Off The Top

by

Kc Langdon

Stalking a small pond for mirror carp has been a great way to keep me busy fishing through the hot summer heat. Moving to shade when I want and staying mobile for shorter sessions instead of sitting on the bank waiting for a take on a bite alarm seemed to be the change of pace I needed.

The simplicity of free-lining bread on the surface or on bottom really makes it an easy technique for anyone to try without having loads of expensive gear. A simple mat, a water bucket, a net, a disgorger, and a bottle of propolis for carp care are easy to keep in a backpack or carry in one hand while holding bread and a rod in the other.

I would suggest keeping a few hooks in your pocket or backpack if you feel like you might lose a hook during the day. I tend to walk around looking for these mirror carp in shallow edges and lightly bait bread balls on spots that seem like the carp will go to.

A reed line or a choke point on a bank that fish have to travel by to go from one area to the next- I have found to be productive. The edge of lily pads or a clean area next to some tree structure has also been successful with bread bites.

Having to battle ducks and bait an area without being noticed by them is hard but can be done by crouching in bushes and tossing over a handful of bread quickly and moving away, slowly, out of sight from birds.

This spot has lots of turtles and birds. On my first trip the birds would not leave me alone for hours until moving to the opposite side and finding a few carp. I even ended up hooking one that threw the hook after a few seconds… this got me upset for sure.

Recently I bought a Sony camera for filming and photographing carp. I brought it on this trip so practicing taking pictures in different lighting was good practice. Some pictures didn’t come out perfect but that’s what happens when you're learning something new. I’m happy with the progress I’ve made with the picture quality and have some pictures that make me feel like I’m right there again looking at it which is a really nice feeling.

Watching mirror carp swim around and muck up the water around your hook baits is thrilling. When the line budges and starts gliding off with a carp on the end, setting the hook into them and getting them to start to fight makes your day when you have had little of that experience.

Next year I plan on finding more areas where I can stalk and look for carp. Around my area, it’s pretty limited to how many spots you can do this type of fishing so I tend to drive an hour or two to get my practice in.

A friend of mine showed me a small mirror pond where we caught about a dozen baby mirrors in a few hours. This sparked my interest in watching your line zip off with just bread pinched over the hook and hooking little amazing mirrors with patterns and scales so beautiful at such a young age. Never having caught any carp under one pound this was a highlight in my year and carp fishing adventures so far.

Sometimes getting away from big fish and fishing for smaller mirrors can be just as satisfying.

Trying new spots is definitely a must do if you’re tired of the usual venues near home. It can even get you thinking about new tactics to try on old venues.