Carp fishing in the US

[dirtwinger 235]

Hi all, I use to carp fish in the UK but now live in the US in New Mexico. I have been fishing for carp in the Rio Grande using mainly sweetcorn, I typically catch 6 or so carp a session but would appreciate some tips on good hook and bait setups.

I have found that I only get good bites on a size 16 hook with two pieces of corn, any larger and the carp are very hesitant to bite I think they feel the hook and leave it. Also what would be a good weight of line I have been using 4lb test which is too light, last Sunday I was snapped up by three fish in the twenty lb plus range. The week before I landed two nice doubles on 4lb test but I need to go to around eight lb test I think.

Does anyone have any advice as to homemade carp baits I could try out as well?

 

All the best Dirtwinger

[markp76 0]

Stick to corn if thats what you getting the biytes on, have you tried hair rigging the corn at all? you should be able to get away with a heavier gauge hook and main line.

[RaiderBoy 19]

yeah i would try hair rigging too and i would try to source some boilies from somewere in the uk who who be willing to post them to the us.

 

Raiderboy

[dirtwinger 235]

yeah i would try hair rigging too and i would try to source some boilies from somewere in the uk who who be willing to post them to the us.

 

Raiderboy

 

How do you hair rig? I dont think importing boilies would be practical, any suggestions on making my own baits? I will go out again this weekend If I land any doubles I will post some pics.

 

all the best Dirtwinger

[RaiderBoy 19]

yeah i would try hair rigging too and i would try to source some boilies from somewere in the uk who who be willing to post them to the us.

 

Raiderboy

 

How do you hair rig? I dont think importing boilies would be practical, any suggestions on making my own baits? I will go out again this weekend If I land any doubles I will post some pics.

 

all the best Dirtwinger

 

MAKING YOUR OWN BOILIES

 

Getting Started.To make boilies what you do first is to make a flavoured paste. This paste is then rolled into many small balls, boiled, (hence the term boilie), left to dry and then frozen. To do this you need eggs, a liquid flavour, a sweetener and a base mix. For information on the base mixes, see the base mix index link on the left. There is also a link to the flavour index for my recommended flavours.

 

The use of a sweetener in boilies is personal choice. I always like to include one myself, as I believe it makes the boilies taste better. I have never been able to ask any carp if they too like sweeteners, but all I can say is, that I seem to catch an awful lot of fish on baits that include them. In any case their inclusion boosts my confidence, which always seems to make you fish better.

 

Eggs are used as they help bind the mix together and during the boiling process, help form a hard skin on the outside of the boilie.

Making the Base Mix.

First of all we need to make the base mix.

 

In this example I am going to make a simple but very effective base mix that is made up of:

 

8oz Semolina (from most large supermarkets)

4oz Ground Rice (again available from supermarkets)

4oz Soya Flour (available from health food shops)

 

The same method is used for any of the base mixes listed on the site.

 

Weigh out the 8oz of Semolina, 4oz of Ground Rice and 4oz of Soya Flour.

 

The Semolina, Rice and Soya Flour powders are then poured into a large freezer bag.

 

I've decided to make red boilies so I am adding half a tea-spoon of red powdered dye into the bag as well.

If you are using a liquid dye you add it to the eggs at a later stage.

 

Blow the bag up (with the powder inside) like a balloon. Twist it around at the top to trap the air in the bag. Give the bag a very good shake, so that all the powders inside it are well mixed up.

 

That's your base mix finished!.

 

You are now ready to go onto the next stage to make the boilies themselves. If you are not going to use the base mix straight away, store it in a plastic bag or air tight bucket, in a cool dry place.

Making the Boilies.

Having made the base mix, it's now time to use it to make some boilies.

 

The flavours that I have decided to use are:

 

2.5ml Mulberry Florentine (Rod. Hutchinson)

5.0ml Scopex (K. Nash or Rod. Hutchinson)

3ml Intense Sweetener (K. Nash or Rod. Hutchinson).

 

It's a combination the Rod. Hutchinson wrote about and it has caught me many fish. It works instantly without pre-baiting and is also great for fishing as a single hookbait, with no loose feed introduced.

 

Crack 4 medium sized eggs into a mixing bowl or pan. Measure out the flavours and sweetener, as detailed above, and add them to the eggs. You can use a pipette or set of measuring spoons to measure out the right amount of flavour. Most tackle shops sell small pipettes, which are made for the job. They coast just over one pound for a set of three.

