pond tuna

A small, maybe 10ft iceless hole has began to form on the lake I am targeting this season. Considering the lake is almost 90 acres, it’s probably not something to get too worked up about. Unlike the past few years, I am dealing with the winter with little urgency. I’ve learned the hard way that getting all desperate to be fishing again does nothing good for me. The winter has become a nice break from the manic ordeal otherwise known as my “carp angling”.

Here’s a fun fact: The Rhode Island Health Department recommends that you get a rabies vaccination if you have an encounter with bats. The dosage varies depending on your weight. For example, a 3 year old girl gets 3 shots and a pudgy adult man gets 6. Did I mention they are given to you all at once? It’s not so much getting bit that is a concern - it’s more like the saliva.

On Saturday, my friend told me a story about how his grandfather used to take him fishing as a young boy. When I asked him if his grandad was a fisherman, he replied, “No - He would just take me and watch me fish.” My friend who now owns more fishing rods than a tackle shop, has been fishing ever since.

Spring continues to play coy so for now I continue to sit on my hands and wait for sensible weather. Having been lured out to the bank by signs of an early spring last year, I realized I was pretty burnt out by mid-April. I’m doing my best to avoid that feeling this year.

The bluish black backs of the carp I’d been watching slowly drifted away from me and under what appeared to be an island of trash and some sort of scum. It was as if they had eyes on their tails and had spotted me watching them as they moseyed along the shallow water. My hands were cold and uncomfortable not to mention, covered in sweet corn juice. Besides the short warm spell we had recently, it has been bitterly cold. This is how I ended up here, watching these fish. While most of my regular spots have been ice-free for a while, it was here I felt I had the best chance of hooking up.

One of my first encounters with a Rhode Island carp was through a blog called “ricarpfishing”. The blog, written by local angler Dave Pickering, makes a bold claim; “Carp…The NUMBER ONE gamefish worldwide!” Mr. Pickering is a constant source of inspiration and checking his blog for updates has become a part of my morning ritual. Dave’s updates are something we all look forward to and the rate at which he catches fish is something we all aspire to.

Children throughout Rhode Island are returning to school and the mornings are noticeably cooler. Then end of summer is nigh. Having seen only a limited number of fish visit the landing net, I can’t help but ask myself if I’ve misspent my summer.

Kevin Wasilewski, aka “The Dark Carper” has been quietly and methodically catching carp in Rhode Island for the last 30 years. Kevin’s dedication to catching carp is truly inspiring and over the last year or so I’ve had the privilege of getting to know this passionate, relentless angler.

This weekend marked the official “opening” of trout season here in Rhode Island. RIDEM released 80,000 trout into ponds, rivers and streams through the area. Having been fishing for carp the night before, there was no way I was getting up Saturday morning.

Another quiet week is in the books. March continues its “marchy-ness” and I am ready for this spring to really kick off.

After getting some great advice from a very generous and much more experienced carp angler, I have managed to winkle a carp out of its watery lair.

Well, winter is here… sort of. I went out scouting these last few days and found open water in the places I visited. I’ve yet to go fishing for anything this year but I get the feeling I will be out and about in the next few weeks. Besides day dreaming, here are some videos I’ve watched that have helped keep me sane.

There is snow on the ground and as of this morning, the local carp pond is frozen over. Is winter finally here? This evening, I am “unboxing” my latest tackle order. Inside are the last few pieces of kit I will be using this upcoming season including some new items that have come out of many lessons learned in 2015.

We’ve had a mild winter so far, but I am off the bank till the spring. I may only have a slight case of the winter blues at the moment, but I am already in the midst of preparing for the upcoming season. This means evaluating my current tackle situation, re-uping bits and bobs and purchasing any new items that I have deemed necessary.

One of the first and best pieces of advice that Kevin gave me was: keep it really simple and go to a water with a high population of carp. He graciously gave me a list of a few of these places. This was huge for me. Until then I had been speculating on whether or not the waters I was fishing even had carp in them. If there are no carp around then you cannot catch them.

To say that carp fishing is not popular in the US would be an understatement. On most lakes you’ll find DEM (Department of Environmental Management) signs alerting boaters and anglers about the dangers of spreading “invasive” species. This list includes Asian clams, zebra mussels, rusty crayfish and of course, my beloved carp. In one report I’ve read, someone describes a popular local park lake as “infested” with carp. I call it a “runs water”.