There are a lot of people who despise the common carp. They consider it a trash fish. They think all it does is eat fecal matter and scum all day off the bottom of the river. They don’t realize how misguided they are. Catching carp is fun because they are readily available and when you hook into one they give you an awesome fight. All of these carp below were caught with a night crawler.

Night Crawler or Canned Sweet Corn

There are those who target carp and have a lot of specific equipment (bait runners, alarms, hair rigs, etc.), and I am sure they have a higher hook up rate. But don’t let that dissuade you from trying to catch carp, you can catch plenty with a standard rod and reel with a regular hook baited with night crawler or canned corn. You don’t need a lot of weight, perhaps 1-2 oz in the slow water behind dikes. I would recommend a landing net to make the capture easier. Carp are the perfect target species to get a young kid hooked on fishing.

Behind Wing-Dike In The Flats

Off The Tip Of Trail-Dike

This carp was caught at night off the tip of a trail-dike in about 2 feet of water. It hit the night crawler within seconds of being put in the water.

Off The Tip Of Trail-Dike