I haven't as you can guess fished those spots for carp. Again I appreciate the generalized location. Wasn't looking for your golden spot. Thank you for offering this up.
I’ve caught carp using worms during the spring. When the creeks rise over their banks into the grass, I used to take them with a bow with a reel and fishing arrows. We’ve tried cooking them in a pressure cooker, but the results were disappointing.
pressure cooker and pressure canner are very different things.
The only way I have found that I actually like them is pressure canned. Skinless fillets with red meat removed. Little bit of seasoning, veg oil, and a dash of ketchup in the jars. It really tastes like canned salmon or canned tuna. Plus shelf stable for a year or longer.
I see you’re from Okc- hefner, overholser, arcadia all have very harvestable populations.
All three are “trash fish” paradise. If they ever lifted the No artificial lights restrictions for bowfishing(Okc lakes), there would be 4+ state “trash fish” records broken in a week I’d imagine.
In regards to the OP, I haven’t targeted them since I was a kid, but I’ve caught or snagged plenty incidentally and have shot a lot more. I’ve eaten Carp a handful of times, it’s a heckuva lotta bones, but if it’s cleaned and white and it looks like good fish meat when you cook it- it tastes like white, good clean fish meat when you eat it. It’s a lot of work though, atleast the way I liked it best. But I prefer buffalo and long nose gar if I’m eating “trash”.
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Hefner is close. It's where I got 40lb mono broke like butter. Over by the sailboat docks and the golf course. I got a huge carp right by the bank and I heard a PING!!! That sucker took the end of the rod to the dirt. I thought the rod was going to snap. That spot is loaded with turtles though. All they do is eat my bait all night long. Never landed one carp yet there.
Overholser below the dam used to be a good spot (40 years ago). Now it's a total trash dump. I've called the city about all the garbage. Used needles, trash of all kinds and so on...... Filthy place now. When I was a kid, dad would fill a 5 gallon bucket with carp.
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Sorry guys, been working my butt off and missed this post.
My preferred way to catch carp is with a fly rod!
I usually fish either a 7wt. or 8wt., depending on where I am fishing at.
Sight fishing and drag and drop is the best way to catch carp on the fly.
My preferred leader is a 12 ft. 0X tapered monofilament leader with a 3 to 4 ft. 8 lb. fluorocarbon tippet
Just as important as the rod you use, you have got to have a reel that has a good and dependable drag system! Otherwise, you will lose a lot of fish that you could have landed otherwise.
You also need a good hook, or they break or bend straight out!
Here are some of the flies that I tie specifically for targeting carp -
We have seen very few "small" carp this year, with most averaging from 8 pounds to over 20 pounds! Most of the 12+ pound carp will put you well into the backing on your fly reel, and it only takes just a couple of seconds to run out that 100 feet of fly line.
When caught out of clean water, carp are one of the best eating fish out there! Like others have said, pressure cooked carp looks smells and tastes like salmon salmon, and when made into "salmon patties" very few people can tell the difference between actual salmon patties and those made from carp.
Another good way to cook them is to take one of fillets and score it every half inch or so, with a cut going no less than 3/4th. the thickness of the fillet.
Take your seasoned cornmeal and not only coat the fillet with it, but make sure to get the cornmeal down in each cut made, so as to allow the fillet to cook completely through.
With no more than a 1/4" of cooking oil in a large cast iron skillet, fry each carp fillet in a medium hot skillet on both sides until it is golden brown.
The scores in the fillet will allow the bones to cook through and become tender, and you can eat the whole fillet without having to pick out the bones.
We do 2 fish fry's a year for 50 to 75 people, and carp is what I cook. I fry the fillets as described, as well as the carp patties. I cook somewhere around 80 pounds of fish at each fish fry, and so far, there has never been any left for leftovers the following day.
Carp Master, Without giving up your honey holes do you have any suggestions for fishing techniques and times of year that you like to fish? Getting into the backing on a 7 wt rod sounds awesome
Fishing techniques:
When fly fishing for carp, you are sight fishing more than anything else.
Carp that are cruising or sunning - 99.5% of the time, these fish are not feeding and will not hit anything! That .5% is definitely the exception to the rule!
You want to look for "feeding carp", which will be head down and tail up when feeding on the bottom. In still water, you can spot these fish by the mud clouds, or see their big tails waving back and forth on the surface.
Once you spot a feeding carp, cast past it, then drag your fly over to it, and drop the fly as close to their head as you can get it without spooking the fish. This is known as the "drag and drop." Let the fly sit there for a couple of seconds, then twitch the fly and move it no more than a couple of inches. If you see the take or see your line moving, do a quick strip set to set the hook, and hold on!
