It was August 2010. That year we had discovered how effective corn could be when fishing for carp. We would throw out half a can for chum and bait a bluegill hook with corn and toss it out weightless in the chum. We would then attach a piece of styrofoam to our line and leave the reel in free spool. When a carp picks up the bait the styrofoam takes off towards the water.
Earlier in the year I was bass fishing solo at a small lake and noticed some carp jumping. I decided to go back soon thereafter with some corn to do some carp fishing. I believe I ended up catching 2 carp that day, an 8lb and a 20lb, and broke off a nice one in some logs. The 20lb carp was the biggest carp any of us had ever caught and I was thrilled. The battles were epic on my Zepco Omega spincast reel with 8lb line and I didn't have a net so I had to pull them out of the water by hand.
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20lb Carp |
Finally the fish broke surface about 20 yards off the bank. By this time I was wading in the water and had moved about 30ft down the bank trying to keep the fish out of the snags. Several more minutes passed before I finally got the fish close enough to get a good look. My adrenaline skyrocketed as I saw the goliath on the end of my line. At this point I was wading in thigh deep water and was pulling the fish within 10ft of me. I didn't know how I was ever going to get this thing out of the water as I feared the hook might soon pop free or my line break from the extreme stress. For what seemed like forever I struggled with the fish in 2 to 4ft of water as It still continued to surge out into the depths on occasion. Eventually I started nearing the bank and I didn't have a net with me this time either. I manage to get the fish between me and the bank. I got the fish close enough to feel comfortable enough to make an attempt to lift it out of the water. I struggled to grab the extremely slippery fish and carry it onto land. Finally I succeeded. I can only guess at the time it took to land the fish as I was so focused the entire time I had no grasp of time but my best guess would be 10-15 minutes, by far the longest battle of my life.
With the fish landed I let out a scream of excitement. It was one of the best moments of fishing in my life. I quickly removed the hook and got out my tape measure. The carp measured about 40 inches. I then weighed the beast with my Rapala digital scale. The scale fluctuated between 32 and 33lbs so I've always just called it a modest 32lbs.
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32lb Carp |
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32lb Carp |
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32lb Carp |
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