Metro Carp Ponds?

[Crawlerman]

Wow, it's been a long time since I've visited these fourms, I'm sure a lot has changed since then.

But I need some help. I still haven't gotten my boat out yet, and I've had no luck fishing the Minnesota River from shore, so I kinda gave up on that for now. The current is a bit too fast for my tastes right now anyways.

One of my favorite early spring past times used to be fishing metro ponds for Carp, which allways seemed to be one of the first fish to become active, along with Crappies if you know where they are all hiding. But minnows are somewhat expensive, corn is cheap, and no offense to panfisherman (as I am one myself) but a carp tends to put up a lot better battle then ol papermouth- I'm just looking for some C&R fun, and not to eat.

Anyways, I've found that fishing for carp on larger lakes is nearly impossible, as the carp are a very minor species and there is just so much water to cover. I've heard for example that there are some monsters on Bald Eagle; but I'm not looking for something that takes all day to have one chance at one fish either.

I knew of two ponds in the metro that were at one time "over run" with carp. When this was the case it was awesome. You could sit down with a can of corn and a loaf of bread and catch 20-30 in a day with only light chumming. Sad to say both ponds steadily declined in the carp numbers, and while both might still hold some fish, I can't catch them.

There has to be plenty of neglected ponds in the metro where the carp population is high. And even smaller fish will do- even 4-5lbers can be fun if you hook them with light tackle.

I'm not into this whole hi-tech european carp fishing either. If it means having to use more then a can of corn as chum (as the articles tell you to use a 5 gallon bucket full of field corn, which would be EXPENSIVE) or custom built "hair rigs" I don't want it. I can see where overloading an area with corn works better on larger bodies of water with smaller Carp populations, but again.

DNR surveys rarely indicate a good indication of carp population in a pond or lake. Because they aren't gamefish most of the time they just say "We found some carp" instead of giving you an accurate survey, which is frustrating. Heck, even Bullheads make it on the net survey list >.>

So does anyone know of any smaller carp ponds in the metro? Lakes and ponds that are under 30 acres in size? Thanks

BTW- if anyone wants to try the two ponds I know that used to have good Carp numbers was Simley Pond in IGH and Seidls Lake in South St Paul. I haven't caught a carp in Seidls for over 2 years, though I have tried; and a carp in Simley since early April of last year. I tried Simley today and had 4 hours of slack-line watching. Not a single pull.

[Peepers]

Have you had any luck finding a good carp pond and when do the carp usually fire up?

[gundy89]

I used to work at the Norman Pointe office building on the SW corner of 494 and 100. They have that stream running right next to it that turns into a little pond there. Anyways, I used to walk down to the pond here and there and it's full of them. That was a couple years ago, but there's running water so I would think they're still in there.

[chrismackmn]

Buffalo is teeming with them.

[anordqu42]

Funny you mention those two lakes. I grew up in the area and always heard about the monster carp those lakes had, but now (15 years later) that I actually focus on catching carp and other roughfish, I have not seen one come from either lake!

Sorry,I don't know of any other small lakes in the area, so I usually spend most of my time on the Miss near SSP/IGH.

[jigginjim]

Lower Penn lake in Bloomington, is full of Carp. Corn and bread balls worked for my sons and I.

[Moonie]

Hey jigginjim... have you been to lower penn at all this year? I live by there and would like to give it a shot sometime. I was down by the access a couple weeks ago but didn't see any fish. thanks.

[Fazerfish]

I live near there, and have fished the penisula around the corner from the landing, brought down the ultra-lite thinking there may be bullies in there, but ended up getting my line snapped a couple times on what I assume were carp, but I thought i saw the head of one and it didn't look like any carp I have seen. That was last year. Still looking for that little pond loaded with bullheads, if anyone knows of one, let me know...

[Moonie]

sounds like carp... what were you using? a simple bottom rig with worms? Me and a buddy will probably go there or normi this afternoon for a couple hours with some corn.

[dirtyd]

Fazer,

What were you using for bait/tackle when you got snapped off? Moonie and I are looking for a good spot to catch anything near us! Any info is greatly appreciated!

Also, I know of a small lake (may not have a public acess though) that I know has tons of bullheads in it. Its been a long time since I've fished it, but I believe they were all about 12 inches. Check for PM

I live near there, and have fished the penisula around the corner from the landing, brought down the ultra-lite thinking there may be bullies in there, but ended up getting my line snapped a couple times on what I assume were carp, but I thought i saw the head of one and it didn't look like any carp I have seen. That was last year. Still looking for that little pond loaded with bullheads, if anyone knows of one, let me know...

[dirtyd]

Fazer,

Apparently I'm not allowed to send PMs...So screw it...The lake is "Silver Lake". Its located just NorthEast of Lotus Lake near Chanhassen. You wont find much DNR info on it, but its worth a shot some weekend. We just used 1/8 oz jigs with crappie minnows and sleighed the bullheads! We only fished the middle of the lake in a canoe (my buddy lives on the lake), maybe 7 feet deep?

Hope this helps you find your bullheads!

[Carp-fisher]

Go to Starring Lake in Eden Prairie. That lake is so jampacked full of carp that its ridiculous (but fun).

[JimBuck]

I would say the carp population in there has gone down quite a bit in the past few years, still plenty of them though. There is a bucket brigade that fishes there all the time and keeps everything they hook into....except for bullheads which they throw on shore to rot and stink. It used to be a good little pike and bass lake until the brigade moved in...now it's got trash lining many of the shore fishing spots and an awful algae problem. I would look into Bass Lake and Bush Lake.

[Fazerfish]

I was using a bit of crawler on the bottom. If you hit that peninsula on the north side, on the right hand side, closest to the landing there is a drainage pipe, thats where I saw the carp last year.

[JBMasterAngler]

I tried fishing for carp with oatmeal today. I'm a little rusty (or just dumb) when it comes to preparing the oatmeal for the hook. Am I supposed to stick my hand in the water and squeeze tight for 10 seconds then apply to hook or get oatmeal wet, take out of water and then squeeze 10 seconds and apply to hook? I did the latter and the oatmeal didn't stay on too well. Also, I used regular quaker oatmeal, is that the go to stuff or is there something else I should use?

[UdeLakeTom]

If your location is IGH, there are carp in Simley pond..last I heard, the youngsters would go across the street to Mickey D's and get some french fries for bait.

Guess I should have read the whole post that you have tried Simley. But maybe they want something different.