⁹I am currently fishing a resevior around 60-80 acres it's in the USA so it is fished but I can pretty grantee no one has ever fished it for carp. Over here it's all public waters and carp get ignored most people have no idea they are even around, so I flew a drone over in the spring to confirm there was carp the most I saw was 12 at one time. In May I caught 2 in back to back sessions a low and mid double and was seeing them regularly. The area I was fishing was around 3-5 feet deep very weed and against pads since mid June the water level has dropped at least 2 feet and gone murky and that end of the lake kinda seems stagnant. With the water level down I felt like I should move around the lake. I moved up the top end of the lake which is more open and the wind gets on and found a guly that feels harder with no weed and found a little gravel spot in 9-10 feet of water and have been fishing that the last few weeks.
I havent seen a show or any activity or anything to act on since june, i am running out of ideas and wondered if anyone had any input. I have been regularly baiting spots with a mix of hemp, Tigers, pigeon conditioner, boilies and maize. The resevior has 2 dams either end as marked in red but there is no flow from either due to low water level. The lake is mostly around 3-4 feet and very weedy. The blue outline is all around 6 feet deep and weedy, the grey mark is the guly I found it around 9-10 feet but is surrounded by weed and shallower. The lake also has lots of lily beds as marked in green. My thinking is the fish have pushed down in deeper water as the temperatures have been 80-100 degrees constantly for the last month. I have done a overnighter thinking the cool temperatures would help and have walked the lake multiple times and turned up at sun rise to look for signs but hasn't helped. Looking for any advice from someone that has fished a similar place, sorry about the lost winded post just wanted to try and give as much information as possible. Thanks in advance.
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I havent seen a show or any activity or anything to act on since june, i am running out of ideas and wondered if anyone had any input. I have been regularly baiting spots with a mix of hemp, Tigers, pigeon conditioner, boilies and maize. The resevior has 2 dams either end as marked in red but there is no flow from either due to low water level. The lake is mostly around 3-4 feet and very weedy. The blue outline is all around 6 feet deep and weedy, the grey mark is the guly I found it around 9-10 feet but is surrounded by weed and shallower. The lake also has lots of lily beds as marked in green. My thinking is the fish have pushed down in deeper water as the temperatures have been 80-100 degrees constantly for the last month. I have done a overnighter thinking the cool temperatures would help and have walked the lake multiple times and turned up at sun rise to look for signs but hasn't helped. Looking for any advice from someone that has fished a similar place, sorry about the lost winded post just wanted to try and give as much information as possible. Thanks in advance.
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In reply to Post #1
Just keep on doing what you are doing Fishing, looking, listening and walking the banks as much as you can.
Eventually you will locate feeding fish.
Keep your bait and rigs strong and simple
I'd concentrate on the slightly deeper water whilst it is hot.
Just keep on doing what you are doing Fishing, looking, listening and walking the banks as much as you can.
Eventually you will locate feeding fish.
Keep your bait and rigs strong and simple
I'd concentrate on the slightly deeper water whilst it is hot.
In reply to Post #1
Get the drone back up and find them! I know bow fishing is popular in the states so is there a possibility they've been killed and removed by this method?
Sounds like you're doing everything right, conventionally anyway. Just have to keep looking in every bit of the lake you can until you find them. Don't ignore anywhere.
Get the drone back up and find them! I know bow fishing is popular in the states so is there a possibility they've been killed and removed by this method?
Sounds like you're doing everything right, conventionally anyway. Just have to keep looking in every bit of the lake you can until you find them. Don't ignore anywhere.
In reply to Post #3
Although bow fishing is legal in Massachusetts where I fish it's not as much as a problem as southern states very rare you hear about it around here, plus this resevior is no boats so it would make it hard so I very much doubt it has been bow fished.
Although bow fishing is legal in Massachusetts where I fish it's not as much as a problem as southern states very rare you hear about it around here, plus this resevior is no boats so it would make it hard so I very much doubt it has been bow fished.
In reply to Post #1
You say it is fished by others. What are they fishing for?
Is it worth having a chat to see if they've picked up carp while fishing for other species? Not sure about the US carp but British ones will eat most things. (Might not work if it's bass / lure fishing)
Could be a way of finding out where they have been.
You say it is fished by others. What are they fishing for?
Is it worth having a chat to see if they've picked up carp while fishing for other species? Not sure about the US carp but British ones will eat most things. (Might not work if it's bass / lure fishing)
Could be a way of finding out where they have been.
