The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1916-1920, 1919-10-19
PATIENCE NEEDED IN
FISHING FOR CARP
Precaution Must Be Used to
Avoid Casting Shadow
on Waters.
BITE BEST IN SUMNER
Worms, Grubs, Grasshoppcrs
and Pieces of Fresh Meat
Good Bats. -
BITE BEST IN SUMNER
ny w. C. KENDALL,
U. s. bureau of Fisheries.

Izaak Walton's advice that "if you
fish for carp you must put on n very
large measure of patience" still hold.
good, for II Is a very wary fish, anc
when fishing in clear water every pre-.
caution to avoid casting a shadow oil
being seen must be observed. 1t Is said
to be useless to fish from a boat Carr
bite best in warm or hot weather.
Probably no better bats for carp than
those prescribed by the "Compleat An
gler', or some notifications of them can
be employed. advance batting is also
advocated by old anglers. This consists
OF placing in the water some six OR
eight feet from the shore pieces OF
boiled potatoes or other cooked vege-
table matter, such as kitchen waste, for
several successive days before fishing
Then, IL possible, a day or two before
fishing deposit a small quantity of the
same material that Is to be used for
bait
Various bats have been recommended.
Worms. grubs, grasshoppers and pieces
OF fresh meat have been successfully
used, but the most highly recommended
onts are composite pastes. A tough
paste may be made Of moistened bran,
wheat or other flour thoroughly mixed
with little sugar or preferably honey.
TO give the paste a greater tenacity
cotton batting or wool should be
stirred in.
Ground or mashed white meat, such
as veal or pork. or any bleached meat
may be added, but this bait must be
fresh and kept untainted Pellets of
partly boiled potatoes are said to be
good bait as we'll as dough balls or corn
Kernels wrapped in mosquito bar.
y
Various Bats Used.
During winter the Northern fisherman
often bait deep iRlets or bayous in the
rivers by dumping in a bushel or two
or corn or oats or both and several days
later make 4 seine haul over the baited
grounds 10 capture the carp which con-
gregate to feed there.
In summer months. when the water Is
low. fyke nets are bated with dough
balls" which are made by boiling rye
flour to consistency of paste, then
sprinkhng with corn flour and rolling
into ball" and on the Cumberland
River cottonseed cake is used for bait
ing. The first method yields substantial
results, but Is done only occasionally in
selected places, while the batting OF fyke
nets is OF little Importance commercially.
In the South corn and oats are used
very successfully in batting inlets and
bayous, especially in waters affected by
tho tides, where a stop net can be used.
The corn or oats Is thrown onto the
grounds during low water (the oats hav-
ing been soaked or mixed with sand so
they will remain on the bottom) and the
stop net. which is usually a fyke, is
placed in readiness.
On high tide the net is set to catch
tho carp on the following low tide, at
which time the net is visited and the
fish collected. This manner OF batting
can be done successfully along the
shores also. and a trammel net or seine
used to capture the carp.
1t is sometimes advisable to bait for
a few days previous to fishing, and the
greatest amount OF food is placed close
in with scattering food leading from the
river to the main batting point, which is
usually selected not far from the river.
As the carp take vegetable food read
lily. almost any grain or vegetables cut
up 50 as to be taken easily will suffice
as bait. and any amount from a few
handfuls to half a peck or more should
be used. according to conditions. The
carp usually consume the bait during one
tide
Along the Great Lakes, canals or
bitches are dug from the lakes inland
and baited with corn, oats, &C., the carp
being removed from these bitches by
nets or other means.