matt

Thought I would share these videos made by a carp angler in Western PA.  Very detailed and helpful videos for understanding how to use grits. 

 

I've caught a ton ofcarp on grits and have seen first hand at carp fishing tournaments how the right application of grits can destroy the competition.  I usually use the mesh pva grit sticks, but I've the packbait is a cheaper, and sometimes more effective alternative.  Awesome springtime bait.

 

 

Last week Louis and I headed to West Virginia to do some carping, camping and fishing for other species. One of the main reasons we selected West Virginia is because it was a state neither of us had ever visited, and most importantly, we had never caught a carp there. In doing research, I wanted to identify a lake that had promising BIG CARP attributes. Finding virgin big carp lakes is quite difficult because good info is highly scarce. Fishery biologists rarely report on carp populations. Second hand information from other anglers is always jaded because a 10lb carp is usually 40lbs in the eyes of a bass angler.

I honed in a few lakes in WV that had the physical and environmental attributes I think promote the growth of big carps - overall high average depth (relative lack of shallow water); cold water; trophy smallmouth; abundance of cold water predators (muskie, lake trout, pike, walleye etc...); and rocky/gravel shoreline. I researched the lakes and specifically focused on bow fishing forums to get a sense of the carp populations in some of the West Virginia waters I was eyeing. One lake in particular stood out due to its very rocky and cliff like shoreline, but, I only found one singular bowfishing report from the lake, and some chatter of big fish there. We were sold on the adventure of exploring a large, unknown, untapped lake. It also helped that this lake in WV had quality waterfront camping opportunities.

last Wednesday we set off on a 7.5 hour drive at 5am. We were set up and had our rods in the water by 4pm that day. In conversations with a few people at the campground, it was confirmed that carp were indeed present and some big ones had been caught nearby. The first guy told us a huge carp was recently caught that was probably 74lbs. The second guy told us a story about how his grand daughter caught one (from our campsite) that had a head so big, it wouldn't even fit in a 40 gallon cooler, and it was easily over 40lbs. So, based on information from locals, we could expect the average sized carp to be somewhere in the mid-50lb range!!! We did eventually see a picture of a carp caught by the one gentleman's grand daughter, and it did actually appear to be a plausible 30lb fish.

The nice part about West Virginia is there is no rod limit on non-trout waters. I fished three rods and Louis fished four rods. We were fishing near the mouth of one of the numerous fingers on the lake. The one problem we encountered was the lake was in the process of being drawn down to winter pool (they do heavy fall releases of water for white water rafting). The finger we were fishing was rediculously deep. According to Navionics, it was nearly 70ft deep in the middle of the finger. We baited up with boilies, maize, hemp seed, tiger nuts and pellets. We both fished a variety of baits hoping to find the right one.

The first two days of fishing was pretty darn slow. A few catfish here and there. And we hit the tailrace of the lake. Louis did pretty good at the tailrace, catching some smallies, walleye and a few brook trout. I only managed a few small smallmouth. We also did some bass fishing on the lake, floating small sunfish under big floats. Using that technique, I managed a decent smallie and a largie. The benefit of slow fishing is a good night's rest. My alarms never woke me up overnight, which was both peaceful and highly dissappointing. We both assumed night time would be the right time, because the water is so clear on the lake, we figured these fish would be nocturnal feeders.

We got hit with a pretty hard storm and we both ended up sequestered in our respective shelters for the second night and most of the third day. Rain is ver soothing to me, and somehow I ended up pulling a rip van winkle and slept for like 17 hours. The rain finally stopped on the third evening and we were still carpless. Fortunately, ample amounts of Busch and plenty of good, camp fire cooked food kept our spirits high. That night, I mixed up a bait mixture of grits, oats, corn, and crushed tiger nuts and heavily flavored it with a red peach bait mixture. The hook bait was a glow-in-the-dark single peice of pop-up fake corn (affectionately known as a "glow jawn"). There was something about this rig and bait that gave me confidence - and for some reason, predicting success, I took a picture of it. About 2 hours after I casted it out into about 25 feet of crystal clear, moon-lit lake water, I had a solid run. As soon as I picked up my rod, it felt like a heavy fish. It didn't run really hard, just slow and steady. Once we got it in the net, I felt the sweet relief of actually catching a decent-szed fish at a new place, in a new state. Success. Once we got the fish in the mat, I was surprised at how LONG the fish was was. It was probably over 40", but I didn't measure it. It was also a young looking fish, with a giant head and it looked like it still had some growing to do. The fish ended up weighing 30lbs even (Louis would probably tell you it was a 29lbs and 15 ounces). We were stoked to say the least! at that point we knew our research and intuition was right - this was a big fish water. On the Schuylkill, it took me almost eight years and thousands of fish to catch my first 30lber. On this lake, all I needed was one run.

Sadly, the last day and a half of the trip went by and we didn't catch anymore carp. None the less, we were very excited by our discovery we'll be back for the 40s next spring! Now I can add West Virginia to my list of states from which I've caught a carp over 30lbs! I am up to five states now (NY, TN, VA, WV and PA).

I have 2 tickets section 424 row 6 for Tuesday 9/25.  $25 face value.  I'm offering a buy one get one free deal - both tickets for $25! Pick up in center city.

I don't want to go because I am leaving very early Wed morning for a fishing trip in West Virginia.

Did a typical long shoobie weekend at the beach at my family's house. Hit a South Jersey inlet every morning for about 3-4 hours starting just before sun up. Every day I had pretty solid action fishing 4" chartruese gulps. Mostly short fluke, but I had a couple small blues and two small weakfish, which was cool, since I never caught one before. Nothing for the table and I didn't bother taking pictures. None the less, tough to beat decent action and nice weather. Looking forward to hitting the salt again this fall for some more futile attempts at rockfish from the sand.