what works the best for catching river carp?

bow and arrow

actually caught several on canned corn

bow and arrow

Beat me to it, I was going to say an arrow. Corn and worms are both good carp bait that are easy to get. Corn is probably best. Toss a couple handfuls where you're going to fish if chumming is legal and put a couple kernals on a small hook. Cast it out on a carolina rig, slip sinker set up and wait. Later in the summer if you can find any kind of fruit trees that are dropping fruit into the lake that's a sure bet to get some carp to bite. Mulberry trees get loaded with fruit and swarmed by carp when they start dropping around here.

hmm few kernals.. so i shouldn't fill the whole hook? or it don't matter

Use a small hook, like a #6 or even an 8. Use light tackle and make it interesting. You can fill the whole hook but if the water is very clear you'll get less bites with a big hook covered up with corn, just doesn't look right. A few kernals is all it takes.

bread works also, but it only stays on for a few seconds

Canned corn is my #1 carp bait. Wheaties balls work well too. Take Wheaties, and crush them up and mix in a package of jello. Pour on some water and mash it all up. make quarter sized balls and put a hook through em!

Thanks crony.. what about oatmeal?

Jinx, I have caught many carp exactly where you are fishing, all using niblets corn from a can. Throw on 2 or 3 kernels, and kind of use a carolina rig setup, toss it and let it sit. You will know when you have one. I wouldn't recommend eating them from the merrimack though.

nah definitely don't plan on eating them lol.. just been on a carp thing lately. I went 2 weeks or so ago when i made this thread and used corn couple kernals chummed the water a tad. I didn't use a carolina rig though

Never tried oatmeal. The corn and Wheaties balls worked so well I haven't deviated from those two baits.

Corn works, I usually use home made baits. Scorpion tackle makes boillies, and tackle just for carpping. They like a lot of different stuff. I flavor a base of flower and cornmeal with things like vanilla, anise, crushed red peppers, blue berry pie mix, all kinds of stuff. You could add cereal to help with tje consistancy of it. Just add ingredients until its doughy enough to stay molded on the hook.

Boillies work best on a hair rig with a bit of your dough bait mushed on. I carp fish with my buddy pretty extensively so if you got any questions or wanna swap bait recipies PM me!

I use bread usually. Just mold it into a ball and then cast it out with no weight. Works great for me.

Later in the summer if you can find any kind of fruit trees that are dropping fruit into the lake that's a sure bet to get some carp to bite. Mulberry trees get loaded with fruit and swarmed by carp when they start dropping around here.

Last year, a buddy and I were fishing my club when a squirrel was snacking on some persimmons in a tree. Occasionally we would hear a loud splash under the tree. When we got closer, we realized what was going on, and we tied on Jigs, with Uncle Josh red pork trailers. As soon as they would hit the water, you could set the hook. All were grass carp in the 5-15lb range, but fun to catch!

Jeff