In reply to Post #1
Like the great man says, find em, feed em and catch em
Nothing wrong with the pre bait
The fish will see zero pressure so I would be looking on the windward banks or watching the weather and getting that bank baited ready for the change in direction and be on it. If you fish try and get a good vantage point, sit and look, take some binos, you need one sign, that's it and you can start to put a picture together
As the words at the top, it is so true. As anglers we can become stagnant or set in our ways and camping certainly does not help. The number of times I have moved and caught in no time at all is unreal. It's simple. You have to be on fish, not fish but feeding fish and if you are you can catch them in minutes!
Fishing is about learning and I can think of countless situations where I have learned things. I once fished a near 80 acre water park big wide expanse of a water, days only, walked it and found a few spots I fancied, after a couple of months of blanking I was sat there behind the rods, fish stuck its head out about 50 yds down the windward bank that I was looking across at. I thought right, I will bait that spot so I filled it in. Went down the next day set up and walked the baits out in chesties so they were past swan depth, there were loads of swans, pain in the arse.I dropped a rig with a 20 mm bait on it, as I turned around and just started to walk back to my rods, stunning scaly carp of around 20 pounds swims behind me, 10 minutes later it was in the net!!! I took a few fish from this spot when the conditions were right so that's a little lesson of how hard but easy it can be. Straight on the boilie too and I have found this common with inpressure fish
I would rather spend 4 hours watching at the right times nowadays than 12 hours behind rods blanking, as I get older I don't see the point, I can walk the dog and do all the watching I want and fish when I want, and still blank lol
The best tool in the box for any carp angler are your eyes, and I mean proper watching and looking, £1000s worth of gear on the bank don't mean jack **** other than people look the part.
Like the great man says, find em, feed em and catch em
Nothing wrong with the pre bait
The fish will see zero pressure so I would be looking on the windward banks or watching the weather and getting that bank baited ready for the change in direction and be on it. If you fish try and get a good vantage point, sit and look, take some binos, you need one sign, that's it and you can start to put a picture together
As the words at the top, it is so true. As anglers we can become stagnant or set in our ways and camping certainly does not help. The number of times I have moved and caught in no time at all is unreal. It's simple. You have to be on fish, not fish but feeding fish and if you are you can catch them in minutes!
Fishing is about learning and I can think of countless situations where I have learned things. I once fished a near 80 acre water park big wide expanse of a water, days only, walked it and found a few spots I fancied, after a couple of months of blanking I was sat there behind the rods, fish stuck its head out about 50 yds down the windward bank that I was looking across at. I thought right, I will bait that spot so I filled it in. Went down the next day set up and walked the baits out in chesties so they were past swan depth, there were loads of swans, pain in the arse.I dropped a rig with a 20 mm bait on it, as I turned around and just started to walk back to my rods, stunning scaly carp of around 20 pounds swims behind me, 10 minutes later it was in the net!!! I took a few fish from this spot when the conditions were right so that's a little lesson of how hard but easy it can be. Straight on the boilie too and I have found this common with inpressure fish
I would rather spend 4 hours watching at the right times nowadays than 12 hours behind rods blanking, as I get older I don't see the point, I can walk the dog and do all the watching I want and fish when I want, and still blank lol
The best tool in the box for any carp angler are your eyes, and I mean proper watching and looking, £1000s worth of gear on the bank don't mean jack **** other than people look the part.
In reply to Post #1
I've euro carp fished out in states in a similar type scenario, low pressure , no bow fishing. For me I think the prebating can help, but would do it very close to the days I was fishing. In a big sheet of water they will eat it and move on, and won't hang around long. Seems like the dam walls would be natural holding spots, but given the relatively warm weather id imagine in and around lilly pads , possible nearest a big weed bed would be a decent shout if you can find one....have you tried a method feeder / pack bait round a lead or even some big PVA bags into likely spots would be my best bet. Make em oily with tuna oil, bait dip etc and cast them in then move every hour. If you can't get on them through site alone. You need to have a style that will allow you to move quickly and also have some attraction around the hookbait. I would go XL PVA bag with crumb and boilie in with a high attract pop up as hookbait.
