Carp is a freshwater fish. These are fish of the Family Cyprinidae, generally found in the river, lakes, and ponds. There are crucian carp, bighead carp, silver carp, grass carp, and last but not least common carp.
Though hard to believe, anglers thoroughly enjoy catching carps. Common carps, to be precise. Carps are heavy-bodied fish and grow pretty fast. Day or night doesn’t matter; one can try angling carp fishes in the river whenever he wants.
Carp is a fish that needs careful cooking; otherwise, it can be non-edible. Carp fishes are too common and seen everywhere in Asia, North America, and Europe.
Angling Carp Fishes
Carp fishes are very easy to catch and pretty delicious to eat, too, if cooked the right way. So, as the fish has demand among the food lovers, it is caught at a high amount. Then as we said, it is easy to catch. Perhaps a carp will take a couple of minutes to take the bait. So, anglers enjoy angling carp fish. Make it a bit quicker by trying to angle in the lagoons or backwaters. The bait will be taken promptly.
If the lake or pond is right beside where you live, you can pre-bait before actual angling. It’s a great trick most anglers apply to catch fishes, and it works every time too. It is as if you are indulging the fishes with foods they like. So, pre-baiting is a good trick to catch carp too. Pre-baiting is to throw corn, bread, and other bait in the pond or river where the carp fishes are found, let’s say in the backwaters and lagoons.
When you pre-bait, the chances of finding the carp fishes in those places increase tenfold, and when you are ready for angling with the same bait, the carp fishes actually take the bait at once. So, now you know how to catch carp in a pond in less time.
Carps get used to getting food in the same location. That is why one does not need to sit for hours for a carp to take the bait.
Common Baits Used For Angling Carp Fishes
It is suggested to use relatively softer baits to bait carp fishes, especially when the process is easy. One just needs to boil the hard baits. If you lack the interest in doing that or genuinely do not have time, then do not think of skipping the angling program because carp can take the hard bait well too. Carps generally have teeth in the back of the mouth. So, hard or comparatively soft, any bait can be used for angling carps.
But among all these baits, it’s the corn that is the most effective and cheap in angling carp fishes. Also, you can easily store corn for days and use it as bait, which is not the case for most of the favored baits. Some are tough to get, and some are pricier than corn.
Baiting a Carp Fish
Yes, we have mentioned the teeth carp fishes have for eating things as hard as shells. But that doesn’t mean you are going to bait them with shells and hard food. They might not stay near the bait for long as it’s hard to eat. Instead, they are going to search for easier things to eat.
To hold their attraction, use bait that they like the most and prepare it a little for them. Let’s take corn as an example as we already said it is the simplest and most cost-effective bait. A 50 pounds of corn might cost you only $12-$15 at max. It is easy to prepare too. So, how can you prepare corn as bait for the carp and how to catch carp with corn, let’s talk about that a bit.
Preparing the Corn
Raw corn takes a maximum of 45 minutes to boil and cook. After the corn is fully cooked, it expands two to three times in size. So, the size is perfect for the carp to notice the bait and eat it. You can either use a simple pan for cooking the corn or for saving time using a pressure cooker.
If you are not cooking the corn in a pressure cooker and using the old-fashioned cooking style, then make sure to soak the corn in the water at least for two to three days prior. Then cook and boil it in the pan.
But if you are using a pressure cooker, you can directly cook raw corn without soaking them for days. Ten cups of raw-corn need no more than a gallon of water to boil.
Make sure to add something extra to make the corn tastier for the carps. It sounds weird but works. Fishes also have taste buds, you see. Either add essence or mix some bread crumbs with the corn.
Setting Up the Fishing Rod
Setting up the fishing rod for carps is nothing exceptional. It’s the same for angling any fish, which includes carps as well. The hook size for carp is also nothing to ponder on much. The idea is to keep the hook discrete with bait on it. Number 4, 6 or even an 8 or 10 size hook is fine. Make sure to use a decent size hook and try to cover it with proper size bait. The carp, if not sees it, will not be alert and will take the bait.
Do not cast out your fishing line too often. Once every thirty minutes, it’s just fine. Carp fishes track a moving fishing rod very well. So always make sure that the fishing rod is not moving. If you hold it, it is going to move. So, you can use a rod pod to keep the rod still.
There are no specific rules in angling. Every angler’s experience of catching fishes for years becomes the rules for them. And sometimes it is about luck. But the bottom line remains angling carp fishes is a great adventure. When the number of carps you just caught increases, your enthusiasm knows no bound. Angling touches that level of excitement.
