Is it Croak?

Sadly some health issues have prevented me from fishing for a few seasons. I do hope to get back out again, eventually. I am on the mend, albeit, slowly

We miss you John you inspired me to fish for carp and fish them hard I hope to see new content soon but most importantly get healthy !

I know there was a huge fish die off at the fairgrounds, due to low oxygen, last year, will be very interesting to see what survived and is still in there. Best of luck out there ! May you have plenty of hot mugs of Victory Coffee !!!

​@@CarpQuest I Googled the fish die off and it said that mostly minnows and gizzard shad were affected. That would, of course affect other species as well. I'll contact Colorado Parks and Wildlife tomorrow and see if they have any information on the carp population. I'll let you know what I find out. Thanks

I heard back from a nice lady at Colorado Parks & Wildlife today regarding Adams County Fairgrounds. She said that they had no record of carp loss From last September's fish die off. I plan on getting out there very soon & I'll keep you posted on what I find. Take care

Thanks my friend, appreciated !

I also had to go back and check the manual. It would appear you can only change the brightness or Night Marking on the Standard/Tx-i Plus. Sorry....

www.delkim.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/delkim-ev-plus-instructions.pdf is the link to the product manual for this alarm, sheesh, hard to imagine they are now 8 years old ! time flies !

@@CarpQuest thanks, finally got an answer from delkim, not adjustable, always on. doesn´t matter, i bought them as a back up. simply can´t fish anything else than a delkim. had my old ones for 20 years now.

I don't eat the carp, though I am aware you can, I simply catch, photo and release.

Cherry creek carp are pretty typical for those in most of the metro area reservoirs, averaging 10-12 lbs and fish into the 20+ lb are not uncommon, 25+ lb's rare and 30+ an epic catch of a lifetime. Simple baits to use would be sweet corn, right out the can, or any flavored dough style baits (fruit, citrus, spice) etc. You can catch them on worms, just may catch a bunch of other species as well. Key is, when starting out for carp, keep it simple. Best of luck if you get out fishing there ! Tight-Lines, John

Just learned how to make hair rig and a pack bait

Hi Steve, unfortunately there isn't really a "club" per-se for carp fishing enthusiasts here in Colorado. There is a Colorado faction of the more national Carp Anglers Group (CAG) www.carpanglersgroup.com/ of which I am the state chair representative. There are also a few smaller groups of anglers whom fish together and know each other, typically whom communicate on facebook groups. Groups to look for would be CAG facebook.com/groups/carpanglersgroup and Carp Fishing Colorado facebook.com/groups/1307033489333644 (a local angler Bob Crook runs that page). For tackle purchases, yes, we really don't have that many options here in the USA. There are a few states with stores that carry dedicated carp fishing gear, sadly, none here in Colorado. We mostly get our baits and tackle from Big Carp Tackle www.bigcarptackle.com . Some anglers do import their stuff from either Canada or the UK, though be mindful getting baits in from abroad is difficult, if not, illegal unless the importer has the appropriate licenses. Most of the big reservoirs up around Denver, Cherry Creek, Chatfield, etc, all have good sized carp that go over 20 lbs, with the average being 10-12 lbs. Some of the smaller lakes and park ponds can have hidden gems for sure. Tight-lines, John.

There are still a few carp in there, insanely difficult to catch them there nowadays...

If I were to fish at Chatfield this time of year during the day I would go for the "west" side, Fox Run, Eagle Cove, Catfish Flats, that's where I hear the majority of catch reports from. Best of luck out there and hopefully the crowds aren't too insane ! JF.

@@CarpQuest Awesome! Thank you!

Very possible there may not be many carp in Kingfisher, if its landlocked. I know folks are catching carp off from Fox Run this time of year. Water is warming up nicely and should be decent action over there.

@@CarpQuest Thanks John I was going to try other parts of the lake.

Bowfishing*

Though bowfishing isn't really my cup-of english tea, you may want to check Lathrop State Park (Walsenburg) , they may allow bowfishing there. You should check with the rangers/local park office there first though to ensure it's allowed.

Be mindful of method feeder use here in Colorado. The regulations are that your hook must be attached or within the bait. If there is a lot of distance between the feeder and the hook then depending on the ranger in question, they may consider it chumming.

@@CarpQuest Thanks for the reply. Thanks for the video also.

Thanks, I do love to catch mirrors, every one is special, be they 2 lbs or 20 lbs.

Hmmm, you may be slightly biased me thinks !!!

I know the big reservoirs here are thawed, Arbor and Adam's are thawed, not sure about the other lakes. I'd guess all the ones at mile-high or lower are now open.

