Euro-Carping is quickly growing
Texas placed a minimum length limit on common carp at one Central Texas lake.
Isn't it High time to take a closer at this growing way of fishing?
The Texas carp rule might come as a surprise to most anglers. Carp are considered "rough fish" by most standards, and because most anglers don't think the rubber-lipped sucker fish are good for much, they generally don't fall under the protection of state or federal regulations.
Attitudes are somewhat different around Lady Bird Lake (formerly Town Lake). Located in downtown Austin, the 468-acre Colorado River impoundment has gained a reputation as one of the best spots in the world for catching heavyweight carp upwards of 30 pounds.
Lady Bird's prize carp population garnered international attention in april of 2006 when the American Carp Society hosted a carp fishing tournament there. The Texas Carp Challenge attracted contestants from 19 states and from as far away as England and Romania. Tournament rules allowed anglers to use boats to bait holes or to navigate from one designated fishing hole to the next, but all fishing had to be done from the bank. Most anglers camped alongside their sets, and the contestants fished for 120 hours straight.
They caught some giants, too, but none was bigger than the 43-pound, 2-ounce beauty caught by Al St. Cyr. A Denton native, St. Cyr won $250,000 with the bugle-lipped brusier he caught while fishing from the shore between Congress Avenue and Interstate 35.
Another angler, Scott Osmond of Lowell, Mass., won $25,000 for catching four carp with a combined weight of over 130 pounds. Both anglers were fishing on the lake bottom with sophisticated baits.
Quick fact: Common carp were stocked on purpose, begining when Ulysses S Grant was president, common carp were imported from Germany to raise by the federal fisheries agencies and distributed to states in the late 1880s. The common carp is among the most widely distributed fish in America. It is a fierce fighter that is believed the fish can live as long as 40 years.
Those factors, coupled with all the hype over the Texas Carp Challenge, opened TPWD's eyes to carp as a potential cash cow that could help hook the urban masses on fishing. The department is proposing a restrictive limit on Lady Bird Lake carp that would protect the big ones from over harvest. The proposal is to allow anglers to retain only one carp longer than 33 inches per day with no limit on carp under 33 inches.
below is an over view of what is used to catch carp by euro anglers, it should be noted that SOME of these ideas and tackle can be used on bass or steelhead gear
This is a rod pod where rods rest, with the line running through a bite alarm that beeps when the line moves out or toward you.
The alarms are adjustable for sensitivity, beep tone, and loudness so you can tell which rod has a bite plus a light that comes on when a take is detected--the little light feature is very handy at night
Reels are have a bait runner feature--basically a second drag that lets line come off the reel under tension with the bail closed--baitrunner tension is adjustable--it is engaged with a lever in the back and disengages when you start reeling.
Rods are usually long from 9-13 feet powerful butt sections to cast distance and soft tips for playing big fish close without hooks pulling out
The rigging is called a hair rig/bolt rig
this is how they are tied
a baiting needle is used to pierce a bait –in this case a boilie-but corn or many other semi hard baits can be used this way
Then the back of the hair is draw through the bait
then the bait is snugged up on a stop
some tools and examples
Fish can take the bait without feeling the hook before its too late---it also is less likely for the fish to be gut hooked with this set up.
They do not feel the hook until the bait part is swallowed then as they feel the hook the fish try’s to expel it and is stung by the hook--one of the reasons the hair is tied the way it is--to have the hook turn in as it is expelled, the fish “bolts off” and hits the fixed lead , driving the hook home!!! Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz fish on
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http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l192/xcarp06/
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One of the best tricks is to use PVA ( poly vinyl alcohol)--they make webbing and bags just for fishing-- -which dissolves in water—
Chum is put in pva and it is tossed out with your hook bait to draw fish in and keep them feeding
Sometimes when bites are faster chum is squeezed around a special sinker called a method feeder
With fish that can be huge a big net is a must light weight, these euro nets can be used with 1 hand--the net itself has no crossbar just two arms that are usually at least 40" long, fish slide over the bar less lip of the net & then lifted vertically as the net was not designed to lift fish horizontal like traditional nets
Fish after netting are usually placed on a padded mat--for 3 reasons--
1) to protect the fish
2) to calm the fish, they flip around less on a mat
3) many mats double as a weighing sling just loop the handle in the hook of the scale and subtract the weight of the mat--many times big fish are damaged putting the hook of the scale in a fishes gills
Chasing that biggest carp in the lake may take a few days--so in Europe they camp right on the water in fishing tents called bivys
One of the backbones of euro style fishing--is chumming--since you do not have the luxury of moving around looking for feeding fish--chumming is used to bring fish in and keep them in the area feeding
Here is a catapult
spods tied to the line and cast out--the nose floats and the bait falls out--better when the fish are at distance
Remote control bait boat--chum is placed in the center dropper hopper piloted out to place the chum bed
As you can see the whole bank fishing thing is as sophisticated as you want to make it--
Euro fishing offers a challenge to even the most hard core angler--
Many anglers may look down their noses at carp, if you try it a few times you will quickly get addicted to the powerful runs carp are known for. Few fish can rival even a 10 pound common carp for line stripping run after line stripping run--you can just imagine the fight of a fish of 20 pounds!
Eating smaller carp is an option, doing so may even help a lake produce bigger carp, but releasing the biggest ones to catch again -- many times you will recatch the same big fish again and again over several years--usually a little bigger each time
So where to get this kind all this kind of gear?
lots of Euro stuff can be bought at Bass Pro & Cabelas—Big Carp Tackle,
http://www.wackerbaits.com/
http://www.americancarpsociety.com:8080/ACS/home.jsp
http://www.royalcarp.com/Scripts/default.asp
Post edited by: Danube, at: 2008/08/31 13:12
Post edited by: Danube, at: 2008/08/31 13:13
