Tag Archives: carp bait

Think About Fish Before Fishing

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Carp fishing last week was very slow. Fisherman who are willing to pay a few dollars more for their license can fish with two poles in most waters in this state. I pay those few dollars, so I can fish with two poles. Many people do not, and the fine I was told is $140.00. The difference in dollars for the proper license makes me realize how much people are willing to gamble.

I caught only one Carp on last weeks outing. I had three more bites, but they never came to fruition. I was using two different baits, and I had one bite on each one. I caught my one Carp on corn. There were two men close by, who were wandering along the lake shore as I was. We checked up on each other through the day, to see who was catching what.

They were intent on catching Catfish, which I found odd, because they started fishing at 08:30 am. That would be late night snacking for any self respecting Catfish unless dinner fell right in front of its nose.

The two men were frustrated as they made a long drive to fish for Catfish and they were not catching any. I told them about the catfish I caught a few weeks ago in the early evening hoping they would read between the lines, but they did not. I them mentioned that Catfish were night feeders because they are not developed for capturing prey with speed, they use darkness and stealth instead. I think the men were too frustrated to realize I was telling them nicely; middle of the day is not a good Catfish fishing.

CarpThe Carp were far out in the lake. They were jumping forty or more meters from shore and on the far side of weed beds. Perhaps fishing pressure on this particular lake is heavy enough to force them from shore. I fished in close to shore on the bank side of the weeds, and the Carp were having none of it. I changed to my twelve foot Carp Rod so I can cast halfway to Texas, or at least out where the Carp are.

There is a parameter within fifty or so feet of shoreline where any fish is very wary about eating any food that is not natural. Hence my long Carp rod to get my bait well out beyond the reach of most fisherman. My non standard long rod is not normal lake fishing gear and is looked at with skepticism, until I start catching fish. It does not create believers, but it makes them wonder what my real secret is.

Fishing on the far side of a weed bed is always a challenge. Carp when hooked head right into the thick weeds. Weeds are a defense for most fish, and fish try to swim to the nearest cover when frightened. I thought I lost my one fish, but once I mowed a five foot patch of weeds down (that floated to the surface), I could feel a fish still on. It was over a six minute battle, and the fish was only average for the lake. Its size was nothing remotely close to the big carp pictures on the net. That says a lot for Carp’s ability to provide a good fight.

Taking an informal poll, I found I caught one more fish than the nine people I spoke with. That does not reflect any skill on my part, only the willingness of Carp to eat. As one of the men fishing for Catfish told me, at least I could drive home knowing I caught something. I think all the fisherman present may have caught at least one fish if they did a little homework, and thought about what they know about fishing. Catfish generally do not feed in the middle of the day. Bass are spooked by anything splashing through the the water. All fish have a healthy fear of anything unnatural near shore. Where fish are jumping is a good indicator of where there may be fish.

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Carp bait you can make when there are no Carp

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makebaitFishing a new lake is an experience in how to compete. Not competing with other fisherman, but competing with with the local food supply. I knew Catfish, Trout, and a hybrid fish named a Tiger Muskie were present, it seemed possible that Carp were around as food for the Tiger Muskie. I was wrong, there were no Carp to be found.

What there were in amazing numbers were Shad. These looked like thin silver and bronze Goldfish, but as I have never seen Shad before, I imagine they were a local variety. Thousands and thousands of minnows from an inch to perhaps three inches along the shallow shores of the lake.

Because I had some time to think about what to bring for bait to the lake, I took whole kernel corn, chicken liver, some hamburger meat mix, and a dough ball recipe I have made up that appeals to Carp here locally. I thought that even if there were no Carp, I was prepared for Trout, and Catfish. The Tiger Muskie were catch and release, and I did not want to spend money on the wire leaders, spoons, and lures to be able hook and land these toothy fish.

What I did not prepare for were the Shad. I knew when I saw bigger fish in the shallows, herding and charging the swarms of minnows that it was going to be a tough day fishing. It is very hard to entice fish to take your artificial bait when they have an endless supply of minnows to feed upon.

I fished shallows, and deeper water. While moving about I watched what baits different fisherman were using. I felt more confident, that if I caught even one fish, I would be one fish ahead of them. Like many people who want to fish, but do not think about fishing, they had wares from local stores. In their arsenal were jars of Norman’s never fail catfish bait, Steve’s smells like manure but still catches fish, and Marvin’s dead pickled minnows.

Store bought fish bait is about the same as buying a car. The car you buy is unique until you drive it off the lot. Then you realize that every third car is exactly like yours. Store baits are the same way, even chicken liver to some extent. On lakes with heavy fishing pressure, whatever you buy off the shelf gives off a, “Danger Will Robinson” alert as soon as it hits the water.

My hamburger meat mix, and chicken livers were ignored by everything except the Crayfish. I knew Crayfish were present, but I had no idea they were so numerous. This indeed was making a Carp fishing trip hard, being there were no Carp, literally tons of minnows, and aggressive Crayfish.

