Rhode Island Fish In Yesterday

Saturday was the Rhode Island Carp Anglers Semi Annual Fish- In. A fish- in is almost the exact opposite of a fishing tournament. It is an uncompetitive social get together for the members. While at the fish-in everyone shares information, tips and believe it or not hotspots. We all root for each other and since there is so much catching up and exchange of info, catching fish almost becomes secondary. Although I am a Mass resident, I am a member of the Rhode Island CAG. I have been friends with some of the Rhode Island guys for years. It is a great group of guys and we all get along real well.

I spent a lot of time yesterday talking with a beginner named Jason. He had never caught a carp. He will though, he had already spent a lot of time doing his own research and asked the right questions. Anything that I couldn't answer we found out the answer from one of the other experienced guys. Although I tried to help him as much as I could, I asked him as many questions as he asked me. Jason is an expert fishing for Steelhead on the Salmon River in New York and does a lot of fly fishing on Connecticut Rivers. Like I said, its a great exchange of info.

The fish did not really co-operate. Between all of us we got a couple of fish in. Both were over ten pounds. Once a fish is hooked everyone comes over to watch the fight. Once the fish is landed, the small digital cameras come out of pockets. Everyone lines up to get a picture to remember the day. After a couple pics and congratulations the fish is let go. We fished until well after dark. The guys that live the farthest away usually bail out first. Even when your one of the guys that go fishless, you still look forward to the next one. Fish- ins are a lot of fun.

If you want to see pictures go to http://www.ricarpfishing.blogspot.com/

Lake Tiogue

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.