Super User Goose52 Posted September 19, 2011 Super User Posted September 19, 2011 So I'm minding my own business this evening, working some water for bass with a Red Eye Shad and a cotton picking grass carp tried to steal my lure. Of course, I had to get it back. It was sorta a sissy carp as it only took 14 minutes to get the RES back (I've caught two others in this weight range - one took 24 minutes to land, the other 35 minutes). 42 inches, 40.8 pounds. A nice "fish fight"...lots of runs, lots of drag peeled. The fish was foul-hooked in the dorsal fin (see photo) - amazing that it stayed hooked up all that time - had to use my forceps to get the treble out of the fin. Great fun for sure. 1 Quote
Talmadge Posted September 19, 2011 Posted September 19, 2011 wow that thing is FAT! i cant believe it didnt rip his fin and get away thats crazy did you end up catching any bass? hahah Quote
Super User SirSnookalot Posted September 19, 2011 Super User Posted September 19, 2011 Foul hooking is what made the fight harder, I foul hooked a few fish this past week, kings and bonitas. Once I got them in they weren't all that big, just felt like it. Nice carp Quote
Super User Goose52 Posted September 19, 2011 Author Super User Posted September 19, 2011 wow that thing is FAT! i cant believe it didnt rip his fin and get away thats crazy did you end up catching any bass? hahah Fat from eating all the bass cover No bass during my evening fishing session - just this carp. That's OK... Nice carp Thanks SirSnook. Not as big as some of the fish that you catch in the salt...but a nifty fish for my little lakes. Quote
Super User SirSnookalot Posted September 19, 2011 Super User Posted September 19, 2011 Fat from eating all the bass cover No bass during my evening fishing session - just this carp. That's OK... Thanks SirSnook. Not as big as some of the fish that you catch in the salt...but a nifty fish for my little lakes. 40# is a big fish anywhere, don't sell it short. Quote
Super User Marty Posted September 19, 2011 Super User Posted September 19, 2011 Great fun for sure. Agreed. From my perspective there's nothing like having a carp on the end of your line. Quote
Super User Goose52 Posted September 19, 2011 Author Super User Posted September 19, 2011 Agreed. From my perspective there's nothing like having a carp on the end of your line. You bet! I posted a story last year about catching a 37 pounder. RoLo/Roger called it a motorized beer keg. Indeed. That 37 pounder even made 2 jumps - just gets your adrenalin going when a near-40 pound fish comes out of the water... Quote
FL_Sharpshooter Posted September 20, 2011 Posted September 20, 2011 That is a monster carp...wish I could even see one that big in the waters around here. Still to this day have never caught a carp. Quote
Super User Goose52 Posted September 20, 2011 Author Super User Posted September 20, 2011 That is a monster carp...wish I could even see one that big in the waters around here. Still to this day have never caught a carp. I grew up in South Florida and never saw a carp either until I moved to Illinois back in '67. I don't fish specifically for carp here in TN, they just occasionally get between the bass and my lipless cranks... Quote
Super User SirSnookalot Posted September 20, 2011 Super User Posted September 20, 2011 We have grass carp in Florida, they are actually the largest member of the minnow family, guys target them with fly rods. Quote
Super User Goose52 Posted September 20, 2011 Author Super User Posted September 20, 2011 When I lived in FL, I only fished the neighborhood lakes and canals, and the Glades. Just never came across a carp of any species. Lots of gar though... Quote
Super User SirSnookalot Posted September 20, 2011 Super User Posted September 20, 2011 Grass carp, white amur, are stocked and they are original from China where they grow to 100#, not near as big here. Both fertile and steralized are planted for weed control, in 6 years I've only caught 2 on artificial lures, guys use berrys to catch them. Some say they hurt the bass population, I can't attest to that 1 way or the other. Quote
Super User Goose52 Posted September 20, 2011 Author Super User Posted September 20, 2011 .......Some say they hurt the bass population, I can't attest to that 1 way or the other. Ours are sterilized and stocked specifically for aquatic weed control. It's a fine balance - the grass carp are in all 11 of my lakes and 2 of the 3 ponds. In some lakes, there is still plenty of cover - in others, many of the coves that would harbor both bass and forage fish have been turned into desolate "mud bowls". The cove that I snagged this carp in had so much weeds and mat 3 years ago that I bought a heavy-power frog rod to fish it. Since then, the carp have decimated the veggies and it's now nearly devoid of cover and few fish hold in that cove. You occasionally connect with something cruising through the cove, or past the mouth of the cove, but there's little holding cover IN the cove any longer... Quote