When you are dragging your fly over to a feeding carp, you are trying to drop the fly in an area the size of a dinner plate, in front of the carps head. Outside of this range, depending on water clarity, a carp may not see your offering and you will need to make another cast. Carp have poor eyesight, hence the reason for the fly needing to be so close to their face. This needs to be done very delicately to avoid spooking the fish.
Carp may not see very well, but they do have a large lateral line. This means that you have to spot and stalk them, and offer delicate presentations to avoid scaring your intended quarry over into the next county.
A fly line smacking on top of the water will run a carp off faster than anything! They may not can can see the line, but they can sure hear it hitting the water.
The same thing when your fly hits the water, it can oftentimes scare the carp away, which is why you cast well past it, then slowly pull the fly over to it, and just let the fly drop down in front of it's face.
Use a 12 ft. tapered leader, and add a 4 foot section of fluorocarbon tippet to that. This will keep the fly line further away from the carp, and harder for them to detect it.
If you are fishing in less than 2 feet of water and the water is still, choose flies that are unweighted. If there is a slight current, bead chain eyes are the heaviest you want to go with.
If carp are eating on the surface, a terrestrial fly such as a grasshopper can get you into some good battles with a big ol' carp!
Depending on where you are fishing, you may have to make some long casts, and if you can make "good" and "long" shooting casts before your fly touches the water, you can greatly up your chances on catching more and or bigger carp.
I have caught carp as close as 10 feet from the tip of my fly rod, but prefer fish caught at a distance, as it reduces the chances of losing a big fish, or worse yet, breaking one of your favorite rods!
Also, keep your fly line clean and coated, to make casting easier, and to also make those long shooting casts much easier, as it cuts down on the number of false casts that you have to make.
My favorite time of year fly fishing for carp:
May through October.
Anything else, just ask!
When fly fishing for carp, you are sight fishing more than anything else.
Carp that are cruising or sunning - 99.5% of the time, these fish are not feeding and will not hit anything! That .5% is definitely the exception to the rule!
You want to look for "feeding carp", which will be head down and tail up when feeding on the bottom. In still water, you can spot these fish by the mud clouds, or see their big tails waving back and forth on the surface.
Once you spot a feeding carp, cast past it, then drag your fly over to it, and drop the fly as close to their head as you can get it without spooking the fish. This is known as the "drag and drop." Let the fly sit there for a couple of seconds, then twitch the fly and move it no more than a couple of inches. If you see the take or see your line moving, do a quick strip set to set the hook, and hold on!
When you are dragging your fly over to a feeding carp, you are trying to drop the fly in an area the size of a dinner plate, in front of the carps head. Outside of this range, depending on water clarity, a carp may not see your offering and you will need to make another cast. Carp have poor eyesight, hence the reason for the fly needing to be so close to their face. This needs to be done very delicately to avoid spooking the fish.
Carp may not see very well, but they do have a large lateral line. This means that you have to spot and stalk them, and offer delicate presentations to avoid scaring your intended quarry over into the next county.
A fly line smacking on top of the water will run a carp off faster than anything! They may not can can see the line, but they can sure hear it hitting the water.
The same thing when your fly hits the water, it can oftentimes scare the carp away, which is why you cast well past it, then slowly pull the fly over to it, and just let the fly drop down in front of it's face.
Use a 12 ft. tapered leader, and add a 4 foot section of fluorocarbon tippet to that. This will keep the fly line further away from the carp, and harder for them to detect it.
If you are fishing in less than 2 feet of water and the water is still, choose flies that are unweighted. If there is a slight current, bead chain eyes are the heaviest you want to go with.
If carp are eating on the surface, a terrestrial fly such as a grasshopper can get you into some good battles with a big ol' carp!
Depending on where you are fishing, you may have to make some long casts, and if you can make "good" and "long" shooting casts before your fly touches the water, you can greatly up your chances on catching more and or bigger carp.
I have caught carp as close as 10 feet from the tip of my fly rod, but prefer fish caught at a distance, as it reduces the chances of losing a big fish, or worse yet, breaking one of your favorite rods!
Also, keep your fly line clean and coated, to make casting easier, and to also make those long shooting casts much easier, as it cuts down on the number of false casts that you have to make.
My favorite time of year fly fishing for carp:
May through October.
Anything else, just ask!
Speaking of carp, was at the Lake Murray Marina today. The huge carp are everywhere. They sell floating catfish food in the marina store. It’s comical to watch hundreds of carp go after that feed. I was wet from the knees down from the splashes.
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