Personal Best- The Write Up

When I got home after carp fishing earlier, I was pretty excited about my 23 pounder. I could not wait to see the pictures and do a blog post. However it was still nice out and wanted to do some more fishing. The carp had completely shut off, so I came home for lunch and wrote the quick note about the carp and went off again. So here are the details of the fish...

I arrived at the fishing spot about 9:15. Even when I went to bed I was still waffling over fishing for trout down the Cape today or carp.I knew I would wake up before dawn, if I wanted to go for trout. I wanted an early start and be fishing before 7 am if I fished for trout. That way I would have a couple hours before the lakes got busy. Sure enough I woke at 4:30 and again at 5:45. I was awake enough to get out of bed.  I lied there thinking about my options. Then I made up my mind. I was going to carp fish. Lately I have been itching to catch a monster carp. I'd rather do that than catch a bunch of 14 inch trout. Sometimes the reverse is true, and I'd rather catch a bunch of fish instead of wait for a carp to hopefully come around. I know to catch a big carp, I have to put in my time. I figured time well spent would be waiting for a big carp to come along.

So anyway, I baited up two spots. I baited up where I was going to fish and where Dave had fished the day before. I didn't know if Dave was going skiing or fishing, but if he decided to fish his spot would be ready.

About 30 minutes into fishing I got a run. I set the hook but missed it. "Gosh darn it, dang it to heck" came out of my mouth, or something like that. I casted out again. I was using pesciviva, a sweet corn mildly flavored with pineapple, but with a tough skin so it stays on the hair rig. I waited a few more minutes and my rod started banging. Banging is a carp term for what worm fishermen would call a nibble. The difference is sometimes the carp is not banging your corn and hook, he is hitting the method ball.The rod bounced a couple times then the line peeled off. I set the hook and fought the fish. I was using pretty heavy gear ( 8 foot rods and 17 pound line) I did not take to long to get it in. Maybe 3 minutes. I netted it and brought it to shore.

I weighed it in the net ( my scale was zeroed  to account for the net weight).  Just over 23 pounds. Then I tried to get a picture. Let me tell you, its tough to take a picture of a big carp with a 10 second camera delay. They are slimy and like to squirm. While I was trying to get a picture, a guy fishing near the road yelled to me that Dave had pulled up. I put the carp back in the net and the net in the water and ran up to Dave asking for his help taking the picture. He grabbed his gear quickly and we jogged down to the water. Dave took 3 really good pictures of the fish.  I picked it up carried into the water about knee deep and let it go. It did not need any reviving. It swam away quickly. Tough fish.

I caught 3 others after that. None of them over 5 pounds. Dave caught his 100th carp of the year on my rod while I was at the car. It was a beautiful 14 pounder.

One last thing, If you want to know where I caught it, I can't tell you so don't ask.