Charles River Carp And White Catfish In Dedham And Needham
LOCATION: Consistent carp action between Dedham and Needham with easy access from 128. Spot 1 is the Dedham medical center. There is one small shore spot on the Dedham Medical Center side, and with some new construction, you can fish the opposite side too. Spot 2 is at Great Plain Ave, exit 18 on the Dedham/Needham line. There is an old fire road with a lot of shore access. Spot 3 is nearby at the canoe launch in Dedham.
TECHNIQUE: Chumming is key. Sweet corn works awesome. Use a couple rods with pole holders. Keep your bait on the bottom with an egg sinker, and leave your bail open. They chow down and take off like a bat out of hell (I ran into the river on more than one occasion to save a pole this year). Patience is important. I caught carp this year when I had a half hour to kill, but the average was maybe a fish every couple hours.
BRING A NET. Carp are tough. Even when you think you have one beat, they'll make a couple good breaks when they see you and when you try to get them ashore.
I pass the time between carp catching bass and pickies with artificials. I have yet to see a monster bass or pickerel, but there are respectable fish there. If I will be fishing until dark, I catch a few sunfish to use as cut bait for white catfish (Cut perch works the best, but they are 1000x harder to catch in the summer).
White catfish hit like hell for an hour right as it gets dark, and you're probably already rigged up for bottom fishing. You will catch some small cats and bullheads, but you'll also get good size white cats and a big bullhead is nothing to sneeze at.
After the spring striper run ended, I had a blast with these fish this year. It's also a good trip to bring kids on.
fishngolf--happy to share. I am new to the 'Chuckles' and had a great time figuring the river in 2013. VERY productive river with plenty of fun to be had. Carp and cats thrive...
Great write up, nice detail and bait/tackle advice....
I grew up shore fishing that Dedham section of Chuckies Creek and there were always big carp and cats.
You do any of that fishing this time of the year?