I've euro carp fished out in states in a similar type scenario, low pressure , no bow fishing. For me I think the prebating can help, but would do it very close to the days I was fishing. In a big sheet of water they will eat it and move on, and won't hang around long. Seems like the dam walls would be natural holding spots, but given the relatively warm weather id imagine in and around lilly pads , possible nearest a big weed bed would be a decent shout if you can find one....have you tried a method feeder / pack bait round a lead or even some big PVA bags into likely spots would be my best bet. Make em oily with tuna oil, bait dip etc and cast them in then move every hour. If you can't get on them through site alone. You need to have a style that will allow you to move quickly and also have some attraction around the hookbait. I would go XL PVA bag with crumb and boilie in with a high attract pop up as hookbait.
sounds like a fair few of the lakes we have north of the border
the warm weather we have in the summers will push the fish to the deeper water as this will be where the oxygen content will be most stable when it's searing hot - the carp, mussels & crays like the cooler water too. shallow water is only for the spring in the lead up to spawning. stick to the gullys & the deeper area's IMO.
the drone will help for sure - get it up & look for muddy water.
your bait sounds fine - how much are you putting out? big hits? I have no problems tipping in a couple of 5 gallon Home Depot buckets a couple of days before a trip.
stick to tigers & corn stacks for baits - tried & tested!
when are you fishing? might be worth a few morning trips with no rods & watching the water as the sun comes up to look for shows.
the warm weather we have in the summers will push the fish to the deeper water as this will be where the oxygen content will be most stable when it's searing hot - the carp, mussels & crays like the cooler water too. shallow water is only for the spring in the lead up to spawning. stick to the gullys & the deeper area's IMO.
the drone will help for sure - get it up & look for muddy water.
your bait sounds fine - how much are you putting out? big hits? I have no problems tipping in a couple of 5 gallon Home Depot buckets a couple of days before a trip.
stick to tigers & corn stacks for baits - tried & tested!
when are you fishing? might be worth a few morning trips with no rods & watching the water as the sun comes up to look for shows.
In reply to Post #1
I have no idea what other species you have in there, but if you're constantly topping up an area with maize and it's not getting eaten it can really make an area rank. I made this mistake one year.
I have no idea what other species you have in there, but if you're constantly topping up an area with maize and it's not getting eaten it can really make an area rank. I made this mistake one year.
That's everyone for the advice, I guess I'll keep walking it and hopefully see something it has helped me feel more confident in deeper water because its cool with more oxygen which was my thinking also. I don't think the drone would work with how murky the water is and I bought it to look for carp but more for getting a idea of stock because over here you hear people talk of huge carp they see and they could only be low doubles because they fish for bass and a huge bass is 5lb. It may sound strange but I don't know how I feel about flying the drone finding a fish and casting on them feels a little unfair I more have it to make sure the lake I hear rumors about has carp before I waste a lot of time and effort.
To answer some questions people fish this lake but mainly for small mouth, large mouth bass and pickeral (like a small pike) so they are all using lures so the chances on them hooking one is slim.
Someone mentioned maize sitting rotting on the bottom this isn't a worry because the lake has these small chub like fish I've seen them eat maize in the margins and also the lake is full of small and large snapping turtles which will again eat it. I have also baited spots away from my main spot with pure maize and used smaller particle on the spot im fishing to keep snapping turtles off my spot because I feel they scare carp off.
To answer some questions people fish this lake but mainly for small mouth, large mouth bass and pickeral (like a small pike) so they are all using lures so the chances on them hooking one is slim.
Someone mentioned maize sitting rotting on the bottom this isn't a worry because the lake has these small chub like fish I've seen them eat maize in the margins and also the lake is full of small and large snapping turtles which will again eat it. I have also baited spots away from my main spot with pure maize and used smaller particle on the spot im fishing to keep snapping turtles off my spot because I feel they scare carp off.
In reply to Post #10
An unfinished lake is a great challenge that sometimes can be though and fascinating at the same time. Continue to visit the lake in search of carp signs, it's not a waste of time at all, when you find some of them start from that area and see how it goes.
What I get is that the lake isn't really deep, but fish the deepest area could be the right way during warm weather. Depending how many rods you fish is better if you try different places or deep, I'd put one rod just when the weedbed ends in front of the deepest area. Don't put all the rod in the same places as some dictate in their vids, but give to you more chance to get a carp eat your hookbait fishing different spots.
The murky water could be the fish eating on the bottom mainly carp, have you find what kind of natural food they have in the lake?
Do you fish solely during the day or during the night as well?
Just out of curiosity I searched Massachusetts on Google maps, that's an angling heaven, you have an incredible amount of lakes surrounded by forest, amazing! If they are public lakes rarely fished for carp you are surely spoiled for choice.
An unfinished lake is a great challenge that sometimes can be though and fascinating at the same time. Continue to visit the lake in search of carp signs, it's not a waste of time at all, when you find some of them start from that area and see how it goes.
What I get is that the lake isn't really deep, but fish the deepest area could be the right way during warm weather. Depending how many rods you fish is better if you try different places or deep, I'd put one rod just when the weedbed ends in front of the deepest area. Don't put all the rod in the same places as some dictate in their vids, but give to you more chance to get a carp eat your hookbait fishing different spots.
