Stockton - more that just Walleyes

[MoCarp]

Carp are common in Stockton and are over looked as an angling opportunity fish are common from 6 to 12 pounds with much bigger fish available---night time is best and it seems to be easiest from June on from the onset of Hot weather--as a bonus we usally catch several nice channel cats some to 10 pounds

Mo

[MoCarp]

Steve--"Sod" with a Stockton carp he names "Mick" for the unusual trait of Stockton carp haveing bigger lips than avg--in England carp get recaptured often and get well know by name!

on the way to the lake we past a big flathead's head drying on a fence post--something unknown to the English- He asked if Stockton had any "Wels" catfish :ph34r:

[MoCarp]

here are some typical catches that you should expect to catch

carp from 6 -10 pounds and cats from 3-8 pounds

some of the others that came in to fish with Steve "sod' Lightfoot

when we get together we call it a fish-in and is a blast

we had guys come from as far away as Illinois to fish on this trip

all in all we caught about 60-75 fish between us and the biggest was about 15 pounds

this kind of fishing is as much about visiting friends as its about the fishing

Mo

[Brian K. Shaffer]

Just seeing those carps pics reminded me of something funny...

One day I was fishing the White River for trout down in Arkansas.. I was in a personal pontoon boat - rowing upstream at high water smack in the middle of the Rim Shoals section. I happen onto a group of Arkansas Game and Fish guys shocking out fish from the bank above Donny Wallace's old place... all carp.

They filled 2 boats full.. and I saw the boats full of fish. Almost all of them were out of the water for some time.. but you could see them clearly still alive.. gasping for air with those big beautiful lips. Sometimes one of them would look you right in the eye.. and some of them were easily over 30lbs too..

screaming reels - Brian

[MoCarp]

Some of the Brits would have been horrified at that site :ph34r: ---In England they do the same thing to carp lakes, except its the trout and pike that get stacked up like cord wood ---wierd thing is in their lakes carp seem to not cause problems, like is claimed that carp do here --sometimes I wonder if its just to keep extra state employees on the payrole .

There was a time here when brown trout where wacked on the head and tossed into the bushes--as they where blaimed for the decline of native brookies back east...

Here its something done as carp are still considerd a pest (though in a few places that is changing) in fact a $250,000 carp tourney is in Texas at the infamous Town Lake in Austin, Texas the end of March 1st week of April.

--odd sounding--but I know of two places now that guides make a living guiding carp, Imagin geting paid to fish carp :ph34r:

if 3 years ago you would have asked me " if I would be a addicted carp fisherman"--I would have said you where a tweeker on meth. but after the 1st year having more sizzling runs than most guys ever have in a lifetime--its hard not to get hooked--considering a small carp is 6 pounds--when a small trout is 9-10 inches and a smallish bass is about 12 inches--I caught several fish in the 20 pound class last summer--how often does a guy get that size trout or bass? even a ten???

I look forward to catching my first big carp on a fly rod ---should be a "smoking" expereance!

Mo

[Kansas Fly Fisher]

I'll admit I've not been after carp with a fly rod, but some of my fondest memories as a child is fishing for carp with my granddad. We'd use cane poles and dough balls. If I was lucky I'd get to use his Zebco 33! He used to make his dough balls out of grape soda and Wheaties! What a fun time it was.

[Wayne SW/MO]

I think much of the old prejudice against Carp was probably in step with the "If you can't fry it and eat it", its not worth anything. As C & R becomes more popular, I can see Carp fishing getting more favorable notice. They're tolerance will help them also, which is one reason that Ray Scott, of BASS fame, said they should be stocked in big city lakes and ponds.

[MoCarp]

I think much of the old prejudice against Carp was probably in step with the "If you can't fry it and eat it", its not worth anything. As C & R becomes more popular, I can see Carp fishing getting more favorable notice. They're tolerance will help them also, which is one reason that Ray Scott, of BASS fame, said they should be stocked in big city lakes and ponds.

the Lindners of In-Fisherman fame are full bore carpers now since they sold their interests in the Magazine

www.walleyesinc.com/walleyeinc/event20.html - 23k

``I've been putting a lot of time into carp, trying to figure out how to catch them,'' he continued. '`And I've been doing extremely well. It's a fascinating fish, and most people don't realize you can catch them on purpose.''

Al Lindner

[jim m]

I've fished with mo carp a few times, and we've had several trips where we've caught around 200 lbs of fish. what a blast! it is a relaxing and fun way to spend time on the bank. looking forward to warmer weather!

Jim

[kayakfisherman]

If you are interested in a unique blast of a fly fishing experience fish

for carp with a fly rod at Stockton from May through September along the

shore lines. I usually use a small bluegill popper or a caddis fly. They

will come up for one just like a bass only they are a heck of alot bigger.

Use a six weight rod because some of these guys are really big and they

run just like a brown trout. Occassionally you will tie into some really

big drum this way as well. It is like salt water fishing, only very close

to home. Tight lines. Bob