Carp Diem

Took my first shot at carping today, and I've got a lot to learn.  You have to be part fisherman and part Betty Crocker, and spend a lot of time sitting on your **s.  I'm not too good at either of the latter two, but the payoff seems to be pretty good once you get the hang of it.  Watching these things leap all around me during my early a.m. bass outings, and that fact that one of the charter captains I've fished with is obsessed with these "Golden Bonefish", got me more than a little curious. 

 So, I did what everyone does to learn something new, I went to Google and YouTube and watched some videos.  A guy on one of my fishing forums also provided a ton of good advice for getting started, which I followed, kind of.  It seems as if a lot of the carp fishing is in the prepping, from the method balls and boilies to hair rigs.  Last night I didn't really put all six Ps (Proper Planning Prevents Piss-Poor Performance) into effect.  I ran out of oats, didn't go get more,  and thus had some sticky method balls.  I figured they'd do in a pinch.  I didn't feel like doing up hair rigs and figured I'd just bait on the top of the hook.  

I got up early, hit my spot and started baiting.  The carp clearly weren't around in the numbers from the last few days, but given what I had, I was all in at my location.  I've always despised sitting on an anchor and chumming, which is essentially carp fishing, but I'm not going to pull 20 pound bass out of the pond 5 minutes from my front door.   I even left my bass gear at home so I wouldn't be tempted to throw in the towel.  Two hours later I'd had enough.  Getting skunked is a rarity, and I can't stand it.  Next weekend I'm going to head across the pond to where a couple of old timers are always set up carping, leave my gear in the truck, and see if I can pick up some good advice.  As I said, I've got a lot to learn.