Carp Anglers Group 2015 Summer Fish-In, Tidal Basin, Washington, DC, July 11, 2015
My alarm went off at 5 AM. By 6 AM, I had dressed, finished packing, double-checked my checklist, and was driving off. After a quick stop at Wawa for coffee, breakfast, a little emergency cash, and a bag of ice, I was on the road by about 6:15 AM. On the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel, I got to enjoy a beautiful multi-colored early morning sun to the east over the bay. At the rest stop before Richmond on I64, a light drizzle started, which quickly turned to a driving deluge. I was more than a little concerned, but told myself that I would make the trip regardless of the weather, hoping for it to break or not be too bad in DC. Eventually I was able to tune into WTOP, a Washington FM news station, and get the encouraging news that the terrible weather I was experiencing was only happening south of DC, and the outlook for the rest of the day was excellent. Sure enough, the closer I got to DC, the better the weather became. I arrived at the Jefferson Memorial a little after 9 AM, loaded all my gear on my fold-up wagon, and trekked the ½ mile or so to the Tidal Basin.
Immediately upon arriving there, I saw three fellow carp anglers already set up and fishing. One of them had a fish on as I was walking up. After quickly getting my gear to the next swim down the basin, I came back to get a look at my fellow angler’s catch. He had landed a really nice fish--I’d estimate between 15 and 20 pounds. Seeing his capture was very encouraging, to say the least! After introducing myself, I learned that Matthew was from Carey, NC (near Raleigh), had left at 2 AM, and had arrived around 6 AM! After a little conversation, I was eager to get set up and fishing!
The first order of business was to plumb my swim to find out a little more about the bottom contours and composition. I tied on a marker float and plummeting setup, which consists of a 3-ounce lead on a 6” wire stem, threaded onto the line, to which is tied a marker float. I cast out about 60 yards, reeled down tight to the lead, and then began pulling two-foot lengths off my reel, whose drag was set light enough to facilitate this task. Counting each 2-foot length, I was able to determine that the depth was around 8-9 feet deep once my float broke the surface. Then I reeled the float back down tight to the lead and dragged the lead across the bottom to get an idea of what type of bottom I was dealing with. From the feel of the lead, the bottom felt like silt. I then continued this process several more times, in the process discovering that, about 15 yards out, the bottom began to become shallower, eventually becoming about five feet deep close to shore. I decided to fish just at the bottom of the drop off, which is a common patrolling area for carp and catfish. I decided to fish three rods in three different areas of the swim before me.
The middle rod was cast out to the drop off straight in front of me, using a red building across the basin as a marker. After casting out, I put a thick rubber band around my reel arbor to enable me to cast the same distance out every cast. On this rod I chose to fish the “method”, which is using a purpose-built lead with a plastic cage around it, designed to hold method mix, aka pack bait, in place as a type of chum. My method mix today was a mixture of whole oats, Panko bread crumbs, creamed corn, Karo syrup, cinnamon, and chili powder. This mixture is molded around the method lead, pressed in place, then the hair-rigged* hook is lightly buried in the method ball to keep it from tangling on the cast. After casting out, the method ball breaks down over about five minutes, leaving a nice little pile of carp goodies near the hook bait. I decided to start all three rods with three kernels of prepared corn on the hair, tipped with one fake popup plastic corn, adding a little buoyancy and making the bait easier to suck up into the carp’s mouth. After casting this rig out, I put this rod in my rod pod, a rod holder with attached bite alarms. I reeled all the slack out of the line and placed rod #1 in my rod pod in the middle position (This rod pod holds three rods.).
Because of previous success with float fishing, I decided to rig the left and right rods with Polaris floats, which automatically adjust to the correct depth. The rig was a semi-bolt rig, with an inline egg sinker sliding above a swivel, to which was tied a hook link of around 6-8” with another hair-rigged hook. About a foot above the sliding sinker is crimped a single split shot. The idea is that the carp can run about a foot before the split shot stops the line, the weight of the lead hopefully sets the hook, and the carp instinctively bolts! After rigging and casting these other two rods out and placing them in the rod pod (each with its own alarm), I catapulted three pouches each of prepared (soaked 24 hours then boiled to soften it up) deer corn (also known as field corn) in order to attract carp into the vicinity of my rigs.
