Few freshwater fish in the United States are as widespread, fight as hard, or reach size of the carp. Yet, most American anglers will decline, even scorn, an offer to fish for carp. Nevertheless, carp fishing is gaining popularity across the nation for a variety of reasons.
The formidable size and ferocious fighting power are the two main reasons carp are rising in popularity. The two types of large carp in Texas – the Grass Carp and Common Carp – are regularly caught at fifteen to 25 pounds with many cases of carp up to 40 pounds being landed. Common Carp are more widespread.
Carp Fishing Methods are Simple
The beauty of carp fishing lies in its simplicity. The bass fisherman can leave his fancy crank baits, expensive rattle traps, and twitch worms at home. The catfish angler need not bring his stinky blood baits or squirming night crawlers. The bare minimum carp angler can succeed with a small hook, weight, and some pieces of sweet corn.
Of course there are many other types of bait carp are likely to bite on including: cubed potatoes, cheese, balls of bread, even hot dogs. The carp is a voracious bottom feeder, combing across the lakebed, sucking up, and tasting any possible food source. Similar to a catfish, another bottom feeder, the best presentation for bait is to plainly let it sit motionless on the flood. An easy rig is a sliding weight behind a single, small baited hook.
Refined European Carp Fishing Methods
The French and English have refined the art of carp fishing; indeed, carp fishing is, and has been for decades, the most popular game fish in Europe. The horizontal rod holder is a commonly used device. It usually holds two or three rods horizontally, pointing towards the underwater bait thereby eliminating excess slack.
For bait the Europeans have designed special dough baits and boilies. Specifically designed for carp, boilies are basically a small, round dough bait that has been boiled with eggs, hence the name, to form a tougher bait which stays together underwater.
The hair rig is a commonly used setup specifically for carp fishing. In this rig the bait is tied to the end of the line with a bare hook hanging just below. Carp will regularly suck in and spit out food while they eat. By leaving the hook bare below the bait, as the carp spits out the food the bare hook will catch.
Carp Fishing Explodes In America
The explosion of carp anglers in America can be attributed to a single carp fishing competition. In 2006 the American Carp Society sponsored a carp fishing competition in Town Lake (now Lady Bird Lake) in Austin, Texas. At that competition, Al St. Cyr landed a 43.18 lb Common Carp. St. Cyr’s catch not only won the competition, it broke the existing state record and netted St. Cyr a $250,000 payout. This was the largest dollar value win for a carp in United States history.
Carp fishing can be as sophisticated or as simple as you want it to be; regardless, the most important part is enjoyment.
David Barer - David is currently a freelance writer. He contributes to the Blogger News Network at www.bloggernews.net and ...
