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Thanks to Zman2 starting his carp bait thread the other day I decided to whip up a batch of dough last night and give it a go at a little pond after work.
Dough started with an 88ยข apple cinnamon muffin mix from the bread store. Other ingredients added - strawberry jam, hazelnut coffee creamer, vanilla extract, flour, and cornmeal. Really just kinda looked around the kitchen and played mad scientist. Made a stiff dough, rolled into balls, and coated with powder sugar.
What do you know it worked!
Caught two small mudcats and two decent carp in a couple of hours. Missed a bunch more.
Will be experimenting with more dough baits in the future.
All fish released to swim another day but think I'm gonna try and consume the next carp that decides to play.
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Love the tug.
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Thanks for the link to the recipes. I've told myself for years I'm gonna eat the next carp I catch but have never held myself to it. Those recipes may push me to take the leap.
As for the location of the pond it is in South Jordan. There are three ponds - the Kidney pond, the Midas, and what we refer to as the State pond. The State pond is the furthest south of the three and as far as I know is not managed by DWR as a stocked fish pond and therefore doesn't receive the same amount of pressure by those chasing the planted trout and cats in the other two. I fished the state pond all alone while a 100 yards away the other two ponds were shoulder to shoulder.
11200 southish and Riverfront Parkway.
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Amazing! I would have never guessed that pond held carp. The other two are listed under Utah's Urban Fisheries but I suppose the bottom one not being DWR managed would be omitted. Of course, DWR doesn't brag on Carp that much either.
I mapped out most of the close to Draper urban spots for carp fishing but dismissed those other two immediately as being too small and only holding stockers. And only minutes away from my home.
Thanks for sharing.
PS- if you cook and eat one, I will, too....maybe....heh, heh.
I found out last month the Great Sculpins I had been catching ( and throwing back) in Alaska for 15 years were dismissed as "trash", like a Carp is in Utah, turned out to be REALLY good eating. You just need a big one to get decent fillets from. Firm white flesh that reminded me of shrimp or lobster.
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That pond also holds mudcats (obviously), blue gill, and crappie. Not long after that pond was constructed the river got high enough to cross the trail and transplanted some of its finned wildlife.
The two upper ponds may be small but they also have some huge largemouth in them if you can get them to partake.
I'll definitely post the carp consumption when it takes place.
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Great report. Looks like your mad scientist capabilities paid off.
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I lived up in North Idaho for many years before moving down to Utah 18 months ago. When the Salmon and Stealhead where not running on the Clearwater River I would scratch my Itch for fighting large fish by catching carp from a retention pond below the levee in Lewiston Idaho. It was great fun and I was able to put many people on the largest fish of there life. More than once strangers walking along the river bike path would see us fighting and landing these carp run home grab there rod and come back and I would put on a clinic of sorts showing them how to catch these fish.
I kept it really simple all we used was a #4 hook and a loaf of the cheapest bread we could find usually from the Hostess outlet store. I would tie just the hook on the end of my line then tear off a piece of the bread (you can get 3-4 pieces out of a standard slice of bread discarding the crust) I put the bread in my mouth to moisten it, then formed it into a ball around the hook, leaving just the tip of the hook barely exposed. I then cast the dough ball out to where I saw carp cruising or to areas of the pond I had hooked up in before. After casting I would set my rod down leaving a lot of slack in the line, this is important, as carp are usually very lite biters and will pick up and spit out your dough ball and mess with it a lot before they commit. not always though so keep an I on your rod as some times they will pick up and speed away, with the potential to drag your rod in the water, which I have seen and experienced. I watch for my line to start to swim away and wait until it is almost taught before picking up my rod and setting the hook. I missed more than I hooked, but when you do hook up hold on, carp pull hard and can spool you on light line. They will make multiple runs and just when you think you have them beat, they see the net and make another run. They are the only fish I have broken a rod setting the hook on. I had one pick up my dough ball and take off without the messing around of picking it up and dropping they usually do and when I set the hook It sounded like some one shot a .22 next to my ear and my rod broke a couple inches above the handle at its stiffest point. My best advice is be patient and don't even touch your rod until the the line is tight, resist the urge to touch it while the fish is making up its mind. Here are a few pictures of fish we caught.
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