With all three rods out, all that was left was to wait for the carp to find each rig, and, hopefully, inhale my bait and hook! Every fifteen minutes, I would reel in my method rig, re-apply method mix, and re-cast to the same spot to hopefully build up attraction in a small area. Similarly, at the same interval, I would catapult another half-pouch of prepped corn around my two float rigs.
Unfortunately, on this day, I only got one run the entire day. Around early afternoon, my middle (method) rod’s alarm beeped loudly, my rod tip dipped violently, but, before I could pick up the rod and start playing the fish, it was gone—hook ejected. I tried quite a number of different baits: deer corn, boilies (small—10-22 mm balls of hardened dough baits made by firmer by including eggs in the mixture and boiling to cook), flavored jumbo corn, and even artificial (plastic) corn stacks and maggot clusters—yes, carp can be caught on artificial baits and even dry or wet flies! This year’s event was attended by myself, Matthew, Moon, Tom, Luke Nichols, the Virginia state chair for the Carp Angler’s Group (a national carp-fishing organization), and a couple other guys I didn’t have the chance to meet, as they were fishing several hundred yards away, closer to the Jefferson Memorial. Talking to both Luke and the others near me, the only fish caught that day by anyone in our fish-in were Matthew’s from earlier in the morning, a few catfish by a guy fishing near Luke, and a 2-pounder caught by Moon late in the afternoon. I was disappointed to not have more action, but, some days, the carp just won’t cooperate. On a good day, I might have caught a half-dozen to a dozen fish. I fished continuously from 10 AM until around 5 PM, when I started packing up for the long drive home.
Immediately upon arriving there, I saw three fellow carp anglers already set up and fishing. One of them had a fish on as I was walking up. After quickly getting my gear to the next swim down the basin, I came back to get a look at my fellow angler’s catch. He had landed a really nice fish--I’d estimate between 15 and 20 pounds. Seeing his capture was very encouraging, to say the least! After introducing myself, I learned that Matthew was from Carey, NC (near Raleigh), had left at 2 AM, and had arrived around 6 AM! After a little conversation, I was eager to get set up and fishing!
The first order of business was to plumb my swim to find out a little more about the bottom contours and composition. I tied on a marker float and plummeting setup, which consists of a 3-ounce lead on a 6” wire stem, threaded onto the line, to which is tied a marker float. I cast out about 60 yards, reeled down tight to the lead, and then began pulling two-foot lengths off my reel, whose drag was set light enough to facilitate this task. Counting each 2-foot length, I was able to determine that the depth was around 8-9 feet deep once my float broke the surface. Then I reeled the float back down tight to the lead and dragged the lead across the bottom to get an idea of what type of bottom I was dealing with. From the feel of the lead, the bottom felt like silt. I then continued this process several more times, in the process discovering that, about 15 yards out, the bottom began to become shallower, eventually becoming about five feet deep close to shore. I decided to fish just at the bottom of the drop off, which is a common patrolling area for carp and catfish. I decided to fish three rods in three different areas of the swim before me.
The middle rod was cast out to the drop off straight in front of me, using a red building across the basin as a marker. After casting out, I put a thick rubber band around my reel arbor to enable me to cast the same distance out every cast. On this rod I chose to fish the “method”, which is using a purpose-built lead with a plastic cage around it, designed to hold method mix, aka pack bait, in place as a type of chum. My method mix today was a mixture of whole oats, Panko bread crumbs, creamed corn, Karo syrup, cinnamon, and chili powder. This mixture is molded around the method lead, pressed in place, then the hair-rigged* hook is lightly buried in the method ball to keep it from tangling on the cast. After casting out, the method ball breaks down over about five minutes, leaving a nice little pile of carp goodies near the hook bait. I decided to start all three rods with three kernels of prepared corn on the hair, tipped with one fake popup plastic corn, adding a little buoyancy and making the bait easier to suck up into the carp’s mouth. After casting this rig out, I put this rod in my rod pod, a rod holder with attached bite alarms. I reeled all the slack out of the line and placed rod #1 in my rod pod in the middle position (This rod pod holds three rods.).
