Carp fishing with my youngest son

I know, I know....garbage fish, right? However, they are in my opinion some of the funnest fish to fight and I often go out targeting these fish just for the fun of it. I typically use a light to medium action rod with 6-8lbs test. These set-ups really test your ability to properly fight a fish and really makes it a bit more fun when trying to land these heavy SOBs.

I took my youngest son out with me today to see how many we could bring to the bank. He had never caught one before so this was his first experience. Boy did he have a BLAST! We fished all morning, went home to grab a bite to eat, and then headed back out in the evening.

We hooked 6, landing 3 of em. I landed two Common Carp and my little man landed a Mirror Carp, his first Carp ever. The other three fish managed to break our set-ups and live another day. Something you deal with when you are using light line/tackle.

These pics are for those of you that enjoy fishing just for the fight
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Springville Shooter
Looks like a good time. Shooting them with a bow is fun too. Great to show the boy a good time and toughen him up. I know grown men who still wont touch one of those things.-------SS
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sneekeepete
Isn't it always about the experience and not the kill/catch anyways!!! Who cares if their trash it is a blast! Looks like you two had a great time :thumb
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MuleyMadness
Man those are nasty buggers. :) I've heard there are actually a lot of fun to catch though, a lot of guys go after with there fly rods here. Nice pics, fun times outdoors. :thumb
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AGCHAWK
You are dead right in my opinion, pete. And quite frankly, these fish sure make it worth my while. Of course, there are other fish out there that fight even better and I certainly cannot wait for Steelhead season but in the meantime I'll have my fun with em.


Springville, there are a LOT of folks here that bowfish for em too. In fact, I run into one or two almost every day out. Looks like a real blast too...in fact I've been toying with buying a bowfishing setup and trying it myself. Oh yea...Skylor has never had an issue touching anything..LOL. That little man baits his own hooks, casts his own lines, and takes care of his own fish and has done so since he was 5 (He just turned 7 two months ago).

Brett, I bet catching one on a fly rod is a REAL hoot!!! I know they fight like mad on my light tackle/rod so I can just imagine what a fly rod feels like.
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killerbee
super cool! i bow fished for them for a few yrs on the snake river. we'd kill them up to 25 lbs, but i have heard they will get up to 60+ lbs. i bet it would be fun to catch them on a pole, but leave it to me( the horrible fisherman) to see a bunch of fish in some water, and decide i should get my bow:) thank go d my wife is a good fishergal, or my kids would be screwed lol

very cool, looks like you 2 had a blast! :thumb
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182BC...4Now!
I agree, carp fishing is a blast! We don't eat 'em or anything, but they sure are fun to catch. Just curious what you're using for bait? We always used bran flakes and big red...worked pretty good and makes for a cheap bait! Never seen one of those mirror carp...funny lookin' buggers. Congrats on the catches and thanks for sharing!
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AGCHAWK
"182BC...4Now!" wrote:I agree, carp fishing is a blast! We don't eat 'em or anything, but they sure are fun to catch. Just curious what you're using for bait? We always used bran flakes and big red...worked pretty good and makes for a cheap bait! Never seen one of those mirror carp...funny lookin' buggers. Congrats on the catches and thanks for sharing!
 182BC, I use a small spring wrapped around a piece of tubing. I run my line through the tubing and attach the hook on the end. I then smash some plain old white bread around/into the spring. (The spring keeps the bread on the line. Without it it would just desolve and fall off)
I then put a few pieces of sweet corn on the hook. (You can see the contraption I made in the first two pics of me)

I then throw a handful of corn in the water and toss my hook in. As you may know, carp are tough fish to get to bite a hook. They are pretty finicky but this seems to work best.
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182BC...4Now!
Interesting...ya, we always used the trebble hooks designed to hold dough baits and then put the bran flakes and big red on like you would stink bait for catfish. May have to try out the white bread and sweet corn next time....
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Default Avatar
I've fly fished for Carp since the early 50s and rate them as one ot our top fresh water targets. In the UK and many other places, including here and there, these days around the US the Carp has a huge following, making it most likely tops on the list of fish being chased for sport around the world. Outside of going salt, you can not find any species that is as plentiful, grows as large, fights as hard, etc as does the Carp. For those of you who've bought into the trash fish idea, try an overnight soak of the boned fillets in milk prior to frying, baking or broiling as then it's a tasty dish. For those catching them and tossing them up on the banks to rot and die, por those who shoot them and then throw them back to die, shame on you and double check your fish and game laws as in many places it's illegal to shoot and not use game or fish. Thankfully these days most Game and Fish organizations are, one by one, discarding the old ideas and regulations that slotted these fine game fish to be identified as "Trash."
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