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Does anyone carp fish at night?

21K views 34 replies 14 participants last post by  stripeman 103 
#1 ·
Over the weekend I targeted carp for the first time, with pretty good results using starwberry uncle josh's bait. I was suprised how hard these fish fought once hooked, almost like a bluefish, and am lucky enough to have a nice spot within walking distance from my house, as carp fishing seems to require beer and i prefer not to drink and drive. We have been fishing from late afternoon until dusk, but it seems as if the bite stops about 30min before dark, right when the bugs come out. Right around this time, the carp seem busy just jumping and splashing around. Are they possibly eating the bugs that are coming out? I was just wondering if anyone has had any luck staying after dark. Where i'm fishing it is a part of woodbury creek and tidal, and I have noticed some points in the tide that were better than others, but i wasn't sure if they just don't feed at night. If they do, i am going to have to figure out a different way to detect bites, right now, I am just watching where the line meets the water for any slight rings. Any help would be appreciated.
 
#2 ·
There is only one thing I think that kills the carp bite is wind over 15 mph especially if it is on the river. I have caught carp at all hours of the day with morning hours being the slowest for me. Carp go for scent in the water so it is not like they need light to see your bait just something with a strong scent like Uncle Joshs to attract them. They spook very easy at night and don't like a lot of light so don't shine a flashlight near your bait or use a lantern near the water. Use a flashlight on the shore when neccessary. When they run those international tournaments those guys fish night and day.

I use a fishfinder rig for carp and either set the antireverse on or use my baitrunner reels and wait for the clicks. I use #6 or #8 trebles or the same size circle hooks. They will run with the bait and hook themselves just like a striper. You want to either hold your rod sitting in a chair or put it in a solid rod holder but you want the rod almost straight out as this offers the least resistance. If a carp dedects and weight or line tension he will drop your bait. When he is hooked he will let you know.

I fish carp in freshwater in rivers and lakes so I don't deal with tides. Seems to me the rules of saltwater tides would apply to carp in that they would be more active in a high tide when more food is in the water.

It may take a while to train those carp to come to your spot but get yourself a 50 lbs. bag of feed corn for like $8 and cut the top off of a wifle ball bat. Dump the corn in fling it out there to chum the waters. Do this every few days and the carp will hang around.
 
#5 ·
There is only one thing I think that kills the carp bite is wind over 15 mph especially if it is on the river. I have caught carp at all hours of the day with morning hours being the slowest for me. Carp go for scent in the water so it is not like they need light to see your bait just something with a strong scent like Uncle Joshs to attract them. They spook very easy at night and don't like a lot of light so don't shine a flashlight near your bait or use a lantern near the water. Use a flashlight on the shore when neccessary. When they run those international tournaments those guys fish night and day.

I use a fishfinder rig for carp and either set the antireverse on or use my baitrunner reels and wait for the clicks. I use #6 or #8 trebles or the same size circle hooks. They will run with the bait and hook themselves just like a striper. You want to either hold your rod sitting in a chair or put it in a solid rod holder but you want the rod almost straight out as this offers the least resistance. If a carp dedects and weight or line tension he will drop your bait. When he is hooked he will let you know.

I fish carp in freshwater in rivers and lakes so I don't deal with tides. Seems to me the rules of saltwater tides would apply to carp in that they would be more active in a high tide when more food is in the water.

It may take a while to train those carp to come to your spot but get yourself a 50 lbs. bag of feed corn for like $8 and cut the top off of a wifle ball bat. Dump the corn in fling it out there to chum the waters. Do this every few days and the carp will hang around.
Yaker I probably should know this but what exactly is a fish finder rig. I have heard others talk of it but i never knew what it was.:huh:
 
#4 ·
I have caught a few at night but in my opinion the bite does slow alittle and i agree with yaker the bite is slowest in the morning. I don't know whether it is the temps or lack of sunlight but they don't seem to mind it at night. That is actually when it is very relaxing and you can really focus on carp fishing cause usually during the day i am always using another rod for bass but at night i stick to the carp.
 
