Hey,

I just moved to Kirkland from Pittsburgh PA. I was wondering if anyone on these forums ever heard of Carp fishing tournaments in the the area (anywhere in the area within 2 hours drive). I use to fish in Carp tournaments just about every weekend back in PA.

In a nutshell these tourneys were catch and release. A fee was paid and X amount of the fee went into a kitty (pot). The heaviest carp caught within a given time period ( 6 or 12 hours schedule) won the pot.

This was a great deal of fun. I know most anglers frown upon carp fishing but I absolutely love fishing for them.

If there aren't any touneys, can anyone recommend a great lake or spot to night fish for carp?

Any help is appreciated, thanks!

Carp are a lot of fun. I've just recently taken up fly fishing for them. They bend a 5 weight like nothing else!!

I don't know of any carp tournaments, but there are many places to fish for carp. On the westside, I know that Green Lake and Lake Tapps have good fishing for them. On the eastside, lower Rocky Ford (where it crosses 17), O'Sullivan Res., crab creek, and many of the seep lakes are home to carp.

i think there's an annual carp shoot somewhere near the potholes/moses lake area

HUH?

They are a great deal of fun to fish for, to me anyway. They put up one heck of a fight.

Check out this link... it is a good site to see what I am talking about as far as the Pay Lakes I am looking for...

http://www.fortunecity.com/greenfield/cat/137/paylakeslist/paylakesnames.html

You can notice Lake 84 under the Pennsylvania lakes. That is where I would fish all the time. Back in '93 I won the heaviest carp of the year trophy.

The Pay Lake's fee usually ran about $20. $12 of that goes into a pot. Who ever catches the heaviest fish in a given time period wins the pot. I't a lot of fun with some great professional competition (if the lake is operated correctly).

It's totally a catch and release situation. Nobody keeps them for consumption.

As the season wears on at these lakes the fish get tougher and tougher to catch. My dad and I used to say tha tthe fish are getting "combat wise". After getting hooked X amount of times the fish actually bite "suck" much smarter and timid.

btw, thanks for the tips CWUgirl,

I will take a look at the lakes you recommended sometime soon.

This weekend I stopped in at a sport store here in Redmond to ask about the Carp fishing situation here in WA. They pretty well looked at me like I was crazy to want to fish for them... heh. They said WA is too politically correct to have the types of Pay Lake Fishing I was refering to. Ummmm... ok

I think I am getting some traction with this though. I stopped into a fishing store in Issaquah later that day to ask about Carp fishing. The young guy and gal working there sounded excited about carp fishing and stated that it is getting much more popular in WA. They pointed me in the direction of Moses Lake. I will check this lake out next weekend. Anybody fish out there?

They stated that they heard of Pay Lakes but they weren't sure where any are at.

So anyway, I was glad to hear this and hopefully I can find a Carp Lake, preferrably Pay Lake, soon!

I have heard that everytime it rains real hard there is a huge run of carp in the Wilammette.
:p

They also call them "Brown Trout" and I understand they are boneless!

Moses Lake, O'Sullivan Res., and the potholes res. are basically the same place. These are very big stretches of water and accessable from both a boat or bank. If I were heading over there, I'd call up Mar Don before hand and ask them where to go. www.mardonresort.com

But... If you're going that far, there is better carp fishing to be had in the lower Rocky Ford creek or in some of the seep lakes (buy a map at Mar Dons and ask them for which have carp). Look in a WA gaziteer for Rocky Ford, where it crosses 17 just outside of Moses Lake is full of carp.

hey CWU, what flies are you using for those? I've seen them real close to the shore at Potholes, they look like theyd be a beast to fight with my lighter gear.

Curtis

Curtis... Ya know, you could email me. But I guess I'm not worthy.

Anyway, carp flies... I really like BIG woolly buggers in black, brown, or white. I've also used prince w/ bead head, hair's ear, and san juan worm- these are standard patterns for just about any freshwater fish. Crayfish and clouser minnow flies can also be effective, but I've never used them.

Carp are easily spooked. Long leaders and tippets are neccessary with very delicate presentations. I like to cast out in to shallow water, let my fly sink to the bottom and wait for cruising carp to come very close before twitching the fly at all.

You know Kaari... You COULD get on the messenger once in awhile... But apparently I'm not important enough

Anyways, Carp fishing... Thanks for the info

We plan on going to Mar Don in the next month or so, so I'm tying the pontoon to the top of my car (yeah youd know about my new car if you were talkin to me ever ) and taking out the fly stick... Depends mostly on weather tho, cause those winds suuuuck over there.

Curtis

Actually Curtis, the winds don't suck...they blow.

gkohler,


If it's monster Carp you want, I will recommend Lake Union, here in Seattle. There are 25+lber's in that lake and in great numbers. Try the Eastlake side of lake, close to shore. A friend of mine would fish from shore using dough bait and catch these huge, ugly, Pot belly, hog Carp. He would cast and wait for them to cruise by and scoop up his offering (bread+hook). I never was interested, as I was primarily a Salmon and Trout fisher.

Anyway, I hope you get over to Lake Union and hook a few. Please give us an update once you get the nack for catching NW Behemoth Carp. Good luck and tight lines.

NOTE: I'm not sure about Green lake( Mentioned previously) since they planted Tiger Muskees to control the Carp population a few years ago. It's worth a try I guess.

i'm not too sure rocky ford would be too great of a place to fish carp, since it has such wierd regs. last i remember it was illegal to fish while wading and i think it was flyfishing only

The upper portion is strickly fly fishing only with no wading. The lower part that enters moses lake is more like a canal and there's no reason to wade (aside from being too deep). I don't think there is any gear restriction, either.

And there are carp in green lake. The tiger muskies were added to both green lake and lake tapps to control the pumpkinseed population, not carp. The carp haven't been effected.

Saw that one coming right as I was typing it...

Hey GUTZ, those Willamette Brown Trout wouldn't happen to be of the "Yellow Eyed" variety, would they??

I have also heard after a good rain they get a run of Peanut Perch as well!

You bet Steve, Corn Fed!

Hookum,

Thats for the info... I'll def give Union a whirl. 26+ lber's... thats what I'm talkin about! I hear that Lake Washington is full of some hogs too. I will check both these lakes out with a fine tooth comb next weekend. The only problem I have had when driving around Lake Washington recently is shorline access. I imagine Lake Union will have an identicle situation. Anyone know of areas around these lakes that have convenient access to the shore from your vehicle? I have quite a bit of equipment so it sucks to hike it around to a location.

Also, I've noticed many parks in WA are day use only, does anyone know of any good lakes that allow all- nighter lakes?

Thats the time I love to fish... all nighters. As CWUgirl mentioned, carp are easily spooked. Nothing better than getting a calm quiet night and rippin' some hogs!

I am lookin forward to catching some huge hogs in WA! I'll let you know what I kick up.