Warning! The following blog contains language that may be offensive to some readers! Discretion is advised!
Okay, let's get the bad language out of the way right now:
- Carp
- Bait
If those two words didn't make you swoon, then feel free to read on.
Why Carp, and Why Bait?
I want to point out that the only non-fly rods I now own are used for carp, jetty fishing, and surf perch. And I don't do much of any of those things. Really. Honest. I sold all my other bait/spinning gear and donated the proceeds to charity. Really. Honest.
However, my winter fishing experimental ace-in-the-hole for this year was bait fishing for carp on the Willamette. The theory went like this:
- It was close to home.
- Itcould be done in a couple of otherwise idle hours.
- It should work when the local steelhead rivers are blown-out.
- I'd learn a little more about carp habits, and that knowledge would valuable when it was time to fly fish for them.
But winter carping didn't work out. I couldn't find the buggers when the water temp got below the mid-40s. Perhaps they were all on the bottom waiting for warmer water.
So last Saturday afternoon I had a few free hours and decided to go to the Willamette and see if things had changed since my last (futile) carp attempt three weeks ago. Although Saturday was forecast to be on the cool side, it had been warmish the day before and I reasoned that the water would be above 45 degrees by midday. Besides, spring is mating season for carp, and some of those randy devils might be eating, among other activities.
I put my boat in at Cedar Oak, which is less than ten minutes from my house, and turned on the fish finder. Motoring slowly over some likely spots revealed a few fish of indeterminate species. Hmmm; could be carp. Might be promising.
Carp Tactics the English Way
My carp fishing is done in the English style:
- Rod perpendicular to the bank and resting on two bank sticks (high tech versions of forked sticks).
- 12-foot rod and spinning reel loaded with 8-pound mono
- Split shot on a dropper six inches above size-4 Octopus hook
- Bread crust for bait
- Cast out, let the bait and weight sink, then tighten the line so the rod tip has a slight bend
- Pull some line off the reel and clip it in a bite indicator. The bite indicator is heavy enough to hold the line down, but light enough to let the line move when you have a bite.
Bites are detected in two ways: either the rod tip twitches, and the bite indicator goes up; or the rod tip straightens and the bite indicator goes down. This latter happens if a fish takes the bait and moves towards you. Sometimes I use an elegant English-style balsawood float.
I learned this style of fishing from my English friend, Martin James. He gave me the rod and the floats. The rest of the gear I ordered off the internet because no store in Oregon carries it ("A float? We have these big plastic red-and-white bobbers. Bank sticks? Can't you just cut up an old forked tree branch?")
By Northwest standards, my carp fishing is pretty fancy-pants. By European standards, it's kindergarten stuff. Carp are the number one sportfish in Europe. The Brits get way more sophisticated than my fishing, but their carp are far more educated and harder to catch.
For bait, I use crusty French bread, preferably little baguettes. There's a trick to getting the right amount of bread and to putting it on the hook. If you're really interested, I'll tell you how to do this and show photos of my rig, but I figure I've already used up all the goodwill and patience I'm entitled to today.
The Bread of Life . . . and of Carp
I've tried several different baits for carp, but there's no question that bread works best. You see, bread floats. So the weight is on the bottom, and the bait is suspended about six inches off the bottom, right at nose and eyeball level for a cruising carp.
And last Saturday, there must have been a pretty good herd of them cruising around in front of me. In a short space of time I hooked seven and landed six. A couple were in the five-six pound range, three were 9-12 pounds, and one was about 15 pounds. I had far more bites than that; I'm not used to bait fishing, so it took a while to get into the swing of things and learn when to set the hook and when to leave it alone.
More Action than the Salmon Anglers
When I got back to the boat ramp I talked to one of the salmon anglers who was taking his boat out. He said ODFW checked something like forty boats and maybe six salmon had been caught. The salmon guys think I'm pretty weird for chasing carp ("You can't eat 'em!'), but at least 34 anglers didn't put any more meat on the table than I did, and I had a lot more fun. I shouldn't get smug when that happens. But I do.
Next Steps
Now that I know the carp are active again I will start fly fishing for them in earnest. I've got a good flat on the Willamette about a ten-minute run from the boat ramp, plus a couple of promising spots to check out. And I know some really promising places on the Columbia that I discovered last fall. April 1, Sauvie Island opens up again, and that's the mother lode of carp.
I figure I need to get at it before the spring runoff starts and the water turns cold and turbid. You'll hear more, and I maybe I can use the "F" word instead of the "B" word.
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