Super User Goose52 Posted April 23, 2010 Super User Posted April 23, 2010 So I'm fishing for bass with a 7'mf BC rod and a BPS ProQualifier reel with 10lb test line and a Red Eye Shad lipless crank. Mid-day, I had a hook-up with a BIG fish; it came out of the water on a 2 foot high jump and came unbuttoned. It was brown colored so I knew it wasn't a bass (and was TOO big to be a bass anyway) - so I thought it was a big catfish (but I didn't know a cat would jump so I guess I really didn't know what it was). I spent another half-hour or so at that spot, trying to hook-up again and didn't. Went to another lake and got a 9" dink bass and that was it. Had some time before dinner so I went back to the first lake to look for the monster. I beat the water for another 30 minutes or so - nothing. Then, just as I'm ready to quit, BAM - a solid hookup (so I thought) and the fish came out of the water twice. After that it stayed deep. Took me 10 minutes to get him back near the bank and another 25 minutes to get him tired enough to get him close enough to the bank to grab and drag up on the bank - 35 minutes total. He made a number of runs and took out line against the drag quite a few times (of course, you keep thinking about how good the line & knot is...). I was surprised when I got him shallow enough to see he was a carp - not only that it turns out he was foul-hooked in the tail ! Which I guess makes sense since these things are supposed to be vegetarians but I'm still confused about having 2 hook-ups on this guy in one day. Perhaps these things just move slow and the lipless crank was getting dragged across them and getting snagged on the fish. I'll have to read-up on these things tonight. Anyway, before I grab my pliers to pull the hook out of his tail, I grab the treble hook with my hand, lift it a bit, and it falls out - so much for the "solid" hookset. After the photos I weighed him on a digital scale and he came up at 37.1 pounds. After that, I put him back in the water and supported him until he was ready to swim. In the Rods, Reels, and Line forum - a recent poster called the BPS reels "Chinese junk" - well, I guess my Chinese junk PQ reel did OK, huh... ;D Quote
JigMe Posted April 23, 2010 Posted April 23, 2010 Those "chinese" joke gets old. I am sure everybody has something in the house that is made in China. By the way, nice carp. Quote
Jake. Posted April 23, 2010 Posted April 23, 2010 Those big Grass Carp can scare the **** out of you if you walk past one that is up shallow in a pond and they dart off. Nice catch. Quote
Super User RoLo Posted April 23, 2010 Super User Posted April 23, 2010 Kudos Goose52 Carp fishing is a great sport, and I know that fish felt like a motorized beer keg. Roger Quote
Super User Goose52 Posted April 23, 2010 Author Super User Posted April 23, 2010 Kudos Goose52 Carp fishing is a great sport, and I know that fish felt like a motorized beer keg. Roger Thanks Roger - it DID feel like a motorized beer keg! If I knew I was going to be carp fishing - I would have had my 7'6"h w/65lb braid. Since I was bass fishing, I was a bit undergunned for this guy. It just took patience - the water I fish is pretty open with not much for the fish to wrap you around and break you off. After the hookset, I actually loosened the drag a bit and let the fish take line and just waited for him to play out...I didn't know it was going to take 35 minutes though ! Sure am glad that I've been getting better about frequent checks of my line and frequent re-tying Quote
Rebel Angler Posted April 23, 2010 Posted April 23, 2010 thats awesome man, an nice pic they put up an awesome fight, but they're tough to catch Quote
Bass Tracker 20 Posted April 27, 2010 Posted April 27, 2010 nice carp!!! oh by the way my bps extreme rod and reel "chinese junk" have treated me very well Quote
Daniel My Brother Posted April 28, 2010 Posted April 28, 2010 Great fish. Just beautiful. I always assumed grass carp were vegetarians, but we caught two small ones on inline spinnerbaits this past fall. Both fish hit the bait on the fall. Maybe it was a predatory response and not feeding. Who knows? Anyone have a similar experience with grass carp hitting artificials? By the way, the less time you spend in the rods and reels section, the happier you'll be. Quote
Super User Goose52 Posted April 29, 2010 Author Super User Posted April 29, 2010 On hitting artificials - I've had 4 hook-ups on these things in the past week. The one in the photo was foul-hooked in the tail. On another hook-up, the fish came out of the water and came unbottoned right away. Another was probably a big carp but never came up where I could see it and just pulled line out against the drag for about 10 seconds and then was gone. Just yesterday, I had another hook-up - the fish came out of the water, then went deep, then was gone. I have a feeling that I'm just snagging these things and not getting good hook-sets in their mouths. The little treble hooks on the lipless crank don't get much purchase on those big scales I'm thinking... Anyway, it's been exciting to just get the hook-ups even though I didn't land them all. Nothing like having a 30-40 pound fish jump a couple of feet out of the water to get your adrenalin going Quote
Super User Goose52 Posted May 8, 2010 Author Super User Posted May 8, 2010 Nice!!! That thing is huge!! It was a 'biggun' for sure! A week after this one, I hooked another that was probably bigger than this one. It just kept taking line...I could stop him once in a while but couldn't recover any line. I felt like I was holding a toy fishing rod - I just couldn't turn that fish around. After having the fish on for 13 minutes, and with 80 yards of line out (which I knew because I saw my uni-uni knot from my 75 yards of fresh front line to my older backing disappear into the water), he hooked around a rock and I lost him and my lure. It was fun while it lasted but I really wanted my lure back :-?. Quote
FishingOnTheEdge Posted May 18, 2010 Posted May 18, 2010 Nice fish man. We have carp around here but i have never seen on that big gets pulled out of the water. Especially with rod and reel. Usually its a bow and arrow catch. Quote
Super User Goose52 Posted May 20, 2010 Author Super User Posted May 20, 2010 Nice fish man. We have carp around here but i have never seen on that big gets pulled out of the water. Especially with rod and reel. Usually its a bow and arrow catch. Yea - I wanted my lure back so I had to land this guy ;D The other one that I had on for 13 minutes cost me my lure - drats! Looking at the photo again, I just realized that the girth of the TAIL of this fish is bigger than the girth of nearly all the bass that I catch ... Quote
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