I am acctually rather new to the sport. Up until now I have only fished at pay lakes, and would really like to start fishing in Lakes...I am from North Carolina and I am interested in fishing Lake James....except i have NO idea where to start or what to do....water depth, baits, and what to look for?? Any help would be appreciated

Welcome LuckyOne,
Unfortunately I cant offer much info on Lake James...maybe another member with more info on this water can help...As far as getting started, I would keep it simple. Baits to try would be canned whole kernal corn, worms, or bread balls. Please do not use treble hooks for carp! A size 6 or 4 single hook is sufficient. Carp usually like to hang around marinas, dams, places where people feed ducks, shallow bays, etc. They will usually jump, splash, or can be seen cruising. A bit of scouting and watching the water is all thats needed to locate carp.
A simple bottom bait rig is best to start with. Once youve located the carp, bait the area with a few handfulls of the canned corn and fish the baited area. If this fish are unpressured, you should be successful for a while. Carp can become wary after they realize the trap being set for them. This is when I would suggest more complex methods as used by todays modern carp angler. There are many good videos and articles that will help advance your knowledge. So go have some fun, catch some fish and we are always here if you need help!
Tight Lines!

First of all i want to thank you for taking the time to reply, and yes hopefully another member may have some experience on the lake. I acctually made up some strawberry boilies with a cornmeal base yesterday and plan to fish this comming tuesday. I had not thought of "chumming" glad you mentioned it. I did spend about 3 hours on the Lake yesterday and saw some carp moving in shallow water deep in a cove that transitioned from shallow to deep rather quickly. Had thought about starting there. At the possible worst it will be a day off from work sitting on a bank on a beautiful day....which doesn't seem that bad...fish or no fish!! (on a smaller note: Would NEVER think of fishing for carp with a treble hook....i like my hair rig just fine ) Just wanted a little insight from someone with more expierence than myself....outside of knowing how to make packbaits and boilies....i know nothing of fishing large sized lakes. Thank you again! Tight Lines

Sorry I guess I didnt realize you were already using hair rigs and boilies...I'm not familiar with fishing paylakes as I usually fish the local river and backwaters. I would continue to use your hair rig set up and boilies and packbaits are great! Sometimes it takes a bit of training carp to accept boilies as most US carp have never seen a boilie...sometimes not an issue...try several spots till you find one suitable for you. You are absolutely right, ANY day fishing is better than a day at work! lol.

Might consider sweet flavored maize as a good bait for quick hook-ups, on many lakes carp are not use to boilies unless they have had exposure to them in the past, I use 2 to 3 kernels of flavored maize my go to is tutti frutti, I never used pack baits I normally use method mix, an easy method is old fashioned oats, quick grits, cream corn and chili powder for flavoring.

I hope this will help you and good luck

tight lines

steve