Global Moderator Bluebasser86 Posted September 22, 2011 Global Moderator Posted September 22, 2011 That's a lot of fun right there! Something about lipless crankbaits seem to snag a lot of carp for me too. Quote
Super User Goose52 Posted September 22, 2011 Author Super User Posted September 22, 2011 That's a lot of fun right there! Something about lipless crankbaits seem to snag a lot of carp for me too. Yeah - me too. While I'm pretty sure that I've bumped into these grass carp with spinnerbaits, the only hook-ups I've had have been with lipless cranks. Sorta makes sense I guess. For me, a lipless crank is a primary bait that I use in the same areas that the carp would be feeding, and that has exposed trebles that would snag the fish. Most of the hook-ups only last a few seconds before the lipless crank pulls free. The last 2 years, I've only had 4 hook-ups that lasted more than 5-10 seconds. One I had on for 13 minutes when the fish went to the bottom and bumped the crank off and I immediately got hung-up on rock or a stump and lost the RES. The other 3 times, I landed the fish. Quote
Super User Dwight Hottle Posted September 29, 2011 Super User Posted September 29, 2011 Beauty. Had to be a fun fight. Foul hooked fish always fight the best & take you by surprise. Quote
Super User Goose52 Posted September 30, 2011 Author Super User Posted September 30, 2011 Beauty. Had to be a fun fight. Foul hooked fish always fight the best & take you by surprise. BIG surprise! When I hook-up, my first thought is "big bass"! When the line starts peeling off the reel at warp speed, I think "BIG CARP...even better! (Although deep-down, I'm still wishing it's something like a 14lb bass... ) Quote
Super User NorcalBassin Posted October 3, 2011 Super User Posted October 3, 2011 Holy cow, that thing looks like it has a head in its belly. That would have been a great fight lip hooked... I can only imagine what it was like foul hooked. Quote
Super User Goose52 Posted October 4, 2011 Author Super User Posted October 4, 2011 Holy cow, that thing looks like it has a head in its belly. That would have been a great fight lip hooked... I can only imagine what it was like foul hooked. Yeah - lip-hooked you can turn their heads around. On this one, hooked on the dorsal fin, I could at least pull it off vertical when it was running out at an angle - this could be why I landed this fish in only 15 minutes. The previous two big carp that I've landed were foul-hooked in the tail - allowing them to run straight away...these were much tougher fights - one was 24 minutes, the other 35 minutes. All 3 of these fish were caught on 7' mf BC rods with 10lb line - limiting how much I could muscle the fish. PHAT!!! Great job! Thanks! Quote
zenyoungkoh Posted October 6, 2011 Posted October 6, 2011 Sweet fish, i just caught my first big powerful carp yesterday on corn. Bass at my pond have locked jaws and are extremely finicky, so i targeted carp. It was a BLAST! carp beats lmb lb for lb in the power department anyday. The carp was probably the most powerful fish i've caught so far, beating even a 35lb alligator gar. I was using a MH baitcaster with 14 lb line, the carp was crazzzzy when it realised it was hooked.Swam like a stabbed pig! Quote
Super User deaknh03 Posted October 6, 2011 Super User Posted October 6, 2011 When I was younger we used to go to a local river, and there would be waste pipes spewing crap out constantly, literally, crap. The carp would congregate around these pipes, the only problem was it stunk so bad you couldn't be near enough to them to fish. We used to use niblet corn, a decent sinker, and cast it out and let it sit. Biggest one I pulled out was around 21 lbs, great fish. Quote
Hamby Posted October 6, 2011 Posted October 6, 2011 Snagging them on bass rods during the spawn is FUN!!! Tie on a treble hook with a weight about a foot up the line and pitch it over their backs. These are just 8 that i actually landed. I had them taking me under docks and everything. Lost many more. Quote
Super User Goose52 Posted October 6, 2011 Author Super User Posted October 6, 2011 No spawn for triploid grass carp - they're sterile.... Quote
Hamby Posted October 7, 2011 Posted October 7, 2011 No spawn for triploid grass carp - they're sterile.... You guys have no carp down there that spawn? The carp at my lake spawn for a few days at varying times depending on the part of the lake. For a few weeks, it's easy to find a shoreline that looks like a warzone of fish. Quote
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