Been fishing a train bridge that creates the perfect ambush point and cover for fish. In fall ive found panfish and bass, but in may i have found spawning bass up to 4 pounds. There is a mud flat on the other side. On cloudy days specifically, carp move in and i cant find any bass. My question is this, when carp move in, do the bass move out? Its cloudy today, and i havent found a single bass, but i have been seeing at least a dozen carp. The bass were here less than a week ago?? Did they move bc of the carp? Any thoughts?

The carp spawn ruins much of my shallow water bite.  

Idk if its the carp spawning moreso just seeking cover where the bass happen to be spawning. But maybe thats the case?

Clearlake.  I cast to the the rising carp.  The bass are with them usually. 

Almost anytime I see carp on the river, I see smallmouth following them around. The carp stir up the bottom and the bass take advantage of a feeding opportunity.

12 minutes ago, Scott F said:

Almost anytime I see carp on the river, I see smallmouth following them around. The carp stir up the bottom and the bass take advantage of a feeding opportunity.

Exactly 

I catch big bass around carp beds every year.

 

I feel like a carp minnow gets to be 7" in about 2 weeks.

 

Talk about fast food!  😉😉😉

Personally, if I see carp thrashing I go to another area, so IDK if they cause bass to move.  I do know that bass have fins and they can move and there are many other conditions that affect their movements.

I usually have bad luck when carp invade the shallows. Their splashing around also drives me crazy because I think it's a massive bass chowing down on a bluegill.

Another little detail I will add - clear water - bass can see you and you can see them.

 

My lakes are very very clear most of the time.

 

A few carp in an area can very quickly make the whole section of a creek nice and stained and my catch rates for bigger fish go way up when water is even a little bit stained here.

 

Another thing is that carp are constantly rooting around and exposing insects and crawfish and larvae and all sorts of things and are very inefficient eaters - as a result they draw lots of other stuff to the area that bass feed on.

 

I have literally caught a 7 lb 8 oz post spawn largemouth off of carp spawn though.  They eat the minnows.  🙂 

 

I treat carp like deer or racoons or birds or frogs - they're life, and when you see signs of life = bass.

14 hours ago, Columbia Craw said:

The carp spawn ruins much of my shallow water bite.  

 

Yep, I move around to areas with cover that I don't hear shotgun blasts. The carp are that loud in the Potomac.

My home lake is Fork and I can tell you that the shallows on my side of the lake, has been taken over by catfish , the gar are always thick in the shallows as well. But you cant catch a bass right now in my usual spots, oddly enough...sandbass also have taken over. I have never caught sandbass touchin the bank like a LM bass, but I have caught 2 in the last week. Then I will catch a couple catfish, Im talking spinner bait, crank, swimbait...I will get a catfish and no bass..when the bass were spawning it was constant LM bass catches. I have been present for the shad spawn 4 days in a row, not a single LM bass, nothing but sandbass and catfish.

 

I suspect the bass have moved to secondary points at least. But also just heard that another round of spawning bass has been noticed.

 

Its pretty frustrating to slay them for a few days, then all the sudden the next few days its like the bass were pushed someplace else and there is nothing but catfish.

Nope 

I never seem to catch bass when the carp are around, but I'm also not very good at catching bass so it could be coincidence. 

I've never had any luck when the carp are cruising the vegetation.  I usually move to a new spot.

19 hours ago, Scott F said:

Almost anytime I see carp on the river, I see smallmouth following them around. The carp stir up the bottom and the bass take advantage of a feeding opportunity.

Happens in the lakes too. I've caught a bunch of bass, especially smallmouth casting a ned or small tube into the silt clouds created by rooting carp. Occasionally the carp will eat the bait and I'll get taken for a ride.  

Greetings All,
Just a couple of recent observations to share, my $ 0.02 tossed in. Recently when angling at two very different locations, both man made waters, both had actively thrashing (possibly spawning) carp. I was still able to catch largemouth bass in the area. Within the area is representative of within a couple of cast lengths.

The first location is not too confined as it is an urban park pond. I was standing on the bank and the carp were thrashing right adjacent to me, within 1.5 meters from where I was standing. Yes, I got splashed. I also managed to get that beloved tap on the line after a few seconds after the carp dance.

 

The other location is an urban canal. This is one of the concrete lined versions that are roughly 6 meters across. The water depth varies and is between 0.5 ~ 1 meter deep. This is a constrained area which contains multiple species. So there are multiple types of carp that coexist with largemouth bass. While I don't see the two types of fish in a side by side positioning. They are generally in the same area, such as associating to different features (gates, gauging stations, sand bar, etc.)

 

I would add that at the various locations, the approach for me is to maintain the stealth aspect. I don't need to contribute to startling the fish which affect my recreational ambitions. I point out that both locations are generally quite busy, so the fish maybe accustomed to being startled. I'm glad they were willing to 'play'.

 

Based on those limited observations, I'm not seeing a negative impact to bass catching with adjacent carp activity. Your mileage may vary! Be well, Cheers!

 

 

 

 

right^^^

 

it was my own ignorance that taught me some of that.  i would get the big "ba-BLOOSH!" of a splashing fish, and i like a total newb would imagine a giant bass just smashed food up near the surface.   so i recklessly send a bait.  i caught fish, which reinforced my incorrect thinking.  it was only until i laid eyes on the fish getting airborne that i realized it was a 2-foot long carp, looking for hot loving.    they were plowing thick grass.  and i think the bass were feeding on the bait pushed out.   which on one day, was a minnow.    it was fun.    i was a  herd of giant carp.  

Glad i posted this here, interesting to see such conflicting info. Definitely shouldve put more time in but oh well. Hopefully ill find some more before they all move into the depths when it gets hot.

Not much of a bottom fisher. Anything like ned rig or senko is too slow for me, i always use somsthing moving, been loving the whopper plopper hits. Maybe thats contributing to why i dont catch them when they are around the carp since they are keened in on stuff getting upturned in the mud. 

Very good info tho, thanks for all the input

I once caught a huge carp foul hooked by a wacky rig mid body.  It was a hell of a fight for about 10 minutes.  I thought I had a twenty pound bass  taking me all over the lake until it finally came to the surface and my bubble was broke.

One of the largest bass I ever caught came under a school of carp gulping on the surface . I threw a Long A Minnow past them an started ripping it , trying to snag one. Big bass was under them and nailed it.

On 5/14/2025 at 9:25 AM, Junger said:

 

Yep, I move around to areas with cover that I don't hear shotgun blasts. The carp are that loud in the Potomac.

 

Last summer I almost had a heart attack from what I assume was a huge carp.

 

I was night fishing, dead quiet, and pitch black so your other senses are heightened.

 

Then all of a sudden what seemed like a humpback whale breaching the ocean, there was a HUGE splash maybe just 10 yards from me.

 

I dang near crapped my pants.

 

Had to been a very large carp, catfish, or muskie.

I don't have a huge amount of experience, but most of the places I fish have carp, and it doesn't affect the bass fishing from what I can tell.