 

Some chemists sell double headed spoons for a few pence that measure 5ml at one end and 2.5ml of liquid at the other.

 

If you are using a liquid dye, add it to the eggs at this stage.

 

Once you have added the flavours and sweetener to the eggs beat the eggs well up with a fork. You will need to beat the eggs for a couple of minutes, so that everything is mixed well in.

 

Tip.

Try not to get to much air into the eggs when you beat them up, use a fork not a whisk. The air inside the eggs will expand during boiling, making the finished boilies to soft.

 

It's now time to add the base mix powder to the eggs. Do not add it all at once.

Add about a cup full of base mix to the eggs and mix it well in with a fork. It will go like sloppy porridge. Leave it to stand for about five minutes, before adding more powder. This will give the base mix you have added time to absorb some of the egg/flavour mix and will help to stop the mix drying out to much later on.

 

After five or so minutes continue to add basemix slowly, mixing well in.

 

You will come to the time when the mix is to stiff to mix with a fork anymore. There's nothing for it now, but to get your hands messy. Slowly add more powder, a bit at a time and kneed it well into the paste with your hands.

 

You will know when the paste is ready when it forms a firm ball that isn't sticky and can hold its shape, yet is easy to mould. I think that putty is the nearest description I can give, that the finished paste should be like.

There are a number of bait making aids you can use to make the paste into balls ready for boiling.

 

Firstly you need to turn the paste into "sausages" of the right diameter. There are two main ways to do this, the first involves the use of a "rolling table.

 

The animation on the right shows how it works. Some of the paste is broken from the main piece, and laid on a work surface. The rolling table is then worked back and two over the paste to roll it into a sausage. The tables are available in different sizes, to make different diameter sausages.

 

The second way of producing the sausages involves the use of a "sausage gun". The boilie paste is loaded into the guns tube. As the trigger is squeezed a plunger slowly forces the paste out of the other end on the tube through a nozzle. The nozzles are interchangeable having different diameters, so that different diameter sausages can be made to suite the size of "rolaball table" you are using.

Having made the sausages you now need to convert them into balls, of the diameter you want your boilies.

 

For this you need a different type of rolling table. This consists of a top and bottom section, which has grooves the same diameter as your intended boilies. Gardner Tackle who make excellent bait making aids, call them "Rolaball Baitmakers".

 

The sausage is laid at right angles to the grooves on the Rolaball Table. The top of the table is them slid back and two over the sausage a few times. For the final movement slide the top right off the bottom part and you will find your boilies roll of the rolling table and onto your work top.

 

As with the "sausage rolling table" and the "paste gun nozzles" the Rolaball Table is available in different sizes to make different diameter boilies. So if your new to bait making make sure you buy compatable sizes.

 

If you don't have a rolling table your going to have to roll the paste into what ever size boilies you want by hand. Simply break off small pieces of paste and roll between your hands into round boilie shapes.

 

Boilies are only round so that they will catapult out accurately. If your fishing close in or with hookbaits only, there's nothing to stop you rolling the paste by hand into sausages, then cutting the sausages up into cylinders with a knife. At least your being different and that will often catch! - so I've read anyway. To be honest I've never found altering the shape made any difference, at least round ones catapult out better.

 

You now need to boil your baits. Bring some water to the boil and add about 20 at a time to the boiling water. Do not add to many so that the water goes off boil. After about 2 minutes of boiling take the baits out of the boiling water and let them dry on a clean towel or cloth. I use an old chip pan, as it is easy and safe to lower to lower the baits in and out in the chip basket.

 

After all the batch has been boiled leave them to dry on your cloth for about half an hour. I use a Gardner Drying Rack which can be bought from tackle shops for about ten pounds. It lets the air circulate freely around the baits during the drying process.

 

After the boilies have dried for at least half an hour, bag them up and store in the freezer ready for use

 

 

and this is the link to tying hair rigs http://www.thehuntinglife.com/forums/index...howtopic=110834 and if you have anymore questions just ask.

 

Richard.

[dirtwinger 235]

thanks richard that was very helpful, one slight problem is the fact that you cant buy pre made flavours here in the US for carp. for catfish no problem and I may try my hand at some catfish boilies.

Have you any idea what the flavours are and could I use stuff from the supermarket that would work instead, i would really like to make a go of this and any extra help would be very appreciated.

 

all the best Terence

[Guest ROUGH COATED]

Try floating BREAD just before it gets dark on 10 lb line strait to a size 6 hook

Make sure the line is floating on top and wait for the line to pull under the water then strike all the best!

