I went fishing this afternoon at Lake Tiogue. This lake is in Coventry and is known for large carp. Hoping that it would stay cloudy all day, I went down early afternoon. The weather cooperated and stayed cloudy with only occasional sunshine. Tiogue is a trout water, so according to Rhode Island law corn can not be used. It is a dumb law but I follow it because I don't want to risk a fine.At the lake I set up two poles with a bread/oatmeal method ball above a piece of bread for bait. I managed to first catch a 13 inch rainbow trout that I threw back.
After another hour I hooked up with a 12 pound carp. In most places this would be a decent fish, at Lake Tiogue it is officially the smallest one I have caught.
After my 2:15 daily phone call from DJ I hooked up with another fish. This one felt much bigger, after a 5 minute fight I landed an 18 pounder. My biggest carp of the year. I let her go then right before I left I caught a very spunky brightly colored bluegill. I'm not used to catching 6 inch fish on a nine foot rod and 17 pound test line. It put a smile on my face.