All I had left was my dough bait. I knew it should be attractive to Trout because it is corn based, but probably so does almost every off the shelf Trout bait. I did not think crayfish would care for it, but I was not sure. That left me with using dough bait hoping to entice a Catfish or two.

Putting a dough ball on a bare hook was working but not too well. I was not sure if I was losing my dough ball to the flooded bushes and grasses or Crayfish, but I was losing dough quickly. One of the things people do in this situation is put something hard on their hook first and mold their other bait around it.

I tried putting corn on first, but the dough was firm and crushed the corn. Next were some corn pops I carried along just in case. They worked, but did not seem to provide any inspiration for the fish. Maybe corn was a danger signal too. I had some chocolate puffs too, and they were the magic I needed though I am not sure why. I caught the only two fish of the day, both catfish, one about four pounds and the second about eight pounds. Very healthy, fat and well fed.

In every lake or pond you fish there are certain flavors fish can not resist. I think it is more a nutrition thing than good taste, because I have found I catch less but bigger fish using tailored dough ball ingredients. If you think and experiment, I believe it is likely that you can easily develop you own killer bait for use where you fish. Throw what local fisherman tell you out the window, unless they have the fish to back up their statements. Every fish needs something they have to search out. When you provide that food, whether or not it is a natural bait, you are on your way to catching fish while others fail to get a bite.

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Food We Eat And Making Carp Bait

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I was searching for ingredients for making my own carp fishing bait over the last weeks as time and interest permitted. I was led indirectly to look up amino acids as the basic building blocks of life and health for any living animal. I found a web page listing ten amino acids as essential to health.

The amino acids determined by the web page to be essential to health are: Arginine, Histidine, Isoleucine, Leucine, Lysine, Methionine, Phenylalanine, Threonine, Tryptophan, Valine. That is about all I know about them except I recognize a few of the names from whatever reading about health I have done in the past, or looking through the endless rows of little bottles at health food stores. Some of these items are very expensive, and none of them are cheap.

I decided I was making this too hard, and started looking at basic foods and the amino acids they contain. I hit pay dirt, and I was pretty surprised because companies selling these amino acids leave it open to the possibility that some required amino acids are hard to come by in our normal diet. One of the foods was interesting because it seemed from my understanding of the studies I read (totally a layman’s reading), one of the foods has more of these amino acids available cooked raw. It also happens we only eat it cooked when we have a choice.

I believe going by what I have read and understood, is we naturally do a great job of making sure we are getting everything we need in our diet to survive and thrive in general. I believe this is another case of savvy marketing and greed at work, making us think that in our normal diets we do not receive all the nutrition we need. What did surprise me was wheat grains are not among the basic foods supplying the most amino acids for us.

The four foods I found to provide most of the amino acids considered essential are contained in nothing more than foods I enjoy eating and are part of everyones diet that tries to eat properly. I did not venture too far into many other foods because my intent was looking for foods attractive to carp, not a study of my own diet.

junkfood1So what are these foods that supply our bodies with everything we need in the way of essential amino acids? I think you will be surprised as I was. The four foods I looked up first, and the four foods that together supply everything we need are: Broccoli, Cauliflower, Corn, Potato. Corn and potato are pretty much a staple food in the northern hemisphere, so it should not have been a surprise to me that they are essential foods for us.

I did look up a few other foods out of curiosity because they show in some carp bait recipes, but I am guessing they are there for other reasons than for their completeness in containing essential amino acids. The exception and most surprising food was egg white. Egg white contains all the essential amino acids needed for life. I have no doubt that the egg yolk also contains other essential items we need to live. After I read it, I thought how obvious, egg is the way almost all living things start their journey into this world.

Carp bait making aside, it appears to me that if we are doing the minimum to eat right, and eat as many different foods as we enjoy or can afford, we are receiving everything we need to be healthy and happy, and giving our bodies everything it needs to survive and thrive.

The human side of good health aside, some items come up frequently for carp bait that do not seem to have much to do with complete nutrition. I am guessing from knowing what I know about my own eating habits that we do not always eat foods that are the most complete nutritionally. Sometime we eat certain foods just because they taste good.

Occasionally foods or flavors such as sugar, vanilla or chili, are addicting, and we will pass by better food to eat foods containing certain flavors we love to taste. It has been suspected since I was a child that some pet foods contained flavorings or additives to trigger a eating response in our pets. I do not think the jump from pet food to our food is so great that some commercial foods do not intentionally contain flavors or ingredients for no other reason that we prefer to eat it over other foods without it.

It seems obvious to me that whether you are trying to eat well, or design a killer homemade carp bait, you know everything you need to know by default. Looking at your own diet, and using a variety of common foods is all you need to know, the rest is in the details. It is possible that I am all wet, in both basic nutrition and homemade carp bait, but I do not think so.

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