buzzbomb

I had a Silstar fly rod, and it was a budget rod without much character. I think I have a Silstar 3lb carp rod too, but it's a bit of a barge pole and I had to glue the butt ring back in first time out - but it was cheap. You can probably find something usable for the time being from local used tackle until you get dedicated carp stuff. Lots of baitfeeder reels are used in sea fishing and used ones must pop up from time to time, and depending on how far you need to cast, a long rod might not be needed. I used garage sale stuff for years before getting real carp gear. Good luck in your search!

Welcome to the forum. With luck maybe one or more of our Aus carpers can give you some ideas.

The Punters came out from Newfoundland on tour in the 90's pushing their new album and played our bar. About 10 years earlier Newfoundland folk singer Jim Payne took old Rufus Guinchard on a cross-country tour after exposing the world to him at Expo '86 in Vancouver, Canada. Until then he had never been more than 30 miles or so from where he was born. He told me "I want to fly everywhere now!" 😄 Rufus helped The Punters out with the fiddle part to this song, as well as being mentors to them. Rufus was an amazing fellow and I'm glad I got the chance to meet him. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQTO7ZyD62U

Here's an old pic. Looks grim. By February the ice will be 3' thick here. This is Last Mountain Lake; big, deep, and holds lots of fish -34 is brutal but get a nice sunny day and -10 and no wind and you can move around to find the fish (drilling lots of holes and actively seeking them is "runnin' and gunnin'") and it's lots of fun.

You dress for the weather, and I have a couple of pop-up fishing tents (someone on here called the smaller red one a tardis!) that get you out of the wind. We keep some of the catch to eat and release those larger ones that are prime breeders and the undersized (unless they have the bends from being brought up from deep water [30' feet requires careful handling]). There are size and possession limits. Carp aren't usually caught through the ice, and I wouldn't target them because of the potential damage in landing and releasing them in freezing weather. Yellow Perch (smaller than your Red Fin Perch), Walleye (like a Zander), Burbot, and Pike are all species we eat here. There are more.... Because I'm old I've not had to pay for a fishing license for a few years, but haven't been able to go more than a few times. I hope to rectify that soon. I'd especially like to get carp fishing again, but things have changed since the heyday of 20 years ago and some of my favourite venues are closed to me now, or are rammed with people catching them to eat. It's legal, but I just don't want to be next to it.

Next time I go to the lake, I'll probably be driving on it (hopefully in a few weeks).

Welcome to the forum.

Welcome to the forum.

Mama always said daddy didn't run away; she told us he drove off in a Ford and he's probably just broke down somewhere.

When I was being bullied on my way home from school in about 1966 I started carrying a railway spike in my coat pocket. They came on, I pulled it out and asked who wanted to be first, and they decided to leave me alone, though some of us became friends later. Because Canadians are so friendly. Dad always said intelligent people talk things out, but mom said sometimes you have to give it back to them.

This is my favourite Roy Orbison song, and it is a rockin' tune and he has a pretty good Band behind him.

There is a school of thought that believes larger, older, more experienced carp may hang back and let the young ones bust into any concentration of bait while they wait for bits to wash down in the current and they take those because they know they're safe. In the past I have been rewarded by imagining my bait as a comet on the bottom, and aiming my rig near the end of the tail, or just beyond it.

If it's allowed I wouldn't worry about it. Have fun and good luck!

Who was it had his pic posted in a speedo a long long time ago? Lines must be drawn and standards must be met. Coops?

I think a 6lb carp can swallow a boilie the size of a golf ball.

Rockin' Ronnie Hawkins has kicked the bucket at 87.

I caught one like that once while drifting for walleye. It was a colossal pain; unable to remove the hooks while the carp of about 13 - 15lbs was alongside, then thrashed around in the net on the bottom of the boat when landed, getting those trebles extremely tangled in the mesh. A lot of people in North America don't realise carp target the same baitfish and crayfish our more popular species do.

When I was training hunting retrievers I heard and read a lot of advice from people who cared more about getting the Ch for Champion designation in their dogs' pedigrees than they did about their dogs. The breeder I worked for kept his dogs in kennels, but when you have 6 or 8 large hunting dogs they aren't usually house pets. When we sold one that was going to be a family pet as well as a working dog, or if we had one that wasn't going to make a retriever (for whatever reason) and they were given away as a companion dog, we always felt good about that.

I have some good rods, but the clapped-out low test fiberglass rods I bought 20 years ago stay in the arsenal likewise the Ultimate (same brand) alarms. I'll use a Delkim if I'm on the main lake and it's windy so I can squelch wave noise, but I really like those cheap Ultimates, and those soft 1.75 rods (or whatever they are) are perfect for close work on the river.

I've put all those things (barring aloe, yeast, peanut oil, coconut milk and peanut butter) in groundbait, but I have used peanut butter and coconut milk and curry powder in boilies. Ground star anise or 5 Spice Powder is good too. One thing I don't see mentioned is chilies, and I like a hot element so Sriracha sauce or chili-garlic sauce (sambal oelek) would be easy to incorporate. I have sesame oil and on the strength of Nick recommending peanut oil wouldn't hesitate to try it in a dip or glug. As far as I'm concerned the sky's the limit; go through the fridge and try to find something a carp won't eat, and good luck. People have aloe vera growing like trees in pots in their houses so I'd just strip it out of a fresh plant and blend it in. The mad scientist angle is one of the things I like about it. I read that carp follow ducks and geese waiting for them to poop, so I went to the park and collected goose poop (the old couple out for their early morning walk were horrified) and made boilies with it. Oh it was terrible, labeled the jar with a skull. A week or so later I was fishing on the river and they weren't biting, but I noticed some geese swimming by. Took out those boilies and caught immediately then caught like a bandit all night, but I swear I'll never do that again. For what it's worth Saskcarp was a few miles away at the dam and he caught just as well on different bait, so it may have just been the time. My cooking groundbait mantra is something salty (the fish sauce carries enough for me), something sweet (molasses), something hot (anything from hot sauce to chili powder, don't care), and something fruity like drink crystals or outdated soft drinks I got from the bar, juice or even old Red Bull. We've soaked corn for hookbaits in oconut extract or liqorice extract and dyed it red, rubbed 5 Spice Powder on boilies, and corn, pieces of pool noodle and foam ear plugs.

[Tampa Red]