#6 ·
i was using a treble, not sure what size, with one of the trebles cut off so it looks like one of those frog hooks. i had them in my taclke bag because i was experimenting with using them as a trailor hook on my horny toads, just loooping my main hook and tucking it into the legs of the toad. anyway, i then used a few small slip shots about 18" up the line. i would leave my rod flat facing out and just watch the line for any slight ripples in the water. it seemed to work, i keep little to no tension and didnt set the hook until i felt multiple slight nibbles or mouthings. i missed a few, but hooked plenty. i did have another line out with a small drop shot style hook covered in corn, and the one carp i caught on that hooked itself and instantly took off running. i did fairly well on low tide, high tide, so far has been a bit more difficult. where i have been fishing, the carp are def there whether i bait them or not, but we where throwing handfuls of corn out to bring them in fairly close. thanks for the responses
 
#17 ·
i was using a treble, not sure what size, with one of the trebles cut off so it looks like one of those frog hooks. i had them in my taclke bag because i was experimenting with using them as a trailor hook on my horny toads, just loooping my main hook and tucking it into the legs of the toad. anyway, i then used a few small slip shots about 18" up the line. i would leave my rod flat facing out and just watch the line for any slight ripples in the water. it seemed to work, i keep little to no tension and didnt set the hook until i felt multiple slight nibbles or mouthings. i missed a few, but hooked plenty. i did have another line out with a small drop shot style hook covered in corn, and the one carp i caught on that hooked itself and instantly took off running. i did fairly well on low tide, high tide, so far has been a bit more difficult. where i have been fishing, the carp are def there whether i bait them or not, but we where throwing handfuls of corn out to bring them in fairly close. thanks for the responses
trebles work but usually i just prefer a size 8 or 10 baitholder. it seems like they can pick it up eaisier without knowing its there
 
#9 ·
We catch them at night....usually we dedicate a carp rod and a catfish rod when we first get out on the river....and do real well, once it gets dark we switch over to just catfish...on the rare times we put a worm out we do occasionally catch carp...if you chum them the will come:D
 
#11 ·
Before i purchased my boat i was a hard core carp fisherman, chummed corn at night worked the best. Ive personally caught ALL my biggest carp at night, monsters 30-40lbs!!!! Anyway now im a offshore nut but try it man it works!!!!!!
 
#13 ·
steve, im not a carp guy by any means, but after looking for an excuse to hang out with my friends, drink a few beers and bbq, while still fishing, i figured i would give it a try. 45 minutes in, i hooked into a 12.5 lber that gave me a run for my money. it was all over the place jumping, running, and zipping my 30lb braid off the reel like a tuna. there was nothing like it for an added activity to just hanging out. i will never lose my passion for bass, but i know where i'll be spending those lazy summer days.
 
#14 ·
Sounds great. I would love to hook up a big carp one day!! I have nothing against carp (pleases don't me wrong), I just haven't had the opportunity to go after them yet.

Bass will always be first with me too, but variety is the spice of life they say. If you ever wanted to get together and try for it...lemme know!
 
#15 ·
sounds good. like i said, im a bass guy all the way, it was just amazing to me all the years i have let pass fishing right next to these "freshwater bluefish." i have foul hooked them by accident before, but when they actually take that hook in their mouth, the fight is on. my best freshwater fight was 6.5lb sm in upstate ny a few summers ago...until i hooked into my first carp the other day...i though it was going to pull me in the water. i'll try to post some pics as soon as i upload them. also, the 12.5lber for me was a monster, i can't even imagine getting a 30+lber..but they are out there!
 
#16 ·
sounds good. like i said, im a bass guy all the way, it was just amazing to me all the years i have let pass fishing right next to these "freshwater bluefish." i have foul hooked them by accident before, but when they actually take that hook in their mouth, the fight is on. my best freshwater fight was 6.5lb sm in upstate ny a few summers ago...until i hooked into my first carp the other day...i though it was going to pull me in the water. i'll try to post some pics as soon as i upload them. also, the 12.5lber for me was a monster, i can't even imagine getting a 30+lber..but they are out there!
I too am a bass guy and always will be, but once you get really good with the bass fishing, believe me your eyes will open to other species that are very tough to master, but will reward you just as much. I have grown to truely respect musky and pike, very smart fish and not easy to catch at all, pike isnt really an option for most people on here and they are getting few and far between here too but they are a great rush, but definately a fish of 1000 casts when you dont really push to learn how they act. I have been musky fishing off and on for 4 years now, and have only caught 7 with my biggest being 44" in the Susky. Carp are the same way, not the easiest fish to figure out, but if you focus on them you will learn how they act and be able to catch them and they are like a freight train when they get one their.:thumbsup: Just wait till you try and get them with lures, try something that imitates a crayfish, small jig with a craw trailor usually works for me, while your waiting for the other pole to get hit.

