Grass Carp

[4onaside]

The other evening there were some huge grass carp in the the extreme shallows of a local lake, and I mean huge. It occurs to me that they would be dynamite on light tackle. Has anyone ever specifically fished for them, and if so, what bait?

 

[Football Hunter]

A big treble hook

 

[bcunnin1]

Use anything out of your trash for bait.

 

[spitndrum]

Spit Fullstrut and Horns!!!

Thats what bait I would use! ;) :D

 

[username]

Get a can of whole kernel corn.

They are a blast to catch. I stripped the gears out of manya' spinning reels as a youngster on big carp.

 

[4onaside]

Get a can of whole kernel corn.

They are a blast to catch. I stripped the gears out of manya' spinning reels as a youngster on big carp.

I know that corn is a good bait for common carp, but I've never heard of it being bait for grass carp. I have seen grass carp stripping vegetation off of grass that was hanging in the water before, so maybe that and with their names, the question has an obvious answer. Just wondered if anyone had ever tried them.

 

[jakeway]

Surely you've seen the pic of Gil holding one while trying to swallow his flyrod sideways?

 

[stik]

muzzy :grin:

 

[Anonymous]

I tried catching them on doe balls soaked in vanilla extract and finally had one pick it up and spit it out before i could set the hook. I eventually caught one on a piece of cattail (no joke). It choked it down for an easy hook set. Maybe lettuce or rhubarb is worth a shot. They seem to be much tougher to catch than regular carp. So i don't know. Muzzy

 

[WestTn Huntin man]

A Old timer that got me into Carp fishing used french fries or cherry tomatoes. Both worked well.I liked the fries because the carp will rise up to them like a plug. Hang on and keep your drag set lite. They are like a fresh water marlin when you hook a big one. They will come up out of the water and fly like they had wings.

 

[4onaside]

Since these fish are in a TWRA lake Muzzy is not an option. lol

 

[Buzzard Breath]

A Old timer that got me into Carp fishing used french fries or cherry tomatoes. Both worked well.I liked the fries because the carp will rise up to them like a plug. Hang on and keep your drag set lite. They are like a fresh water marlin when you hook a big one. They will come up out of the water and fly like they had wings.

I'd also heard cherry tomatoes work.

 

[TennesseeRains]

I'd also heard cherry tomatoes work. [/quote]

They do! As a kid my grandma's pond had grass carp in it and tommie toes worked GREAT!

 

[WestTn Huntin man]

I've only fished for them in one privite pond.We would cut the grass and blow it into the pond.They would school up eating the cut grass.You could throw anything into the feeding frenzy and hook one.

 

[jakeway]

I tried catching them on doe balls...

I didn't know there was such a thing. Is that the same as the "Cherry Tomotoes" mentioned above?

 

[B.D.]

If grass carp are actively feeding, they will hit a fly, small plastic crawfish imitation, dough ball, or even occasionally grass on a hook. The trick is to find one actively feeding and get the bait in front of its nose. The hard part is that 90% of the time grass carp are just hanging out suspended, as if they're asleep or something, and they won't eat anything no matter what it is.

bd

 

[Anonymous]

I tried catching them on doe balls...

I didn't know there was such a thing. Is that the same as the "Cherry Tomotoes" mentioned above?

No cherry tomatoes are a fruit. I would make doe balls with white bread. I peel off the edges and wad it up into a compact ball on a hook. Then put vanilla extract on the ball. Works good for common carp but not so much for the grass carp. Good info fellas looking forward to trying the french fries and cherry toms at the pond.

 

[4onaside]

These fish were in very shallow, clear water, so I imagine that the presentation would have to be very stealthy also, regardless of the bait used. But I'm gonna try them. A twenty pounder roaring off,might be more fun than you would want. lol

 

[Camp]

French fries? Raw or cooked?

 

[showmehorns]

These fish were in very shallow, clear water, so I imagine that the presentation would have to be very stealthy also, regardless of the bait used. But I'm gonna try them. A twenty pounder roaring off,might be more fun than you would want. lol

I know a 20 pounder on a arrow and string will turn a 1648 welded boat in circles. :grin:

 

[Zeek]

I caught (well hooked) one last year my goodness those things look slow and lazy when they just float there but put a hook in their mouths an the fight is on!

 

[RUGER]

I foul hooked one that would go at least 60 pounds a few years ago in a pond we fish in every once in a while.
He was hooked on the rear portion of his back.
I pulled him all the way across the pond (75 yards) twice and when he got to the bank he would simply swim away. :eek:
Couldn't do anything with him.
I let man reel him back across a few times till he got tired too.
Finally got ahold of him and the hook came out.
Amazing.

 

[gil1]

I really don't know what bait they would take, but I've taken them on flies that look like crawfish and big aquatic insects (dragonfly nymphs). I've also caught a couple small ones on a fly that looks like algae.

I used to travel to KY to fish a pond full of grassies for a carp on the fly tournament. Grassies would hang out in the clear shallows where I could sight-fish for them with flies. This tactic only worked for about 15 minutes as the sun was coming up before they would see me and blow out of there. After that, there was no sight-fishing, so I would have to drive all the way back to Nashville after only 15 minutes of fishing. The owners of the pond would not allow me to fish for bass or bluegill or anything but carp, so I had to leave at around 5:30 am.

It's amazing the things I've done to try to catch a dern carp!

I caught this one on the pictured Whitlock's Near Nuff Crayfish.

 

[J Hartman]

if you can see them, and you plan on keeping them, just go to walmart and get the biggest trable hook they got and ""snag"" the things... For catch and release, the strike king bitsy minnow will catch anything... (in the right color of course)

 

[WestTn Huntin man]

French fries? Raw or cooked?

I've always used cooked.

 

[4onaside]

Gil, don't want to hijack my own thread, but the Near Nuff Crayfish looks like it would be the greatest stream smallie fly of all time! I did pretty good a couple of weekends ago in southern Missouri using a rebel crickhopper (as a crank bait) and a black and blue tube jig. I suppose I was brain dead for not using a rebel teeny crawfish, which I had expressly bought for that trip.

 

[gil1]

Yes, the Near Nuff is pretty versatile and works on smallies. It rides hook up so it doesn't snag as much.

Oooh, I love Crickhoppers, especially on small streams (cricks, duh!). Talk about a lure with some action!

I use black and blue tubes and other plastics a lot. I'm not sure why the fish like that color, but they do. I've started adding a little red to my arsenal mostly just because a dude who catches a ton of fish told me to. I'm convinced it works.

 

[4onaside]

You know, on the tubes, I was really looking for either solid black or solid brown, as in crawfish, but could find neither at my friendly walmart store(nor anyplace else that was convenient). I read in a Missouri publication that the black body, blue tail tubes were good for smallmouth, and at 96 cents a package at the Waltons, that is my speed. And the info was good. So, occasionally you can believe something that you read.