London, Ontario Carp Fishing

Today Gillian and I decided to head down the street to the river and see if we could catch some carp. There are several spots that I have seen carp swimming around in so I was confident we would find some fish. As soon as we arrived I threw out several handfuls of corn and then we got our equipment ready and started to fish. There were carp in the area within minutes. Despite several ducks stealing the corn, Gillian had a fish on within 20 minutes!

Armed with a Quantum 20 PTi and an UglyStik (a combo I refer to as beauty and the beast) she was caught off guard when line started peeling off the reel. The drag screamed as the fish headed down stream. I quickly realized her drag was set really light since I had last used it for walleye up at LV. After a huge run, I looked down at her reel and could see that the bottom of the spool was fast approaching, Gillian was a step ahead of me though and was already starting to head down the shore in chase.

She was quickly running out of room and needed to scale down a 6 foot wall to get to the shore in order resume her chase. Being nearly 7 months pregnant, this was not an option – she handed me the rod, and I jumped down the wall as the last few strands of line were about to unravel. I grabbed the line and pulled, turning the carp. I quickly adjusted the drag by this time Gillian had found her way down the wall, so I handed her back the rod. The fish was now in the current and despite a legendary effort, Gillian could not get him to move. After several minutes he charged back up stream and Gillian was able to gain back some line. Finally we had a good look at the fish, a solid 7-8lbs – A very nice sized carp for this area of the river. She slipped on a glove and held the fish for a quick photo and a release as a small crowd watched from the top of the wall.

Thirty minutes later it was my turn. I watched a small carp moving straight toward my bait and I held on tight expecting another epic battle. I was using my ultralight rod (5’2 UglyStik) with 10lb powerpro. I set the hook and….nothing . The carp flipped and flopped a couple times and I was able to grab it within a minute. Quite a disappointment after seeing how hard Gillian’s carp fought. We called it a day shortly after, but we were both very pleased that both of us landed a fish. The carp pupulatiosn are healthy and strong here in London, unlike the fish in Lake Scugog.

The first in-utero fish!! My baby boy has got an early start!

Clive with a small carp Gillian's first carp!

23 Comments
June 27, 2007 by Clive Mathias

Filed Under: Adventures, Canada, Carp, Fishing, Freshwater, Freshwater Species, Reports, Thames River
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23 Comments on “London, Ontario Carp Fishing...”

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  • avatar dan
    4 years, 7 months ago #

    Hey where on the Themes were you two? I am brand new to London – found your site while Googling.

  • avatar Clive Mathias
    4 years, 7 months ago #

    Hey Dan, We we usually fish in Harris Park near the Queens Avenue bridge. There are a lot of carp you can see from shore, and also quite a few smallmouth bass. Today we caught a walleye and a white bass.

  • avatar william
    3 years, 8 months ago #

    the thames is a great habitat for carp to become absolute beast’s ,i’v been fishing the east leg of the river just near the adelaide street bridge the last couple of weeks and cuaght atleast 3 over 15 pounds each time , and man can they ever put up a battle,especialy on light tackle ,i recomend atleast 20 pound braided line cuase theres some monsters in there . happy fishin :)

  • avatar Jahangir
    3 years, 7 months ago #

    Hi ,
    You have a great weblog my friend . I am from Ottawa . My doughter is going to start to go to school in London soon !
    For sure I ll be there few times before winter strats .
    I had never fish Carp ! What should I use as a bait ?
    Thanks ,

  • avatar Clive Mathias
    3 years, 7 months ago #

    Buy yourself a can of corn, thats the best bait by far!
    A small hook with 4-5 pieces of corn will do the trick. There are so many carp in the Thames that it shouldnt be a long wait!

  • avatar Woody
    3 years, 7 months ago #

    The only thing as good as Corn when freelining surface fishing is Bread or Dog Biscuits……….It has to be fresh moist bread, about the size of a 50p folded over the hook so it is squashed inbetween out of sight and the Carp will try and make a run for it and snag themselves……..A bloke on the Lake i fish had a 29 and a half pound Carp out on a single floating Dog Biscuit……..The sickening thing though was THAT HE HAD USED HIS GIRLFRIENDS 5FT PINK ROD because he had snapped his the day before! His photo is up in the reception area now so i suppose it’s him that’s had the last laugh!

  • avatar Fisherman
    3 years, 7 months ago #

    You should throw the carp into the woods after you catch em. The invasion has gotten outta hand. It is our duty to remove these vermin (like carp and chub) out of our waters.

