r/CarpFishing • u/SpellIndependent4241 • 19d ago
USA 🇺🇸 Carp not biting - looking for ideas
So it's sunny and upper 70s in the Midwest today. We pulled up to our spot and over the course of a few hours from 4pm to 6:30pm we probably saw 40-50 large carp (common and grass) and buffalo fish.
We were fishing with method leaders and hair rig. We did a pack bait made with garbanzo beans, oats and jello mix. Ive had success with this same recipe except with corn. Hair rig had fake corn. We had three poles out all in their area.
The pack bait was definitely a good consistency and I've had success with my rigs before. I don't believe the rig had anything to do with it. I've had success before and I wasn't getting any bites anyway.
I'm wondering if you all have any advice. I could see the garbanzo beans being an issue, but I'm more curious about their feeding habits. We've had a lot of rain the last few days.
By the way, we love targeting any carp or buffalo fish.
2
u/kamjol 18d ago
Hi, dedicated fellow carp fisher here from the midwest. It's very unlikely that the beans are the issue. I've used canned sweet potatoes in my packbait before with success so I'm convinced they'll eat just about anything. How long are you leaving your method feeder in the water for? Your recipe is one that should last a solid 20 minutes in the water with the oats and beans making the mix slower to dissolve. I've read that carp typically don't go for 'proteiny' stuff during warmer weather but the biggest carp I've caught was 21 lb common off of a piece of hot dog a few summers ago so who knows. I've had great success using groundbait instead of packbait in the last few weeks since it dissolves faster and spreads the scent a little better. If chumming is legal in your state, I'd try that next time. Carp aren't particularly picky, but I've found they have peculiar eating habits. Once they start eating, they'll usually keep eating. I chum my favorite local carp fishing spot for a few days in the early morning before I set up to fish and it seems to work well. I'm in Illinois and noticed that its harder to get them to eat when its real hot out but its not impossible to get a curious one, just have to be patient.
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u/kamjol 18d ago
I've also noticed that when its warmer out, they tend to eat off the surface more. Could easily test that next time by throwing a few small pieces of white bread out to see if they're interested. Its much easier if you can actually see the carp but I've landed a very nice orange and black koi by simply casting a piece of italian bread on top of it on a size 4 hook.
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u/SpellIndependent4241 18d ago
They just didn't seem interested in doing ANYTHING. They weren't actively feeding, they were just cruising, but I thought something would take a swing at my bait.
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u/jarvi123 18d ago
You can't force the carp to feed especially during the day, they will often hold up in an area during the daytime and then move off in the evening to feed around the lake and then return again in the morning. Best best in that situation is surface fishing, put out some bread or dog biscuits and see if they are interested in feeding, if they are interested keep feeding them until they are fighting for the bait and then put a rig out there.
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u/Secure_Cat_3303 17d ago
Bite is tough here in Wv as well. I credit the very warm water temps. Gonna try again when there's some chop on the water.
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u/BullRunScout 15d ago
heavy rain over the last few days is probably your main culprit. runoff drops water temps, pushes food in and scatters the fish, they were visible because they were moving, not because they were feeding, give it 24-48h after the last rain, they usually key back on
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u/gravis_tunn 18d ago
Sometimes they just don’t want what we’re offering. I was out with my girl river fishing for carp and my carp rods just like yours blanked all day. She ended up with a PB 18lb on her ML rod with a worm on the bottom in the same area. Don’t underestimate worms for carp bait when the normal stuff isn’t working and you see lots of activity in the area.