Went out to Beaverdam on Saturday.  Right after getting out on the water, we heard so much commotion going on that I just assumed it was ducks splashing about.  But, the closer we got to the grassy shoreline, we saw literally hundreds of carp splashing around mating/spawning/spooning/cuddling/etc.  Never saw anything like it.  All that ruckus they were making probably scared all the bass away from the shoreline.  A real slow day, but I did finally christened my kayak with fish slime as I hauled in a nice 2 1/2 pounder on a spinnerbait.  Otherwise, it was a hot Saturday afternoon with the bass still hard to figure out at the Beav.

Saw them doing the same thing on the Occoquan Reservoir today. I recall seeing them do that a LOT at BDC a couple summers ago.

I was around pohick bay and saw the same thing.

I snagged one with a spinner bait last weekend at Kerr lake.  Got him her right in the tail.  Never had something fight so hard!   

Saturday in mattawoman creek we saw tons of them doing the same thing. Glad I didnt snag one of those nasty things. Didnt see any in chicamuxen tho, maybe thats why I was able to catch fish in chicamuxen but not in mattawman, or maybe it was the 3 boats in chic compared to 30 or 40 in mattawoman

It was still going on yesterday at Beaverdam although, it seemed to have died down late afternoon. The fishing was tough as I only landed a small LMB that was just inches bigger than the crank I was throwing. The fish were in 18-22 ft deep water hugging grassy humps in 10-16. The wind was brutal as it was frustrating to position yourself when you did find them. 

what color are the carp in the water? 

what color are the carp in the water?

Common Carp (Brown).

didn't know whether i should start a new thread, but figured this wasn't threadworthy...

i only ask because i saw some big reddish looking fish at 4mr this weekend.  (only managed 2 small bass and a couple perch).  Didn't know what to throw at it as one came up close to the shore, they didn't like my plastics or spinnerbaits.  wasn't sure if they were coming up for air or demolishing some bug that landed in the water.  reminded me of that show rivermonsters....  I had a rod sittin there with a nightcrawler on it, saw it bend for a full second... then nothing   :-/.  had no idea what caused my 10 lb test line to snap so effortlessly... i'll know to let some drag out next time around and bring my stronger rod with 30 lb test (will that be necessary??).  Are they carp?  Does anyone know?  I guess brown can look reddish in the water...  If you guys know there are plenty of carp @ 4MR, what's the best way to catch them?

sounds like carp to me. carp are a bronze, yellow, reddish, brown fish. pretty hard to miss. not many fish in our waters with the same body profile.

There are a ton of carp at 4mr

what do i throw at them?  any bait/lures?  do they feed like catfish?  saw some of those in the shallows as well. 

what do i throw at them? any bait/lures? do they feed like catfish? saw some of those in the shallows as well.

Ask some of the carp anglers at 4mr, there are alot of them. I met one guy who "chummed" w/ his very own recipe for scented corn, then threw dough balls on treble hooks as bait. That is the limit of my knowledge when it comes to carp fishing. You'll also see some guys targeting carp at 4mr using fly rods, or rods that look like fly rods but have no reels. I have no idea what they throw.