My six year old son wants to catch a huge carp we've seen in our shallow bay. It's a weedy bay, and with my polarized glasses on I can see the fish suspending below the surface with its head pointed up toward the surface. Seems like fly fishing for it would be perfect, but I don't have the gear.

Any tips on how to get him rigged up with spinning tackle for this carp? Keeping in mind it is weedy, what should I use?

You can try sweet corn or worms under a bobber

What size/type hook? How much line under the bobber?

Thanks for the help.

A #4 or #6 hook (I use octopus, but j-hooks are fine) should be good. Load the hook up with corn (4 or 5 kernals), leaving just the point exposed. You can use a bobber or fish it on the bottom with just a split shot (though, if it's real weedy, it might be better a couple feet under a bobber). Carp spook easy, so stealth is important. If it's feeding on the surface, try a small square of bread with no weight. When you see it inhale the bait, set the hook. Make sure your drag is set right, and hold on.

Thanks, I'll give it a try!

Yep, I recently switched from regular baitholders to octupus hooks.What a difference that made in getting the fish hooked . Size 4-6's are the the way to go.

#4 Gamakatsu Octopus are nice hooks for carp. A circle hook will help reduce gut hooks. I find it a little tricky to get the hook set with them though; I've lost a couple fish when I think I've let them take enough line and missed the hook set. Another thing I've found is that the gamakatsu circle hooks don't work well on bullheads. The offset hook gets snagged in their gut; it's not really a "true" circle anyway.

I would recommend suspending a little bit of canned sweet corn underneath a bobber. Cast way past the carp and then slowly reel the rig into its area. If you cast the rig within 10 feet of him or so, you might spook it. Good luck and set your drag loose!

I can't say what I bought are true circle hooks. I picked them up at Walmart, and the packaging says they are octupus hooks.All I know is during a recent carp trip,these hooks worked well for me.

yeah those octopus hooks are different from the gamakatsu circle hooks I was referring to. If you look at the octopus hooks from Gamakatsu, the hook is offset. This offset tends to get the hook caught in the gut when it is rolling. Circle hooks from other manufacturers like Eagle or Mustad do not have an offset and as a result, roll in to the lip better and gut hooks are almost non-existent.

I would 2nd the recomendation on a bobber and bait.
Corn or worms on a hook. You could use a weighted bobber to make casting easier and it would leave the corn/worm more free and more likely to be taken by the carp.
Do not cast to the carp it will spook them. Cast ahead of or beyond the carp. The best is to cast where you anticipate the carp to be.
If you're using corn the carp will smell it and come and get it.
You could improve your son's chances by chumming the area with corn before you fish. Just throw out a handfull of corn for a couple days before you plan to fish.
Good luck and post a picture.

Funny thing you brought that up DEADhead. I was fresh out of circles from eagle claw and had to resort to offset circles not really thinking anything of it. The next 5 bullheads had all been gut hooked. Threw a walleye jig on, problem solved. I had no idea the offset made such a big impact.

Hmmm.That's interesting. I looked at those Walmart hooks,and they are offset.I don't understand why,but I had all hooks set into the corner of the fishes mouth last time I used them.I was fishing with a baitfeeder reel set up,and the hookset came pretty quick after the line started peeling off the spool.I'll keep an eye on the gut hooking possibilties with these offset hooks.Thanks,Deadhead.

no problem rockman. If you set the hook fairly early with the octopus hooks, you can still get a good hookset in the corner of the mouth. The only problem I run in to is with fish that like to inhale baits like sunfish and bullheads. The occaisional carp will swallow the hook, but at least with the octopus I can set the hook right away on a bite, unlike a circle hook.

the carp always bite good on a 32in piecs of carbon spined fiberglass with a pirnaha point on it