This year my personal goal is to get one over 25lbs, got one almost 20 last week on my first trip for them, also am trying for the elusive 6lb smallie, have one at 5lbs even, so that will be a lot of work, but lots of time on the Susky is never a bad thing.

Sorry for getting a little off track in the end there..:D:thumbsup:
 
#18 ·
yea the trebles seemed to work fine, and i was only hooking them in the mouth, which was good. but i did have one with blood coming out of its gill...not a ton of it, but it was hooked nicely in the side of its mouth and i wasn't sure why there would be blood coming out. maybe they just have more nerve endings around their lips..that could explain them hauling *** once they know they are hooked, maybe they feel more pain than a bass or other fish with thinner lips
 
#25 ·
FF/sinker slides are my go-to saltwater and cattie rig in fresh! I use circle hooks when I'm deadsticking and find I catch more with the extra give the FF rig allows for the fish to take just enough of the bait and my line out so the circle locks into the corner of the mouth nearly every time.

I'm going to try it tomorrow with fresh caught minnows, crawfish, and earthworms in the sweetwater :)
 
#26 ·
I always used snap swivels even surf casting because I found that the braid I use Sufix digs right into them and they hang up. Also I use a good size floro leader of about 36" and the sinker sliders seem to helicopter more with a longer leader. I would rather have the long leader than shorten it to prevent helicoptering.

I should also mention that when I fish the rivers I use my 9' and 10' surf rods so I chuck some weight to get it out there and cover some ground. Carp feed on the bottom like stripers so this might surprise you but in current I throw 2 and 3 oz. disc sinkers. With the long leader it keeps this down in their zone and the fact that the line is free with the fish finder rig it gives me success. In lakes I shorten my rods but I still use 3/4 to 1 oz sinkers on a fish finder rig.
 
#27 · (Edited)
The largest freshwater fish I ever caught was a carp in the Delaware river. It had to be about 40#. I was fishing for stripers with bloodworms and this thing wacked my rod, I thought I had a huge striper and I was pumped! When I got it close to shore I saw it was a carp, but a whopper of a carp. I had to walk out waiste deep in the river to grab the sucker. I'm 6' and when I held up it's head was in my armpit and his tail was forked on the ground about a foot. Just an enormous fish. I was thinking it was a state record because I never saw one that big in my life but I really didn't want the fish to die for the glory. It was a beautiful fish and I couldn't kill it for that reason so I just let it go. Karma baby.

I'm glad I saw this thread because it reminded me of that fish and how much fun it was catching it.

Here's a fish finder rig. By the way, that's what I always use for carp.

 
#30 ·
that uncle josh's stuff is awesome. the carp love it, it stays on your hook for over 20-30 min at a time, and it smells good enough to eat. Just make sure you keep it cold, i have been keeping it on ice, and it stays on the hook forever.I have been bringing a can of corn to throw out in the water, then leaving the joshs bait right in the middle and they have been finding it quite well
 
#32 · (Edited)
thats it.igot strawberry and it worked great.after using it, i went on uncle josh's website and bought all the flavors for $3.05 each. they even gave me a 1opercent discount code, email if you want it.ihave also been cutting off one of the hooks on my trebles so it gets in their mouth easier.
 
#34 ·
i haven't tried any other flavors yet, they should be here soon, i'll keep you posted. i ordered grape, honey and corn. i use a ball just large enough to cover my "adjusted" treble. as small as possible to cover it. when i had a fresh container, i was throwing out tiny balls of it near my line, with the corn, in hopes they would get the taste for it. they were def coming from all over, the area i "chummed" was nothing but kicked up mud within about 20 minutes
 
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