Finding New Carp Spots In the Suburban Midwest

Finding New Carp Spots In the Suburban Midwest

Carp by far have had a bad rap in the US. Sure the big head and silvers need to go. But the common carp has been around for years and is not going anywhere. So since it is staying around you might as well swallow your carp suck state of mind and start fishing for the brutes. I am a multi-species fisherman and I can tell you that carp whether I like it or not fight harder than almost all of the other species. 

While I have been out bass fishing or crappie fishing I have seen carp, especially on those rainy days. I am sure that many of you have too. The majority of retention ponds in my area have some carp. Some lakes have more than others. The cool part about this is; is that most of these lakes the carp is completely un-pressured. So a little recon, prep, and planning and a lake you hardly fish can become a hard fighting carp battle arena!!

I wanted to prove this new carp spot theory so I went back to visit this corporate lake I had only caught a few bass in. This lake since I had never done well bass fishing was on my D list. However I did see carp there once.

The night before my first trip I walked the shoreline that had two pipes and chummed three cans of corn and about a quart bag of corn boilies. The second trip when I met some DupageAngler.com members I did about the same thing. 

I arrived armed with my Pivothead glasses, rods and net. We used float set-ups with Raven floats and some others as well as fished the bottom with a simple slip weight rig. I used supplies from Big Carp Tackle.com. I used hair-rigs some I purchased and some I made myself. One of the float rods I used high viz yellow Raven float line so I could see it in the low light before sunrise. The baits we used were bread, corn, and boilies. The boilies that worked best were the corn, pineapple, and strawberry flavors.

In these two trips to a lake I had never fish for carp before we landed and lost several big carp!! It was 
a blast!! Below is a video of those two sessions and a video where I catch a fish one the fish josh lost 
about a half hour later.

Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime

The saying goes "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime."

Perhaps my most rewarding guide experience come when I teach somehow to just fish. This feeling of pure awesomeness is double when it is passed on to a child.

Many of my clients come to me and say "my kid wants to fish." These fisherman are either brand new themselves or just have never gone.

There is two ways these trips work either both the parent and child go on the adventure or just the parent comes and they "Teach a man to fish."

Tom called me and wanted to be able to take his kids out an teach them himself. So he and I when float fishing for bass and bluegills. OK ok I will be honest my plan was crappie but they where not in on my glorious plans.

We used basic tackle and started from the beginning, how to hold the reel and how to cast. Then we talked about the different life baits; what they are used for and how they should be presented. We then moved onto floats and their differences and uses. After that it was shotting and hooks. What size how deep etc.

We went to a pond in my old neighborhood where i grew up. We set our rods up and learned quickly the crappie where either not around or were just negative. The little yellow spotted traitors!!

Soon enough floats started disappearing and the bass and gills came in a hurry. We caught fish on worms, minnows, and waxies. The gills were just beautiful. They were big, fat, and pretty. 

There was a 3 foot spot next to some weeds where Tom must have caught 15 gills. It was like the fish version of a clown car. We even caught the same fish twice!

We traded stories and got to know one another. It was a really fun morning. When our time was up we took a pic, traded info, and said farewell.

A few weeks letter I received a very cool thank you email. Tom said how much fun he had and that he took his son to a local park and they both caught some bass and blue gills. He also attached some pics. I have to tell you that just makes me feel awesome. To see knowledge of something you are passionate about shared like that is the absolute best!

If you are looking for a new local adventure or you children are asking to go fishing please give me a call we will have a blast!!