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The place I want to attempt is a flood control part of a smaller river. The carp are trapped there for the winter, as the entrance to it from the main river is only 18 inches deep and about 8 feet across. It is a sand/mud bottom with a uniform depth of about 8 feet during the summer. There are some crappie in their too, so I was thinking of using 1 line with small meal worms on jigs and the other for carp with a baitrunner reel. Unfortunately, Ontario has a 2 line limit per person, just up the road in Quebec they let us use 10 lines each.I'm doing this for the fun, though I might keep a fish or 2 for some people that I know would appreciate them. Netting is illegal there.
they dont hibernate they just dont move around very muh and arnt very active. the cold water is what makes them slow and a low eater in the winter. it can be done! but will take time.
Hauler,Great catch.Old Fart,I did think of it, problem is that the spot is one hours drive from my house and quite a walk from the closest parking. To make things worse, I have an 8" hand auger to drill through 2 feet of ice, so chumming is just about out of the question.
I got a perfectly reasonable explanation for you: because in some lakes, carp are the biggest fish.
are these fish ediable?? i always hear carp taste like crap, i know they smell like it when i snag one while trolling for walleye in detroit river, i won't even let one in the boat after the first one i got.RAYMAN54,,,,,,,,,,,,
I think it depends on the water they come out of, here in Nebraska we fish them out of the Missouri river and they're very good eating. We have a Federal Refuge lake close to where we are called Desoo Bend and I will not eat them out of there.
Most of the waters around Montreal are polluted so eating fish from there more than once or twice a month is not recommended. I hate the taste of carp, I fish them for the fight, thoug I know some people that like them, and I'll keep some for them once in a while. Perch, walleye and even pike are kind of boring under ice, they get very lethargic unless they are really big, but that isn't usually the case.Carp on the other hand, are considred small around here if they are under 10 lbs, so even a small carp will outweight and outfight any pike I would be able to target on a half day or even full day trip. I can catch a dozen on a good softwater day, usually average 12-15 lbs, some over 25 lbs. Still waiting for a nice 40 or 50LB hog, but I would need a 2 foot diameter hole to bring one that big through the ice.
After seeing the stuff that comes out of the runoff tubes in the Missouri I won't eat anything out of it! Desoto maybe once in a great while. I have found that most of the fish I catch are fun to fight, and watch swim away. And the ones at Long John Silvers are much better eatin!