Current River Mouth

[Guest Duda]

I was fishing last night in the mouth of the Current River just past Fisherman's point. I was there around 930ish trying to hunt out some walleyes... I was using a chatreuse jig with a leech, just drifting with the current. I wasn't fishing where the docks are, I was closer to the grain elevator, where the river forks off into Superior. Anyways, I was wondering what kind of fish are in there besides walleyes? I thought I had a snag and started jerking my rod (tons of debris there) and all of a sudden my drag took off and I had a fish on... I started to reel it in, (i was only using 10lb test... stupid...) and as soon as the line went a little tight the fish came up to the top and it looked big, maybe about 8-10lbs? I couldn't see what the species was, it was way to dark... But anyways the line snapped and I lost the huge one... Does anyone have pointers on what are good lures or rigs to use there? Any honey holes? Locations? And bait? Also what should I suspect I had on? A pike possibly? Thanks!

[Guest FreshwaterFisherman]

It would be very hard to guess what it was. There are very large pike and pickerel where you were fishing. Could also have been a huge steelhead or anything else that cruised in from the big pond. The fish at the mouth of the Current seem to be able to be caught on almost anything. Although, I have always had best luck using a dead smelt under a large float a foot off bottom, or very large spoons for the pike and tend to catch the pike on the west side of the island. Jigs off the cement docks at midnight or later with a big worm wacky rigged for pickerel (I have never caught one there before 11pm and the later the better it seems). Spoons and spinners for the trouts anywhere in the river. For bass, anything that you would usually use for bass. Tubes, worms, big fat raps, black raps if your fishing at night. That river seems to be on or off for me. Some days you get a mixed bag and other days you can't buy a bite. Just keep fishing it, if your lure or bait is in the water it is hard to go wrong.

Brodie K.

[brookiebuster 117]

You never know it could of even been a spring run salmon(very rare in the current.)Most likely was a pike,rainbow,walleye or there are even big lakers around there.

[Guest TerryK]

I'd lay money down on it being a pike. Tons of them down there. I used to catch some really large ones on sucker minnows.

[Bullshark 23]

I've seen pike there pushing 20 pounds swimming around there. By mid-June, that area will be full of mystery fish. You can see them roaming around the shallows. Oh, and they also push 20 pounds easily. Go get'em!

[Lyle Reiner 174]

Maybe tomorrow night I will take some of my left over over may long minnows over there tomorrow. Maybe ill toss a rapala, or a nice jig, and see what hits.

[gsambray 172]

i'll probably see you down there. i feel light gettin into a good scrap with a few big pike.

[Guest Duda]

Went again last night. There were A TON of fish surfacing just at the end of the current. I was told they were carp, but they guy was a "wanderer"... Who knows what they were, but they looked big! Right now top water seems to be the best option.

[Bullshark 23]

Sounds like the carp are in. This should be fun!

[Guest FreshwaterFisherman]

I have been hearing the word carp getting tossed around lately. From what I gather, they are suckers in the river. Are suckers a form of carp? I have never seen or caught a carp around here, the carp that I know of anyway. Is this just a mistake people are making, or an over generalization, or is there truth to this. I corrected one guy, saying they were suckers, and he kept saying I was wrong, they are carp. I'm not stupid, I don't think lol. So what's the consensus, different fish? Or are the Redhorse Suckers carp?

Brodie K.

[Guest Duda]

As far as I know Suckers are a form of Carp. Its like someone saying Walleye instead of Pickeral or vice versa I guess... Same fish different names? I usually call them Suckers.

[Guest Munshaw]

I know there are actual carp in the neebing/mac floodway, and the mouth of the Kam. Not sure about the shallows near Current R. It's possible I suppose, but those red horse suckers sure can look like carp, and they get big. Much bigger than the white suckers. I would say they are suckers. The guys who work in the grain elevators would know best. They have a good top down view, and the ones I've talked to say the carp wallow around in the old pilings etc. rooting up insects and other food. They get big, 10 lb. plus. Do carp relate to current/topwater? I'm not sure.

You never know. I pulled a 20 lb. pike out of McVickars Creek when I was a kid. Rode home with the bull horn on my mountain bike through the gills and out the mouth. Tail was dragging on the ground. You never know in Lake Superior...

[James01 223]

As far as I know Suckers are a form of Carp. Its like someone saying Walleye instead of Pickeral or vice versa I guess... Same fish different names? I usually call them Suckers.

Actually, Carp are related to Goldfish - I don't know whether suckers are also somewhere in the family, but Carp and Redhorse Suckers are different fish. I caught a Carp on the Kam below the 'Falls' some years back, and it gave me one heck of a fight (and it was small... Carp can get very large, and do get large around here). I also spoke to 'Carp Anglers' at the boat launch by Bombardier (they were all rigged up for Carp), and I recall reading that Mission Marsh is the largest Carp spawning grounds on Lake Superior (it might have been on the North Shore of Lake Superior), so its no surprise that people are seeing actual Carp. According to a relative of mine, Carp used to spawn up a ditch somewhere near Northern Woods. They seem to be a fishing opportunity that not many anglers in the area are taking advantage of.

