buzzbomb

Welcome to the forum. You'll find your catfishing skills will see you in good stead, probably downsizing line and hooks a little and learning to tie hair rigs with a knotless knot and mounting your bait on the hair (not an absolute necessity but it helps) and you'll be good to go. There are home made ways to rig tools for everything in carp fishing; bending the right sort of wire to make baiting needles, all sorts of things for bite alarms, etc. We always push for anglers to use a carp safe net (either a real carp net or one of the big rubber ones won't peel scales off) and a padded unhooking mat of some sort. The more you catch the more you'll get into it, and the more you get into it the more kit you'll want. If you can't find something using the search function here just ask and someone will try to help.

The Ultimate 2.25 lb rods I got about 15 years ago were part of a cheap kit and probably not intended to work too hard (the reels didn't last). All fiberglass (not a shred of graphite) and because of our 1 rod rule I used the same rod most of the time. I wouldn't be surprised if it tested at 1.75 lb or less now, but for the close river swims where I never have to cast more than 10 to 25 yds I still like to use it. I suspect graphite rods aren't going to soften up to the same degree.

Well done dayvid!

They should; carp have receptors that allow them to sense any potential food source. When I first tried fishing with home-made boilies our wild carp were hitting them right away, and those were very crude boilies. Throw a few handfuls of boiled field corn out around where you'll put your hook bait to help draw them in. Welcome to the forum.

Due to unseasonally warm weather, it will be awhile until we start fishing this winter (it takes 10" of ice before we can drive on the lake). I usually take a thermos of coffee and sometimes a small flask of whiskey.

I quit drinking for good. I'm drinking for evil now.

I'm content to soak and cook my maize because I'll use it on the hair as well as for ground bait. However, a carp is not a pipe bomb. Huge schools of carp feed on grains, pulses, and legumes spilled into the water where they load freighters at ports on the Great Lakes. Guides on the St Lawrence knife open huge sacks of maize on the transoms of their boats and let it go straight into the river. These are the places tourists come to try and catch their 50. Maybe they wait until it softens up a bit before eating it, but if they can crush clams and zebra mussels, they can probably crush corn. Even if raw isn't a danger, I think the cooked bait is worth the effort for the attractant value of released scent/flavour.

Scott Osmond (Big Carphuna on the old CAG) was catching some remarkable carp in New England while freelining about 10 years ago. I wouldn't discount it.

My condolences to yonny and emmcee, support to itsgrimupnorth.

In the van somewhere is an 18L pail, heavy duty bin liners, a toilet seat, toilet paper, and a shovel, (just in case there's no place to put it).

The guys that own the local tackle shop built a propane powered cannon, and it fired an 18L pail of groundbait 100 yds in just a few shots. As far as I know, they only used it once though.

Probably Thermacell, and it's very expensive. I just use deet because it's easy and effective, but I know how nasty it is. It took the varnish off my shotgun.

I remember when the Korda Krusha came out and it didn't look any different from the $2 "bud buster" the 7-11convenience stores were selling back then.

Years ago Saskcarp had a link to a Japanese fishing site that showed a snail drilled through the shell and hair rigged.

In a few weeks it will be 2 years since I quit taking tramadol, and I don't regret it.

I buy whole corn as well, and usually mix it with a few other grains and pulses before soaking and cooking. If you aren't going to use the kernels for hookbait (and it is great bait), you can cut out the soak time by buying rolled corn instead, and just bringing it to a boil then cooking on medium for an hour.

Zander don't have that white spot on the tail; that's all I know about it. Nobody calls walleye Yellow Pike though, they are commonly, mistakenly referred to as pickerel here (and pike are often called jackfish, no matter the sex or size).

Stay warm, have fun, and good luck.

Saskcarp just caught a beautiful walleye, which he dedicates to the Bristol Rovers.

Right now we're just waiting until the ice is thick enough to drive on. I'm looking forward to getting out and might walk on later this week.

The signature of the amazing IanD: The first rule of Bait Boat Club is don't talk about Bait Boat Club. 🤣 My memory isn't perfect but it may have been in response for some purists throwing shade at them.