No, I didn’t misspell the word “carp”; I didn’t juxtapose the two middle letters. This site is, and always will be, a family-safe website. (Losing a big fish alongside the boat may have, on occasion, brought a few distasteful words to mind but that’s where they will stay - never part of a headline.)
Allow me to explain.
For the past several weeks my best fish (spotted bass) have come from 30-40 feet of water on the main lake, but I cannot resist the temptation to fish places that have historically been generous; namely, brush piles in 20-25 feet of water.
After all, somebody spent a lot of time and energy building those brush piles. Hauling trees out of the woods and sinking them with rocks and concrete blocks a hundred yards off shore is exhaustive work…I’m told. (I would never do such a thing myself because it is prohibited by the Army Corps of Engineers.)
A man – or a woman – ought to be entitled to catch a fish or two after all that sweat equity they invested! Fish should be there! Amen...'nuf said.
Yet in spite of the fact that I haven’t had a nibble on any of those secret brush piles since mid-July, I am a creature of habit and continue to return. I do so because I always see the same thing when I first drop my trolling motor into the water near those sites: a lot of “arches”, big arches.
“Arches” are what an electronic sonar unit (aka - fish finder) displays on the screen as fish; I always see arches when I begin fishing the brush piles. However, another phenomenon always happens simultaneously; I never, ever, can catch one of those “arches”. I have tried every lure invented, in every color possible – to no avail.
So what gives?
Dauntless (or stubborn, a fine line separates the two) I return, this time with an underwater camera in hand. Aqua View makes mine. They are amazing devices; mine has infra-red lights that provide amazing clarity at 25-feet.
I started at my best brush pile: 22-feet deep now because the lake is down 3.6 feet, but always “covered with arches” whenever I fish it. I approach with cat-like stealth. Slowly the tethered camera is lowered to the bottom.
“Ah, there’s the brush pile,” is murmured. “Look at the size of those silhouettes! Giant fish, just like my sonar has been telling me for the past month.”
Then reality hits: those aren’t bass – those are carp! Cyprinus carpio are everywhere. Where are the bass?
Circling the once-prized brush pile reveals more carp, and a walleye or two, but no bass. Surely this is an anomaly, I think; it can’t be carp that I’ve been seeing as arches on my sonar!
Sadly, the same scenario is repeated, brush pile after brush pile. The only variance is seeing an occasional catfish with the carp.
That insight leads to this week’s fishing tip: if you want to catch a fish on a 20-25 foot brush pile use dough balls, and take that carp home with you – they make great pets.
If you want to catch a bass stay deep, 30-45 feet…or, and this is just beginning to happen…some very shallow bass are being caught on small baits in Wahoo Creek and Little River; use a Shad Rap or small Pop’R right on the bank.
As I began: brush piles, they’re just full of carp.
