they will eat this stuff all day. also agree that they are very intellegent fish. leave your bail open and don't stand near your rod (they can and do see you) good luck.