@@CarpQuest sweet ! Gunna get my gear ready for the year . Hope we don’t have another drought like last year

Aye, it's still pretty chilly out there and the water temps, as you noted, are low. However, with the warmer weather incoming I am sure the carp action is going to heat up pretty fast now. I know a couple of folks were out fishing at Chatfield yesterday and caught quite a few fish; positive sign ! Won't be long before the opportunity to catch some great big fat pre-spawn fish is upon us !

I've yet to get going this season, only just waking up after my winter hibernation !

3 to 4 feet long, sounds like grass carp. Extremely hard to catch, you may want to try surface baits, floating bread, for example, free-lined out, even artificial lures, flies, bugs etc. You can catch them off the bottom, IF, they are feeding, i've caught them on corn, cucumber, other vegetables :) Epic fight if you can get them hooked !

@@CarpQuest you can see them jumping definitely common I'm not sure if there's any grass carp but I'll definitely give grass carp a shot and let you know if I can land one! Thanks for the reply.

That would be cool - Thanks !

It's officially Spring now :) of course, here in Colorado Springs, we are forecast to get 6-8" of snow tonight !!!!

@@CarpQuest I'm hoping we are past getting that much now, but one of our worst blizzards was on Easter weekend so we'll see!

For sure, it's a much different beast overnight there than during the daytime, which to be honest, was people carnage out there; like a Memorial Day, or 4th July or even Labor Day weekend.

Thanks! Will do!

Thanks James, it sure was. We followed up with a 2nd night session which also produced some good results; certainly was a lot less crowded overnight !

I think we are all looking forwards to spring and life returning to somewhat normal and getting out on the banks fishing again. Some of Team Carpquest have already been out on the banks these past few weeks, a few fish have been caught but it's been challenging conditions and catching for them. I am likely to look at starting my season once things are much warmer. Sheesh, I am turning into a fair-weather fisherman in my old age !

It's ironic that they did ALL that terraforming at Chatfield just so they could raise the water level by up to 10-14' for additional storage for the Metro area. CSRP recently put up a post detailing the troubles they had last year and their plans for the future. chatfieldreallocation.org/csrp-2020-year-in-review-looking-ahead-to-2021/ Will be interesting to see if/when they ever do actually raise the water in future.

Thankyou for the support, appreciated.

Thanks Tim !

Certainly was ! Hopefully we can get another done in 2021 ....

Some truly beautiful fish here in Colorado, .most of which have never seen a hook or landing mat !

Start off with a simple approach, sweetcorn on a size 8 strong hook, perhaps 10 to 12lb mono, ... cast out perhaps 20 to 25 yards off the bank, set your drag loose so you dont lose your rod on the initial run. Mirror Carp to commons are about 1 in 10 on average, over many catches, so you likely will need to catch a few before you get one. Keep trying, dont give up and eventually you will hold that prized carp in your hands !

@@CarpQuest the problem now is I moved over to montrose and in under a month I move to Arizona so I will have to try and get time when I visit my parents

Well said !

Thanks man. I have been fishing for carp at Chatfield for almost a decade now. Once I turned 50 I did notice it starting to get harder to push the barrow and all the gear down to the bankside. One of these days I will try to lighten the load I carry with me, at least, that's what I keep telling myself ! Tight-Lines, John

With the madness and volume of people at Chatfield, and other venues, I simply stopped even trying to fish. Though you can try to social distance from people, it was just a veritable madhouse out there in late Spring and early Summer. Hopefully life will calm down again and 2021 will be a far better season. Ironically, if you could get out fishing this year, some great fish were being caught. Tight-Lines, John

Thanks George, this has been a brutal year, a lot of stuff going off the bankside that has kept me from fishing. I had filmed a couple of sessions in Spring, finally getting around to releasing them. Hope 2021 life will return to normal and we can all get back out and enjoy the outdoors again.

Thanks man !

That monster fish was caught on a bait called, "Big Bob's" corn, mussel flavored. Sadly that bait hasn't been made now for many years.

We fish all over the lake, from just west of the marina on the East side, to Roxborough Cove, to the far west, Catfish Flats, Eagle Cove etc. You can catch some great fish at Chatfield, just got to put in the time, effort and have a little bit of luck. Tight-Lines ! John

Carp fishing at Pikeview was decimated after they did all the construction work on drainage, which involved a big draw down on water levels. Was a big fish-kill, the carp were especially hard hit. There are a few still in there but the glory and hauling days of a decade ago there are but a happy memory. Very tough venue now for carp fishing, you can catch them, but be prepared for many many days without a bite.

@@CarpQuest holy crap you answered

Hi Vinny. There are a surprising number of carp anglers here in the States that are originally from over the pond. Then again, I guess, it's not a surprise as carp fishing is so popular outside of the USA. I am based in Colorado Springs. Hope you managed to get your kit finally over from the UK. Do let me know how you get on with your endeavors here.