The murky water could be the fish eating on the bottom mainly carp, have you find what kind of natural food they have in the lake?
Do you fish solely during the day or during the night as well?
Just out of curiosity I searched Massachusetts on Google maps, that's an angling heaven, you have an incredible amount of lakes surrounded by forest, amazing! If they are public lakes rarely fished for carp you are surely spoiled for choice.
In reply to Post #11
I've pulled weed in and seen little shrimp and have pulled in one or 2 bloodworms in the silt with a grappling lead. I mainly fish days try and get there before first light, it's hard to do nights as carp fishing isnt that popular so setting up a bivvy would seem strange to most people around. You are allowed to night fish but most of these public reseviors have rules of no overnight camping so there's that fine line between the two I have done a overnighter before.
Yeah there is a lot of water around I lived here 8 years before I really found out there was carp around here and in the last 2 years it's been crazy that I now know there is carp in waters I have driven past so many times without a clue. The other problem is the carp aren't protected at all, legally you could turn up catch 20 and kill them all, as someone else mentioned bow fishing them is legal so people are more secretive because of that so finding new waters can be a challenge but there is a lot of movement here to protect carp and support catch and release and in Massachusetts the attitude to carp is better than the southern states which consider them "invasive" even through they have been here since the late 1800s.
I've pulled weed in and seen little shrimp and have pulled in one or 2 bloodworms in the silt with a grappling lead. I mainly fish days try and get there before first light, it's hard to do nights as carp fishing isnt that popular so setting up a bivvy would seem strange to most people around. You are allowed to night fish but most of these public reseviors have rules of no overnight camping so there's that fine line between the two I have done a overnighter before.
Yeah there is a lot of water around I lived here 8 years before I really found out there was carp around here and in the last 2 years it's been crazy that I now know there is carp in waters I have driven past so many times without a clue. The other problem is the carp aren't protected at all, legally you could turn up catch 20 and kill them all, as someone else mentioned bow fishing them is legal so people are more secretive because of that so finding new waters can be a challenge but there is a lot of movement here to protect carp and support catch and release and in Massachusetts the attitude to carp is better than the southern states which consider them "invasive" even through they have been here since the late 1800s.
In reply to Post #12
Probably during the hot weather, for some reasons, they are feeding by night. In some waters is an usual behavior, if that's the case fishing in the daylight could be frustrating, maybe I'd narrow the fishing hours from dawn to late morning.
I'm pretty sure that the mulky water is because of the carp eating in the silty bottom in search of bloodworm or other larvae, I fished a lake in the past where we could see the cloud of silt rising from the bottom when the carp are eating in the silt, we could follow the route they did watching the cloud for hours.
If you can fish by night, but camping isn't allowed, if is safe for you, you can stay on the bank without a brolly, a bedchair or an hammock is enough in the summer. Usually I don't use a brolly from May to October.
Good luck for your challenge
Probably during the hot weather, for some reasons, they are feeding by night. In some waters is an usual behavior, if that's the case fishing in the daylight could be frustrating, maybe I'd narrow the fishing hours from dawn to late morning.
I'm pretty sure that the mulky water is because of the carp eating in the silty bottom in search of bloodworm or other larvae, I fished a lake in the past where we could see the cloud of silt rising from the bottom when the carp are eating in the silt, we could follow the route they did watching the cloud for hours.
If you can fish by night, but camping isn't allowed, if is safe for you, you can stay on the bank without a brolly, a bedchair or an hammock is enough in the summer. Usually I don't use a brolly from May to October.
Good luck for your challenge
Just a update:
After 2 months of walking it once or twice a week and fishing it occasionally, I finally had some results 4 fish in a 8 hour day session. Fished the middle of the lake found two spots one a little gravel spots with some clay around it and a silty spot caught 2 off both spots. Prior until today the last 2 months I have only seen 1 show and nothing else did a lot of marker work. Thanks for everyone's help been frustrating at times seeing nothing and feeling like i waswasting my time so I figured I'd give a update after today.
After 2 months of walking it once or twice a week and fishing it occasionally, I finally had some results 4 fish in a 8 hour day session. Fished the middle of the lake found two spots one a little gravel spots with some clay around it and a silty spot caught 2 off both spots. Prior until today the last 2 months I have only seen 1 show and nothing else did a lot of marker work. Thanks for everyone's help been frustrating at times seeing nothing and feeling like i waswasting my time so I figured I'd give a update after today.
In reply to Post #14
Nice one mate.
Nice one mate.