Edited September 4, 2009 by ROUGH COATED

[dirtwinger 235]

Try floating BREAD just before it gets dark on 10 lb line strait to a size 6 hook

Make sure the line is floating on top and wait for the line to pull under the water then strike all the best!

 

I have caught plenty of carp this way in the past. The best spot I have has surface feeding carp but they are easily disturbed, a lot of people fish there and the carp tend to get scared off unless its a very quite day. I am sure I will use this method from time to time as opportunity presents.

 

Thanks Dirtwinger

[RaiderBoy 19]

thanks richard that was very helpful, one slight problem is the fact that you cant buy pre made flavours here in the US for carp. for catfish no problem and I may try my hand at some catfish boilies.

Have you any idea what the flavours are and could I use stuff from the supermarket that would work instead, i would really like to make a go of this and any extra help would be very appreciated.

 

all the best Terence

 

you could use milkshake or curry powders and any powedered food items but in what quantities i dont know. i used to use strawberry ice cream topping in mine but i havent had time to make them this year.

 

Richard

[dirtwinger 235]

thanks richard that was very helpful, one slight problem is the fact that you cant buy pre made flavours here in the US for carp. for catfish no problem and I may try my hand at some catfish boilies.

Have you any idea what the flavours are and could I use stuff from the supermarket that would work instead, i would really like to make a go of this and any extra help would be very appreciated.

 

all the best Terence

 

you could use milkshake or curry powders and any powedered food items but in what quantities i dont know. i used to use strawberry ice cream topping in mine but i havent had time to make them this year.

 

Richard

Do you think custard powder would work? I used to use a custard paste for crucian carp many years ago in my distant youth.

 

all the best Terence

[ssssh1forthepot 0]

Ive used some wierd and wonderfull things before, try luncheon meat (spam or similar) or Belive it or not ive caught using rasberry's!!

[dirtwinger 235]

Ive used some wierd and wonderfull things before, try luncheon meat (spam or similar) or Belive it or not ive caught using rasberry's!!

Spam might work i would probably catch a lot of catfish on that too.

 

All the best Terence

[RaiderBoy 19]

thanks richard that was very helpful, one slight problem is the fact that you cant buy pre made flavours here in the US for carp. for catfish no problem and I may try my hand at some catfish boilies.

Have you any idea what the flavours are and could I use stuff from the supermarket that would work instead, i would really like to make a go of this and any extra help would be very appreciated.

 

all the best Terence

 

you could use milkshake or curry powders and any powedered food items but in what quantities i dont know. i used to use strawberry ice cream topping in mine but i havent had time to make them this year.

 

Richard

Do you think custard powder would work? I used to use a custard paste for crucian carp many years ago in my distant youth.

 

all the best Terence

 

All you can do is try. if it works keep it to yourself or every other angler will be using it and the fish will soon wise up to it.

 

Richard

[dirtwinger 235]

thanks richard that was very helpful, one slight problem is the fact that you cant buy pre made flavours here in the US for carp. for catfish no problem and I may try my hand at some catfish boilies.

Have you any idea what the flavours are and could I use stuff from the supermarket that would work instead, i would really like to make a go of this and any extra help would be very appreciated.

 

all the best Terence

 

you could use milkshake or curry powders and any powedered food items but in what quantities i dont know. i used to use strawberry ice cream topping in mine but i havent had time to make them this year.

 

Richard

Do you think custard powder would work? I used to use a custard paste for crucian carp many years ago in my distant youth.

 

all the best Terence

 

All you can do is try. if it works keep it to yourself or every other angler will be using it and the fish will soon wise up to it.

 

Richard

Not much danger of that her in New Mexico, carp are considered trash fish and no one wants to fish for them. Round her if someone catches one by accident they are likely to chuck it in the bushes as anything. So I pretty much have the carp to myself. I think they are idiots but there you go thats Americans for you!

 

all the best Terence

[dirtwinger 235]

Went out last Saturday on the Rio Grande to see if I could get a few more carp. Caught 3 upto about 5lb. also 3 suckers and one catfish. My mate Greg caught one cat about 6lb so it was an ok day.

I had hoped to get into some of the bigger carp but didnt even hook one. There was a lot of people fishing including one dick that decided to swim through the area I had been feeding and scared everything off. Next time I will try to go on a quieter day. Here are a few pics of carp fishing in the US.

 

The Rio Grande

 

One of the carp

 

another one

 

Greg and his catfish

 

all the best Dirtwinger