I finally caught a carp using the traditional mielie bomb method of fishing. This is a method used commonly in South Africa when targeting carp, but not a method or species that we, ourselves fish very commonly at all.
Decent Carp
The rig I used was a sliding baby shoes trace. For a feeder or “Bomb”, as it is often referred to, I used a Super Cast Original Super Cast Dry Feed Ground Bait mixed with Oorlog Quadro Ground Feed. I then used a variety of Floaties by Super Cast and Champion Dips for the actual hook bait along with Eco Catch carp dough and earthworms. Because the baby shoes trace consists of a feeder bomb with two small hooks attached, it allows you to use a variety of hook baits per rig. What worked for me was hooking a tutti-fruitti flavoured floatie on one hook and a small piece of Eco Dough on the other. I then hooked a small Kariba worm as an extra attractant on each hook as well. I also used a variety of dips on both the actual feeder ball and each baited hook for extra flavour. Carp seem to like sweet attractants so for the hooked baits I used a Super Cast banana concentrate dip and for the feeder ball I used bomb dips by Champion Dips in Honey Glo and Tutti-Fruitti. It is often clever to use different coloured dips for visual variety, and if you walk into any fishing store you will find these in a wide variety of flavours. In fact selecting flavours and colours for floaties, bomb dips, and bait dips can be an extremely intimidating exercise if one considers the hundreds of types that exist.
Mielie bomb
All dams fish differently so it is wise to find out what flavours are working at particular venues before making your selections. Because I had no knowledge of Bronkhorstspruit carp baits, I decided to rig three different rods each with its own bait flavour configurations. I simply mixed and matched floatie bomb dips and bait dips randomly for each rod. Floaties I took in Tutti-Fruitti; Caramel; and Pink Sweets flavours, bomb dips I took in Honey Glo; Bubblegum; Vanilla; and Tutti-Fruitti flavours, and bait dips I took only Caramel and Banana.
My Tackle
Because I never really fish for carp I also had to buy myself the appropriate hardware. As a beginner I did not want to spend a fortune on my first Rod and reel outfit and what I ended up buying could, in my opinion, be the greatest entry level rod and reel carp combination out there. The rod that I chose was the Sensation 10’ Carp hunter and I matched that up with a Shimano Alivio 4000RB Spinning Reel. I picked these up for Just under R600 for the set, and the combo casted, and fished BEAUTIFULLY. I would recommend spooling the reel with 10 Lb monofilament line. The lighter line makes a massive difference in casting distance, and when fishing for carp one often has to cast as far as possible. The line I chose, purely for its attractive price, was Rovex CARP monofilament, which turned out to be exceptional value for money. I then tied a thicker 15 lb leader about twice the length of the rod to the end of this. I used Jackel Adaptive Camouflage Fishing Line.
Alivio 4000RB
Again, I would seriously recommend the above setup for anyone thinking about giving carp fishing a go. And on a final note I would strongly suggest that all those exclusive trout and bass fanatics out there open their minds, broaden their horizons and give carp fishing a shot. You won’t be disappointed.
Netted
thebassboat.wordpress.com 