Spring carp fishing in Montreal

Once upon a time, I used to spend much of my spring fishing concentrating on catching big numbers of carp. My kids were younger, and being able to set up on shore, gave them the chance to run around, play, and practice their skills catching small panfish while waiting for big carp to bite. As time passed by, the quality of fishing at my best high numbers carp fishing spot died down, to where there pretty much aren't many at all left there. Being that the spot was over an hour's drive from home, I just about stopped fishing there a number of years ago.

These days, most of my carp fishing is concentrated much closer to home, where the carp tend to big a lot less concentrated in any given area, which means much less being caught The tradeoff is that carp around Montreal tend to be much bigger, and that the spots I fish for carp are generally less than 30 minutes from home, with some even closer.

In order to increase my chances of successfully targeting big carp around Montreal, I pre-bait my areas for a few days before fishing them, given the close proximity to home. This increases my catch ratio, as carp get conditioned to both my bait, and the spot I will be fishing. By the time I arrive, the carp are often hungry and waiting for more food, if every works out as planned. That being said, nothing is guaranteed. some pre-baiting campaigns don't work immediately, some none at all. All part of the game.

After spending most of my spring fishing for predators like lake trout, pike and walleye, I finally started pre-baiting my first target carp fishing spot late mid May. After a few days, I returned to fish it with my younger son Zev, but after 2 failed outings, I gave up on the spot for now, opting to try my luck starting over and pre-baiting another spot.

After a few days, I returned with my son, but again, was not able to manage any bites. I stuck with the plan for a few more days, then returned to fish the spot again with another one of my sons. This time, the perseverance and pre-baiting paid off, Eli landed his first carp of the season. Should have used the flash on my phone for this pic...

A couple days later, I returned with my son Levi and his wife, hoping to catch some more carp. Unfortunately for them, the carp weren't feeding, and we didn't get any bites.

The following evening, I went out solo, after a few last minute invitees were too occupied to come along to fish. Sure enough, my rod went off after about 45 minutes, and I knew this carp was going to be on the bigger end of what I'm used to catching at this fishing spot. The big carp put up a very good fight, and I was able to eventually land it alone.

At 27 lbs, the big carp falls into what I generally consider "trophy" size. Although I've caught many that are significantly bigger over the years at some other carp spots I fish, this spot typically yields carp in the upper teens to lower twenties, so this big carp was a welcome surprise.