Because of previous success with float fishing, I decided to rig the left and right rods with Polaris floats, which automatically adjust to the correct depth. The rig was a semi-bolt rig, with an inline egg sinker sliding above a swivel, to which was tied a hook link of around 6-8” with another hair-rigged hook. About a foot above the sliding sinker is crimped a single split shot. The idea is that the carp can run about a foot before the split shot stops the line, the weight of the lead hopefully sets the hook, and the carp instinctively bolts! After rigging and casting these other two rods out and placing them in the rod pod (each with its own alarm), I catapulted three pouches each of prepared (soaked 24 hours then boiled to soften it up) deer corn (also known as field corn) in order to attract carp into the vicinity of my rigs.
With all three rods out, all that was left was to wait for the carp to find each rig, and, hopefully, inhale my bait and hook! Every fifteen minutes, I would reel in my method rig, re-apply method mix, and re-cast to the same spot to hopefully build up attraction in a small area. Similarly, at the same interval, I would catapult another half-pouch of prepped corn around my two float rigs.
Unfortunately, on this day, I only got one run the entire day. Around early afternoon, my middle (method) rod’s alarm beeped loudly, my rod tip dipped violently, but, before I could pick up the rod and start playing the fish, it was gone—hook ejected. I tried quite a number of different baits: deer corn, boilies (small—10-22 mm balls of hardened dough baits made by firmer by including eggs in the mixture and boiling to cook), flavored jumbo corn, and even artificial (plastic) corn stacks and maggot clusters—yes, carp can be caught on artificial baits and even dry or wet flies! This year’s event was attended by myself, Matthew, Moon, Tom, Luke Nichols, the Virginia state chair for the Carp Angler’s Group (a national carp-fishing organization), and a couple other guys I didn’t have the chance to meet, as they were fishing several hundred yards away, closer to the Jefferson Memorial. Talking to both Luke and the others near me, the only fish caught that day by anyone in our fish-in were Matthew’s from earlier in the morning, a few catfish by a guy fishing near Luke, and a 2-pounder caught by Moon late in the afternoon. I was disappointed to not have more action, but, some days, the carp just won’t cooperate. On a good day, I might have caught a half-dozen to a dozen fish. I fished continuously from 10 AM until around 5 PM, when I started packing up for the long drive home.
Why do I fish for carp? They are in almost every body of fresh water around, they are quite large compared to other species—usually averaging between five and ten pounds, with “doubles” (ten pounds plus) not uncommon, they are powerful fighters, and they are challenging to catch. Like any other fisherman, I enjoy the quiet beauty of being on the water. Some days, I really enjoy just being alone with the solitude. Other days, like this fish-in, I really enjoy conversing with my fellow carpers, sharing our techniques, tackle, and experiences. Carp fishing can be very simple—just a couple of kernels of sweet corn on a bare hook—or one can invest in the very latest European baits, tackle, techniques, and even technology (like motorized bait boats and drones). You can catch carp using a float, bottom rigs, or off the top using floating chum and baits (bread, trout chow, and dry dog food are popular choices). There is an abundance of information available online for anyone interested in trying carp fishing; there are numerous carp-fishing organizations with websites, many individuals with the same, as well as YouTube how-to videos and Facebook groups. If you haven’t tried carp fishing, check it out. After you feel the powerful surge of an angry carp for the first time, you may find that you yourself have been “hooked” on the exciting sport that is carp fishing!
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| Gorgeous day, gorgeous view! |
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| Jefferson Memorial View |
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| View to the left |
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| The elusive "ghost" carp captured on film! |
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| New carp-fishing friends (left to right): Tom, Matt, and Moon |
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