Today was frustrating...

[flg2010]

 

 

Fished in partly rainy conditions.. caught a ton of bluegill, even one around 8 inches.  Then on a rig that I had a YUM plastic (white and green colors) I seemed to have caught a branch or something (fishing the Wallkill),  it was not a branch.. as I reeled it in slowly, over maybe 10 minutes.. I thought "has to be a turtle".

 

Well around 5 feet from shore it starts fighting I keep pressure on and try hard to land whatever it is.  I see white, I see scales, splashing,.. then the line breaks.

 

What the hell was this?

 

I'm thinking catfish and something 12 pound mono won't land.

 

Do I go back tomorrow?  or  Do I just go to my next spot on rotation and forget this.  I doubt I could ever land it anyway and its not a bass...  right?

 

 

[Bassin' Brad]

Since a catfish don't have scales and you seen scales I doubt it was a catfish..... pretty odd though. 

[islandbass]

Taking a guess, maybe a carp?

[flg2010]

carp are seed/nut and vegetation eaters though?

[RPreeb]

48 minutes ago, flg2010 said:

carp are seed/nut and vegetation eaters though?

My cousin hooked a 10 pound carp on a worm and cane pole on a Minnesota lake when he was 8.  I had to land it for him ( I was so much older at 11  ), working it around the boats and pontoons moored on the dock.  He carried it hugged to his chest for the 3 blocks back home to show his Mom.  She acted appropriately proud, then hustled him straight into the bathtub, clothes and all.

 

Point being that no, they are not exclusive feeders.

[scaleface]

Partly rainy conditions = Buzzbait .

[bigbill]

Overcast, light rain?  Inline spinners, mepps, joesfly, chartreuse spinnerbait(small). I notice the bass close to the surface in the rainy conditions.

[islandbass]

They might be primarily vegetarian, but fish are opportunists.

 

Here's a real life example. I was in Mexico a few years back and my wife's nephew took me fishing on a river that had tilapia. Tilapia are also a "vegetarian" species. Well, our bait was shrimp. Yup, shrimp from the ocean to target tilapia in a fresh water river miles from the sea. And it you're curious, we killed them. We probably caught about 40 a piece. Catching a vegetarian fish with flesh. That was an interesting disconnect for me to ponder.   We also fried them up on the shore. I'm not too much of a tilapia fan, but they were so fresh and tasted really good. Not a hint of a fishy smell too. 

 

Carp can get big and you can easily see their scales, hence my guess. 

[BuzzHudson19c]

Carp. Caught one on a spinnerbait a few years ago. Blew my mind, but there it was hooked right in the mouth.

 

(NY state record carp, 50.5 lb, caught on night crawler.)

[flg2010]

wow... well time to break out the metal leaders at least.  I'm going back on Friday.

 

 

[islandbass]

Go get 'em and Good luck! And take a pic if you can. ?

[Bluebasser86]

Are there stripers or hybrids there? That was my first thought when you say you saw white. 

 

What are the metal leaders for? Unless you're catching pike, muskie, or pickerel, you don't need a metal leader. 

[Spankey]

On 9/4/2017 at 11:47 AM, flg2010 said:

carp are seed/nut and vegetation eaters though?

I don't know about all that seed, nuts and vegetation stuff. But big fish eat little fish, craws and insects.

 

While bass fishing I've caught carp, some pretty good size carp over the years by accident. not foul hooked. Same for catfish. Probably just coincidence but catfish hitting lures seems to be when water gets real clear and lack of rain stretches. But probably coincidence.

 

Bomber FireTiger, Rapala Shad Rap, power worm, Kailen Grub, Mr. T split tail grub, Case Hellgies.

 

Anything can happen. Musky also. 

[ClackerBuzz]

ur worst nightmares are true: it was a double digit bass.  get back there asap