No, this is not another get fit promotion. This a great story from a few years back.
Our topic certainly involves lifting weights, but it might take awhile to tone your biceps, because we’re talking lifting barbels, not barbells. That’s right, barbels–as in the rubbery “whiskers” you’ll find extending outside the mouth of the common carp.
You may find it odd we’re bringing up carp when discussing ice fishing, because outside Europe or Asia, few winter anglers are aware you can catch carp through the ice; fewer still actually bother to pursue them.
But yes, you can catch carp through the ice, and yes, some ice anglers specifically target them.
I first became aware of this while visiting China back in February of 2012. We were taping a Season One episode of Tom Gruenwald Outdoors to simply show what it was like to ice fish a truly unique, exotic location for some unusual species. We caught mostly small, shinier-type minnows and sculpin–like fish—along with one of China’s most prolific, popular and incredibly light-biting crucian fish.
While fishing crucian fish, I also witnessed one Chinese angler land a carp, which really intrigued me. Visiting with this gentleman, I learned there were many lakes where Chinese anglers deliberately targeted carp, using techniques remarkably similar to the ones we were using to catch crucian fish. Although the area we were fishing didn’t hold a strong population of carp and our trip was timed too short to allow additional travel or fish waters with a viable carp population, I couldn’t stop wondering what kind of an opportunity this might hold—especially back home in North America.
And this past winter, I had the opportunity to find out!
I contacted Jeff Kelm, who is also a member of the U.S. Ice Fishing Team—a group that has competed in overseas ice fishing tournaments where carp are often caught—and we began discussing the possibility of attempting to fish carp here in North America. While neither of us knew we would be successful, as we were entering completely unexplored territory, we were curious and began open conversations about ice fishing carp.
We agreed the best local opportunity would be to try a Wisconsin River Flowage known to have been largely overrun with carp. We also decided fishing the Big Eau Pleine Flowage immediately following the February, 2013 World Ice Fishing Championship might provide a great running start. After all, between Jeff’s pre-fishing, time spent during the competition and subsequent knowledge he could gather after networking with a large group of high powered ice anglers from all over the world, how could we go wrong?
Game On
On the day I was to leave to meet Jeff, my cell phone rings. “Tom, this is Jeff.” His tone is stoic, not at all reassuring, and his report is even less enthusiastic. “There were a couple carp caught during the tournament,” he stated, “but not many. Most people focused on crappies. I know there are carp around, and I have some coordinates for those locations, but…” he stops momentarily to sigh… “Maybe,” he strongly suggests, “we should just change our plans and fish crappies.”
He pauses cautiously, awaiting my thoughts. My mind is reeling, as this was not the news I was hoping for. With the sheer number of quality anglers fishing a body of water known to support a large carp population, his news should be much more encouraging.