I have never fished for them, but if what I read about it is any indication it can be quite tricky. Carp fishermen use long rods, bite indicators, small hooks with single pieces of corn or balls of corn meal and flavor, they bait Carp, and it appears that they really treasure the fish and the sport... think of the relationship between some fly fishermen and their sport.

The Carp I caught was by chance... I was using a jig and a worm, fishing for Walleye below the falls. Minutes before I caught the Carp I hooked and landed a three foot Sturgeon - also, purely by chance. I don't recall if I actually caught any Walleye... as I mentioned, it was quite a few years ago now.

Hope this helps... and you might see me at the mouth of the Current sooner rather than later - probably with my big Pike rig.

[James01 223]

I know there are actual carp in the neebing/mac floodway, and the mouth of the Kam. Not sure about the shallows near Current R. It's possible I suppose, but those red horse suckers sure can look like carp, and they get big. Much bigger than the white suckers. I would say they are suckers. The guys who work in the grain elevators would know best. They have a good top down view, and the ones I've talked to say the carp wallow around in the old pilings etc. rooting up insects and other food. They get big, 10 lb. plus. Do carp relate to current/topwater? I'm not sure.

You never know. I pulled a 20 lb. pike out of McVickars Creek when I was a kid. Rode home with the bull horn on my mountain bike through the gills and out the mouth. Tail was dragging on the ground. You never know in Lake Superior...

I am not sure about Carp in current and within the topwater region, but they would likely be around the elevators eating the grain that spills in to the lake. This could explain the 'wallowing around' that you mentioned... that, and rooting up insects, crayfish, etc. I might try for Carp rather than Pike... hooking into a 30lbs + Carp would be quite the experience.

[brookiebuster 117]

There are tons of big carp in the area,theres a back bay on mission island where they spawn every year,always tons of big carp there.I would'nt doubt that those fish spotted in the current are carp.

[Lyle Reiner 174]

Was just down there, its feesking cold. Anyway, I lost my favourite rap, other then that not a single hit, didn't see any fish either.

[Bullshark 23]

They ARE CARP. I saw a guy get on in the tail two years ago. It was 28 inches long, way too big for a sucker. Most of them seem to run up over 10-12 pounds, you'll know if it's a sucker or a carp. Yes, there are some suckers in the current right now but they are a lot smaller. I was down there today and saw nothing, but the carp seem to come and go even a day. You can fish for 4 hours and only see them for the last hour. All of a sudden they show up out of nowhere.

[Guest jackfish pete]

Carp can be fun, but they are hit and miss and worthless to eat. You will NOT, however, mistake them for a sucker.

[Guest Smack Um]

It sure sounds like you hooked into a big pike probably too early for carp I can remember fishing on the Kam River near the farm on Bowlker Road in June when the carp where spawning.

They swim into the shallows stick their head into the mud and flip their tail to create a depression in to which they spawn.

I remember almost being able to walk right up to the carp and kick them some day I would like to try bow fishing for carp here is a vidio.
/>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUyeqEaZGsE

Patrick

[Guest Smack Um]

Carp are good smoked this cleaning method works well for big fish or if you are canoe Camping, don't want to carry much and there are lots of trees.

Using a stringer find a tree and hang the fish from a branch, adjust it to the proper working hieghth and proceed:

1. Cut bellow gill to the back bone, then down the belly and remove the guts.

2. Push the knife through at the end of the rib cage and slice down to the tail leaving some skin.

3. Cut along the back bone and follow the rib cage with your knife this will help keep it sharp.

5. Remove the fillet from the skin gravity will assist you during the entire operation.

6. Repeat steps 1-5 for the opposite side the results 2 boneless fillets.

When you are done wash the work area you can perform this task anywhere there are trees so there is no need to spend time looking for the perfect place to clean fish like where you intend to spend the night.

Patrick

[Guest TerryK]

Carp and suckers are two different animals.

Like others have stated, Carp are pretty common in the area. Go to the Mission Marsh during the spawn and you'll see what I mean!

[eddylives 99]

Here are a few pictures of some carp caught on the kam a few years ago.

[brookiebuster 117]

Nice carp,what did you get em' on?

[Gone8to1248 158]

Here are a few pictures of some carp caught on the kam a few years ago.

I believe those might be a form of the Buffalo fish family based on the big hump. Do a search for Buffalo Fish and there are some nice pictures of different ones out there. We have both down here and both are prefered smokes. They can be cleaned, scaled,mud lines removed and the sliced about 1/4 inch apart ddown to the skin like a piano hinge,rolled in breading and pan fried in oil and the bones will cook out of them.The key is getting the mud lines out oof the. 2 on the outside under the skin and 2 inside that run end to end of the fish. Ways to catch them is dough balls with lots of sugar and vanilla in it on a trble hook,Kernnals of canned corn a few kernnals on a single hook or treble hook. Another way is take a box of wheaties cereal and put some in your hane nad crumble them up and then add some water and keep working it in your hand until it forms doughballs. Put it on a treble hook and weight it down and cast it out. Be sure to hang on to your pole or anchor it because when they hit they just keep going they don't nibble,, just hit and run. Many good rods and reels have been lost because of that. 20-30lbers are common and fun to fight. suggest 14-17lb test line for the big ones.

Bernie

[Guest chucky]

Heres a pic of a carp we caught last summer while fishing for cats on the Red River here in Winnipeg... Put up one hell of a fight!