Get carping - blog article

[MikeH]

Blog page on getting your Carp on!

http://fishontoronto.com/

Basic info on how to start, how to approach Carp baits, and where to go for further info.

[MichaelAngelo]

(04-10-2012 11:42 PM)MikeH Wrote:  Blog page on getting your Carp on!

http://fishontoronto.com/get-carping-in-toronto

Basic info on how to start, how to approach Carp baits, and where to go for further info.

"and end up getting into it with a pair of 20lb+ Carp at the same time…. Don’t forget that double rigging was your idea, not mine!"

LOL halarious! Excellent article as always, I was looking forward to this one.

And a lot of other beginners should be looking forward to reading this as well. Up until last year I thought carp fishing as boring... no no NO it's NOT! I caught my first carp just last week and instantly caught the bug.

Carp are one of the largest species of fish we have, even a little one is stronger than most bass. Carp on!

And let's not forget that pike don't tend to put up a fight

[MikeH]

Thanks.

As always I'm trying to break it down to the basics, so people can build on it. I found that with the bait thing, everyone seemed to be fixated on what ingredients to use as if one of them was a magic bullet, instead of why to use an attractant, a bulk particle and a binder. Sometimes when sight fishing Carp you still cant beat a worm, a couple of pieces of corn on a hook, or a chunk of bread though.

*I have a ton of bait research left over, might do a second page on bait.

[bettercallsaul]

Great article, one question though: how would you tie on two lines to one swivel without them getting tangled up?

[MikeH]

(04-11-2012 09:25 AM)bettercallsaul Wrote:  Great article, one question though: how would you tie on two lines to one swivel without them getting tangled up?

Tangling is not really that much of an issue. I have found that if the traces are different lengths with different baits they usually trail behind the slip weight no problem without smashing together. you can go with a three way swivel if you want, but once you start hooking up, the terrifying experience of hitting two large fish at once will probably end the dual rig anyway....

*I found another page of notes on freezing and thawing boilies for extra flavours, so I added in another paragraph or two.

[bettercallsaul]

(04-11-2012 09:53 AM)MikeH Wrote:  

(04-11-2012 09:25 AM)bettercallsaul Wrote:  Great article, one question though: how would you tie on two lines to one swivel without them getting tangled up?

Tangling is not really that much of an issue. I have found that if the traces are different lengths with different baits they usually trail behind the slip weight no problem without smashing together. you can go with a three way swivel if you want, but once you start hooking up, the terrifying experience of hitting two large fish at once will probably end the dual rig anyway....

*I found another page of notes on freezing and thawing boilies for extra flavours, so I added in another paragraph or two.

Thanks MikeH, but I'm still having some trouble visualizing it

[MichaelAngelo]

Do you guys find that a braid hair rig performs better than a mono hair rig? Theoretically the supple-ness of braid should better present the bait.

[MikeH]

Never really thought about using braid, but I did spend a lot of time trying to match hook size to boilie size. I eventually found a useful chart on one of the UK bait sites.

Hook Size 8 or 10 for 15mm boilies
Hook Size 4 or 6 for 18mm boilies
Hook Size 4 for single and multiple 22mm boilies
Hook Size 2 for 28mm boilies

[MuskieBait]

Great article Mike! Finally got to give it a good read. See you out there

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Oh, I forgot to say...those are some very simple boilie recipes! They look great.

Last year, I made a batch with soy, cornmeal and semolina, plus vanilla extract, banana flavour and some strawberry Koolaid. They smell great...but when I tasted them, it didn't taste as flavourful. I have have you try your jello trick to add some flavour and sugar back into the boilies.

[MikeH]

The particle / boilie recipes in that page are really just to demonstrate how to break the hundreds of online recipes and mixes down into attractants, bulk and binders. I'm hoping to encourage readers to go search out a few recipes and understand the components a bit better. Most of the particle mixes can be converted into boilies by adding eggs and flour to bind then.

I usually make a big batch of cornmeal, flour and egg boilies and flavour them in small batches using the freeze and thaw trick to create smaller batches of different types. I'm thinking of using an old veggie steamer on the next batch, as it may not leech out as much of the flavour as boiling.

I picked up 100 PVA bags online at New World Carp, hopefully they'll be waiting for me at home when I get back next week.