  • avatar Woody
    3 years, 7 months ago #

    To keep your country cleaner i would have thought throwing vermin like terrorists and illegal immigrants into the woods would have been a more passionate subject than fish. Everyone to his own i suppose.

  • avatar Clive Mathias
    3 years, 7 months ago #

    I told you they don’t like carp in Ontario, didn’t I Mark!

  • avatar Woody
    3 years, 7 months ago #

    You’re not kidding mate, they spit bullets where you’re from!!!…..I take it it’s just Bass and Walleye when i come over then?!!!

  • avatar corey
    2 years, 10 months ago #

    Cool, I caught a nice 6 ponder today or a worm and a hook, I kept getting the hook snagged on rocks though. What type of rig do you use.

  • avatar Clive Mathias
    2 years, 10 months ago #

    I just used a simple split-shot 2 feet up from the hook, nothing fancy. I found switching to smaller hooks prevented some snags, and using a braided line 20-40lb (I know its a little overkill) strength allowed me to pull free from snags without loosing any hooks.

    In shallow areas I didn’t use any weights, and just used 4-5 bits of corn as bait.

  • avatar Jahangir
    2 years, 9 months ago #

    Folks ,
    Many thanks for friendly tips and tricks .

  • avatar ian
    2 years, 8 months ago #

    hey guys, great site by the way, a lil of topic here. where’s a good place to take kids in london for some easy fishing, the lil guy is a total beginner here.
    thanks
    ian

  • avatar Clive Mathias
    2 years, 8 months ago #

    Harris park was my favorite spot (as seen in those pics above) – corn or worms will be your best bet to get some fish with the kids!

  • avatar jason
    2 years, 7 months ago #

    hey all i l;ove fishing the thames i have found a new spot near terry fox park and there is tons of carb and ugly looking pike things harris park is a great spot and almost always gurenteed to catch something i use bread on a hook for the carp have a good one all and keep on fishing

  • avatar Jayna
    2 years, 7 months ago #

    What a fun story Clive!

    My hubby is taking our 9yo son out carp fishing this weekend using his bow and arrow. After reading this I hope he doesn’t lose his bow! I’ll certainly suggest they take some corn along to attract some carp to where they are. I think he said they were heading out by Delaware/Kilworth area – clear enough to see the fish, and out of town so they can use the bow (can’t shoot it in city limits.)

    Ian, a nice place to take younger children is the pond at Bradley and Pond Mills Road. There are 3 docks around it and lots of sunfish. A few bread balls are all the little ones need to easily catch and release some fish, or at least get enough bites to keep their interest up. And they can always throw in their dough balls afterwards and see the hoards of turtles snap them up.

  • avatar Jahangir
    2 years, 5 months ago #

    Thanks for all tips and trikes for Carp fishing here .
    finally I got a chance yesterday to be there ( Harris park ) . It was great !
    I had huge monster Carp on the hook . It was so much fun .
    Thanks guys !Especial thanks to a guy who was there and though me a lot about area and fishing wholes .

  • avatar Kris
    1 year, 6 months ago #

    hey, I just found your site after spending a frustration day fishing in the Thames. Not knowing what tackle to use, and getting caught up on the river floor. The corn tip is much appreciated! can you use corn with a floater or bobber thing? Is there any other tackle recommendations you have for other types of fish in the Thames?  Also, I just realized Komoka has a provincial park, ever go there? Thanks.
     

  • avatar woody
    1 year, 6 months ago #

    As said above, dried dog biscuits, bread and worms, which can all be used on a float are good bait for Carp. Stretchy cheesestring and any type of luncheon meat and especially spicy sausage meat is a good bait as well.

  • avatar Clive Mathias
    1 year, 6 months ago #

    There are several species you can catch in the Thames, including pike! I always used heavy gear personally, the carp didnt seem to mind. Had 65lb braid on when I caught pike, and also caught carp the same day. 

    I know its overkill, but any braid over 30lb should help you keep those lures and hooks you will inevitably snag on the rocks.

    Heres a link to a few other reports:

    http://www.fishingfury.com/categories/places/thames-river/

  • avatar christy
    8 months, 1 week ago #

    I am from the Owen Sound area my husband and i were carp fishing he caught 50+ carp off of the harbour wall it took 3 people to get it out of the water and up the 6 feet wall.

  • avatar Kris
    7 months, 4 weeks ago #

    I’m fairly new to fishing on the Thames. Does anyone use bolt rigs? I’ve read online that they are the best (?) rigs for catching carp. Is everyone else using these? I’d like to see what everyone else is using..

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