Yes, this is serious. Although throughout much of the year I fish mainly bass in just about any body of water available, the truth is that from some key points of the fishing season in my area (March-June), the bass season is closed and I am forced to either not fish, HAHAHAHA, or fish for other species. Perch, trout, crappie and even catfish are favourite alternates for me, but none fight better than the ever-so-ridiculed carp. In England these huge, muscular fish are seen as sport fish and are even fished for professionally, but here, people are just starting to warm up to these friendly giants. The truth is that they will give you more fight than just about any freshwater fish I can think of that is this plentiful in Southern Ontario. How can you tackle these monsters yourself? Well hopefully I can answer that right now!

Although I've caught carp in excess of 20lbs, I would much rather chase the smaller, scrappier ones that are less than 10lbs, as they are usually more plentiful and honestly are easier to catch.

What I like to start out doing if possible, is to go to an area 2 days in advance with fresh canned corn, and throw out mega-handfuls of the stuff. Just cover the area. The next day, do the same thing with just a little less corn... this will have the carp coming to that area on the day you want to fish in feeding frenzies. If you can't get there to do this, just throw out some corn right before you fish.

For bait many use doughballs, worms, crawfish, chopped liver, or even exotic and expensive carp baits like boilies, but I prefer to use what the I've "trained" the carp to eat... corn. Just load up the hook with as much corn as possible! It's so simple, and will work. Early morning or afternoon are good times to go, as the carp move shallower and feed heavily during these times... if you get good enough, you can even catch them on flies during this time!

My simple set-up, as seen crudely to the right, is a fairly heavy sinker (depending on wind conditions), and about 6-8 inches up the line, a snelled hook tied onto the line and just loaded with corn. It is VERY simple, yet very effective... for me anyway. "Bass Catchin" Craig also uses the same setup where he is, and is very successful in his carp fishing. I prefer as light a sinker as possible, but often wind will force me to use a heavier type sinker that will bury a little in the mud.

Detecting the bites of carp can be easy or EXTREMELY difficult. Have your rod somewhere with the drag pre-set, because oh so often they bite when you least expect it, and have a tendency to take rods in if given the chance. So far I have lost 2 rods to these prehistoric beasts, I shudder to think of them swimming around with a rod behind them for a week or so. If the line suddenly becomes loose, don't even spend the time picking up slack, just set the hook as hard as you can. They have hard jaws that are difficult to set the hook into. Sometimes they can even bite like crappie. It takes a lot of time out there to determine whether they are just "playing with it" or smelling it, or if they have it in their mouth. Some carp are lazy and will just sit in one spot with your bait after eating it. The point is, experiment, you will get better with time. It may be a good idea to set your rod in a Y shaped stick stuck into the ground, so that the carp will not easily be able to pull the rod in.

I like to use a small and sharp, yet strong hook. It may be a good idea to change the hook every couple of fish, because they have a tendency to weaken cheaper hooks and break them, especially the big boys. Heavy, tough line like braids or Berkley Trilene "Big Game" brands are good choices as they are very strong and will give you some leverage in your battle with these foes.

Some people like to use floats or bobbers, or even electronic strike indicators to see carp bites. You can go right ahead, but I catch just as many by simply watching the end of my rod or keeping my index finger on the line to detect bites, just make sure you keep the bait very still. For some reason I seldom get strikes while holding the rod in my shakey hands.

It looks like I've covered everything I need to. Where to find these things? Just about any body of water in Southern Ontario or the United States. Usually if the waterbody can support bass, it will have carp in it as well. They seem to like brown or dirty water, shallow bays and warm areas. They can be found in metropolitan waters like Toronto harbour, Hamilton Harbour, etc. It always seems to impress people when I pull a big carp out of water in a big park in a city where nobody thinks there is fish. When they see how well the things fight, they just have to try it themselves. You can catch them below raging rapids or in still, algae-filled ponds. The truth is that they are just about everywhere. So go out and try it, what do you have to lose? They are some of the cheapest, easiest and hardest fighting fish to catch! You may just get hooked!

I hope you have learned something in this.. good luck and tight lines!

- "Big Bass" Rich