Hello, 

 

I am interested in trying to fish for carp, but I have been unsuccessful in the past. 

 

I live in Ontario, Canada. I fish from shore and usually ponds and rivers. I have tried using an egg sinker rig with corn. Tried circle hooks from size 6 up to size 1. Not sure what size would be best. 

 

I only have bass gear and not sure which would be best to use, should I actually hook into a carp... 

 

Fenwick hmg 6'9 ml-f with a Pflueger President XT 30 spooled with 10 lb braid. 

 

St Croix Mojo Bass 6'8 m-xf with a Pflueger President XT 30 spooled with 10 lb braid. 

 

St Croix Avid X 6'6 Mh-f casting rod with a Daiwa Tatula 100 spooled with 50 lb braid. 

 

Shimano 6'10" Mh-xf casting rod, no reel. 

 

Will this work or do I need carp specific gear? Hook size? 

 

Thanks for your time and help. 

Carp are waaaaay too smart for a fish that hardly anyone targets. They get huge by eating tons microscopic stuff. Where I live your best bet is to get them around a marina where people feed them. They also hang out right under trees and eat berries and seeds that fall off, you know a fish is weird when it’s consistently eating carbs. Fly Fishing and Fishing with sweet corn/berry/oatmeal type baits seems to be most effective if not bread Fishing around a Marina or dock 

15 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

Fishing with sweet corn/berry/oatmeal type baits seems to be most effective if not bread

What size circle hook would you recommend? I have heard anywhere from size 10 - size 1. 

 

Is my bass gear strong enough to fight a 10-20lb carp? 

From my experience the smaller the hook the better. Yes bass gear with land them just fine, keep the drag loose

10 hours ago, Luke G. said:

 

Is my bass gear strong enough to fight a 10-20lb carp? 

You should be ok just make sure you use a landing net.  Don't try to lift a big carp out of the water with the rod.

12 hours ago, tstraub said:

Don't try to lift a big carp out of the water with the rod.

I am always respectful of the fact that we are catching living creatures and should treat them humanely and do our best to ensure they survive. 

 

Plus I am sure my rods would snap like twigs doing that. 

You can simulate catching a carp by tying your line to an anchor and tossing it overboard.  If you can reel in the anchor, you can reel in a carp that weighs 5 times the amount of the anchor weight.

 

Please note that the anchor will give you a better fight...

Smallest circle hook you can find and a piece of corn ought to do it. They are super shy so be stealthy!

I love carp fishing and have come up with a fool proof rig that I use on a 7'6" bait casting rod and reel . I carolina rig it with a heavy weight and swivel . The  first component on the short leader is a bobber stop . Then run the line through a  piece of plastic stripped from electrical wire . Then run the line through the eye of an octopus hook and tie it to a small treble hook that   has  the barbs crimped . Slide the plastic over the octopuss hookk and tighten the rig down with the bobber stop . Add dough ball to the treble , cast out , place in well secured rod holder and tighten the line . This is a bolt rig . You want the carp to feel the weight and tight line .The carp will hook itself . Heres a couple  of pictures . Much simpler than it sounds . A doughball made from Wheaties cereal works well .

 

How it works :   Carp are extremely spooky , so use  that trait to your advantage . Chum the area you are fishing with the same bait . Carp will inhale the dough ball and in doing so the octopus   hook too .It will then  feel that something is not right . He will then blow it out and bolt at the same time . The Octupus hook usually gets him . The treble is used mainly as a bait holder but it will hook the carp at times too, that is why I smash the barbs , to avoid tearing up the carps mouth . This is exciting fishing and will lay the rod straight . It better be in a good holder or you will lose the rod . 

 

I never could tie one of those hair rigs , popular by carp anglers in Europe , so one day at camp I came up with this . It exceeded expectations .

 

Small hook couple pieces of corn chum some corn in the water super easy.

Thanks everyone, I will try the #10 circle hooks, corn, and egg sinker. Hopefully setting the drag somewhat loose will help not straightening out the hook.