# large carp



## tiffinsmallies2 (Aug 11, 2008)

I have been catching carp all of my life but i have never caught one over 10-15 pounds. i was wondering if anyone would like to suggest to me a location where i may run into some bigger fish in northwest ohio. my goal is to land a 20+pounder this year. thank you in advance!


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## Fisherman 3234 (Sep 8, 2008)

I would try to fish maumee river, there are a ton of huge carp and buffalo suckers in there that easily go over 20 lbs.


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## Clayton (Oct 7, 2008)

scioto river in columbus (griggs and oshay) both have carp that will easily reach into 30+lbs. Just throw corn and wait haha. Fish the mud flats when it's hot out, in the morning.


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## riverKing (Jan 26, 2007)

skip everything and hit up erie. most room and food so it will have the biggest carp, problem would be finding them. I hear about people seeing giant carp of the docks and breakwalls?


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## FISHIN216 (Mar 18, 2009)

I have seen them practically swimming on the surface around the rocks in the edgewater area. HUGE!!!!!


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## tiffinsmallies2 (Aug 11, 2008)

Thanks alot for the tips guys. i will have to make a couple trips when the rain lets up.


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## st.slippy (Oct 3, 2008)

I caught a huge one at Buckeye Lake Monday. I had chicken liver on the bottom, but I think I just happened to pick the rod up as he sucked it into his mouth. Sheer luck, but man was it fun


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## Lewzer (Apr 5, 2004)

For NW Ohio I'd say hit East Harbor before all the weeds come up thick and use a hair rig for the bigger ones.

http://pfishguys.websitetoolbox.com/post?id=267013


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## st.slippy (Oct 3, 2008)

today I was throwing for bass at the pond by my house, but it was really muddy and overflowing. I saw that water was pooring out of the overflow and into the creek, so I changed my gear and decided to carp fish the creek. I chummed the water with sweet corn with garlic salt all over it and threw the line out to the side of the current in the pool in the outflow. Only got two into shore, but lost several hooks and missed a few hook sets. Was a lot of fun and the carp were going crazy.


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## tiffinsmallies2 (Aug 11, 2008)

Thank you to all that replied. I do have one more question, is there a reason every carp specific rod/reel combos i have seen are spinning and very long? is it just preference or function like castability? Why does nobody use baitcasters? Thank you.


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## TimJC (Apr 6, 2004)

I'd agree with Lewzer on the location. East Harbor in the spring is probably the best known location for 20+ carp. Every April the Ohio members of the Carp Angler's Group(make sure to check out the forum here) have a fish-in there for a weekend and lots of fish right around the 20lb mark are caught. It is a great learning opportunity since all the dedicated carpers are always willing to corrupt the minds of 'game' fishermen with all the fun techniques, baits and rigs we use. Unfortunately the event has already passed for this year and I am not sure how EH fishes in May.


The spinning/baitcaster question is another can of worms all together. Carp anglers in the US are largely divided into two groups.

The first group are the American born and bread paylakers from the south. Unlike the catfish oriented paylakes here in Ohio, North Carolina is the hotbed of carp paylakes and has been for well over 50 years. These guys use baitcasting tackle and short bass rods. The rods are usually placed into custom steel stands that allow the angler to keep the 'bail' closed.

The other main group of carp anglers are the Eurocarpers. This group is comprised of British and European expatriates that have brought there techniques and tackle with them as well as American anglers like myself that just love all the toys. These are the guys that use long rods and spinning reels with baitrunners on then. The baitrunner is basically a secondary drag system that let's the fish run with the bait, similar to the function of a clicker on a baitcaster. The main reason for the long rods and spinning reels, though there are many others, is casting range.

It's really all a matter of preference, but I feel the long rods and spinning reels allow me to fish in a much wider range of conditions than are possible with paylake tackle. Realistically I am considered more of a Eurolaker since I use the tackle of Eurocarper, but with a lot of the bait strategies of the paylaker. Standard mainstream European baits will catch a lot of catfish in the US so it is important to find baits that catch fewer nuisance fish .

I hope this clears up some of your questions, but it really is only bound to create more. Carp angling is a fascinating sport since all the baits, techniques and tackle throw everything you thought you knew about fishing out the window.


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