Fish guide
Common carp
Big, wary and found in ponds, lakes and rivers across most of the country: a common carp of 10 or 20 pounds on light tackle is one of the strongest fights in fresh water.
Cyprinus carpio · also called common carp, golden bonefish, king carp, mirror carp (a form with few scales)
How to tell it
- Two pairs of short barbels at the corners of a down-turned mouth.
- Large, bronze to golden scales on a thick, high-backed body; mirror carp have only a few big scales.
- One long dorsal fin with a stout, saw-edged first spine.
Size: Many are 5–15 lb and 20–30 inches; good waters hold 20-pound fish, and the biggest top 50 lb.
What to throw
The first pick and the backup for every water clarity and light, from the Gear Matcher. Tap one to see the whole kit.
Lake · Transition water (50–65°F)
Clear water · see 4 ft+ down
Stained water · 1–4 ft of sight
Murky water · under 1 ft
Rain fishes like a cloudy day, so it is left out. These are the everyday picks: in spring and fall the Gear Matcher adds the season’s patterns for some fish.
Our picks for these
- Sweet Corn on a Hair Rig: YOTO carp hair rigs, size 8, 24 pack
- Floating Bread Crust: Surface floating carp feeders, 3 pack
- Boilie on a Hair Rig: WCB Carp Baits pop-up boilies, 16 mm, sweet corn
- Method Feeder packed with Corn or Pellets: Inline method feeder set, 4 pack
- Dough Bait on a Hair Rig: WCB Carp Baits dough bait paste
- Nightcrawler on a Sliding-Sinker Rig: Narcissus catfish Santee rigs, 6/0 circle hooks, 6 pack
Rod, reel and line
- Rod
- 7'–9' medium-heavy spinning, or a 10'–12' carp rod
- Reel
- 4000–6000 baitrunner spinning
- Line
- 12–15 lb monofilament
Carp are big and strong. A baitrunner reel lets a carp run with the bait without feeling the rod, and the drag tires it out.
Where and when
Lake fishing: plan your approach and read the water.
- Where they live
- Warm ponds, lakes and slow rivers with soft, muddy bottoms. They feed in the shallows and on flats, rooting in the mud, and rest in deeper water.
- Water they like
- Most active from 60 to 80°F. They feed slowly in cold water and can be caught all year.
- Best time
- Dawn, dusk and night in summer, and warm afternoons in spring and fall.
- Spawning
- Mostly late spring to early summer, once the water passes the low 60s °F, and sometimes again later: they splash loudly in shallow weedy water.
Through the year
Best months for common carp: May–June and September–October.
- January: slower.
- February: slower.
- March: slower.
- April: good.
- May: best.
- June: best.
- July: good.
- August: good.
- September: best.
- October: best.
- November: good.
- December: slower.
Earlier in the South and later in the North. The first warm spells of spring bring them shallow.
A general pattern, not a local forecast. Pick your state for a rough adjustment: common carp follow the water’s warmth, earlier in the South and later in the North.
Spring
Shallow, warming bays draw them in: corn and dough bait on the bottom, or sight-fish them in clear water.
Summer
Feeding on flats and in eddies, and well after dark: chum a spot (where chumming is legal) and fish a hair rig on it.
Fall
They feed heavily before winter: one of the best times for a big fish.
Winter
Slow, deep and in the warmest water; a small bait fished patiently still catches them.
Tips
- 1.Where chumming is legal, chum the spot with corn for a while before you fish: it brings the carp to you and gets them feeding.
- 2.Fishing a plain bait, leave the line slack or the bail open: a carp that feels resistance drops it. A hair rig with a heavy lead hooks them itself.
- 3.Use a net and stout line: a big carp runs far and hard.
The rules
Check local regulations. Some waters restrict corn or chumming.
Through the ice
What to drop
Tiny Jig tipped with Maggots or a Wax Worm
or Kernel of Corn on a Small Hook
- Rod
- 30"–36" medium ice rod
- Reel
- 2500 spinning
- Line
- 10–12 lb monofilament
How thick the ice must be
- Under 4"Stay off
- 4"Ice fishing and anything on foot
- 5–7"Snowmobile or ATV
- 8–12"Car or small pickup
- 12–15"Medium truck
For new, clear ice. White or snowy ice is about half as strong, so double these. Check it with a spud bar or auger as you go out, and keep off ice over moving water, near inlets and at pressure ridges. No ice is completely safe.