CARP - no snickering please !

[spence]

Back in Iowa we used to wade the flood waters and spear fish carp feeding on grass...that was fun.

-spence

[FishermanTim]

If you are not planning on keeping the catch, there are quite a few waterways in eastern MA that hold some bruiser carp.
Sudbury, Concord and Charles rivers all have numerous carp areas.
There are also a few ponds that have them as well (real carp and not released goldfish)
Heard Pond (Wayland) and Spy Pond (Arlington) are 2 that I know have them (as well as other desireable species).

The river carp that I've seen tend to outgrow the pond cousins by quite a large margin.
Nothing is quite as enlightening as seeing a 30+ lb carp bolt when you spook it. Heck, I've even had one ram my kayak while night fishing once.
I haven't targeted them, but I know they are proverbial freight trains when hooked.

Heck, I may have to give them a shot next year!

[bart]

Originally Posted by FishermanTim

The river carp that I've seen tend to outgrow the pond cousins by quite a large margin.

from what I've seen and heard I agree with this as well. I was carp fishing one day at a local pond and a guy came down with a fly-rod looking for them. said he caught monsters in the Blackstone River. i don;t know how big they get, but I want to say he's seen them to 50+ lbs, actually I think he said 70! But I have no idea how big they get so I don't know if that's true or not. Someone can google it. But i do know in the ponds where i target them, I think the biggest you would catch would probably be around 20lbs.....

[Rockfish9]

A big carp fight isn't all that differant from a big bass fight..... a big one will test your tackle.. and your nerves!

[HanoverStriper]

Originally Posted by FishermanTim

If you are not planning on keeping the catch, there are quite a few waterways in eastern MA that hold some bruiser carp.
Sudbury, Concord and Charles rivers all have numerous carp areas.
There are also a few ponds that have them as well (real carp and not released goldfish)
Heard Pond (Wayland) and Spy Pond (Arlington) are 2 that I know have them (as well as other desireable species).

The river carp that I've seen tend to outgrow the pond cousins by quite a large margin.
Nothing is quite as enlightening as seeing a 30+ lb carp bolt when you spook it. Heck, I've even had one ram my kayak while night fishing once.
I haven't targeted them, but I know they are proverbial freight trains when hooked.

Heck, I may have to give them a shot next year!

I will echo what Tim said. I have caught some very nice carp in the Sudbury, Charles, and Concord, as well as Heard Pond. I assume the Heard Pond carp come in through the Sudbury River on the backside. Closer to home for you, I have also seen them in the Indian Head river.

Adding to this, there are some nice carp in the Assabet River, and a very accessible pond in Maynard.