The other day, I discovered this spot near my house that is holding a bunch of carp, some are good size. Its basically a spot where a wide drainage ditch flows down and meets a local river. Because of the lack of rain, the water is still and no current until it meets the river. The carp are piled in the slack water.

I'm planning on making some dough bait and fishing for them with rod/reel.

How should I fish for them? Directly on the bottom? Off the bottom with a weighted rig allowing the dough bait to float up (with no current, I'm not sure how this will work to keep the bait from sinking to the bottom)? Near the surface where they seem to come up sucking for air? Is it OK to use a bobber/float?

Does the dough bait need to cover just the barb of the hook or the whole barb/shaft? I've heard carp are skittish so wasn't sure if they care if any of the hook is showing.

Water is stained/brown and low visibility if that makes any difference.

Any help is appreciated, bass fishing is slow as molasses in my normal spots here and I thought I'd try hooking into some of these big carp.

[This message has been edited by MemAg92 (edited 7/25/2012 1:31p).]

Just get a piece of soft white bread. Wad it up into a ball and smash it over a small treble hook covering the entire hook. I've always fished on the bottom.

cast net

I dunno, we just used to use a bent straight pen, bread, and dental floss to catch the large goldfish we had in our pond.

I'm thinking a weighted hook and bread would work fine. I wouldn't want to catch the nasty little suckers myself, though.

I usually fish on the bottom. Bran flakes and Big Red make a good dough bait.

Corn flakes, big red and flour makes a pretty good dough bait. Carolina rig it or just free line it.

Also, if they will come to the surface and eat bread, stick a hook in a dried out piece, free line it and wait for one to suck it in.

White bread ball. Float it with a small weight under a cork

Fly rod and nymph patterns would be a blast. They call them the poor mans redfish for a reason.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Gi0dYjbrJs

Range cubes attached with a rubber band works well.

http://www.ehow.com/how_5501076_make-great-carp-bait-grits.html

I was looking for the same info and found the link above. I haven't done it yet, but I will soon.

Thanks all....

Special K and Big Red.

Why would you want to catch carp? Do you eat 'em or just for the fun?

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Special K and Big Red.

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Was about to say Wheaties and Strawberry pop.

Bran Flakes and Big red as stated. Leave your bail open and no weight, just let it sink. They prefer no pressure when they run with it, so just wait until the line starts peeling off. Use 8lb test for more fun.

Used to do this all the time. So much fun.

Add some oatmeal to the mix and use trebles with the spring around the shaft. Light tackle for the sport of it. Bottom with very little tension.

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Why would you want to catch carp? Do you eat 'em or just for the fun?

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I hear comments like this from people fairly often. Are these people unaware of catch and release fishing?

Carp are fun because they fight hard. When they bite they nibble first, wait for them to run.
When I was a kid we fished them with bobbers and didn't even have to go that deep to get them, they are a pretty easy species to catch. Don't think we ever used more than 15 pound test.

Bow fishing for carp is a lot of fun!

Agreed on bow fishing. We used to go on the Colorado at night and get boat loads. Gar are fun too, especially the huge alligator gar...

Always more than one way to fish for carp....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yhfd9dIkXEk

Canned corn works great to chum up carp. Then put some on a hook under a slip float.

noble creatures

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I hear comments like this from people fairly often. Are these people unaware of catch and release fishing?

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See, I didn't know whether people ate carp. So "for the sport" is the answer... which would fall under "catch and release". Pretty simple.

They are blast to catch. I make a dough and free line it.

They are pretty good table fare too. Cleaning them is a chore, but there is plenty of meat.

Hmmm... there are some HUGE carp in the lakes in my subdivision. But fishing is prohibited.

[This message has been edited by combat wombat™ (edited 7/26/2012 9:57p).]

The tips on light spinning reel, weightless treble hook, and corn flakes and big red for bait are spot on. Fun, fun, fun.

Grandpa had a recipe that was something like hot water, flour, cornmeal, sugar, tablespoon of vanilla, and a pack of strawberry jello. Smelled like a strawberry poptart right out of the toaster (but did not taste like it). Stcuk to hook, hands, and everything else, but man oh man did it work.

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Was about to say Wheaties and Strawberry pop.

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I was taught this recipe by a gentleman I observed catching several carp in the Trinity river near the site of the old Texas Stadium in Dallas. We got to talking about carp fishing and after a while he asked me if I was an Aggie. I said yes and then he introduced himself as A&M quarterback Kevin Murray's father. He acted surprised that I knew him even though this was the summer of '86 & not long after our Cotton Bowl victory over Auburn.

I know "cool story bro" and all that, but this recipe does work...