An interesting problem

I have recently been given permission to fish a lake that contains a lot of koi carp



I have been fishing it early mornings and I am getting lots of carp nearly all of which are five to six pounds. I am sure that they go much bigger, but as yet, I haven't managed to sort out the bigger ones. It is fun to catch half a dozen six pounders in a short session, but I would settle for one double. I can see it is going to take a bit of work to beat the small ones, but it should be a bit of fun dealing with the problem.

Looks a bit crowded.........all those cars parked there
Jerry

I dont know what you're actually asking or what, but if you're wondering how to get the bigger fish then im sure we can help.

As I have found through experience, it is very difficult to be selective in catching the bigger Carp when there are many smaller ones, you would think a bigger bait would do the trick, but it does not! I'm afraid unless you can stalk the bigger fish and see them, it will be the numbers game.....

Hello Kev... Nice to see you back...

50mm boilie should pick out the better fish.

carp_mad_man said:

I dont know what you're actually asking or what, but if you're wondering how to get the bigger fish then im sure we can help.

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Help is always welcome and gratefully received, though I was just mentioning the problem as a matter of interest. I will be working on the situation and hopefully I will find a solution. However, it may not be quite so easy as in the UK as there are very few carp fishing aids here being as carp are vermin and should be killed whenever they are caught. There are no such things as boilies, and baits I use are what I can buy from super markets or make up myself.

One good thing is that we have no roach or rudd to knock our baits around so we can use quite soft baits. What I will be doing is concentrating on two areas in which I have caught carp and see if the sizes vary with the differences in the two situations. I did make a little progress today and managed to get one of a little over 8lbs which is a step in the right direction. So far all of the fish have been caught on crust fished on a link ledger. It is possible that others have used bread and the fish are a little suspicious of it. I have made a paste bait out of dog biscuits which I intend to try on Sunday. Initially it was a little too soft, so I mixed in a little gelatine which has stiffened it nicely.

I don't know just how big the carp go there, perhaps up to 15lbs, but for the time being, I will be happy with a ten pounder.

themyth said:

50mm boilie should pick out the better fish.

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As I said, you would think so, bit in fact this does not work, as the smaller Carp will still have a go at the bait, and if you are using a "hair rig" of some sort they can still get hooked even though they can't take the bait..............Hello Philip

An interesting problem on an interestingly shaped lake!

Never seen anything quite that shape. I wonder what the inspiration was there?

would time of day / location make a difference e.g. margins , night fishing ?

Get your floaters out! You know it makes sense! You should then be able to target individual fish, easing the bait away from any smaller specimens. Plenty of bait options dog biscuits, bread, marshmallows, breakfast cereals are all worth trying. A candle can be rigged up as a make shift controller if u need extra range.

terry m said:

An interesting problem on an interestingly shaped lake!

Never seen anything quite that shape. I wonder what the inspiration was there?

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I think that the lake is part of a chain of lakes that formed naturally. An estate has been built along the banks and the lake's shape may have been altered when it was built.

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bennygesserit said:

would time of day / location make a difference e.g. margins , night fishing ?

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At the moment I am fishing close to the margins because the lake appears to be so featureless. I haven't had time to map out the bottom yet or even check any depths. I think night fishing will be worth a try and I will probably do so before long or at the beginning of next summer. Although our winters are very warm compared to yours, I feel the cold of a winter's night these days despite the fact that I could stand sub-zero nights on Dungeness Beach in the '60's and '70's.

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bank_tramp said:

Get your floaters out! You know it makes sense! You should then be able to target individual fish, easing the bait away from any smaller specimens. Plenty of bait options dog biscuits, bread, marshmallows, breakfast cereals are all worth trying. A candle can be rigged up as a make shift controller if u need extra range.

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Sadly floaters are out of the question. The duck population is quite big and they are used to being fed by visitors to the lake with bread. The ducks are a pain even when there is no bread on the surface, so floaters are definitely out. So far I have been using ledgered crust but as I said in an earlier post I have already made a paste out of dog biscuits. However, I wasn't really happy with the texture so I have just made some more but this time I put the biscuits through a coffee grinder. I made a mix of hot water and gelatine and poured it into the powder and stirred and kneaded until it felt good. It is cooling now, and I hope that the gelatine will hold the mix together nicely.

I guess as I go, I might try adding various flavours, but I am not sure whether what I am doing will make the capture of bigger carp more likely or whether I will catch more of them and thereby increasing the chances of one of the larger ones.

Anyway, whatever! I am having a bit of fun catching four or five carp in about four hours and six pounders do give a good tussle on light tackle.

I am progressing slowly and have had them to 8lbs now. I have caught them on two new baits, one dog biscuit based and the other bread based. I have now had them to 8lbs, still not very big, but it is progress. I met two other anglers today who claim to have caught them to 26lbs. I had a look at their tackle and unfortunately I have to doubt that claim. I later saw that the fish they had caught this morning were smaller in both numbers and size. However, I did catch a small common carp which was interesting so good doubles are a possibility. The koi carp are more like the old English wild carp in shape and they do fight well. They are beautifully marked too.

Good progress Chevin, maybe the small ones are getting bait shy
Jerry
PS the other anglers seem like the 'once upon a time' merchants - always catch big fish when no one else is there.

I went down to the lake again this morning. I am still catching plenty of carp but the eight pounder is still my best there. However when I got to my swim I had an interesting find at the water's edge.

Not sure Chevin, I can't remember seeing one so coppery coloured - might be the light - though it appears to have the long dorsal fin it's hard to make out the anal fin, also the eye and mouth. I believe it's a small species, rarely reaching a foot in length.
Jerry

Thanks to barbelboi and coelacanth my cichlid puzzle is solved. It was not a Jack Densy as I had thought and as barbelboi had worked out, but a Jewel cichlid as coelacanth kindly pointed out to me in a PM. Thanks to both of you for taking the trouble to help me. :thumbs::thumbs:

That's something I've learned Chevin, I knew the Jack Dempsey had been introduced to Oz but never new that the Jewel had.
Jerry
PS I wonder why such a small fish was named after the great Jack Dempsey - unless it's due to their aggression.

barbelboi said:

That's something I've learned Chevin, I knew the Jack Dempsey had been introduced to Oz but never new that the Jewel had.
Jerry
PS I wonder why such a small fish was named after the great Jack Dempsey - unless it's due to their aggression.

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Yes, I had wondered the same thing since I saw the name so I had a look at Wiki and found this. " Its common name refers to its aggressive nature and strong facial features, likened to that of the famous 1920s boxer".

Your best bet is a baiting pyramid, though that takes time...

Afternoon Kev...